Chapter 21 #2
“Three to six months is the average, and that’s if Trey doesn’t decide to be an asshole.
All I want is full custody of Violet. My attorney doesn’t think that’s a problem because of the abuse, but if Trey wants to fight, he can.
He doesn’t care about Violet, but he might do it to hurt me.
On the other hand, the publicity that would come with a fight probably wouldn’t be good for business.
He has a couple of high profile clients around Destin, and though most of his business is focused on jobs overseas, those people are easy money he won’t want to lose.
Plus it just doesn’t look professional to be a wife beater. ”
Trey had always been concerned about his reputation.
He chose the right house, the right decor, a pretty wife, and he made everyone think they lived a charmed life.
He wanted to be seen a certain way, and he’d tolerated no deviations from that image.
That she’d left him and taken Violet had surely shaken that image to its foundations.
“He doesn’t want anyone to know he’s an abusive asshole.”
“Definitely not. I tried to make this very easy for him. I didn’t ask for child support, and I didn’t ask for assets. I just want out.”
He looked pissed and troubled at the same time. “I understand. I think he ought to have to pay you for what he did, but I also know why you wanna make it easy for him to walk away.”
Not everyone understood why she didn’t demand anything. “Thank you. My attorney wants to go for the jugular. I think she’s disappointed in me.”
“It’s your life, Payz. Nobody gets to tell you how to handle this. You know what you and Violet need.”
“It’ll be harder without child support, but my mom managed. It’s not that I think a man shouldn’t pay, or that a woman shouldn’t fight for her child, but this situation isn’t typical.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me. I’m on your side. You and Violet need anything, you can ask me.”
Her heart squeezed. “I appreciate that. I don’t want to ask, and I won’t unless it’s important.”
“You need to know something, babe. I understand that if I want a relationship with you, it’s not just you.
It’s Violet too. If we do this—date, sleep together, be together—I want to be a part of her life as much as yours.
I don’t know shit about kids, not really, but she’s yours and that means I want her to be happy and I want her to feel like I’m someone she can trust. I’m gonna be here for her just like I’m here for you.
Even if all we do is end up friends, I’m her cool uncle she can count on to be in her life. That work for you?”
There was a knot in her throat. “Yes,” she whispered as tears swam in her eyes.
“Good. Now eat that sandwich before it gets cold.”
“I’m trying. I didn’t expect you to make me cry.”
“Wasn’t trying to, but you needed to hear it. I won’t abandon you again, Paisley. And I won’t abandon her.”
Her heart beat erratically in her chest. “You’re a good man, Ethan.”
“Not always. But I am when I’m with you.”
She didn’t know what to make of that statement, and she didn’t ask.
She knew in her bones he was a good man, no matter what he said.
Actions revealed character, and Ethan’s actions were always honorable and considerate.
She didn’t doubt he’d had to do things in the line of duty that might make him question himself, but she didn’t.
“You want me to stay at your place tonight?” he asked after they’d finished lunch and he’d cleaned up the mess, putting everything back into the bag from the cafe.
She should tell him no, that they’d be fine. The alerts had worked the way they were supposed to and she’d known there was someone in her yard. She could have called the police if she’d needed to, and she could if it happened again.
But having Ethan there, ready to defend her and Violet, made the fear recede. Plus she liked him being there. Liked having another adult to talk to, someone who’d known her before her life turned into a survival drama.
“Do you mind?”
“Wouldn’t offer if I did.”
“Then yes, I’d like it if you’d stay with us.”
“Saw you had a gas grill. Does it work?”
“It does. The previous tenant left it, but I cleaned it up and filled the gas bottle. I used it to make hamburgers once.”
“Excellent. I’ll get something to throw on the grill and fix dinner for us.”
Paisley touched his arm. It was like touching a live wire in some ways.
Always had been. The way her body reacted to a simple touch was ridiculous, but she’d known the instant he’d put his hand against her back to help her into his truck five years ago that she’d end up in bed with him. How could she not?
That same feeling was there now, sparking and snapping to life in the deepest parts of her. He must have felt something too because he stepped closer, crowding her against her desk, and let his gaze drop to her breasts before lifting to her eyes again.
“I, um, I just wanted to say you don’t have to keep feeding me. I’ll give you some cash for the groceries.”
“You won’t,” he growled. “You’re a single mom going through a divorce from a shit husband and you aren’t asking for child support.
I’ve been on my own for years, I’ve accumulated a lot of combat pay, and I have a lot more money in my bank account than I spend in a month.
Maybe if I liked designer clothes, expensive vacations, and fancy sports cars, I’d have to watch it more than I do.
So let me spend money on groceries for you and Violet, okay? ”
“I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”
He bent and kissed her, a quick peck on the lips that left her mouth tingling. The first time in nearly five years that she’d felt his mouth on hers, and it was every bit as intoxicating as it’d been then. Even if it was a chaste kiss.
“I don’t feel like I have to, Payz. I feel like I want to. I want to take care of you and Violet because I care about you. Never stopped if I’m honest. Seeing you again knocked me on my ass, not gonna lie, but knowing what really happened to us? It set something in me free again.”
Her heart hammered in her chest. It was everything she wanted, and everything she feared losing once more.
“Me too,” she whispered.
“Good.” He dropped his mouth to hers again, lingered a moment longer. No tongue, but that didn’t stop her panties from growing damp. She wanted him as much as she ever had, and it scared her.
“You tempt me too much,” he growled. “I’d love to shut this door, slide your panties off, and bend you over this desk. Gonna save that for another time, though. First time we’re together again, I want it to be more than a frantic fuck with witnesses only a few steps away.”
He reached around and cupped her ass, squeezed just enough to make her moan. “Gotta get back to work, babe. Think about me when I’m gone.”
“I doubt I’ll think about anything else.”
He grinned as he stepped away, and her heart skipped. So hot. This man was so damned hot, and he wanted her. It’d amazed her back then and it amazed her now. Especially after all that’d happened.
“Later, babe.”
She sat against the edge of her desk for a good five minutes after he was gone.
Things were moving fast, like he’d said.
Two weeks ago, she’d have never thought she’d be in a position where Ethan was sleeping at her house, kissing her, and where she was dreaming about the moment they finally made love again.
But the thing that kept popping up in her head when she thought about the future was that she had to tell him the truth. She had to tell him everything about what’d happened after he’d left and she’d thought he’d abandoned her.
He needed to know he could be Violet’s father. Anything less was wrong.