Page 10 of Securing His Family
Reed rinsed the last dish and placed it in the strainer. “It wasn’t a lot, Ren. I wanted to do it.”
How much did he tell her? He didn’t want to scare her off by saying everything he was feeling. Not to mention he’d shortened her name again, and the first time he’d done it, she hadn’t liked it. The simple fact was the name slipped off his tongue as easy as being in the same room with her. The corners of her lips tipped up slightly, as if she was now okay with the nickname he’d given her.
“I’m pretty sure you didn’t think when you woke up that at the end of the day you’d be sharing homemade pizzas with me and Charlee. Not to mention, having to deal with my ex.”
Her eyes shadowed at the mention of Patrick Stringer. Reed had been so occupied with spending time with both Lauren and Charlee that he hadn’t given his phone a thought. Although he did register the times that it had vibrated in his pocket, but he hadn’t wanted to pull it out and look at it. That would have been rude.
Now though, with her mentioning Patrick, he wanted to, but first he needed to let her know that he really was okay with how the day had turned out.
Reed took the tea-towel from her, placing it on the counter and rested his hands on her shoulders so she had no option but to look him in the eye. “I wouldn’t change one thing about today. Not one thing. I enjoyed every minute of it, especially dinner with you and Charlee.”
Fuck, he wanted to lower his head and kiss her. Taste her lips. Show her that he hadn’t been talking through his ass. That everything he’d said was the truth. But he couldn’t, so he’d shoved the urge aside.
“I don’t know what to think, Reed,” she said on a sigh. “You’re almost too good to be true. And you know what they say about things like that.”
“They’re likely not to be true.”
“Exactly. It’s not just me, Reed. It’s Charlee. We’re a package. You can’t have one without the other.” Lauren stepped away. “Oh God, what am I saying? Nothing about this is real. The only reason you’re here is because of Patrick. If he hadn’t turned up at the café, you would be at your place, not here.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but it did happen and here I am. Willingly, by the way. You didn’t force my hand. Didn’t demand I follow you home. And I know you well enough to know that you didn’t coach Charlee to ask me to stay for dinner.”
“I would never do that,” she gasped.
“Right. So, you can forget any thoughts you have that I was pressured into doing something I didn’t want to do.”
Even after all he’d said, she still looked unconvinced, and Reed wasn’t sure what else he could say that would assure her what he said was the truth.
“It’s probably best that you go. Patrick hasn’t turned up. And I’m guessing that he will probably give up now that he didn’t get his way.”
Was she crossing her fingers behind her back? Because he could totally see her doing that.
“Do you really think so?” he asked.
Lauren shrugged. “He never showed interest in Charlee from the moment I said I was pregnant. I did it all on my own.”
Something she’d said earlier tweaked in his mind. “You said he had no rights. Did he give them up? Do you have that in writing?”
If there was proof that Patrick had signed away parental rights, then that would definitely be in Lauren’s favor. If it was just a verbal agreement then it would be a different matter entirely.
Her gaze slid away from his, and his stomach dropped. He had his answer. All signs were pointing to a verbal agreement not a written one. “He did sign a piece of paper but it wasn’t written up by a lawyer. It was something I wrote up.”
Not as bad as he thought it could be, but if Patrick was belligerent and determined enough to get his hands on Charlee, he could argue that it wasn’t a true and legal binding document.
“It’s still something,” he said quietly. He needed to tell her. To let her know he’d asked Wilt to investigate Patrick. If they were going to go through this together, and he was determined they would, he had to be truthful with her. “Come let’s sit and talk.”
He held out his hand and hoped like hell she’d take it. A breath whooshed out of him when her fingers closed around his. Warmth stole through his bloodstream and every protective molecule in him roared to the surface. He would do whatever he had to, to make sure no harm came to the woman in front of him. Or to her daughter.
Before he sat, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. Amongst the notifications was one from Wilt. He’d open it after he’d told Lauren what he’d done.
“You’re looking very serious, is everything okay?” Lauren asked.
“Yeah.” He paused and gathered his thoughts. “Look, I did something while I was waiting for you to get Charlee from her friend’s place.”
A flash of fear crossed her face and he cursed himself for causing her to be afraid. “What did you do?”
“I asked Wilt to look into Patrick. Find out anything he could about the guy.”
“Why?”
