face.
She remained frozen in place, not sure what to do. Should she turn around and run? What was his reaction going to be? It wasn’t like she really knew him. They’d shared only a single night together, a passionate night fueled by a little too much alcohol and loneliness. It had also been a foolish night without birth control or protection.
He said something to the others in the group and then slowly climbed the stairs to where she stood. Her heart beat a million miles a minute as he drew closer.
He was just as handsome as she remembered, with his light hair, intense blue eyes and well-defined features. She held her breath as he finally reached her.
“Avery,” he said in greeting.
“Hi, Dallas. It’s been a while.” Good Lord, this was definitely the most awkward moment she’d ever experienced in all of her thirty-three years. His gaze once again lingered on her very pregnant belly. “Uh...yes,” she said, answering what she knew his question might be.
He shifted from one foot to the other, as if at a loss for words, and his face instantly paled. She had only a couple minutes left before she needed to be in her seat in the courtroom. “Uh, it’s nice to see you again,” she said. “I need to get inside.” She turned toward the door, but he stopped her.
“Avery, obviously we need to talk.” He pulled his wallet out of his black slacks’ pocket and drew out a business card and handed it to her. “That’s got all my contact information on it. Could we maybe meet somewhere later today, after you’re finished here?”
“I’m hoping this case goes to the jury around noon. I could meet you at JoJo’s Java after that.”
“That would be good,” he replied soberly.
“I really need to get inside now.” This time when she turned toward the door he didn’t stop her.
It wasn’t until she went through security and walked toward the courtroom where the trial was taking place that she finally drew a deep, unsteady breath.
What a shock, to suddenly see the man who had been only a memory in her thoughts for the past seven and a half months. He had looked as handsome as he had on the night she’d first met him. His slacks had fit perfectly on his slim hips and long legs. The gray dress shirt he wore had loved his lean muscles and broad shoulders.
Now that he knew she was pregnant what would happen? Would he really believe he was the father? She’d certainly fallen into bed with him easily enough; would he believe she did that with other men, as well? He was the one and only man she’d been with for a very long time. If he wanted a DNA test, she would understand and she would gladly comply.
She was pleased that he knew. As the father he had a right to know. If she’d known how to contact him she would have done so when she had first found out she was pregnant.
Would he want to be a part of this? Would he want to be an involved father? Or would he disappear once again and have nothing to do with her? As far as she was concerned he didn’t owe her anything. She’d been foolish enough to have sex without protection and it had been her choice to have the babies.
She looked at the card he had handed her. Dallas Colton. His last name was Colton. That name was certainly a familiar one in Whisperwood, Texas. The Cowboy Heroes were a horseback rescue team that ventured into disaster zones and rescued the stranded, and several of the Colton men were a part of it. They were both EMTs and ranchers, and all of them were specialists in search and rescue.
Most recently they had been instrumental in saving lives when Hurricane Brooke had roared through the small town, leaving behind destruction from high winds, flooding waters and the horrific tornadoes that had been spawned by the storm.
She reached the courtroom and took her place on the prosecutor’s side of the room. She opened her briefcase and tucked the business card inside one of the pockets, and then withdrew the papers she would need for the day.
As the courtroom began to fill, she tried to get her mind off Dallas. She had to focus on the task at hand, prosecuting a dope dealer, but her mind continued to fill with memories of the night she had shared with Dallas.
She’d gone to Bailey’s Bar with her best friend, PI Summer Davies, with the intention of drinking her stress and sorrow away. She had still been deeply grieving her brother’s death and she’d been working on a case that had included her receiving death threats.
She’d already had a couple drinks when he’d walked in. He’d been one hot piece of eye candy clad in his army uniform, and when their gazes had met a sweet heat had rushed through her. Eventually Summer had left the bar, but Avery had stayed and the handsome army sergeant had approached her.
He’d told her he was on leave and in town visiting relatives. She didn’t ask who the relatives were, and he didn’t offer any names. Instead they had shared more drinks and talked about nothing too important.
The sexual energy between them had been off the charts and that night she had done something she’d never done before. They had left the bar and gone to the nearby motel, and there she’d had a one-night stand.
She’d awakened the next morning with a desire to get to know him better, to build on their incredible physical attraction. However, he’d told her in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing more from her. She’d left the motel and had never seen or heard from him again, until now.
Forrest Colton was a witness in the trial and that meant Dallas was probably going to sit in the courtroom. She couldn’t turn around. She didn’t want to see him right now when she had such an important job to do. But it was a bit disquieting to realize he’d be watching her.
“All rise.” The bailiff’s deep, loud voice yanked her from her thoughts. It was definitely time for her to focus on her job. Dwayne Conway was a punk, a thug who had sold pain pills and a rock of cocaine to an undercover cop. Forrest Colton had witnessed the illegal transaction and would be called to the stand to corroborate the cop’s story.
Dwayne was low-hanging fruit of a rotten tree that grew in Whisperwood, a tree of drugs and corruption that was getting bigger and bigger every day. Avery was on the front line of the fight to get all drugs, especially the deadly heroin, off the streets of the town she loved.
Just as she had figured, it was eleven thirty when she made her closing arguments, and by noon the case was given to the jury.
She and the defense attorney met with the judge for a few last-minute paperwork details and then she was free until the jury returned with a verdict. Hopefully, that would happen fairly quickly and another bottom-feeder would be off the streets.
There was no sign of Dallas when she left the courtroom. She assumed he knew she would be heading to JoJo’s Java to meet with him.
As she headed toward her car in the parking lot behind the building, butterflies danced in her stomach. She’d scarcely had time to process the fact that Dallas was here, let alone that she was going to meet with him in just a few minutes.
The butterflies grew more active as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main drag. She’d fantasized about this moment for the entire seven and a half months of her pregnancy.
There had been no question in her mind that Dallas was the father. Before that night with him it had been over a year since she’d had sex, and that with a man she’d dated for only three
