My brain is on overload.

I have a son, and everything I used to think about the way Rayne left me all those years ago was wrong. She left because she thought I was a part of my grandparents’ disgusting plan to end our child’s life.

My contempt for them, which I thought couldn’t be any stronger, grows.

What if they had succeeded? What if Rayne had been forced to abort my baby, if she hadn’t been strong enough to resist them the way she had? I can’t begin to imagine the kind of horror that would come from doing something like that against your will. She might have never recovered.

As it was, she left thinking I didn’t want her. Didn’t want our baby. The thought sends rage boiling through my blood, but if I allow myself to focus on that right now, it will consume me. It’ll drag me down to depths I might not be able to climb back out of, and that’s not an option.

Right now, the mother of my child needs me to figure out who was tailing her tonight.

She’s scared; I can see it in her eyes when she talked about her boss. That asshole knows where she works, and where she lives. It’s only a matter of time. If he’s allowed to continue to hunt her, he’ll get what he came for.

And I’ll die before I let that happen.

Punching the code into the high-security door at Night Eagle, I pass through the entrance and head back toward my office. The light turns on automatically when I enter, and I pull out my leather chair and sit, switching my computer on and waiting for it to boot.

Decker. My son’s name is Decker. And if his mom’s in trouble, he’s in trouble. That’s reason enough to want to help them.

No reason to evaluate the burning need I have to protect them, like they’re both mine.

While I wait for the computer screen to flash on, I place a call to Jacob Owen. If a member of his team is at the office after hours, he wants to know about it, and why. I fill him in quickly, letting him know I’ll keep him updated and ask for it if I need his assistance.

A surge of adrenaline courses through me when the computer is up and running. This, I excel at. Computers are my thing, in addition to my Special Forces training. My skills in computer science are what got me here. It’s what I got my degree in when I completed undergraduate studies while I was in the military.

Through the military, I learned a few tricks that weren’t a part of my coursework.

Flexing my fingers, I dive in. First things first. Using Night Eagle’s secure, untraceable network, I log into the DMV Web site, quickly typing in the license plate from the car following Rayne. Just the thought of his audacity, the fact that he thought he’d get away with following my girl…following Rayne…with the intent to harm her is enough to reignite my fury. Swallowing down the rage, I study the screen.

There’s a photo and a name: Kevin O’Shea. Grabbing my phone, I log his address. I might need to pay him a visit later. Closing down the DMV’s system, I use the best search device known to man: Google.

He comes up as a private investigator.

Okay. So Kevin O’Shea wasn’t working on his own, and maybe his intent wasn’t to hurt Rayne tonight.

Relief, the purest form I’ve felt in a long time, settles over me. Now that I know the danger to her isn’t immediate, the muscles in my body relax. I hadn’t realized I was still holding that much tension, but I was. And I still have work to do.

My phone buzzes on the desk, alerting me to an incoming call. Rayne’s name scrolls across the screen, causing my heart to thump in a wild rhythm in my chest.

“Rayne? What’s wrong?” My voice is low, urgent when I answer.

“Hey, Jeremy. No, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to…check in. Decker is out for the night…he was excited about the hotel so it took him awhile to get to sleep.”

Her voice sounds deeper, more gravelly with tiredness, and I can’t believe how the sound of it makes me picture her sounding like that as I lay beside her.

I release the tension with a sigh. “That’s good, Rayne.”

It’s also good to hear her voice on the other end of my phone. But that, I keep to myself.

“Did you find anything out?”

Leaning back in my chair, I study Kevin O’Shea’s face on my computer screen. “Yeah. Turns out the guy following you was a private eye. Maybe not dangerous, because it means the person who hired him probably isn’t close. But I’m still glad I was there. Didn’t want him camping out watching you and Decker.”

She sucks in a breath. “It freaks me out, you know? That he knew where I worked, and now where I live. He was watching me.”

Yeah, I don’t like it either. Not a bit. But my job isn’t to scare her further. It’s to comfort her. And now that she has me on her side, she needs to know I’ll never let anything happen to her.

“Hey, don’t worry about that now. You’re safe. I’m gonna check a few more things out here before I go home, but I was thinking…do you and Decker want to hang out with me tomorrow?”

Being that tomorrow’s Saturday, I can kill two birds with one stone. I can spend some time with my son for the first time, and also keep an eye on Rayne to make sure O’Shea isn’t still tailing her. Or worse, that her old boss hasn’t arrived in town before I have a chance to get the team on top of tracking him.

I want to make sure he stays as far away from her as possible, preferably right where he belongs: in Phoenix.

There’s a pause, and then she answers. “You want to spend the day with me and an eight-year-old?”

There’s a smile in her voice, and it tugs on something so deep down inside me. Something I didn’t know was there before. “I’m gonna admit something to you, Rayne…it’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone.”

Her soft chuckle warms me, heats my blood. “What?”

“My Saturdays aren’t usually all that exciting. Just me and Night, unless the guys and their girls are having a barbecue.”

She chuckles again. “You don’t say? Who’s Night?”

“My dog. Can you guys be ready by nine? I’ll pick you up at Olive’s. Wear your swimsuits, but bring clothes to change for later in the day.”

Silence across the line, and I realize I’m holding my breath waiting for her response.

