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Marcus felt an unfamiliar stab of hatred towards the unknown man. Of their own volition, his fingers lightly traced a path along her back and to her hair. He twisted them into the dark strands and felt her shiver in hungry response. “Katie, I don’t want to hurt you.” Guilt knifed him. He didn’t want to hurt her, but the saner part of his mind knew that every moment he didn’t tell her who he really was meant she was less and less likely to ever forgive him.
“I know.” She didn’t know how she did, but she did. She felt an enormous amount of trust for this man she had just met.
“Who was he?”
Hey pale eyes flashed with pained memory. “I met him through friends. He was nobody, really. Just a tall, dark, handsome stranger that I fell head over heels for in a stupidly short amount of time.”
“And did he feel the same way about you?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “He did. For about three seconds, then he moved on to someone else to love with all of his heart.” Her laugh was without humor and she blinked her eyes firmly, as
if to ward off his memory. “So at least Maxie was conceived out of love, even if it was just a flash in the pan.”
A muscle flexed in Marcus’s cheek. “And the father. Does he know? About Maxie?”
“Of course!” Her cheeks flamed. “I told him as soon as I found out. He might have been a chauvinistic pig who thought he was God’s gift to women, but I would never keep something like that from him.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Katie.”
“No, I know.” She let out a shaky breath, painfully aware of how good it felt to be held by this man.
“So where is he then?”
Katie frowned. “Spain, I think.”
“Spain, you think?” Marcus took a step away and ran a hand through his hair as fury sparked inside him. God, he’d known this woman for a few hours, and her son even less, and he was getting way too invested in their lives. But he couldn’t help it! “What the hell?”
“I guess he just wasn’t ready to be a father.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And you? Were you ready to become a mother?”
“No.” She smiled weakly in his direction. “But it was such a blessing in disguise. I can’t imagine my life without Maxie in it. So what if I had to curtail my own plans somewhat? I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Does he support you? Financially, I mean?”
She bristled. “That’s not really any of your business.”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
She flashed him an annoyed glance. “You can take it however you want. I don’t know you well enough to have this sort of conversation.”
She reminded him of a very beautiful, very cool princess, the way her face stared at him with a mask of unshakable composure. “When did he last see Maxie?”
She frowned at him. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in a gesture of defeat.
“What about you? I take it you’re not married?”
His quizzical glance spoke volumes. He had been wanting to ravage her senseless only moments ago. “Divorced.”
“Divorced.” She rolled the word around in her mouth, mentally filing it into the biography she was building of this drop dead gorgeous school teacher. “Any children?”
“So you are allowed to keep your private life private and I’m not?”
“Exactly. I’m glad you understand.” She eyed her guest carefully, and the butterflies in her stomach danced to a furious tune. She didn’t want this conversation to end. He was totally mesmerizing, and like a tiny bug, she was caught fluttering in his web. “Come with me.” She beckoned for him to follow and walked towards the kitchen, where she filled the kettle and placed it on the stovetop. “Tea? Coffee?”
He shook his head. “Scotch, if you have it.”
