Music dragged Scarlett back to semi-consciousness. She cracked her lids open enough to watch Gavin, but not enough to let him know she was awake. His gritty moonshine voice filled the car as he sang along with the radio.

Disheveled black locks fell in all directions around his head like he’d raked his hand through it repeatedly. Scarlett knew if she looked, there’d be the little w would be between his brows. Thinking, probably worrying. She understood. She’d do the same thing.

He’d shaved this morning, and put on nice jeans, and a long-sleeve shirt. He’d done that to cover his tattoos. He wanted to make a good impression on his son.

The love pounding in her heart was a dangerous thing, but she couldn’t seem to help it and was tired of fighting it.

The hum of the seat motor caught his attention. He smiled at her. Unable to resist, she stroked his cheek, and he leaned into her hand. She loved it when he did that. It was such an affectionate move from such a strong man. She didn’t think he was aware of doing it. “How much farther?”

“Thirty minutes. Are you okay, do you need a bathroom break?”

“I’m fine. The question is, how are you?”

He ran his hand along the top of the steering wheel. “I’m not sure. I’d be lying if I hadn’t considered this might not be a good idea. Maybe I should let Jack handle it.”

“Lord, no.” She retrieved lip balm from her purse.

He laughed. “I keep telling you he’s not that bad. But, yeah, I feel like I need to try and speak with the aunt and let her know I didn’t know about Aiden until a few months ago. You know?”

“I do. You know how I feel on the subject. No one could keep me from my child. Then again, I may not be the best person to listen to on this subject. I’m a teeny bit sensitive when it comes to parents and their children.”

“You’re the perfect person. You tell me exactly what I want to hear.” He flashed her a killer grin.

“Whatever, rock star.”

He took the wheel with his left hand and slipped his right hand around her neck, stroking her jaw with his thumb. “Are you sure you’re alright? Was last night…”

“I’m great. Never better.” Fire crawled up her neck and shot down to her belly at the mention of last night.

“Yeah?” The self-satisfied smile he gave her was way too cute for one guy.

She pursed her lips to keep from laughing. “You don’t have to look so smug.”

He pulled her to him, keeping one eye on the road. She went willingly. There was no denying him. “And just so you know, I’ve never been better, either.” His mouth found hers. He kissed her until she was crazed, until all she wanted was him, and gravel crunched under the tires.

He’d drifted to the shoulder of the road. He eased the car back into their lane. “Damn, woman, you make me lose my head.”

She knew exactly how he felt.

* * *

Gavin knew there were beautiful, upscale areas of Las Vegas, with huge, gorgeous homes, and lots of money. Unfortunately, Kristy Phillips and Aiden didn’t live in one of those areas. The grubby streets he drove down, past clusters of homeless people, were as depressing as the rundown buildings surrounding the sad duplex that held his child and the boy’s aunt.

“Oh, my,” Scarlett whispered when they pulled to a stop in front of the house.

He rested both arms on the steering wheel and dropped his chin to his folded hands. “You’ve got to be shittin’ me.” He glanced at the address on the mailbox again, hoping they had the wrong place. Nope, right address. “What the hell did Tara do with the money Johnny gave to her?”

“She obviously didn’t invest it into a decent place to live.”

The xeriscape lawn consisted of a handful of white rocks, several stubby bushes, and a cactus leaning against the chain-link fence that surrounded the house. He’d seen prison yards with more cheer. The only bright spot was the door on the right, which was freshly painted a soft powder blue with a pot of colorful flowers next to it.

“What am I doin’?” He couldn’t peel his gaze from the run-down house.

“We can leave. I’ll support you no matter what you decide.” The warmth of her hand rubbing his back did little to calm the torrent of conflicting emotions. Leaving here and letting her help him forget this whole damn mess wasn’t an option—he had to know. After the joke of his childhood, there was no way he could let his flesh and blood grow up without being taken care of, without being loved. The idea of it had haunted him since he first found that damn letter.

He seized the door handle and was out of the car before he could talk himself out of it. Scarlett’s door closed behind him. His hand shook so bad, he had trouble lifting the gate handle.

Scarlett wrapped her hand over his and squeezed. The woman was better than any drug. His heart stopped racing, and his pulse evened out.

“Do you want me to knock?” Her sweet voice washed over him like honey.

