Grady cursed under his breath. “You deserve to know everything about me. I owe that to you, and if you choose to have nothing to do with me, it’s what Ideserve.”
“The baby wasyours?”
“It could have been.” Grady’s voice was a deadpan. “She sort of went through thecrew.”
“What did you whisper to her before her last jump?” Linx put a hand on Grady’s back and leaned against him, wanting to comforthim.
“That Paul had gotten her a ring, and that she’d better be sure whose baby she was carrying. I wanted her to stop lying. She picked Paul because he’s loaded, but he’s my buddy, and I didn’t want him to behurt.”
“You had sex with your buddy’sgirlfriend?”
“No, it happened before she hooked up with Paul. Then I tried to stay away, but she kept throwing herself at me. Hounding me, wanting to make me fight for her. You know how it is in the fire camp. It’s no excuse, and I shouldn’t have gotten involved withher.”
“I’m sorry.” Linx hung her head. “I don’t know what tosay.”
“Me either. We both effed up, and I’m going to fix it.” He ran his fingers through his thick hair andleft.
“What are you going to do?” Linx trailed after him as he jogged down thestairs.
“What do youthink?”
* * *
“What doyou usually do when you eff up?” Linx answered his question with aquestion.
He ran. Or he hid andwithdrew.
But that cowardly behavior was what had brought on this disaster in the firstplace.
“I fix it,” Grady declared, hoping his voice was firm enough. “I undo the damage, which means I want Jessieback.”
“I don’t think you should do anything about it.” Linx stepped back and studied him as if he were a sick puppy. “Jessie has a home, a very happy one. Her father teaches high school and is the town pastor. Her mother’s a homemaker and the church pianist. They love her topieces.”
Grady’s jaw tightened and a whirlwind stirred inside him. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to explode. “I never gave consent for theadoption.”
“You weren’t in thepicture.”
“Because you didn’t try hard enough to contact me and you lied to me.” He turned away from her. “Isn’t this more important than your hurtfeelings?”
“You wanted nothing to do with me.” Her eyes blazed and she clenched her fists. “You told me to leave youalone.”
“You didn’t have to take it literally. If it’s this important, you should have sent me proof. Or told me before the adoption was final. They have a grace period when you can change your mind.” His head throbbed as his pulse thundered behind his ears. “I’m sorry for being a jerk, but I can’t just stand here and let those two strangers, no matter how good they are, raise mykid.”
“You’re the stranger as far as Jessie isconcerned.”
“Thanks to you.” He strode toward the door. He had to put some distance between them or he’d say something hurtful. Seemed like she’d already taken the Pattersons’ side. No loyalty or concern for him—asusual.
“Where are you going?” Linx followed him “You can’t just go barging into Jessie’slife.”
He whirled around and glared at her. “I screwed up, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept this. All these years, you got to see Jessie grow up, got to be her friend, and I got nothing. Why did you wait so long to fessup?”
“I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you’d break up withme.”
“What’s there to break up?” He rolled his eyes and shook his head with frustration. “Last night, when I trusted you, you could have come clean and said something. Instead, you acted like the worst thing you ever did was steal mydog.”
“I didn’t want to ruin the mood.” Linx stopped in front of him, horning into his personal space. “But now I see you were playing a game with me. You’re right. We don’t have anything worth breaking up. Certainly not the “I hate you” sex. It’s sick. All of it. Go ahead and walk away. Now you knoweverything.”
He winced at the “I hate you” sex part. But then, he’d been determined to hurt her, too, for what he’d believed were her lies and blackmailthreats.
