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“I protect what’s mine.”
His fist barrels into his chest as his lips curl. He glares down at me like he’s not just talking about Ainsley. The hair on my arms rises, and my fingers run over the nape of my neck as my pulse speeds up.
“You didn’t protect me. Not when I was scared and alone and had to make the choice of a lifetime. Not when I was emotionally broken in the back room of a family planning clinic. Not when I was bringing an infant home and wondering how I was going to do this by myself. Then again, I wasn’t yours, so why protect me?”
“I fucked up.”
“You did, and now, you want to be the hero. That’s not how it works. You can say all the right things, but your actions are what count. You walked away a long time ago.”
He closes the space between us. The heat of his body pours off him, the fire of his conviction coming dangerously close. “I’m here now.”
I step back. There’s no way this man is going to come crashing into Ainsley’s life—my life—five years too late. Anxiety insidiously infiltrates my thoughts.
“How do I know you won’t hurt her again?”
“To me, family is everything. If you don’t know that, then you never knew a thing about me.”
I want to laugh at that comment. “Turns out, I know nothing about you, Luke.”
“We have a lifetime to get to know each other. Let me prove my words with my actions. I want to see my daughter.”
My hands rise and try to push him back without touching him. “You’re going too fast. I need to think this through.”
I make my way to the other side of the room, closest to the window overlooking Main Street.
When Luke banished me from his life and threw away his chance to be a father, I came back to this town to be safe. Greenwood Village has always been my home, the place where I planned to raise my daughter and keep her away from the hurt of the outside world.
I never wanted to do it alone. I wanted Luke. An eternity has happened in the time he walked away from me, and yet the years passed by in a flash. He might have given up on me, but I hunted him down because not only did he have a right to know he was going to have a child, but our child also deserved to have a father.
He threw her away before he even knew her.
Why now? Why hasn't he tried finding me before? Perhaps it doesn’t matter. This isn’t about me. He’s here, wanting to know her and not walking away.
I might hate this man, and yet I am so grateful to him. He gave me Ainsley. And no matter how I feel, the fact is, he’s standing here with the knowledge that he has a daughter, and he’s not running from it.
He’s demanding his presence in her life.
There are so many ways this could go wrong. I could stand to lose a lot. I could lose her. I could lose myself. Yet I have to do what’s right.
I turn around and face Luke, the gorgeous man who gave my daughter her beauty and—let’s face it—her whole personality.
“You’re right. I don’t know you, and while you might have created her, I can’t just have you barging into her life. She’s feisty, but she’s fragile. She’s still a baby in many ways. This could be too much for her.”
He swallows and walks toward me. His hands are open. His voice is softer than before. “I’m not looking to brand her like cattle. I just want to spend time with my daughter.”
His daughter.
“Okay.” My sigh is one of defeat for so many reasons. “The park. We can meet there. I’ll look at my and Ainsley’s calendar and tell you what works for us.”
The corners of his eyes drop, and his lip rises in anticipation.
“Jillian, this is only the beginning.”
That’s what I’m afraid of.
eight
THE GREENWOOD VILLAGE PARKis vast in space and unlimited in activities. Like a mini Central Park, it boasts a lake, a playground, baseball fields, and even a carousel. Living in a tiny town like this has its advantages, and this beautiful recreational area is one.