“No. I’ll do it.” He hooked his aviators in the collar of his t-shirt and nearly lost it when he heard children’s songs coming from the other side of the blue door.

“You’ve got this.” She squeezed his shoulder.

He rapped three times on the door.

Several locks slid open, then it opened only as far as the chain would allow. A blonde woman with two pigtails and a weary expression assessed him. There was a small flash of recognition in her eyes.

“What are you doing here?” She angled her body so he couldn’t see into the front room.

“Kr—” He had to clear his throat, which had gone as dry as her sad, non-existent yard. “Kristy Phillips?”

She didn’t say anything, just stared at him with an expression way too old for her young face. However, she hadn’t slammed the door in their faces, so that was a good sign. Right? “I’m Gavin—”

“I know who you are. What. Are. You. Doing. Here? I have paperwork saying you’ll never bother us.”

She didn’t take her gaze from his. It was disturbing. Like she’d evaluated him and found him at the bottom of the shit heap. “Can we come—wait, what?”

“I have a legal document saying you will never bother us or try to take Aiden.”

“Kristy, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I can assure you I never signed anything like that. In fact, I didn’t even know about Aiden until a few months ago.” What in the hell had Johnny done?

She didn’t say anything, but her unimpressed glare never left his face.

“Can we please come in?”

“She’s not gonna start dancing on my table, is she?” Kristy asked, without cracking the slightest smile.

Scarlett leaned in. “No. That was just a misunderstanding. I’m not really like that.”

“Sure you’re not.” The blonde gatekeeper had the best poker face he’d ever seen. Not one flicker of emotion crossed her face.

She closed the door. He looked at Scarlett, who shrugged. Then he heard the jangle of the chain, and relief flooded him.

The door swung open, and a blond-haired toddler stood behind some kind of kid-friendly fence that had been set up in the middle of the pristine, if worn, living room. Kristy quickly went to the boy, picked him up and snuggled him in her arms.

Gavin was transfixed. The house could’ve fallen down around them, and he wouldn’t have been able to rip his gaze from Aiden Bradley Bain.

Scarlett cleared her throat. “May we sit down?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Kristy adjusted the child on her hip.

For the first time, he noticed her clothes. She wore a t-shirt intentionally ripped in strategic places to show skin and cleavage, but she was otherwise covered up. The fuzzy socks on her feet were a drastic contrast to the fishnet hose and short schoolgirl skirt. A hooker? God, he hoped not.

“What do you want? I’m about to go to work.” She smoothed her hand over Aiden’s hair.

“I…uh…” He looked at Scarlett for help.

“I think what Gavin’s trying to say is, he wanted to meet Aiden and talk to you for a bit.”

She tightened her grip around the baby. “Why now?”

“Like I said, I only found out about him a couple of months ago. I’ve had a private investigator looking for him since that day.”

Disbelief colored every inch of her face.

“I swear it’s true. Where’s Tara? Is she…”

“Dead? Ha.” Kristy sat on the arm of the sofa and handed Aiden a stuffed animal. “Last time I heard anything from her she was in Miami with some band.”

The contents of Gavin’s stomach were on a countdown. “When was the last time she saw Aiden?”

“When he was six weeks old. She lost the baby weight and took off. Her last words to me were, I’ve gotten what I wanted out of him, you can have him, see what you can get.”

“Are you shi—”

“No cussing around the baby,” Kristy ground out.

Scarlett took his hand again. The gentle pressure helped him haul in his temper. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He would have continued, but the boy started to jabber, and it sounded a lot like, “Who’s that?”

The girl kissed Aiden’s fat cheek. “These are some old friends, but they’re leaving soon.” She turned her attention back to Gavin. “Isn’t that right?”

“Kristy, have you had him since he was six weeks old?” Scarlett said.

“Do you see anybody else around here?” The stupid was implied.

He had to give it to his wife. She wasn’t deterred by the kid’s punky attitude. “Who does he stay with while you work? Where do you work?”

“That’s none of your business. Aiden’s mine. I take care of him. End of story.”

“Technically—”

“Technically, legally, and in every other way, he’s mine. I got Tara to sign a paper making me his legal guardian. I had to. I couldn’t get medical care for him. I have the document you signed.”

“And she did that? Just signed away her rights?” he spit out. He was shocked the woman would give up her gravy train so easily.

