His Secret Child (Slade Security Team Series Book 2) (4 page)

Bethany replayed Slade’s words in her head, over and over again, as she sat at her computer, staring at the code she was working on. Or rather, not working on. She was working on her own project right now, something that would identify if any tracking program was being run on anyone’s phone.

The program would then send back a series of signals, causing the files that had originated from the phone or computer to destroy themselves. She wanted to get this done and put it out as freeware for anyone who wanted privacy to be able to have it. But without a hard deadline, she had no reason to pull late nights working on it. No reason to send Slade away.

Was she wrong about this idea of letting Slade stay? Had one kiss left her wanting too much more from him?

She gave a sigh. Slade was out now, buying supplies he’d said. “If I’m staying, I’m eating. I’m also not a bad cook, so we can share the burden,” he’d said.

She’d tried to argue with him, but it was useless. She had a feeling he won most arguments simply by being a stone wall that you couldn’t get around.

In the background she could hear Jason, playing his video game on the Wii. The game made soft pinging sounds, played bright, happy digital music. Tayra had been strict about that—no TV, no violent video games, and only an hour on weekends playing with his favorite games. Bethany wasn’t going to begrudge Jason a little fun right now.

She leaned her head back and wondered what it was that Slade wasn’t telling her about why he was here. From the way he’d spoken, there had to be more to it than just him being here for a friend—a man who was like a brother to him. She had to admit that was half the reason she’d let him stay. She wanted to know more about Slade—including if that was the only name he’d had.

Exiting out of her program, she pulled up a browser and went online. She’d done some research on Slade Security when she was looking for information on Tayra’s ex, but she’d focused more on Brock Wells. Now she tried to dig into Slade.

She didn’t find much. Slade—first name Jenson—was ex-military, former SEAL. He had a Master’s in political science, which was impressive. His firm was one of the top security companies in the world, but she’d already known that. His company didn’t list clients, and that wasn’t surprising—security meant you didn’t talk about secrets.

She had the impression that Slade was very good at keeping secrets. She couldn’t find anything about his personal life. No Facebook page, no listing of relatives, no background on him. Either he kept his digital footprint small or he—or someone else—had worked hard to scrub out his background so he could stay low profile.

Trying another angle, she searched for Tayra. She’d never really done that before—she’d had no need to find her sister since they were already close. Wedding pictures popped up, along with all of Tayra’s school information. Bethany saw a blurry image of Slade in the background at the wedding—it had been a rushed affair and Bethany hadn’t been able to attend. She’d been on deadline and Tayra had asked her to be a bridesmaid a week before the wedding. Bethany bit down on her thumbnail.

Had that been the mistake Tayra had made—rushing into a marriage? But she looked so happy in her wedding photos. The radiant bride. The image blurred. Bethany wiped her eyes. She didn’t know why Tayra’s marriage had failed, except she was sure Tayra had been more in love with finding a hero to save her than she was with finding a man who could be a partner to her.

A hollow tapping interrupted her meandering. She hit the button to put her computer to sleep and glanced at the doorway. Slade stood there.

He’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt. He looked huge, filling the space. He also looked great. The soft gray-blue of the shirt gave his eyes warmth, and his muscles stretched out the shirt in a way that said he worked hard on staying fit. The jeans clung to long, lean legs. Bethany forced her stare back to his face—she was not going to sit there lusting after the man.

Slade offered a small, crooked smile. “You ready for lunch? Jason tells me there’s a pizza parlor in town, but they don’t deliver.” That husky tone in his voice had her stomach doing somersaults.

She told herself it was just hunger. Standing, she stretched. Her shirt rode up and she saw Slade’s gaze slip to the strip of skin she’d just flashed. Stopping the stretch, she tugged down her shirt and nodded. “Give me ten minutes to change.”

He left and she headed to her closet.

She’d set up her laptop in the bedroom—Tayra had had a dresser that worked as a desk for her, but she really needed to set up a better workspace. She was making due with too many things around here. Now that Tayra was…

Skipping past that thought, she glanced around. She’d packed up Tayra’s clothes and had donated them. She’d boxed up Tayra’s photos and personal items—Jason might want them someday. But there was room in the garage to set up a better office space. Maybe she’d get Slade to help her with that.

She changed from sweats to jeans and a white, sleeveless blouse, and slipped on some white vans. She quickly dragged a brush through her hair and put on lipstick that doubled as protection from the summer sun.

Heading into the living room, she found Slade and Jason on the floor, now both playing the computer game. He looked ten years younger, and an image flashed into her head of what he must have been like as a kid—tall, still, but thinner, maybe less serious. She wondered suddenly what might have happened if she’d gone to Tayra’s wedding and had met him then—would they have sparked, clicked, hooked up?

She touched the tip of her tongue to her lower lip. She’d never know about what might have been. But she was hungry right now, and Jason probably was, too. She put her hands on her hips. “Hey, what about pizza?”

Slade didn’t look away from the game. “We need to finish this inning.”

She smiled. “You didn’t think I’d be ready in ten minutes.”

Slade gave a groan, and Jason pumped a fist into the air. “Strike out!”

Tossing the controller down, Slade stood. “I’m getting the stuffing kicked out of my team. Come on, buddy.” He reached a hand down for Jason.

Bethany moved automatically to help, but Slade hit her with a glare and she froze. Face warm, she turned to grab her purse. Slade tossed the car keys to Jason. “Go open up the SUV.”

Grinning, Jason headed outside. Slade held open the front door for Bethany. She locked up, and he said, “You’re too protective of him. He said he doesn’t go to school and you’re acting like he’s half-way crippled.”

