Page 128 of Fierce-Baker

Then she asked herself why she cared what Shane thought of anything.

38

WASTED ENERGY

“Is Micah sleeping now?”

“He is,” she said, moving into his arms.

Baker wrapped them around her, held on tight and hoped to shield her from everything around them.

There was no way to do it though. There couldn’t be.

How the hell had she ended up with a man like that?

One who could just disregard having a child they didn’t know about?

“Now all you can do is wait,” he said.

He brought her to the couch, nudged her to sit and then got next to her. Turning her so that her back was to him, he rubbed her shoulders.

She had every right to be as tense as she was.

As wound tight as she’d become after discovering the man she’d had a child with could still cut her down so easily. Still make her doubt herself and feel things she’d told him she never wanted to feel again.

It made more sense now, why she’d kept everything buried for so long.

Why she’d tried to protect herself by keeping it quiet.

And maybe, if he was honest, part of him wished it still was a secret.

That realization sat heavy in his chest. Madehimdoubt what he always believed.

He’d felt hurt like that. He knew that pain.

It was something he didn’t want to experience again.

“I hope he takes the test,” she said quietly. “I think he knows I mean business. I’ll be able to call the lab and see if it was submitted.”

“Do you think he won’t?” he asked.

“I don’t know what to think.”

His hand moved instinctively, finding the place at the base of her neck. He squeezed once, then worked his thumbs into the tight knot there easing the tension as best he could.

She let out a low sound, leaned into him, her body giving permission before her words ever did.

“Would you really have the subpoena sent to his house?” he asked.

“I can subpoena him if I need to, and I will. And if it comes to that, it’ll go right to his house. Where his wife is living now.” She paused. “There’d be no hiding it then. In a way, I’m giving him the chance to keep it from her. For now.”

“How do you feel about that?”

He wasn’t sure he’d do that. He’d make sure the guy was taken down every way he could, but it wasn’t his battle nor his decision.

She sighed again, her head tipping forward, offering him more access without asking. His hands slid under her shirt, warm against her skin, but she shifted and lifted it over her head herself, leaving her in just her bra.

She wasn’t pushing him away.