“She did it because some really bad people were looking for her, and I told her I would tell them where to find her if she didn’t. She knew I would too, so she signed.”

Too much shitty information at once had his brain spinning. He massaged his forehead. “If Tara was only trying to use him for money, why didn’t she try to get more? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Um, it was made perfectly clear in the signed agreement that there would be no more money. Tara had to agree to that before that other guy would give her the cash.”

“I want to see that document.”

“It’s not here. It’s in a safety deposit box at the bank. I don’t have time to get it because I have to go to work.” She checked her watch. “You need to go now.”

“No.” He couldn’t go yet. Not yet.

Kristy stood and took a menacing step toward him. “You get out of my house, or I’ll call the cops. You have no right to him. He. Is. Mine.”

“I’m his father.”

“Prove it.”

“Hey, let’s all calm down,” Scarlett coaxed. “Kristy, you’ve obviously taken excellent care of Aiden, and no one’s trying to take him from you.” The girl glared at her. “He’s not. He only wants to get to know him. You can imagine it’s all a huge shock.”

Kristy’s stance became less hostile, and Gavin took that as a good sign.

“Do you think we can see you tomorrow? Maybe take ya’ll to lunch?” Scarlett spoke to her like a negotiator in a hostage situation.

“I don’t know.” The fear and distrust in this young girl’s eyes gutted him. He couldn’t even be mad at her. He understood it. He’d lived it.

Scarlett wouldn’t be deterred. “Surely a quick meal—”

“It’s okay.” He put his arm around his wife’s waist. To Kristy, he said, “I know we’re freaking you out, Kristy. I get it. I’m going to leave my cell number.” He pulled out a fast food receipt and a pen and wrote his number on it. “Call if you change your mind.”

Kristy visibly relaxed. He knew she would. She now had the power back. He understood that too.

“Come on, babe.”

Kristy cleared her throat. “Wait.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s that chicken place at the intersection up the road. They have a playground. We can meet there at eleven.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Can I touch him before I go?” He had a compulsive need to stroke the kid’s blond head.

“No. That’s weird.”

He chuckled. “You’re right. It is. But you’ll meet with us tomorrow?”

Scarlett opened the door.

“I said I would.” Kristy walked toward them. “Here.” She leaned Aiden toward Gavin but kept a firm grip on the boy. “Don’t touch his face. I don’t know where your hands have been.”

The feel of Aiden’s soft hair shot straight to his soul. “Hey, bud.”

Gavin’s life narrowed down to one thing.

The sweet toothy grin of his son.

* * *

Scarlett couldn’t believe how well Gavin had managed the situation with the aunt. “Did you see her shirt?”

He glanced over his shoulder then pulled onto the street. “What there was of it, yeah.”

“No. I mean the logo on it.”

“No.”

“It was the name of a casino. She must be a waitress or something. I’m going to google it.” She tapped away on her phone.

“That’s a relief. At first, I thought she might be a hooker.”

“Me too. You handled her beautifully.”

“She’s scared, desperate, and pissed off. I get that.”

Scarlett guessed he probably did, and that broke her heart. “What document was she talking about?”

“I have no idea. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Did you see that face?”

The goofy grin he wore told her exactly who he was talking about. “I sure did. He’s adorable.”

“He has intelligent eyes, too. Don’t you think?” The pride in his voice sang through the car.

“Absolutely.”

He slid her a sheepish grin. “I sound like every other stupid parent in the world talking about their kid. Don’t I?”

“Yes, and it’s sweet.” She played with the hair at his temple.

“I’m not sweet, Scarlett. You should know that.”

“I know no such thing. I can name a number of sweet things you’ve done in the short time I’ve known you.”

“Really? Name ’em.”

“You took Honey to town so she could show you off, and you offered to help Joyce financially. You helped my dad with chores and Brody with guitar lessons. Oh, and there’s the little matter of getting me out of Zachsville before the whole town could ridicule me, just to name a few.”

The pink stain under his tan skin told her he was completely embarrassed. But the truth was the truth.

“Where do you want to stay while we’re here?” he asked.

The change in subject caught her off guard. She let him do it because he was so thoroughly uncomfortable. “Not the Bellagio.”

He laughed. “Not the Bellagio.”

Her insides went sideways at the sound of his laughter, even though everything about this trip to Las Vegas was surreal. She was happy to be here with him. So much so that it’d take wild horses to drag her away from him.