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He knew how to make a woman think he was everything she wanted, and Autumn had been no exception. She’d fallen for him hard and fast when he’d started showing interest in her. It was later, after she was pregnant, that she’d realized who he truly was.
“First,” Nash said, “it’s always our concern if a man is treating a lady with anything less than the respect she deserves. Don’t get me wrong, some women are just plain mean, but even then you never lay a hand on them.”
“I don’t need a lecture from a country hick like you. Fuck off.”
“Nick!” Autumn was mortified at his behavior.
“It’s all right.” Ford ran a hand down her spine. “We can see he’s an asshole. It’s written all over him.” He lowered his hand and stepped into Nick’s space. “Don’t ever speak to my brother like that again or I’ll mess up your pretty face.”
She had no reason to laugh, but it was there when Nick actually spluttered. And then someone else noticed them, and she had nothing to laugh about.
“Dad?”
Chapter23
Because he was looking at Autumn’s ex, Ford saw he showed no reaction to hearing his son call him dad. He just shot Ritchie a pissed-off look, then refocused on Ford.
Leaning into the douchebag’s space, Ford said, “You be nice to that boy and his mother, or when you leave this town, it will be with a few less front teeth.”
Stepping back after the man got his message, he stood with Nash as Autumn moved to meet Ritchie. The boy dodged around her and ran straight at his father.
“Hey there, Ritchie.” The man patted the boy’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around his dad’s legs and hugged him close.
“Why are you here, Dad?”
The asshole’s eyes went from Autumn to Ford and then to his son.
“I came to see you.”
“Wow, that’s cool. I haven’t seen you in ages.”
The boy was trying not to look too eager, but it was there in his body and the way he bounced up and down on his toes.
“Which is just plain wrong if you ask me,” Nash muttered. Ford agreed.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been busy. Important work to do.”
Nobody was fooled by that lie. Ford knew the guy didn’t do shit but live off his parents’ money.
Autumn was standing to the side, talking with Bailey and Aunt Jess now. But she kept shooting her eyes to her son, making sure he was all right, ready to step in if her ex did something. Just the memory of this man pulling her out of the rec center had his anger flaring again.
He’d been playing volleyball when he saw her running. Ford had watched Autumn reach the entrance and then saw the man grab her. He’d followed at a sprint.
“Let’s go, Ritchie,” Aunt Jess said. “We have a picnic to eat in the bleachers.”
The woman was married to Mr. Goldhirsh, and they looked an unlikely couple, but the few times he’d seen them together, Ford couldn’t doubt their love.
“This is my dad, Aunt Jess.” The boy looked excited, and Ford hated that his father didn’t love him enough. He’d grown up with loving parents but knew others who hadn’t. Clearly Autumn had not turned her son against his father as she could have.
He’d woken after a full night’s sleep again, and it was because of her. All this time he’d thought having a woman in his bed wouldn’t work because of his sleeping issues. Twice now Autumn had shown him different. Of course, there was also the sex.
Christ, the sex was good, but Ford knew it was more than that. He just wasn’t ready to work out what he felt for Autumn Harris yet.
She stood there uncertain, watching her boy. His eyes ran over her lovely body that he now knew intimately.
As if sensing him, she looked his way. Clearly his eyes held something—color filled her cheeks. She quickly turned away.
“I had a hunch that was the way it was,” Nash said into his ear.
