by the second.
Her jaw tensed even more. “I took a bullet three weeks ago. I was lucky. A quarter of an inch to the right and I would have been dead. My mortality is why I’m here. I’d never really come to grips with it before.”
The thought of her close brush with death caused a spasm of fear for her to race through him. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
Lisa read the honesty in his eyes. There was even a touch of warmth. That’s not going to last long. “Anyway, I realized that if I’d died…” She paused to swallow the lump that had again formed in her throat. “I never wanted to ask you for anything, but my mother is too old and not in a financial position to take on the responsibility of raising a child.”
Slade’s gaze narrowed on her. “Child?”
Lisa breathed a terse sigh. “Our son.”
He had a son. A surge of joy, pride and excitement he’d never expected to ever experience mingled within him. These emotions were followed by anger. “You had my child and weren’t even going to tell me?”
“You refused to open your heart to me. You’ve made it into a shrine to Claudette. I figured you wouldn’t want a child of mine. And I’m not asking you for anything for either of us right now. We’re doing just fine on our own. As long as nothing happens to me, you’ll never have to concern yourself about us. I just want your word that if anything does happen to me, you’ll see that Andy is taken care of.”
“You’re joking, right? You think I’ll just walk away from my child?”
Lisa was tempted to point out that he’d had no trouble walking away from her, but bit back the words. She didn’t want him to know how much he’d hurt her. “I didn’t come here to invite you into our lives. I came here because I want to know my son has a safety net.”
“Our son. And I intend to be a great deal more than a safety net to him.”
Lisa had convinced herself that while Slade would do his duty by Andy and see that the boy was looked after if anything happened to her, he would be perfectly happy to stay on the sidelines unless involving himself in Andy’s life became necessary. She had, in fact, been certain he would be grateful to her for not telling him she’d gotten pregnant and for allowing him to remain on his own. Apparently she’d been wrong on this point.
“Where is he? I want to see him.”
“He’s in Seattle with my mother.”
Slade caught her by the arm and began pulling her along with him toward the house. “I’m calling my commander and telling him that I need a few days off. Then we’re booking the first flight to Seattle.”
A spasm of pain from her healing wound shot through Lisa, but it was the way her body reacted to his touch that shook her to the core. After all this time he could still make her blood race. “Let go of me.”
Slade heard the edge of pain in her voice. Coming to an abrupt halt, he released her. “I’m sorry. I forgot you’d been shot,” he apologized gruffly. “This has been a shock.” His jaw hardened. “I know I’m partially to blame for you not coming to me when you discovered you were pregnant, but the boy’s my blood and I will do right by him and you.”
“I suppose you should at least meet him,” Lisa conceded.
Slade motioned for her to precede him into the house and Lisa obeyed. Like a physical contact, she could feel his eyes on her back. A warm tingling started at the nape of her neck and began to work its way through her. Silently she cursed. She wanted to be as immune to him as he was to her.
In the living room, the exhaustion from her trip mingled with her anxiety over facing Slade caught up with her and she sank down onto the couch while Slade punched numbers into the phone. Watching him, she was certain that once he got over the shock of being a father, his determined allegiance to Claudette would cause him to lose interest in a child that wasn’t hers.
“We heard you come in…” Katrina’s cheerful greeting died in her throat as she and Boyd entered the living room and she saw Lisa. Concern spread over her features. “Are you all right? You look pale.”
“I’m still recovering from a bullet wound,” Lisa replied, not wanting them to guess that Slade’s presence had anything to do with how shaken she was feeling.
Boyd took a stride closer. “You suffer any serious damage?”
“No.” She’d always liked Boyd. He was a kind man, strong and dependable…like Slade in a lot of ways, but without the dark brooding side created by Slade’s haunting past.
Boyd smiled with relief. “Glad to hear that.”
“You look like you could use something to eat. I’ve got a pot roast ready to be served. There’s plenty. Come join us,” Katrina coaxed.
Lisa considered refusing. But her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten all day. Reasoning that some of the effect Slade was having on her could be due to light-headedness caused by lack of food, she nodded gratefully. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that invitation.”
Boyd had been catching bits of Slade’s conversation. As his brother hung up, he turned to him. “Heard you tell the commander you were going to take some time off. What’s going on?”
Slade’s gaze came to rest on Lisa. “It seems I have a son I’d never have learned about if Lisa hadn’t had her brush with death.” His jaw hardened into a grim line. “I would have married you.”
Ignoring the surprised looks on Boyd’s and Katrina’s faces, Lisa met his gaze with defiance. “I wanted a man who loved me, not one who prefers to live with a ghost and would only marry me because I was pregnant with his child and he felt it was the only honorable thing to do.”
For a long moment Slade regarded her in stoic silence. Then, heading to the doorway, he said curtly, “I’ve got reservations to make and a bag to pack.”
Chapter Two
Seated on the plane a few hours later, Slade recalled how Boyd and Katrina had reacted to his news. They’d been shocked, but he’d seen the understanding in their eyes when Lisa had said she didn’t want a man who preferred to live with a ghost. His jaw tensed. He had his reasons.
Returning his thoughts to his brother and sister-in-law, he pictured them and Lisa at the dinner table. Lisa had been obviously uneasy, but Katrina and Boyd had done their best to make her feel less awkward. They’d even expressed excitement at having a nephew. His expression hardened. And the rest of his family had better behave as well or they’d be answering to him.
Pushing his family to the back of his mind, Slade studied Lisa covertly as the plane taxied down the runway, then rose into the sky. She was more pale than normal and he recalled how she’d winced when he’d pulled on her arm. “How did you get shot?”
She’d begun to wonder if he was even going to ask or if his feelings toward her were so shallow, he really didn’t care. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When I moved to Seattle, I decided to not join the police force. I wanted more flexible working hours so I started my own detective agency and hooked up with a couple of groups of lawyers, doing
