Delinquent Daddy (10 page)

Finally, he lifted his face Their gazes met. "Does it matter?"

Ellie's already broken heart crumbled into dust. Tears rushed up her throat, but she choked them back with a fit of stubborn pride. She'd be damned before she let Boston Kincaid see her cry.

"No," she whispered, looking down at her hands. "I guess it doesn't." She blinked a few times. Her eyes burned but remained dry.

Silence grew thick between them. Boston returned to gazing out the window. Ellie stared at his back and swallowed 90

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

a lump in her throat that must've been her pride washing down her esophagus because the next words out of her mouth were, "Are you going to do it again?"

His shoulders tensed fractionally. The remaining ashes of her pulverized heart screamed out, begging him to say he was sorry and promise it'd never happen again.

She would forgive him.

In that moment, if he'd repented, she would've forgiven anything.

But he didn't. He hitched a shoulder and softly replied, "I don't know."

Ellie froze. Her blood turned to ice. "So...you're just going to keep cheating on me? Is that what you're saying?"

He whirled around at that question. "Cheating?" he repeated in confusion.

"Yes!" she wailed, throwing her hands in the air. "What do you call it when you're in a relationship with one girl and you go out and—"

"Wait a second," he interrupting, taking a step toward her.

"I never said
anything
to you to suggest we were in a relationship. I never made you any promises. What made you think this thing between us was exclusive?"

For a moment, she could only stare at him blankly. Was he kidding?

Then she glared and set her hands on her hips. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that we have been just
that
for the past seven months. You'd think after that much time, it'd be an unspoken agreement. You didn't have to
say
anything.

I gave you my virginity, Boston. I gave you—"

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"What does that have to do with—"

"It has to do with
everything
!" she squawked in growing alarm. "I gave you...I gave you—"

"Yeah, you did," he said. "You
gave
it. Willingly. I didn't force anything from you. I didn't demand or manipulate. And I
never
made you any promises. Damn it, Ellie. I thought you understood what was going on here."

She blinked in utter bewilderment. "I don't understand any of this."

Once again, he was unable to make eye contact. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his forehead until a red mark appeared. "Well, it still doesn't matter," he mumbled more to himself than her. "It's almost May anyway."

"May? What happens in May?" A terrible feeling crept up the back of her neck, making the little hairs jerk to attention.

He lifted his face and sent her an incredulous look. "I graduate," he reminded her. "I leave and go to Yale."

She shrugged. "So?"

"So..." He frowned, obviously not understanding her confusion. "You're staying here."

The fear that washed through her had her gazing at him in frozen horror. Suddenly, she understood everything. "Oh, I get it," she murmured on a nod. "You go. I stay. That automatically means it's over, huh?"

"Look, Ellie." He let out an uncomfortable sound. "You have your plans, and I have mine. You've always known what I was going to do. Why're you acting like—"

"I have to go," she said abruptly.

"Whoa," Boston said, reaching out to grab her arm.

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

She paused and stared up at him with her dry, burning eyes.

He shook his head in confusion. "That's it, then? You're just going to walk out. No goodbye, no nothing?"

Ellie snorted. She couldn't believe he actually expected her to be cordial. Then again, she didn't know why she was surprised by his assumption. He hadn't planned on trying to make a long-distance relationship work in the first place, which completely blew her mind. So obviously, she didn't know him like she thought she had.

"Gee," she sneered bitterly. "Let me think. You cheated on me and planned on breaking up in five weeks anyway. So, yeah, I'd say that's it." She glanced pointedly down at his fingers on her arm. "Let go."

His grip tightened. "Ellie."

As soon as she looked up, she realized it was a mistake.

The utter panic in his eyes had her melting. If he did anything, said one thing to get her back, she'd crawl into his arms and forget what a snake he was. And wouldn't that make her an utter fool.

"I..." he started and paused to lick his dried lips.

Ellie swallowed, waiting. Her crushed heart obviously didn't know it was broken, because it beat hard and fast in her chest, anxious to hear his words to bring them back together.

He wanted to say them. She could see it in his eyes. He didn't want her to go.

But he surprised them both when he disengaged his fingers and stepped back. "Goodbye then."

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Three weeks later, she was packing her dorm bathroom and preparing to head home for summer break when she came across her supply of tampons and realized she hadn't had her period in a long time...too long. Absolutely freaking out over the thought she might be pregnant, she'd raced to the drugstore and bought a home pregnancy test. When it came up positive, she rushed back out and bought another.

Three tests later, she finally admitted defeat. Sitting on her small bed, she wept.

It took two days to gather the courage to tell Boston. She remembered how chilly the breeze had been on her slow walk across campus to his apartment building. Her cheeks had been windburned; she had her jacket wrapped snuggly around her with her fisted hands buried deep in her pockets.

There were deep-purplish hollows under her eyes from lack of sleep when she knocked on his door.

Boston didn't look much better when he pulled it open. His hair was a mess, his clothes were rumpled, and his eyes were bloodshot. But the expression in his gaze when he caught sight of her had her hopes lifting. His face lit like he'd actually missed her as much as she'd missed him.

Had he felt more for her than he'd claimed?

But with his next breath, he seemed to pull taut, like he'd just reminded himself they were no longer together. His eyes frosted over and his lips tightened. "Ellie," he said in an icy tone.

She looked down but just as quickly lifted her head, demanding herself to be strong. "May I come in?"

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Delinquent Daddy

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She thought he might tell her no; then he shrugged as if it made no difference and stepped aside, letting the door swing open. His eyes were hard on her as she passed. Ellie went straight to his bed and sat on the edge before lifting her face.

Boston closed the door and leaned back against it, staring at her coldly. He made no move to sit.

