Tight Fittin' Jeans Ch. 02

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Her whole life laid bare for a man that she barely knew. A man that she had spent one night with almost fifteen years ago. A man that she knew next to nothing about. The father of her child.

"I'm asking you to trust the man that you choose. The man that was your fantasy."

She started to shake her head, but Gerald continued, "A man that I've done enough research to know has the skills to give you and that girl at least a fighting chance. A man with a vested interest in keeping at least Calypso safe. Please, think about it."

She had had enough of Gerald controlling her life. Honestly, enough of men doing it. If it weren't for her daughter's safety, she would do exactly as she had said. Take the money and drive away. But she had a fourteen-year-old to protect and care for. Common sense and maternal instinct won out.

She turned to the man that she had not seen, except in her dreams for almost fifteen years. "What makes you think you can keep us safe any better than witness protection or just running?"

Those deep green eyes, how had she not put two and two together before now? She had looked into those same eyes a million times, every day. But she knew the truth. She had not seen it because she did not want to.

She had wanted to forget that night. Not because it had been a disappointment, but because it was everything she had ever dreamt of. And more. She had tried so hard to forget it, him, and move on. To be content with her life, her child, her marriage. But it was all a lie.

"Honestly, I'm not sure I can. Especially since he won't tell me who or what we're up against." His gaze drifted to her husband, for a moment, before returning to hers. "But, I believe him that there is a mole in it somewhere. And I don't want to take that chance with my daughter."

She could almost see how hard those words were for him. What must he be thinking? Did he think she had used him? To have a child? At least Gerald had not sown more seeds of distrust. She supposed she should be more thankful for his belated honesty.

He reached out and took her hand that rested on her leg and squeezed it, "Or you."

She did not want to read too much into those words. She was not looking for anything with this man. Or any man for that matter.

"But he's right," the man blushed a bit, and she found that incredibly sexy. "I do have certain skills. Twenty years in the Marines. Sharpshooter and hand-to-hand combat. I might not be as young or as fast as I once was, but I can still handle myself pretty damned well, if I do say so myself."

"And this place," Gerald interrupted him. "This place is pretty isolated, Cassie. I've made sure that no one knows about it or him. I'll wipe the GPS on the car before I get back. Yes, they'll have an idea of how far I've traveled. But that's a helluva a lot of ground to cover, even for the government."

"Callie's gotten used to homeschool already. Keep her out of school for a bit longer. Dye your hair, hers. Change your clothes — some glasses. I don't know different make-up or something. But as long as ya'll don't go into town too often with him, it might work."

"Prisoners? You want me and Callie to be virtual prisoners here in the middle of nowhere? Going nowhere? Seeing no one? No friends?" She felt her anger, that she had just barely begun to get under some control, boiling over. "So we're as much prisoners as you are."

Her husband waved his hands around, "I think your cell is a lot nicer than the one I'll have. If I ever make it to jail. You always said you wanted a simpler life in the country."

While she resented Gerald throwing it in her face, especially in front of this intimate stranger, he was right. Under different circumstances, this place would be perfect. Everything she ever dreamt of or wanted. But being isolated, a virtual prisoner, even in a gilded cage, was not her first choice.

But it might be their best one. She did not doubt Gerald. She had always wondered about the timing and facts of Stephen's suicide herself. It just did not make sense; the man was not the type. He was too much of a coward to kill himself.

And her first obligation was to Callie. The thought of losing her child was unimaginable. Maybe it was old-fashioned, some people might even say it was wrong, but her daughter was her life, what she had lived for since even before that little stick turned blue. She would do whatever it took to keep her child safe, right down to laying down her own life.

She studied the man who had been surprisingly quiet during this whole conversation. What was he thinking? Feeling? It must have been a shock for him to learn he had a child. Not that this news was not a shock to her too. But she had not suddenly had a teenage daughter dropped in her lap.

"Is this what you want? Don't feel obligated. Responsibility for a child was not part of our deal. So, please don't do this because you feel like you have to. I don't expect anything from you. Callie is my responsibility. I'll find a way somehow," she assured him though she was not sure how.