“It would be for the best.” Her fingers touch her belly, and she rubs circles as she does.
“No.”
“Do you not care?” she asks. “What if they hurt us?” Her voice goes up in pitch, and I do everything in me to not cringe.
“I have someone with you, so don’t act like you are a victim here.” We get into the car, and she crosses her legs one over the other and scoots closer to me. Her hand lands on my shoulder and I turn to face her.
“We could do it right here, in this car.” Her hand slides down my shoulder to my chest. I capture it, stopping her from going any farther.
“That’s not going to happen either,” I state, pulling her hand free. When I look at Paige, I don’t see what I want. No, what I want is a cute little brunette with ink covering one leg and a pair of doe eyes staring back at me. I especially love it when those eyes are mad.
Paige is… well, Paige.
Needy.
Pathetic.
And not what I want.
“I would let you call me that again…” She pauses. “Lollipop.”
Dammit! That name slipped from my lips when Paige’s lips touched mine. I don’t really recall much else, but she let me nonetheless. I don’t tell her that name’s not reserved for her, that it’s for someone else. She turns back around when I give her no answer, and she doesn’t speak the rest of the way. I work on my cell until the car comes to a stop. When we get out, she steps closer to me and slides her hand in mine.
I pull free and she spins to face me.
“We are going to see our baby, Keir. Don’t you think you should at least act interested?” Her red lips pout, and I nod but don’t give her my hand back.
“I’m interested, or I wouldn’t be here,” I tell her as I open the door. She walks in and I follow behind her. After she checks us in, we wait for the doctor to call us through. When he does, she lays back on the bed with her shirt pulled up and the doctor starts the ultrasound. He asks a lot of questions, and she answers them all.
Did Sailor have to do all this by herself?
I hate that I know she did.
I hate that I never got to do this with her.
It’s my own fault, though.
I tried to not want her. To leave her be.
That was a mistake.
I wanted her from the minute I saw her in that club, and I still want her to this day. That fact is never going to change.
“It’s a boy. If you look right here, you can see…”
We both look at the spot the doctor points to.
Then Paige looks over to me, beaming. “It’s a boy! I told you. Aren’t you excited?” I give her a half-hearted smile and sit back.
The doctor asks more questions, and I tune them all out as I work out what I’m going to do.
How am I going to do it?
When I look back up at Paige and see her smiling as she looks at me and then the screen, I can see there’s hope there.
There is no hope left for Sailor and me.
I have squashed it with my stupidity.
And why would someone so perfect like her want me anyway?
I did kill her husband, after all.
But the fucked-up thing is, I’d do it all over again if it led me to her.
In a damn heartbeat.
Chapter Fourteen
Sailor
Keir has been quiet all week. I’ve only seen him twice, and today, I’m going out to his other house for the weekend. Well, Wren and I are. Our bags are packed when he arrives, looking devilishly handsome but also tired.
“She needs a few things.” I nod to where her portable crib, stroller, and a few other things are located. He goes over to the pile of items and studies them.
“She has a crib at the house already.”
“Oh,” I say, surprised by his words.
He looks around. “And clothes.” He glances at the bag, then back to me. “Do you need all this stuff?”
“Yes, but we can leave the bed.” He lifts two bags as I slide Wren into the stroller, she claps her hands as I give her a fruit stick to chew on. When I turn back to Keir, he’s already walking toward the door. “What’s wrong?” I ask, but he doesn’t look back, just gets in the elevator and goes down. I wait for him to come back up and it doesn’t take him long to return.
“Paige is in the car waiting for us.”
“Say what?” I ask because I must have heard that shit wrong. “Did you just say…?” I shake my head. Clearly not after everything that’s been going on would he have her anywhere near me, or our child, whom she clearly doesn’t like.
“She will be on her best behavior.”
“I highly doubt that. And I want to say I’ll stay here and let you take Wren, but I don’t trust that woman around my baby.”
Damn this all to hell! I shouldn’t go. Why would I choose to put myself in that situation? I know I don’t want to.
“Please come. The whole family is attending to meet Wren. They’re all looking forward to it.”
“If she starts, you’ll shoot her,” I say. Giving him as stern a look as I can. “Since you had no problem shooting my husband, I’m sure you won’t have a problem shooting that bitch.” He ignores my comment and reaches for the last bag before he walks to the elevator again and is waiting for me. We take the trip down in silence, and when we get to the lobby, Paige is sitting in his car, smiling our way.
Behind Keir’s car, Roberto and Joey are in another car. “I’m going to ride with them.” I turn the stroller and Keir follows me.
“No. With me.” He touches me, but I pull away quickly.
“That’s not going to happen. She is in there and I would like to not spend my afternoon with her if I can help it.”
Joey is out of the car and standing in front of me. I pull Wren out of her stroller and hand her to Joey, who willingly takes her, but he looks wary.
“She’s your niece, hold her properly.” I move his hand to adjust it and Wren smiles up at him.
“I’ll come with you.” Keir is right behind me. I move to face him and notice how close he is. Putting my hand on his chest, I look around him to see that bitch watching us.
“Your fiancée is waiting, and we need to move as it’s Wren’s nap time and I would like to read while we drive.” I give him a pointed look before adding, “In silence.”
Roberto has the car seat already set up. I take Wren back from Joey and strap her in. Standing back up straight, I shut the door, then turn to see all three sets of eyes are on me. I smile at all the boys and clap my hands. “Let’s go, this momma wants to swim.” It’s the one sad thing about living in the city, there are no pools with wide-open views to die for. I slide into the car, shut the door behind me, and watch as Keir says something to Joey before he makes his way over to his car, and her. They pull out first and we are not far behind them.
I do as I said I was going to…
… I read the whole way and it’s energizing.
We all arrive at the same time. Joey gets out and helps me with the baby’s things as Paige glues herself to Keir. As soon as I have Wren in my arms, who is waking up and due for a diaper change and bottle, Keir strides over with her heels clacking not far behind him.