Chapter 20
D uke was cute when he was flustered, and he was most definitely flustered after Ace’s client had given him the once-over and liked what she saw.
McKenzie understood that. The woman was only human, after all, and Duke was sexy as hell. That he was also sweet and kind and thoughtful was a potent combination for a woman who’d sworn off men and romance after the disaster with Eric had made her question everything.
Eric had swept her off her feet, filled her head with platitudes and paid her more attention than any man ever had. He’d dazzled her with his good looks, sweet talk and sexiness. Who cared if his story didn’t add up at times? Who cared if he “traveled” more than any computer programmer she’d ever met? What did she know about the demands of that career field?
She’d been so blind with love for him that she’d failed to see the forest even as she was sitting under the trees.
The metaphor made her chuckle to herself. She’d been an idiot. That was a far more efficient way to put it.
As she opened the top right drawer to Duke’s desk, she had to bite back a groan at the chaotic mess that greeted her. He wasn’t kidding. Her first order of business was to organize the paperwork. She made piles of bank and credit card statements, receipts, other bills and a few things she wasn’t sure about that she’d ask him about later.
Next, she put the statements in chronological order.
Then she opened the second drawer and found more of the same.
Sighing, she pulled the paper from the drawer and added it to her piles.
Her phone chimed with a text from Kendall James, whom she’d texted earlier to provide the information she needed to get in touch with Eric.
Hi there,
Please take a look at the enclosed draft of the letter I’d like to send to Eric to begin the discussion. Feel free to call me at your convenience (even at night is fine with me if that works better for you). Look forward to reviewing next steps.
Best,
Kendall
McKenzie clicked on the attached PDF to open the letter, which was on official-looking legal letterhead.
Dated September twenty-fifth, it included the address of Eric’s employer in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Dear Mr. Norton,
I represent McKenzie Martin and her minor child, Jax Martin. This letter is to inform you of our intention to sue to establish your paternity of Jax. When paternity is proven, as we believe it will be, our next move will be to demand support for the minor child until such time as he graduates from college. We understand that your wife and other children stand to be adversely affected by this action. Thus, we are contacting you at your place of employment. Should you fail to respond within fourteen days, we will reach out to you at your residence.
We look forward to resolving this matter promptly.
Sincerely,
Kendall James, Esquire
Of counsel
“Holy shit,” McKenzie said under her breath. Imagining Eric receiving that letter filled her with elation and a giddy sense of retribution. Ms. Kendall James, Esquire, was not screwing around. She responded to the text from her.
That letter is perfect. You have my approval to send it. Please let me know what I owe you.
No charge until we recover some money from him. I’ll keep you posted.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.
Happy to help!
“What’re you all smiles about?” Duke asked. “It sure as hell can’t be my bookkeeping.”
McKenzie hadn’t seen him coming. Nor had she noticed that his client had left. “Your bookkeeping needs my help, for sure. But I’m smiling because Kendall James wrote an incredible letter to Eric.” She called it up on her phone and handed it to him.
While he read it, she took in every nuance of his expression, from the way his blue eyes narrowed to the purse of his kissable lips.
He made her not care about her resolution to avoid men and romantic entanglements forever. He made her want to take a wild chance. That thought alone should’ve been like a bitch slap to the head to get herself together, but she couldn’t seem to care about such warnings when the masculine scent of him filled the air around her. She wasn’t sure if it was body wash or shampoo or cologne. Whatever it was worked for her.
“Wow. A letter like that would make me quake in my boots, especially if I had a wife and kids at home who had no idea what I’d been getting up to on the side.”
“I know, right? He’ll shit himself.”
“Least of what he deserves after the way he lied to you.”
“I’m afraid he’ll be angry more than anything. He doesn’t expect me to do something like this.”
“I assume he’d have no idea where to find you.”
“I don’t think so. I mean, I told him about my grandmother having a place out here, but not that she’d left it to me or that I wanted to come out here. That wasn’t part of my plan when I was with him. I thought we’d end up together, you know?”
“Yeah, I do, and you had no reason to think otherwise at the time. Where would he look for you?”
“Probably at the apartment where I lived when we were together.”
“Would they tell him where to find you?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Might be worth a phone call to put them on alert that you don’t want them giving out any info about your whereabouts.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
“Does he know where your mother lives?”
McKenzie shook her head. “I never took him there, but he knew I was from Coventry. She has a different last name than me, so it wouldn’t be an obvious connection.”
“You might also want to make her aware you’re taking legal action. Just to be safe.”
“Do I hafta?” The thought of voluntarily telling her mother anything went against everything she believed in.
“Yes, you hafta,” he said, smiling, “because you’d feel awful if anything ever happened to her because of you.”
“Why do you have to make so much sense?”
Jax let out a squeal and began to strain against the confines of the seat.
McKenzie reached down to release the straps and lifted him into her arms. “Someone has been a very good boy while Mommy was working.”
“He’s such a good boy. Want to come see Duke? I’ll show him around the ferry landing.”
“Do you have another client coming in?”
“Not unless I get a drop-in.”
“Okay, then. Thanks.” She handed Jax over to Duke. “Jax, what noise does Duke’s bike make?”
“Room room.”
Duke laughed. “That’s right. I’ll take you for a ride when you’re a little bigger.”
“No, you won’t.”
Grinning, he said, “We’ll be right outside if you need us.”
“Don’t go too far.”
“We won’t.”
As they went outside together, McKenzie was aware that there was no greater demonstration of trust than to let him take her child out of her sight. But she did trust him, and not just because her grandmother had. No, at this point, it was because he’d repeatedly shown her that he was worthy of her trust and respect.
She made good use of the time alone to finish going through the drawers and organizing a year’s worth of paperwork into neat, chronological piles.
While Duke had Jax, she decided to run next door to check in with Sierra about her books. She loved the idea of running a business helping people with their bookkeeping and taxes while she also worked for Tiffany. She could tend to her own clients at night after Jax was asleep. Between those two things, she should be able to support them since she wouldn’t have to pay rent or a mortgage.
“Thank you, Gran,” she whispered as she stepped into the glorious September sunshine. Across the parking lot, she spotted Duke and Jax. He’d seated him in the driver’s seat of one of the forklifts the ferry workers used to move pallets around. Jax had his hands on the wheel and was pretending to drive.
It was the sweetest thing McKenzie had ever seen, especially the way Duke was clearly enjoying it as much as Jax was. He looked up, saw her there and waved.
She waved back and then put her hand over her heart to let him know how much she appreciated him.
His smile warmed her all the way through.
She was in big trouble with this man, and it was getting “worse” by the minute.