Come on, Rayne. Let me have this.

She sighs. “Hell, Jeremy. I never could say no to you. We’ll be ready at nine.”

I pump my fist in the air, but over the phone, I say, “Cool. See you then, Rayne.”

“Good night, Jeremy.”

Good night, Jeremy. I’ll be damned if I’m not gonna fall asleep dreaming about the day when she says those words from right next to me, in my bed.

When I pull the Land Cruiser into Olive’s driveway the next morning my heart rate picks up in my chest the way it kicks in during the middle of a run. It feels like I’m getting ready to face an enemy of the state with nothing but my good looks as a weapon.

You can do this, Teague. He’s an eight-year-old kid. Not scary. She’s a beautiful, sexy woman who just happens to also be your baby mama. Not scary.

Damn scary.

As my ineffectual pep talk comes to a close, the front door flies open and Decker comes barreling out onto the walk.

Ready or not. This is happening.

I jump out of my SUV, strolling toward him as he comes to a stop right in front of me. Looking up at me, he folds his arms.

With none of his exuberance from seconds ago, he scowls. “Are you my mom’s boyfriend now?”

Holy…I’m fucked.

Glancing toward the house, I see that Rayne is nowhere to be found. With a sigh that I barely keep hidden, I squat down so I’m at Decker’s eye level. My own green eyes stare back at me, unblinking.

Damn. He’s the perfect mix of me and Rayne…

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Decker snaps me back to the here and now.

“Yeah, so…hey, dude. I’m not your mom’s boyfriend. If I was, would that be a problem?”

Decker studies me for a minute before he shakes his head. “No, it’s just that she’s never had one before. I wanted to know why she picked you.”

It takes a whole hell of a lot of strength not to fall backward on my ass with that statement. She’s never had one before?

Instead, I school my features and give my son a smile. “There’s gotta be a first time for everything, right? Let’s make a deal, right here, right now. If I decide it’s time to make your mom my girlfriend, and I think that’s what she wants too, I’ll ask you first.”

The kid smiles. He’s missing a tooth, one of his canines on the bottom. It’s fucking cute. I didn’t notice it before. How many lost teeth have I missed?

He holds out his hand, and I grab it in mine so we can shake.

“Deal.”

That’s when Rayne decides to make her appearance, and as I stand back up again and glance at her, it’s another I’m fucked moment.

She’s wearing a filmy black cover-up, hanging down to about midthigh. Her toned legs go on for miles. Miles. Black, strappy sandals slap the ground when she walks, and as she approaches I can see her toes are painted cherry red.

Might as well be fuck-me red.

My eyes travel back up those long, tan legs to discover that the cover-up doesn’t leave much to the imagination. I can make out the outline of a bright red bikini underneath, and all I want to do in that moment is pull the thin material covering her right off so I can feast my eyes on what’s underneath.

Her long, dark hair is piled up on top of her head in a messy knot, and when I finally scan her face I realize she’s wearing huge dark sunglasses.

Stunning. Earth-shattering.

Today’s gonna be a hell of a lot more difficult than I thought. What was I thinking, inviting her to do something where she’d be in a bikini, before I’ve even had the chance to acclimate myself to her presence in my life?

Her brows lift above the glasses. “Do I pass inspection?”

Clearing my throat, I nod and reach out to open the back door for Decker. “You look…you gotta know how you look, Rayne.”

Decker’s glance passes between me and his mother. He grins. “She’s pretty, right?”

I grin at him. “Yeah, dude. She’s real pretty.”

Rayne reaches Decker, puts her arm around his shoulders, and pulls him to her side. “Decker, this is the guy from work I told you about. My friend Jeremy. Jeremy, this is my son…” She looks up at me, and I can read the emotional look in her eyes. It says, our son.

“…Decker,” she finishes.

“It’s real nice to meet you, Decker. You like boats?”

Decker nods, his eyes filling with excitement. “I’ve never been on a boat. Is that what we’re doing today?”

“Yup. You think you can handle being my first mate?”

Rayne gives me a smile over Decker’s head, and man…that feels so damn good. Pride fills me up, threating to burst out of me any second.

My family.

“What’s a first mate?” Decker asks as he climbs into the backseat.

I shoot him a grin right before I close his door. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Following Rayne around to the passenger side, I open her door for her, wait for her to climb in, and inhale her heady scent. It’s stronger today, maybe because it’s accented by her lotion or her sunblock or something. Everything about her threatens to rule me, make me forget what I’m doing.

After closing her door, I jog around to the driver’s side and start the car. Twisting around to make sure Decker’s buckled up, the nerves inside me flare up again.

Rayne’s hand lands on mine on the gearshift. “First time driving with a kid in the backseat?”

Glancing at her, I wince. “Am I that obvious?”

She glances back at Decker, who has a handheld video game device in his hands and is deep into whatever game he’s playing.

“It’s precious cargo, but you’ll be fine. You’re ex-Special Forces for God’s sake.” She grins, and I return it.

“Yeah. I got this.”

“You got this.” She agrees and lets go of my hand.

Immediately, I miss it. I want her hand there. It belongs there. It’s such a weird feeling. I haven’t had this kind of reaction to any woman since.…well, since her.

I was so sure I’d moved forward. Without Rayne.

But maybe I was wrong.