Delinquent Daddy (28 page)

She'd been out of the dating world for so long, she didn't even know the rules anymore, but going out with a man she'd known for a few years seemed like a nice safe place to start.

Besides, it was way past time to spend a little social time with an adult of the opposite gender.

Before she could rethink her decision, she said, "Well, I hope I'm going to dinner with you."

Though he hadn't been moving around to do so, Ted fell off the corner of her desk. He caught himself before tumbling all the way to the floor and straightened instantly, tugging his suit jacket back into place as he did. Then he stared at Ellie in blunt surprise before saying, "Really?"

She laughed. "Was that not what you had in mind?"

"No!" he blurted out before he realized how unstylishly he was behaving. Then he cleared his throat, fiddled with the knot of his tie. "I mean...yes, that's what I had in mind. A nice, quiet restaurant with a little wine and candlelight was exactly what I had in mind."

Slipping right into flirt mode, Ellie twined a piece of hair around her finger. "And what time will you be picking me up Friday evening?"

"How does seven sound?"

Seven o'clock. Boston would be gone by six with Cassie.

That would give her an hour to prepare. Perfect.

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"It sounds great," she answered.

"Then...great," he said, pitching his voice even lower as he grinned at her. "I'll see you Friday at seven." He turned to leave then but drew short at the last seconds, swinging back to eye her peculiarly for a moment. "Just curious, but what changed your mind?"

Ellie didn't figure she should tell him the truth—
it was
either you or no one, bud. Sorry
. Giving him one of those Mona Lisa smiles, she grinned and said, "I just thought that after all those mints you stole from my jar, you probably owed me a full-course meal by now."

His gaze slid slowly to her candy jar and then back to her.

She could see by the gleam in his eyes how her comment delighted him.

"Well now, ma'am," he told her in a silken voice, "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you get your money's worth."

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262

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Chapter Seventeen

Ellie gnawed on her bottom lip and stared impatiently at her wristwatch until the phone rang. She yelped, not expecting the sound, and pressed a hand to her heart.

It was finally Friday, the day for her big date, and Boston hadn't shown yet. Okay, to be fair it wasn't even six o'clock, but the man was usually so impatient to get Cassie, he showed up obscenely early to fetch her. But tonight, it was two till and he was nowhere around. It was as if he knew she had plans for once in her life and was doing everything in his power to keep her nerves rattled.

"Hello," she answered, hoping it wasn't Ted to cancel. After borrowing a dress from Nora, she was actually excited for a fancy night out.

"Ellie." The voice calling through the crackling phone lines sounded as if it came from a long distance. Her stomach tingled in apprehension. In the background, she heard traffic noise and occasional honking.

She pressed a hand to one ear, hoping to hear him better.

"Boston?"

"I'm sorry," he gushed. "I'm stuck in a major traffic jam on the interstate. There's some kind of wreck up ahead and no one is moving."

"Oh." Her shoulders dragged. Shoot. "Ah..."

"I'm only about ten miles outside Lawerence. But there's no way I'm going to get there by six."

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"Umm, okay." Damn. "Uh..." She wondered briefly what he wanted her to do about it. "So...do you know when you'll make it?"

"No, sorry." His apology sounded genuine. "Traffic was starting to move a few minutes ago, but now it's come to a complete stop again."

"Oh, well...all right then. I'll see you...whenever."

"You'll tell Cassie what's going on?"

"Of course."

"Thanks. See you in a bit."

After he hung up, Ellie continued to hold the phone in her hand. Biting her lip, she stared sightlessly at the wall.

Thinking this was probably the best time to prepare for her date, she hopped into the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Cassie was camped out in front of the mini television in her room, playing Mario Brothers with Keller, so Ellie took her time putting on makeup and doing her hair. She'd just slipped on her going-out heels when the doorbell rang.

Ellie glanced at the clock and let out a relived sigh. Yes!

Great timing. There were still twenty minutes before Ted was supposed to arrive. That gave her the perfect window of opportunity to get Cassie and Boston out the door before her date showed.

Boston started apologizing as soon as she opened the entrance. "I am so sorry about this, El. I left plenty early. If it wasn't for—" He stopped midsentence and took in her painted face, styled hair, and knee-length sexy black dress. "You're going out." He stated it as a comment, but the underlying question behind his words remained thick in the air.

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"That's right," Ellie answered. "I—" Stepping aside to let him in, she turned and yelled, "Cassie! Your father's here."

"Just one more minute," the girl hollered back. "I'm almost through this level."

Boston frowned at Ellie in confusion, and she rolled her eyes. "She and Keller are on the Xbox."

"Ah," he said; all the while his gaze moved down her dress and back up to her face. "So...is this, like...a date?"

Ellie eyes narrowed. "It's, like...none of your business."

"Then it's a date," he said.

"I didn't say that."

He looked amused when he answered, "If it was anything else, you'd tell me."

"No, I would—"

"It's not going to work this time, Ellie," he murmured, stepping closer. "I refuse to fight with you anymore. So, whatever you say in an attempt to upset me is just going to bounce off me unnoticed."

"I'm not trying to—"

"Though, I have to admit," he went on, conversationally, stepping in a circle around her to check out her backside,

"going out with someone else to make me jealous is working.

Very well."

"Arggg." She spun away from him and yelled, "Cassidy!"

"Just a
minute
," the girl roared back.

Determined to ignore her daughter's father, Ellie picked up a pair of earrings she'd left sitting on the coffee table. She turned to look in a mirror and became engrossed with trying to put them on.

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"You know I'm not doing this because of you," she grumbled to her reflection as she spoke to Boston. "In fact, if you hadn't been so late, I would've waited until
after
you were gone before I even started getting ready for tonight."

