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“Nah, we met five years ago. We had a little thing, Gracie happened. I never knew. When I ran into you again, and I found out you had a kid, I needed to know if she was mine. Drew arranged to have someone fly to South Carolina while I was there to do the test. Turns out she is mine. I paid you a hundred grand in back child support and have been getting to know Gracie ever since the test confirmed I was her father. That’s why I was in Coleman in the first place. That’s why the photos got leaked and that’s why you’re here in Crescent Falls with me now.”
“Wow.”
His expression was intense and confident. “See how easy that was? If they ask, I say exactly that and keep it pushing. We don’t owe anyone anything. I’m a very private person. People know that about me. It’s nothing for me to dip off and get lost for weeks at a time. Who’s to say that’s not what happened when I met you five years ago.”
“You really thought this through…”
“Everything hangs on the details. Shit like this happens all the time. We tell the story we want the world to believe. If you agree, we leak the DNA results. The photos are already out there of us at the park. The world loves messy shit. We give them what they want and they’ll run with it.”
“But if we do this. The world believes that Gracie is yours. And I have to think about her. What do I tell her?”
“Tell her whatever you want.”
“Even if I decide to tell heryou’reher father?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Because that’s a huge responsibility. What if you wake up one day and realize how big of a responsibility that truly is and decide that you no longer want that or us.”
“You don’t think I’ve considered every detail of what this means?”
I lifted from his lap and threw my hands up. “I don’t know what you’ve considered. This is a lot and I know you did this for me and Gracie but I’m….”
“Scared,” he finished for me.
My eyes met his and he lifted slowly from the chair, cautiously approaching me. He cuffed my face and planted a kiss. “You can be scared, Cadence. I wouldn’t expect you not to be. There’s a lot on the line, but what I also need you to understand is that I’m not scared. I know exactly what I’m doing and what I’m offering. I’ve thought about all the possibilities of being connected to you and Gracie for the rest of my life. If I wasn’t prepared to handle the responsibility then I wouldn’t have done this. You can tell Gracie whatever you want. She’s a kid, so right now, the simplest answers are likely going to be the best.”
“Simple like you’re her father?”
“Is that such a terrible thing? You could do a lot worse than me. According to the blogs I’m a pretty good catch.”
I scoffed. “Right. And how does Drew feel about you beingcaught? Not just as my man, but as my baby daddy.”
“What he thinks really doesn’t matter. My life, my call.”
“Drew is important to you. He’s your family. I want to know how he feels about all this.”
Like does he hate the idea of this?
Hate me?
Is he plotting behind your back to get rid of me because I’m a bad idea for you and your career?
“He thinks I’ve lost my damn mind.” Jaasir moved his hands down to my waist, smiling sexily.
And I’m pretty sure he’s right.
“Because you have.”
“Possibly, but Drew supports whatever I want. If what I want is you and Gracie then he supports the idea of me wanting you and Gracie.”
“This is…”Insane, overwhelming, crazy, not realistic. “A lot. Can I think about it before I agree or disagree?”
“You can but we need to make a decision sooner rather than later to get ahead of anything that Dresden might do.”
“I know…” I huffed a sigh. “I think I just want to sleep on it.”
He nodded and lowered his face into the curve of my neck. “You can do that but right now, I want to discuss the whole top notch, in-house dick thing.”
