Page 53 of Hard and Unprotected

The man with a devilish sense of humor, amusement gleaming in those eyes.

I sniffled and ruffled the bunny’s fur, the pink nose twitching inquisitively.

“Goo-ga!” Ryan gurgled happily, small hands flailing this way and that. One of the rabbits hopped onto Ryan’s leg, making my baby squeal again with glee. His big blue eyes sparkled, just like his dad’s.

But that was wishful thinking.

No, worse than that.

It was stupid thinking.

Because my love hadn’t been enough for Evan and me. Passion has to go two ways, and mine wasn’t enough to sustain the relationship. It takes two, that was the long and the short of it.

But at least now I had this amazing baby, this little boy who was my life. And for Ryan, I’d do it all over again.

“Yes, I would, my sweet boy,” came my soft murmur.

Tears plopped from my eyes and dropped onto the fur of one of rabbits hopping around.

Oh god! No matter how much I wanted to be a stronger person, sometimes I’d start bawling for no reason. The tears would begin to fall at the most inopportune times, in front of customers or even worse, in front of my boss.

At least I’d been able to excuse myself each time, blaming allergies.

But now in the darkened pet store, the tears fell unchecked. A pair of bunnies hopped over and stared up at me with innocent faces and unknowing eyes, whiskers trembling.

“Mama?” Ryan patted clumsily at my wet cheek. “Mama?” His eyes were bright blue and full of love and caring, reminding me of his father all over again.

It just made me cry harder, my heart shattering.

God, when would this end?

It’d been two years and I was still a mess.

I had to get myself together.

Suddenly, there was a banging at the door.

What in the world? Looking around, I wiped furiously at my cheeks. It was dark outside. Any sane person could see the store was closed and locked up. Who could be out there so late?

Ryan cooed again and then rolled to his knees, heading for one of the bunnies. I scooped the baby up, wriggling and chubby in my arms.

“Let’s go see who’s at the door, hmmm?” I settled him on my hip as he grabbed a fistful of my blouse, burbling and cute. Baby teeth flashed as he agreed.

“Ga.”

But the banging at the door grew louder. Whoever was out there was getting more and more crazy with the knocking, insistent and loud.

What on earth?

I had half a mind to ignore them, but the pounding was a racket.

So wiping my cheeks again, I carried Ryan over to the door. My little boy’s heavy now, but it’s okay. I love the solid weight and the sweet baby smell from the backs of his ears.

But ten feet from the door, my breath stopped. The air seized in my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. Because through the clear glass was a tall man with wide shoulders that seemed as broad as a tank. It was dark outside but I would recognize that strong figure and striking profile anywhere.

Evan.

Shamefully, my first instinct was to turn and run. But the alpha had already caught my image through the glass, so instead, I pushed the entrance open slowly.