told him old insecurities die hard. She’d never really known if he’d dated her and bedded her in high school to get revenge on her father. It might have started that way, but in the end, he’d been tied up in knots over her. And what had she done? She’d been loyal to her family and she’d left.
How could they ever raise a child together when they didn’t trust each other?
“Trust goes two ways, Riley,” she said. “We’ll get that DNA test.”
“I know a good pediatrician my sister uses. I can probably make an appointment for tomorrow.”
“Next day maybe?”
He was about to make a comment about postponing the inevitable when she held up her hand. “I don’t think I can face my parents tonight. I called The Purple Pansy Bed and Breakfast and Mikala’s aunt, Anna Conti, has a suite free. I’m going to take Derek there for tonight. I’ll go to see my parents in the morning.” Mikala had been one of their high school classmates.
“Wait a minute.” Riley held the baby a little tighter. “You just got here. I don’t know how long you’re going to stay, and I deserve a chance to be with my son. You don’t even have the supplies you need, do you? Diapers? Formula?”
“I packed enough diapers and I’m breastfeeding. I do have some formula, too. I came prepared.”
Brenna was that type, usually always prepared. He could see how that would be a good trait as a mom. “All right, so you have what you need. But I need time with him. Stay here tonight until we figure things out.”
She went completely still and he could see she was trying to gauge his level of sincerity. “You want to change diapers, too?”
“That’s part of being a dad, isn’t it?”
“It is, though a part a lot of parents like to skip.”
“Some parents skip out altogether. We both know that. That’s not going to happen here.” There was a very good reason he didn’t trust women. His mother had left Miners Bluff for the “good” life. Essentially Brenna had done the same. She wouldn’t go public with what they’d felt when they were young. She wouldn’t defy her parents and admit her feelings about him. She’d felt leaving was better than staying. He wondered if she knew that’s what had eventually led to him joining the marines.
This time, without any hesitation at all, she reached over and touched his thigh. Her fingers on his skin were a searing heat. “Riley, I didn’t mean to suggest—”
To his relief, Derek started fussing again. This time he was grateful and didn’t croon or rock. He wasn’t going to revisit his broken-up family life with Brenna. He wasn’t going to let her touch turn him inside out.
When she reached for Derek, Riley let her lift the baby from his arms to walk with him.
He was gripped by longing he didn’t begin to understand. He rose to his feet and with his best military voice, asked, “So will you stay here tonight? Stay here while you’re in Miners Bluff?”
Brenna seemed to weigh all of her options. Finally she responded, “I’ll stay tonight, then we’ll go from there.”
One night. He had one night to convince her he could be a proper father … one night to convince her he wasn’t and would never be like his dad.
Brenna had just finished fastening Derek’s diaper, when a tingle ran up her spine. Keeping one hand on Derek, she glanced over her shoulder and there was Riley, all tall and brawny and broad-shouldered … watching her. She felt hotter than she should have for May in Miners Bluff.
He came into the room and she saw he was carrying what looked to be a dresser drawer.
“What’s that?” She was still nervous about coming, still uncertain she’d done the right thing. The bad feelings between her family and Riley’s had caused their breakup in the past and could complicate their decisions now.
“Derek needs a bed. You can’t just put him beside you and roll over on him.”
“I would never—” She stopped, seeing the glint of humor in Riley’s eyes. He was trying to lighten the situation and she really did appreciate that. Why she was questioning her decision to come here, she didn’t know. Her life had been full of decisions. Leaving Riley had been heartbreaking, but it had been the right decision. Her career had been solid. One bad decision still haunted her, though. She’d become romantically involved with the wrong man—Thad Johnson—and had ended up emotionally bruised. But Thad had taught her men couldn’t be trusted … not any more than Riley, whose motives had always been in question.
“For a bed, it’s kind of hard, don’t you think?” she asked, trying to forget the past … at least, for the moment.
“Oh ye of little faith,” Riley said with a shake of his head. “Just watch.”
When he exited the room again, she watched all right. She watched the straightness of his spine and the play of his muscles under his T-shirt. His jeans fit him really well. She knew what he looked like without those jeans. That was the problem with staying here.
By the time she’d scooped Derek off the bed, Riley had returned with an armful of linens. First he took what looked like a mattress pad and folded it in half. Next he tucked a sheet around it and smoothed it out in the drawer, ensuring the surface was tight.
“What do you think?”
With Derek on her shoulder, she crossed to his side of the bed and stood next to him. Way too close, she decided, but that’s where the drawer was so she had no choice.
She pushed down on the makeshift mattress. “You’re inventive.”
“I was a marine.”
He hadn’t said much about being in the service, but at the reunion, she’d heard chatter before he’d arrived about his tours of duty, about his Purple Heart and Bronze Star. As they’d danced he’d explained about how he’d become Clay Sullivan’s partner in his wilderness guided tour business, about how he was glad to be home with his family. But their conversation hadn’t delved deeper than the surface of their lives. His dad had been an alcoholic. Had that changed?
She’d never really gotten to know Riley’s brothers and sister because their high school affair had been a secret. That summer after their high school graduation, Riley had wanted to go public with their relationship. But her dad and Riley’s dad had felt nothing but bitterness toward each other. She’d been torn by her feelings for Riley and her desire to leave Miners Bluff and become the independent woman she wanted to be—by her sense of loyalty to her family and her love for Riley.
Family and independence had won and she’d gone to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York with her heart aching, her appetite gone, her nights filled with dreams of Riley and what they’d had. Yet she doubted what they’d had, too. Had Riley really fallen for her? Or had he just wanted revenge on her father for what her father had done to his?
“Did you learn to cook in the marines?” He’d made them a quick supper of grilled burgers, oven fries and fresh green beans.
“I learned almost everything I know as an adult in the marines.”
That