Figuring if he wouldn't sit, then she couldn't either, Ellie scrambled back to her feet. For a moment, she merely stood there, wondering how she was going to do this. How was she going to tell him? It all felt too surreal.

When she'd first seen him in Mack's Burger House, she'd thought of him as something unattainable, someone she could never get close to. Then as time passed, and he talked her into that first date, it felt like she was living in a dream.

She was with Boston Kincaid. She couldn't believe it. But now it was over and she still thought of their time together as a dream.

The child growing inside her was real, though. She looked at the man with whom she'd shared so many intimacies. He merely glared back. Wincing, she knew, deep down, he wouldn't take the news well.

She hated the fact he blocked the door. She wanted an escape route handy.

"Well?" he demanded.

Ellie took a deep breath, but once she met his gaze, she had to drop her head.

"I'm pregnant," she said more to her feet than she did to him.

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Delinquent Daddy

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He didn't respond. For the longest time, she was unable to lift her eyes. When she managed to look up and gauge his reaction, she sucked in a breath. He was just staring at her as if he hadn't heard her, as if he was in a movie and someone had pushed pause. Then he blinked rapidly and frowned, shifting his gaze to her still-flat stomach.

He jerked from the door so suddenly she yelped. As he strode toward her with a look on his face that made her eyes go wide in alarm, Ellie stumbled a step back and would've tripped over her own feet and gone sprawling if Boston hadn't reached out and caught her. But once he had his hand on her, he yanked her close, melding their chests together.

"Boston!" she gasped.

He gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring. "You lying little—"

Ellie's mouth fell open. "
What
!? I..." The grip he had on her wrist, which was only tightening, had her grabbing his shoulder. "Stop!"

He blinked at his hold and let go abruptly enough that she fell back. He looked so shocked he'd actually hurt her, he could only gape for a moment. But he shook his head, his face turning an angry red.

"You would stop at nothing, wouldn't you?" he growled.

"Well, let me warn you now, Ellie. Trying to get me back by faking a pregnancy is a real bad idea."

Ellie gaped and stuttered, "Wha-wha-what?" How could he actually think she was lying?

He looked away and snorted. "You make me sick."

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Ellie's hands fisted at her sides. She wanted to go to him and shake, slap, or pound some sense into him. But she just stood there, stewing. How dare he think she'd made this up?

Straightening her shoulders, she leveled him with a lethal glower and stiffly said, "If you don't want anything to do with the baby, that's fine with me. I'd hate for my child to have a cheating jerk for a father anyway."

With that said, she moved around him and walked determinedly toward the exit. But just as she reached for the handle and began to open it, a palm reached around her and slapped the door shut. She stared at the closed portal and felt her rigid resolve slip.

Behind her, Boston hissed, "What's your game?"

Ellie swallowed and lifted her head a little as she still continued to stare at the door. There was no way she could face him right then. She just knew she'd cry if she did.

"I assure you," she said, proud there wasn't even a tremor in her steady voice, "this is no game."

"I don't believe you."

Ellie snorted. "That's obvious."

"Then why did you come here?"

Unable to take it any longer, she leaned forward and rested her cheek on the door panel. Pressing her hand against the cool surface and wishing he'd let her leave already, she whispered in desperation. "Please. Just let me go."

Boston touched her, and the gentle pressure of his hand on the back of her shoulder was her undoing. The first tear tracked down her cheek. She blinked rapidly, but instead of 97

Delinquent Daddy

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drying her lashes, the move only caused another droplet to fall.

"Ellie," he whispered. "Stop scaring the shit out of me.

What's going on? Why are you doing this?"

She sniffed in the rest of the tears and wiped at her face.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted, hauling in a deep, shuddering breath. Finally, she turned and was satisfied to see he was beginning to appear unnerved. "I...it...It seemed like the decent thing to let you know," she said, and her voice broke. "So, I've done my job. Now let me out." She turned and wrapped her hand around the doorknob, but he only leaned his full weight against the door, moving closer to her in the process.

She closed her eyes, trying to block the feel of his warm chest against her back.

"I need proof," he said after a moment. "You're going to have to take a test."

Ellie laughed, a bitter sound. "I've already taken five. They were all positive."

That answer seemed to get through to him more than anything. He shuddered. Now that he knew she'd been just as disbelieving as he was, he had to know she was telling the truth.

"Well, you're taking another," he rasped.

Unfazed, Ellie merely shrugged. "Fine. Whatever."

"Right now."

Ellie looked up at him. "I said okay."

An hour later, he dropped onto his bed and cradled his head in his hands. Ellie stood frigidly by the door, torn 98

Delinquent Daddy

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between escape and going to him to share their mutual fear.

She'd just decided to move toward him when he lifted his face.

"Did you do it on purpose?"

She fell to a stop and tilted her head. "Do what?"

"Don't act innocent, Ellie," he growled. "Did you get pregnant on purpose?"

Her lips parted, emitting a disbelieving puff of air. "Why would I purposely get pregnant?"

"Oh, get real," he snarled. "You come from a rundown trailer park in Nowhere, Tennessee." While he came from money and security, neither of them had to add. "You probably thought you'd struck it big time when I fell into your lap."

For a full ten seconds, Ellie was too stunned to speak. She couldn't believe his crudity, couldn't believe he would think of her this way.

First of all, she didn't need his money. She'd done without, and she could continue to do without. Secondly, she didn't see how she could have even dreamed up a baby trap to keep him in the relationship when she'd had no idea the relationship had been about to crumble. And thirdly, how could he think she'd do something so underhanded as to trick him? Didn't he know her at all after eight months?

There was no way she'd bring an innocent child into the mix if she thought there was any kind of trouble in paradise.

What followed was the biggest, longest, loudest argument she'd ever had with anyone. Names were called, accusations were made, feelings were hurt. Ellie tried to keep up, but 99