Laura arched her eyebrow, sardonic in victory.
A flash to my left startled me, and I realized that people were taking pictures of us now. Of course, they would do that. This was probably fun to watch, the juicy drama, and maybe one or two people recognized me. Shit.
“We need to go outside,” I said, keeping my voice low.
Laura glanced around, seeing what I saw, and then marched past me without a word.
I followed, ready to settle this once and for all. I was through with playing games.
26
Laura
“I’m done with playing games,” Cade said, his tone dripping with judgment when we stepped outside, like I was a child, and he was the adult.
“Rich, coming from you,” I snapped, turning around to face him. “You’re the one playing games. You sent a private investigator after me, showed up at my doorstep unannounced, and demanded the right to see your son when you haven’t proven at all that you want to be in his life. You couldn’t even respect my privacy, so how could I expect you to respect him?”
My anger was the only thing keeping me from bursting into tears. This wasn’t how I wanted things to go with Cade. Of course, a part of me wanted him to see Drew, wanted Drew to have an amazing father. But Cade’s behavior was appalling. How could I possibly trust that he had my best interests, or Drew’s best interests, at heart?
Cade glared at me. “You might have forced my hand before, but I’m not going to give up. I want to meet my son. It wasn’t right of you to keep Drew from me ten years ago and it’s not right to keep him away now.”
I scoffed. “Were you not paying attention the other day? What did you expect me to do when I found out I was pregnant, hmm? Hunt you down and drag you back to Michigan? I was a fling to you. You said it yourself, and you said that it was over. How could I possibly have gone to you? Especially with my father?”
Cade looked, to his credit, a bit guilty at my words.
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“My mother went to my father and told him about me. At first, he had said that he’d be there, but then he changed his mind. He left her to give birth to me and raise me, all alone. And you know that I’m not a fan of my mother. She never cared about me, she let me do whatever I wanted. She was neglectful. But it certainly didn’t help that my father had just left her. He changed his mind even when he’d known about me and he never once contacted me. Ever. I didn’t want that for my son. I don’t want him to grow up with that pain, the way I did.”
In spite of trying everything to stop myself, I felt the tears forming. “Of course, I wanted to tell you, Cade. I wanted us to be together. I’d wanted us to raise a family together, even if that meant starting it sooner than I’d planned. But I had no reason to think that you’d do anything other than turn me away.”
I turned to go, but Cade grabbed my arm and yanked me back to him. He had yanked a little too hard, and I ended up crashing into him, my hands landing on his chest. He wrapped his other arm around my waist to steady me.
“You were never just a fling,” he growled, pain and passion sparking in his eyes, and then he was kissing me.
I gasped, but was unable to resist the power of his kiss. I knew that I should pull away, but I melted into him, kissing him back just as fiercely as he was kissing me. It was passionate and powerful, and for a moment, nothing else existed except for how he made me feel, how he stole the very breath from my lungs.
We paused for air, and I gasped, feeling like I was on fire. Before I could even think or begin to gather my thoughts, Cade was pulling me towards his car.
“You can’t just kidnap me,” I protested as he opened the door for me and ushered me in.
Cade closed the door behind me and got into his car. “We’re going to discuss this once and for all, and we can’t do it here in public. If I tell you that we’ll talk about it later, you’ll just avoid me. So, we’re doing this now.”
I had to admit, his sense of taking charge was pretty sexy. It had always drawn me to him. And he was…well, he was right. I didn’t want to talk about this with him. I wanted to just get on with my life.
Cade started the car and peeled out of his parking spot. “I want you and Andrew in my life, and we’re going to figure that out. I’m not giving up and I’m not leaving you, not this time.”
His conviction gave me hope. The fact that he said he wanted me in his life as well, not just Drew…did that mean that our relationship still had a chance?
I texted Caitlyn and apologized for the scene I’d caused at her grand opening and asked if she could pick up Drew from his friend’s house. I’d arranged for him to stay late with a friend for the first time, getting to stay up and watch movies, and Drew had been so excited all day that he’d practically been vibrating.
Caitlyn accepted my apology and said that it was no problem. Sort this whole thing out with Cade, she texted. I’m rooting for you. Let me know if you need anything.
She really was an amazing friend. I told her so, and then called the mother of the friend Drew was staying with. “Hi, Sharon! Sorry to bother you…yes, it’s Laura…. I was just hoping to talk to Drew real quick. Thank you so much.”
My sweet boy was on the phone a moment later. “Hi Mama!”
“Hello angel! Are you having fun?”