Page 108 of Can't Win 'Em All
Haskins balked at my tone. “I don’t know who the baby belongs to. Just that he was going to force someone’s hand regarding a baby.”
I met Cora’s gaze over the table.
“Go,” she said, correctly reading my mind. “We’re done here. Make sure Ruby is safe. I’ll be in touch when it’s time to drop the hammer on Ryder. We’ll do it as a family.”
I nodded. “I’m looking forward to that.” I started toward the door, then hesitated. “Come with me,” I said to Cal. “I just want to make sure I have backup when I get there. You know, just in case.”
“I’m on it,” Cal said. “In fact, I really hope he’s there so we can mess him up.”
That made one of us. Hurting Ryder wasn’t the outcome I was looking for. Happily ever after was. “I want this over with. Today. No matter what.”
28
TWENTY-EIGHT
Icouldn’t stop smiling.
Yes, I knew I was acting ridiculous. I wasn’t a teenager enjoying the first blush of infatuation. I was a freaking adult. Heck, I was having a child with this man. I’d gotten pregnant after a drunken one-night stand. Or, well, it was supposed to be a drunken one-night stand. It had turned into something else, though, and I’d never been happier.
And wasn’t that a sobering thought?
I was thirty-five years old—I would be thirty-six two months after the birth of my baby—and I was finally happy for the first time in my entire life. Rex had done that for me. Okay, I’d done some of it for myself. Since getting pregnant I’d given a great deal of thought about what I wanted. It had forced me to stop being so wishy-washy and instead define my goals and dreams. Rex was still the main source of my happiness.
When I thought back to my teenage years, how annoying Rex and Zach were with their booger flicking and booby ogling, it gave me pause. How had I ended up with the guy who called me Booby Ruby? The question had barely bubbled up when I realized Rex had dropped the nickname as soon as we slept together. It had disappeared into the ether.
Like your preconceived notions regarding him being a booger flicker,I silently added.
Okay, the booger flicking thing was still gross. I had it on good authority—Olivia actually—that flicking boogers was a normal boy thing. It was something they didn’t outgrow until they were teenagers. I was still on the fence whether that was weird or not. What was weird was I’d decided it was something I could overlook. Sure, he didn’t still do it. The memory still haunted me.
And yet still Rex was worth the booger flicking memories. That made me smile as I set about making oatmeal for breakfast. Rex had promised to bring me a snack later, so I wasn’t worried about getting my grease fix. It would simply happen later.
I hummed to myself as I carried my bowl to the living room, content with the idea of watching something mindless on Hulu, and then there was a knock at the door. I knew it wasn’t Rex. He had a keycard, although he still knocked before using it. There was something soft about the way he knocked. This knock was full of bad energy and back hair.
I already knew who it was before I opened the door. A smart person—I was smart but occasionally liked to push the envelope—would’ve pretended I was elsewhere. I couldn’t stop myself from facing off with him, though. It was just too darned tempting.
“Father,” I drawled as I took in Dad’s wan features. He didn’t look as if he’d slept. His hair was greasy, his suit rumpled, and there were dark circles under his eyes. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“Nobody needs the prissy act.” Dad pushed past me without being invited inside my suite. Up close and personal, he smelled like disappointment and B-team showgirls who worked off Strip because they weren’t talented enough to work on Strip. “Are you alone?” He scanned my living space.
“Rex is doing something with Mom,” I replied as I retrieved my oatmeal and sat on the couch. I was surprisingly calm despite the fact that Rex considered my father dangerous. Speaking of Rex, he was going to be mad when he realized I’d let my father into the suite.
Ah, well, this felt like a conversation that had been a long time coming.
“I didn’t realize your mother was shopping for dates in the juniors section,” Dad sneered.
“I think you have her confused with yourself.” I spooned some oatmeal into my mouth and regarded him, my mind moving a mile a minute. Did he know that they’d brokered a deal with Chet Haskins? Did he realize that his last shred of hope at reclaiming his position in the company—something that wasn’t going to happen regardless but definitely wasn’t going to happen now—was gone? Did he realize we knew exactly what he’d been up to?
I wasn’t afraid of my father. Not physically. Rex’s words regarding desperate people echoed in my head all the same. What if I’d misjudged my father? How much trouble was I in here?
“How is Claire?” I asked, opting to buy myself time. “Are you two … getting along?”
Dad shrugged. “They’re going about how I expected.”
I wasn’t certain how to gauge that response.
“She’s not happy,” he added out of nowhere. “Apparently, my lack of funds is a dealbreaker. She’s staying with her mother right now … and cursing my name.”
I studied his profile. “Are you sad about that?”
