lies and cheating, her mom had taken her own life. That was when dear ole dad had disappeared for good. Kelly had made a pledge then and there that she’d never let a man get close to her. And she’d kept up her resolve. Until Jace. She shook her head at the irony. The one man she’d made the mistake of trusting made her father look like a guppy compared to a twenty-foot shark. And look where it had gotten her.
Forcing the negative thoughts from her mind, she kissed Henry’s little head and walked toward the kitchen and the aspirin bottle. Her own head was pounding. After the last hour, she might take two. The very idea that Jace actually believed she’d been in jail was...laughable.
But she wasn’t laughing. The man apparently believed his own hype. He really did live in a world of make-believe.
She reached for the aspirin bottle and heard Matt talking to someone in the next room. Curious, she rounded the corner just in time to see Jace Compton step inside the small living room.
Immediate and total panic set into every fiber of her being.
“You, ah, left your purse in the truck.” He held the small bag out to her, his eyes glinting wickedly. “Practice makes perfect?”
She glared. She stepped forward and snatched the purse from his hand, and then turned toward the bedroom, hoping he’d go out the same way he came in.
“Kelly?”
She stopped. This was so not happening. Jace walked over to where she stood. His gaze focused on the baby in her arms before those green eyes pinned her to the spot.
“Who do we have here?”
It was here. The moment she’d dreaded since the day Henry was born. She looked down at the baby in her arms, hoping Jace wouldn’t see the panic that engulfed her.
“This is Henry,” she said and swallowed hard.
“Yours?”
She blinked more than once at his question. Apparently his manager hadn’t lied when he’d said he wouldn’t tell Jace about the pregnancy. He’d never even told Jace she called.
“Yes,” she finally answered. “He’s all mine.”
Jace looked at her, and then glanced back at the baby. Henry kicked his feet, blowing some of his best baby bubbles for the strange man.
“He’s cute,” Jace murmured. “How old is he?”
No surprise he would ask. She had to give him an answer. To avoid a reply might only increase his curiosity. “Four months.”
She saw the wheels turning in Jace’s head as he did the math and knew what conclusion he reached: Henry could be his son. He looked at Kelly again, as though searching for a different answer. His full lips were pulled into a straight line of contemplation.
“I’m Kelly’s brother, Matt.” Her brother grinned from ear to ear, obviously dying to talk to his hero. Kelly welcomed the interruption.
“Nice to meet you, Matt.” That killer grin spread across Jace’s face. He held out his hand and Matt shook it. Matt was so excited, it was as if he rose two feet above the ground.
“So Kelly says you’re living in Calico Springs now?”
Jace nodded, his eyes shifting toward Kelly for an instant and then back to Matt.
“Yeah. I bought an old ranch north of town. Have a friend who has been in horse racing for thirty years. I always wanted to have land and horses. He talked me into trying my hand at raising some thoroughbreds. There’s enough room to bring in some cattle later if I decide to expand.”
“Oh man, that’s cool.” Matt’s entire body vibrated in excitement. Matt pointed to a chair. “Can you stay a couple of minutes?”
“Sure.”
As they sat down, Matt asked, “Do you still throw a ball?”
“Oh, yeah. Any chance I get.” Jace’s heart-stopping grin reappeared. “I’d still be a wide receiver if the knee hadn’t gotten bent the wrong way. Do you play?”
“Yeah. Well, it’s just high school.”
“Hey, it’s where we all started. What position?”
As the football banter between the two continued, Kelly eased out of the room. She put Henry down in the crib, and then collapsed onto the small wooden chair by the door. When would this day finally end? Jace Compton, the lying, two-faced multimillionaire, was sitting in her living room talking with her brother, probably speculating if he’d just been two feet away from his own son. And from the sound of their animated conversation, the two guys shared a common interest. This was going to get worse before it got better.
She wouldn’t think it odd of the Jace she’d met last year. A regular guy. One who fit into the world she knew: a guy who loved cheeseburgers, hot rods and practical jokes. He’d been a decent, down-to-earth guy who’d talked of everyday things. No arrogance. No haughtiness. But it seemed unbelievable the suave wealthy superstar who traveled the globe would sit in an old house and enjoy conversing with a fifteen-year-old kid. It was as though Jace was two different people. In spite of everything, deep inside she still wanted to paint him as a good guy. But she knew he was anything but.
Breathe deep. She’d told no one the identity of Henry’s father, not even Matt. Infants didn’t resemble either parent enough for someone to see a resemblance. Did they? Most babies had dimples. Maybe she’d get through this.
To her brother, Jace was a true hero, a superstar both in his action films and on the football field. The chance to talk to the great Jace Compton one-on-one was beyond exciting. She got that. But she would exercise caution. Usually a fair judge of character, apparently she’d misjudged Jace once. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
The two voices filled the small space as Kelly grabbed dry clothes and headed for a hot shower. When she emerged some twenty minutes later, all was quiet. She saw the glow under her brother’s door and heard the faint sound of music coming from inside. She pulled the air deep into her lungs and blew it out as relief loosened the muscles of her neck and shoulders. Like a major storm that dropped down from the sky without warning, Jace had again breezed in and out, this time leaving no damage behind. But more storms would come. Jace wouldn’t let this go. She knew in her gut he hadn’t been convinced. He would think about it. Remember their time together. And he would be back.
* * *
As Jace drove through the small town square headed north toward the ranch, he couldn’t get Kelly and her baby out of his mind. His heart had dropped to his knees when he first saw the infant in her arms. The last thing he’d expected was for Kelly to have a child. Then the idea had hit him hard. Was he the father? He’d always been so careful. He didn’t want to have any kids. He knew all too well what the title of dad meant in his family.
To this day, he could still vividly remember the smell of burned grease and scorched onions that had filled every corner of the shoddy apartment above the fast-food joint where he and his parents lived when he was around ten or eleven. It
