‘I don’t know a lot about the history between you, but what I do know is that you willneverbe like him. There’s no chance of that,’ she said, running her hand down his jawline. ‘For starters, I won’t let you.’ She smiled softly. ‘But the fact you worry about it tells me that you would never allow it yourself.’ They stood in silence for a while, and Kenzie could see the sadness still lurking in his eyes. ‘Maybe you could talk to him? Get it out in the open once and for all? Find out why he is like he is?’
Ewan gave a harsh laugh. ‘Yeah, nah. Callum Campbell would rather cut off an arm than talk about his feelings.’
‘It wouldn’tbefor his benefit. It’d be for yours.’
‘I have no idea why I brought all that up just now. Let’s put it down to the fact both you and your daughter have been bringing up a lot of emotions in me over the last few weeks, and it’s turning me into a bit of a wuss.’
‘Maybe it was just about time that you realised you had them,’ she pointed out dryly.
‘Well, now that you mention it, Idofeel some emotions building up inside me,’ he said, kissing the side of her neck and making her chuckle.
‘Well, by all means, let’s get them out in the open,’ she said, lifting her T-shirt over her head and watching his eyes darken with desire.
Thirty-five
The next morning, after another late start thanks to their newly discovered, never-satisfied hunger for each other, Kenzie walked into the library. As she juggled her laptop and briefcase, she came to an abrupt stop when she heard voices and peeped around the corner to find Vera and two other women in deep conversation as they leaned over what appeared to be blueprints.
Kenzie quietly backed away so as not to disturb them and glanced at her watch.Damn.She had five minutes to set up for her meeting. She headed back down the hallway, and her eyes fell on the door to Callum’s den.
She really didn’t want to set up in her bedroom; she needed to present a professional image to her clients, and as beautiful as her bedroom was, it was still a bedroom, and there was no desk to work on.
She lifted her hand and gave a timid knock, before cautiously opening the door and peering inside. It was thankfully empty.
Biting her lip, she carefully deposited her laptop and bag onto the large desk and looked around. Technically, she didn’t think there’d be an issue using the office—Vera had offered her the use of it the other day—but it definitelywas nother first choice.
There was a heaviness about the room she didn’t feel comfortable with. But she didn’t have time to go in search of a better option, so she quickly set up and managed to smooth her hair down moments before the meeting connected and her clients came up on the screen.
An hour later, Kenzie disconnected from the meeting and began finalising her notes, feeling a spark of excitement as she jotted down some of the ideas she had to put together in the detailed plan for the bride-to-be. She always loved the initial planning stage—brainstorming the ideas and themes the clients were envisioning and bringing them to life.
She itched to be back in her own office, where she had access to her inspiration boards with fabric swatches and colour palettes. Since she wasn’t supposed to have been away this long, she hadn’t brought any of her things along, and now she regretted it. It was only for another few days, she told herself, closing her notebook with a sigh once she’d finished her notes and starting to pack up. She put her laptop, notebook and pen into her bag and stood up, but turned back when she heard something fall behind her.
Her bag had caught the small pile of papers that she’d carefully pushed to the other side of the desk earlier, and sent them raining to the floor.
Kenzie muttered a small oath before kneeling to gather them up, hoping they weren’t in any special order as she scooped them into a new pile and stood up. She flicked through, looking for numbers on the bottom of the pages while trying not to actually read anything, feeling uncomfortable that she was invading Callum’s privacy. But she stopped shuffling the pages when her daughter’s name jumped out from the page at her.What the hell?
DNA Paternity Test Report.
The page listed Ewan’s and Poppy’s names as persons participating in the test. She turned to the next page and found the heading: results of the paternity test and a chart with a table listing columns of long numbers and letters strung together. At the bottom of the page, she found a statement of results in a box where she skimmed the scientific explanation, her gaze locking on the words towards the end stating thatthe alleged father is excluded as the biological father of the tested child.Next to the statement, in a small box were the words:Probability of paternity 0%.
What the actual fuck?
Kenzie continued to stare at the document in her hands. A barrage of thoughts raced through her mind:Paternity test? When was it done? Ewanisn’tPoppy’s father? They took a sample from my daughter without permission …
That last thought snapped her out of her shock faster than a bucket of iced water over her head could have.They took a sample from my child.
Howdarethey do a DNA test behind her back.
Kenzie heaved her suitcase up onto the bed and began gathering her belongings. Her rage was palpable as she slammed drawers and dumped in clothing. Then she moved into Poppy’s room and did the same.
When she finished packing, she picked up both suitcases and then stopped.Shit.She didn’t have a car. Kenzie let out a barrage of swear words, which would have earned her a mouth washed out with soap from her grandmother, and looked for something to kick. Before she could decide between the bedframe or the antique dollhouse, Ewan came to the doorway wearing a concerned expression.
‘Are you okay? I heard banging.’
Kenzie glared at him, too angry to string together any kind of intelligent reply.
‘Kenzie?’ he asked, taking a step further into the room, his concern seeming to deepen.
‘We’re leaving. Poppy and me. Today.’
