room quieted and they were the only two people in it. The only thing she heard was the sound of their breathing. The way he stared into her eyes made her breath catch. She felt the rush through her veins.
The sound of silverware hitting the floor made her blink, and she realized Canyon still had her hand. She tugged and he released it.
“So, Keisha Ashford, are you an attorney or a paralegal?”
She lifted a brow. “Does it matter?”
He shrugged broad shoulders. “Not with me. I’m sharing a table with a beautiful woman and I’m not complaining about anything.”
She chuckled, appreciating his compliment. “You sound easy.”
“Um, maybe.”
A smile spread across her lips. She liked him. She had checked out his ring finger. It was bare, with no indication that a ring had once been there. “I’m an attorney.”
“So am I,” he said smoothly.
“I can tell. You look the part,” she said.
He leaned over the table and she drew in his intoxicating male scent. “Let’s meet later so you can tell me what you mean by that.”
Oh, she thought. He was good. As smooth as silk. Any other time, and with anyone else, she would have brushed off what was definitely a flirtatious come-on. But not today. And, for some reason, not with Canyon Westmoreland.
Instead of agreeing to his suggestion, she said, “Canyon is an unusual name.”
“Not according to my parents,” he said, smiling. “I was conceived one night in the Grand Canyon, so they felt my name fit. I understand it was one hell of a night.”
She tilted her head. “Your parents told you that?”
“No, but I heard them share a private joke about it every once in a while. It brought them fond memories for years.”
“And what do they think now?”
She saw a flash of pain flare in his eyes. “I don’t know. My parents were killed in a plane crash a little over fifteen years ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.
“Thanks. Now what about meeting me later for drinks? There’s a place not far from here. Woody’s.” He glanced at his watch. “Around five. Hopefully, if we win our individual cases, we will have reason to celebrate.”
She smiled. “That would be nice. I’ll be there.”
He tipped his head and the smile that spread across his lips was priceless...and sexy as hell. “Good. I’ll look forward to later, Keisha Ashford.”
She swallowed as his gaze raked over her in a way that had her skin scorching. At that moment she was drenched in full awareness of him and could only respond by saying truthfully, “So will I....”
“Mommy.”
Keisha’s thoughts returned to the present at the sound of her son’s voice. He had been busy playing with one of his toys while sitting in his car seat. Beau was just as high-spirited as any other two-year-old and typically never stopped talking except when shoving food into his mouth. But today things were different. She couldn’t help wondering if Canyon’s presence had something to do with it.
“Yes, Beau?”
“Dad gone?”
Was that disappointment she heard in his voice? Moving here from Texas had been hard for him. Her mother had become a regular fixture in his life and the first months away from his grandmother hadn’t been easy. Beau had made her fully aware what tantrums were about.
“He’s in the car behind us.”
She looked in the mirror and saw Beau trying to twist his body around in his car seat. “Why?”
She lifted a brow. “Why?”
“He not here. Our car?”
Keisha felt a headache coming on and knew after Canyon’s visit she would have to have a talk with her son. “Because he has his own car.”
“Go home with us?”
“Yes.” Too late she realized how that sounded and quickly moved to clear it up. “He has his own home. Not ours.”
“Not our house?”
“No, not our house.”
He didn’t say anything, but went back to playing with his toy. When they got home she would feed him dinner, give him a bath and then let him have a little playtime before putting him in bed. When it came to bedtime, she was lucky. Beau didn’t have the issues some other kids did with fighting sleep. He eagerly went to bed each night as if it was his God-given right to get eight hours or more of sleep.
She glanced back into her rearview mirror at the car still following closely behind her. Her gaze connected with Canyon’s once again.
She no longer loved him, she was sure of it. Her love hadn’t dissipated immediately but in slow degrees. And just to think—she had planned to tell him about her pregnancy when she had returned home early and found him with Bonita.
She broke eye contact to face the road ahead, which is what she’d been doing since that night. And she didn’t intend to look back again.
Moments later she was pulling into the driveway of the home she considered hers. The community was a new one, and most of the families were progressive couples or singles with small children. She’d already joined the homeowners association and knew several of her neighbors. It was a friendly neighborhood and she enjoyed living here.
She brought the car to a stop and then got out. She had moved around to the side of the car by the time Canyon got out of his. She glanced over at him and said, “I really wish you’d wait and talk to me at another time.”
“We don’t always get what we want, Keisha.”
Feeling frustrated and annoyed, she narrowed her eyes at him and opened the door to get Beau out of his seat.
“I’ll do that,” Canyon said.
She stepped aside to let him, not wanting to make a scene in front of Beau. However, the main thing she intended to do when they talked was to make it absolutely clear that while he might be Beau’s father, she would not allow him to bulldoze his way into their lives.
Pulling her keys from her purse, she moved up the walkway to her front door. Canyon followed with Beau in his arms. She was tempted to remind Canyon once again that Beau could walk, but decided to keep quiet for now.
The moment she opened the door, Keisha knew something was wrong. For starters, the chime from her security alarm didn’t sound. And when she took a step inside and glanced around, she gasped in horror.
Someone had broken into her home.
Three
