Loving You Read Online Free

former—God, he hated the word
former
—sports hero.
    â€œWhat’re you thinking?” Jackson asked.
    Nick nodded to himself as his thoughts jelled and he settled on his plan. “I’m thinking,” he said softly, “that maybe this is something I should take care of myself.”
    â€œThat’s probably not a good idea.”
    â€œJackson,” Nick said, and pushed away from the window to turn and face the man behind the desk. “You take care of the legal side of this and let me handle the kid myself.”
    Shaking his head, Jackson stood up, came around the desk, and crossed the room to stop in front of Nick. “You can’t just confront this boy—he’s a minor. You’ll have to go through his foster mother.”
    Foster mother
.
    Shit.
    Those two words painted a mental image Nick really didn’t want. Visions of a kid with no one and nothing to call his own roared through Nick’s brain and he had to fight down another stab of pity. Jonas Baker had losthis home, his mother, his world. Nick had grown up surrounded by more love than he’d been able to handle at times. With two parents, two brothers, and a kid sister to make his life a living hell. And he wouldn’t have had it any other way.
    The idea of a kid being on his own was so alien to Nick that he had a hard time picturing it. But just because Nick could feel for the kid didn’t mean he was going to take the rap for this. It wasn’t his fault. This wasn’t his son, and Nick had to prove it.
    One thing he didn’t plan on doing was having the threat of paternity hanging around his neck like a noose for the rest of his life. Nope. There were enough Candellano grandchildren already. And if there were going to be more, they wouldn’t be coming from him. He liked his role of favored uncle just fine. He could see his brothers’ and sister’s kids, play with them, spoil them a little, then run like hell for the peace and quiet of his own place.
    Being a father just wasn’t in his game plan.
    Now all he had to do was convince this boy that he had the wrong guy. “Fine,” he said, feeling more in control than he had since the moment that process server had slapped the papers into his hand. “I’ll talk to the foster mother, then the kid.”
    â€œI still don’t think this is a good idea.”
    â€œI’m not going to just sit around and wait, Jackson.”
    His brother-in-law stared at him for a long minute or two, then finally nodded. “All right, fine. Go see the woman.” He turned and walked back to his desk. Grabbing up a pen and paper, he scribbled the name and address down, then handed the paper to Nick as he came up beside him.
    â€œShe lives just outside Santa Cruz.”
    Nick glanced at the paper. “Mimi Castle.” He chuckled as visions of a chubby blonde with poodles in tow leaped into his mind. “Now
there’s
a name.”
    â€œIf she refuses to let you see the boy,” Jackson warned, “drop it, Nick, and leave it to me.”
    A woman? Nick thought. Refusing him something? That’d be the day. He gave Jackson the million-dollar smile that had once graced toothpaste commercials. The same smile that had been known to melt female hearts at a hundred yards. “Trust me on this, Jackson,” he said. “Mimi’s gonna love me.”
    *   *   *
    By six-thirty, all Tasha wanted was a long soak in a hot bath and about ten hours of sleep. But she still had too much to do.
    She shifted wet clothes from the washing machine to the dryer, then yanked the knob on the old washer to start up another load. Water streamed into the chipped tub, and while she waited for it to fill, Tasha stared out the window at the darkness.
    Beyond the yard, lamplight spilled out of her closest neighbors’ windows, almost a half-mile away, looking like bright patches of yellow fabric in an all-black