More in control of herself, she sighed in relief when the earring finally slid on. Then she whirled to face him. "So, there's no reason for you to think I'm trying to make you jealous, because I never intended for you to find out about it in the first place."

"Well, I'm jealous anyway," he said quietly.

The admission threw her off guard. This is what she hated most about Boston Kincaid. He never played fair. He always knew exactly what to say to draw her in.

Glancing away, she folded her arms over her chest, refusing to let his pretty words sway her. "That's not my problem."

"And if I make it your problem?" he countered, stepping closer.

She turned her face aside. "Boston—"

"I want to be with you, Ellie," he whispered, stopping her rejection short. "And I know you want it too. All I have to do it look into your eyes to see that you want—"

"Sex," she finished for him, turning to stare him directly in the eye.

Surprised by her cold, lifeless tone, he fell a step back.

"Excuse me?"

"We want sex," she said on an unconcerned shrug. "And why wouldn't we? It was always good between us. But that 266

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was never the problem. There's more to a relationship than just—"

"I'm well aware of that," he cut in. "And if you'd give me half a chance, I'll show you I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get it right this time."

"No," she said.

He growled and grabbed a handful of his own hair. "Damn it, Elora," he gritted out. "What do I have to say to convince you—"

"Nothing," she said, pacing across the living room to gain some space. "Trust me. You've said quite enough."

Boston froze and looked at her as if she'd struck him. The instant hurt she saw in his eyes made her want to apologize, but she kept her mouth stubbornly shut.

Then he snapped his fingers and smiled. "Ah..." he cooed, his gaze lighting with delight. "Now I understand."

Ellie plopped a hand on her hip. "And just what do you think you understand?"

"You're scared."

She laughed out a snort. "Scared? You think I'm going out on a date tonight because I'm scared?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yes."

"And what, pray tell, am I so scared of?"

"You're scared to believe it's the real thing this time between us. You don't want to trust it because last time hurt so bad. Well, let me tell you something, Ellie. I'm scared too.

I'm scared I'm going to do something else wrong, and I'll end up losing you and Cassie all over again. But I'm willing to take that risk.

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"You may think history is just going to repeat itself, but I can't believe that. Because I'm not the same person I was ten years ago, and you aren't either. Things change, people grow and mature. But other things stay the same, like the way I've always felt about you. I don't care how much you resist and run from it, it's still going to be there between us. I'm still going to be here. I love you, damn it, and I'll wait as long as I have to until you're ready to come around."

He loved her?

Wait.

"What?"

Totally not expecting that confession, Ellie dropped her mouth open. He seemed to realized what he'd just told her a half a second later when his own face filled with color.

He sucked in a surprised gasp. "Oh, God," he whispered.

He didn't retract his words, but the look on his face made her think he was going to be physically ill for confessing them aloud.

They stared at each other, both clueless as to what to say now.

The ringing of the doorbell had each of them jumping. Ellie yelped and turned in surprise.

Oh, no.

No, no, no.

That couldn't be Ted. He was way too early. She stared hard at the door and then glanced toward Boston. He stared right back at her. At her panicked look, he lifted his eyebrows. "Want
me
to get that?"

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"No," she said quickly. Too quickly. But God, no. There was no way she wanted him to meet Ted. Hell, there was no way she wanted to see the two men standing next to each other.

It'd be too obvious which one was better looking, better smelling, better everything.

"I got it," she mumbled needlessly. Boston trailed casually behind her. She sent him a brief back-off scowl before she reached for the handle. He didn't budge.

To her horror, it was indeed her date standing on the front porch.

"You're early," she blurted out. After glancing down at her wrist, she nearly groaned aloud. "
Really
early."

But Ted merely grinned. "I couldn't wait." He thrust a bouquet of bright lilies at her.

"Oh!" she said in surprise, noticing them for the first time.

"Ah...thank you."

"Ready?" he asked.

Ellie bit her lip. "Actually, no. I'm sorry, but not quite yet."

That was when Ted noticed Boston hovering slightly behind her and to the right.

His smile faded.

"Hello," Boston said, moving closer to Ellie in such a territorial way Ted actually shrank back a pace. "You must be the date." After scowling at the flowers, he sent Ellie a sideways look. "I thought roses were your favorite?"

She cleared her throat and shifted her weight with one foot to grind the heel of her shoes into Boston's loafer. The muffled grunt behind her made her glow.

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"Ted," she said, beaming at him as she showed him inside.

"This is Cassidy's father, Boston Kincaid. He's just here to pick her up for their weekend together."

Ted's shoulders relaxed. He actually smiled a friendly greeting. "Hey," he said and held at his hand.

As they shook, Ellie continued. "Boston, this is Ted..." Her face filled with color as Ted's last name completely escaped her memory.

Both men paused to stare at her. Boston lifted one mocking brow, on the verge of outright laughing.

"Barnaby," Ted supplied, his cheeks a bright tomato red.

Ellie snapped her fingers and smiled brightly at Ted.

"Barnaby, that's right." Starting to ramble, she said, "I don't know where my head is..." Probably still reliving Boston's
I
love you
over and over again. "I kept wanting to say Murdock, but, no, that's your partner."

"Partner?" Boston asked curiously. Ellie shot him a look to shut him up, but he completely ignored her as he stared at Ted with interest. "Are you a lawyer?"

"I co-own Barnaby & Murdock here in town," Ted was eager to report.

"The advertising firm?" Boston guessed.

Ted grinned. "That's the one. I go to Winston Young, Ellie's boss, for legal advice and I was in the office just the other day. I swear, I've been trying to get this little lady here to go on a date with me for well over three years now. I guess this was just my lucky week, huh?"