Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“Maybe it is. And maybe there’s nothing I can do with it,” I admit calmly. “But now that I know William’s mine, there are other things I can do to make sure I get to see him.”
“Like what?” Katie’s frown deepens. “Are you threatening me?”
“Not at all. I’m just giving you some important facts. Firstly, I’m not going to stop until I get all the rights afforded to me as William’s father by the legal system. And secondly, you don’t want to go against me in the courtroom. Unfortunately for you, I’m probably going to win, just by virtue of being able to afford better lawyers.”
“You’re threatening me,” Katie says quietly with accusing eyes.
“It just looks that way from your perspective. All I’m doing is telling you the consequences of standing between me and my son. I’d really prefer it if we didn’t go through the legal system. All I want is to see my son.”
“Like I said, I’m not letting you in. William’s asleep.”
“He’s asleep now. I can come back another day.”
“Suit yourself.” Katie grabs the door handle and steps back like she’s about to shut the door.
“So, you’re going to let me in when I come back to see William?” I ask.
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“If that’s not what you’re saying, then I’m calling my lawyer right now.” I pull out my phone and let my thumb hover over the screen. “Do you really want to fight a legal battle you can’t win?”
Katie glowers at me, but she knows she’s lost this battle.
“Or, I can just come back another day to see William and you can just let me in.”
“Sure.” Katie keeps her answer brief. Her beautiful brown eyes are still burning with anger.
“Okay, let’s do this date, then.” I give Katie a grin, hopefully to defuse the situation.
“It’s not going to be a date,” Katie says tersely.
“You can call it whatever you want,” I say.
We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, which means it’s not a good idea to be bickering all the time.
Besides, I don’t just want William; I also want Katie. I need to win Katie over, and I’m not going to accomplish that by picking fights with her. I’m not a little schoolboy who pulls the ponytail of the girl he likes.
That said, pulling a ponytail still sounds hot. The sense of power and control that comes with it makes me feel like a total beast. I wonder if Katie wears her hair like that sometimes.
I’ll find out. There is time. No matter how long it takes to convince Katie to let me be a part of her life, I’ll wait, and I’ll persevere.
I’ll make her mine, and we’ll be a family.
“So, when are you and William going to be available for this ‘not-date’?” I ask.
Katie
“Are you ready?” Adam asks, grinning with triumph as he stands by my front door.
Unlike the other day when he showed up in his business suit, today he’s wearing something more casual, which is good—and not just because he looks good enough to eat right now; he’d just look out of place wearing an expensive suit at a pumpkin patch.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that his Henley shows off his hard muscles better than his usual button-down shirts. I can see hints of his sculpted physique, and it reminds me that I never actually saw him naked, even though he’s seen me.
With those jeans and the leather jacket, this outfit would probably withstand food stains pretty well, too.
“I’m ready, but William’s not. You’re early,” I say as I let out a big sigh. What has my life turned into that I regularly estimate the stain-resistance level of people’s outfits?
I swing the door open wider and turn around to the living room. William’s waiting for me to come back and finish putting his little Velcro shoes on for him.
I never used to care about how well my past dates’ clothes would stand up to stains, although there was always a good possibility of my date and me getting drunk as skunks and acquiring some puke on our clothes.
That’s not going to happen during this date, though. Not that this is a date.
I glance over my shoulder to see Adam following down the hall behind me. His lips curl up into a smile when our eyes meet. My heart starts pounding, and I twist back around.
I can feel his hot gaze searing into the back of my skinny jeans, reminding me how intoxicating it can be to be desired by a strong, gorgeous, dominant man like Adam.
Don't do anything stupid, I remind myself.
I’m a responsible adult now, in charge of a two-year-old. No alcohol will be involved today, although that doesn’t change the probability of stains happening.
And as long as we’re assigning probabilities to things that may or may not happen today, let’s go ahead and put sex at zero, as well. Oh, and there’s zero chance of romance, too.