Bethany shook her head. “He’s not. But I’ve been homeschooling him. Tayra—she’d help out with that when she could, but I wanted to make sure he got a real education. He’s great on the computer, ahead of where he’d be otherwise in school. He’s also got a half dozen friends who share homeschooling with him. All of us take turns on taking the kids on outings, too.”

He put a hand on the small of her back.

Bethany’s face heated even more. The pressure of his hand warmed her skin, sending small tingles through her.
Okay, it was a bad idea to keep him around
, she thought. Or maybe she could use this attraction between them? Maybe she could convince Slade that Jason really was best off with her adopting him.

She started into the details of everything that went into homeschooling—the hands-on education, the computer skills she was teaching Jason, the weekly outings they took to museums and also to tech companies in Portland. If that didn’t impress Slade, nothing would.

***

Slade listened to Bethany’s sales pitch. He knew better than to tell her he already knew most of it.

Travis had sent him a file this morning that contained everything there was to know about Bethany Simmons. Her medical history, which was almost non-existent. Her banking information, which showed she had enough to own a place in Portland and good savings. She didn’t have a passport, hadn’t traveled much, and had never gotten as much as a speeding ticket. She’d had a few relationships, was still friends with those guys, and pretty much lived for her work and for Jason.

For the boy, there were fewer answers—a birth certificate with no father listed, type-O blood, which fit the background for most people, and a medical record of issues with his legs. Slade was going to let Bethany bring that up, too, but she hadn’t lied when she said Jason needed surgery. He did. No way was Slade going to let that boy go to a second rate doctor for that. Somehow, he knew that was going to ignite more conflict. For now, he’d settle for pizza.

Bethany was starting to regret the trip into town. Everyone stopped her to offer condolences from the town folk, and from behind the pizza counter, eighteen-year-old Amada told her, “Bethany, you have got to get over this need to do everything yourself.”

Bethany gave her a nod, grabbed their cups, and guided Jason over to the soda fountain, leaving Slade behind to deal with ordering the pizza. She got to watch Amada flirt with Slade—so much better than having to deal with sympathy—and Slade didn’t even seem to realize he was getting Amada’s best eye-batting.

Slade did seem to realize he was getting the typical cross-exam that most strangers got. Bethany eavesdropped and heard Slade duck every question thrown at him. He headed toward the table she’d snagged, the order slip in his hand.

Sitting down, he said, “That kid’s in the wrong job. She should be the town reporter.”

“We’re too small to have a paper,” Bethany said. She sat up and Mr. and Mrs. Martino came over to shake her hand and give her their condolences. Bethany fixed a smile in place and listened to the usual platitudes. When they left the table, Bethany glanced at Slade and smiled at his scowl. “I take it you haven’t spent much time in a small town?”

“Let’s try none. If this is what you get, I’ll avoid them in the future as well.”

“They mean well, but everything is so fresh.”

“More like they’re incredibly nosy.”

Bethany shrugged. “That, too. But it’s more from wanting to know if they can help, or how they can help.”

“There’s no such thing as helping by minding your own business?”

Bethany shrugged.  “They know me. They know Jason. They knew Tayra. They don’t know you—so they’re checking you out as much as they’re checking up on me. It’s one of the reasons I’m thinking about staying a while—it’s good to have people watching your back.”

His shoulders relaxed. Bethany hadn’t realized he was tense. A small smile edged up his mouth, bringing back his charm. “Yeah, I know about that. Now, I hope you’re hungry. I ordered the extra mega size.”

“Cool,” Jason said, looking up from where he’d been blowing bubbles into his soda.

***

After lunch, they boxed up the extra pizza, drove home, and Slade insisted on taking what he called a ‘walk around’ with her. While Jason played in the front yard, Slade had Bethany take him on a tour.

“How old is this place?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I think it’s the mileage more than the years. Tayra never had the cash to fix it and I haven’t had the time. Or the inclination. So long as the roof doesn’t leak, and the water comes on, I’m good.”

He shook his head. “Give it another year and that roof will be leaking. Paint and minor repairs keep the major ones at bay. You want to be proactive about problems.”

She grinned suddenly. The wind tugged at her curls, and Slade wanted to reach out and tangle one around his finger. He shoved his hands in his back pockets instead.

Bethany crossed her arms and leaned against a pine that shaded the side yard. “Now you sound more like Slade of Slade Security. Is that how you see me and Jason—problems to be solved?”

“People aren’t problems. People cause problems.”

“No wonder you’re single.”

He leaned his shoulder against the pine. It was big enough to shade both of them, but he’d moved close enough to smell the scent of Bethany’s shampoo. Lemon and honey, he decided. Sweet and tart at the same time—like Bethany. “How do you know I’m single?”

“No ring. No calls or texts, other than work—unless you live with someone named Travis. That’s the only name I’ve heard you mention, so I’m thinking that’s Travis at work and not Travis at home. I also Googled you and you’ve got the smallest digital footprint I’ve ever seen.”

He grinned. “Unlike you. And Jason. So tell me about his condition—LLD?”

“Leg-length discrepancy.” She let out a breath. “His left leg’s longer than his right. He was born with a condition. They call it Russell–Silver syndrome—RSS. His intrauterine growth wasn’t good, and then Tayra said he was a tough baby to feed. The doctors tried lifts in his shoes, but it’s been getting worse. They want to do surgery now. Either they’ll shorten the longer leg, or lengthen the shorter leg. We’ve been to two specialists, and, surprise surprise, each one has different ideas about what’s better.”

Slade glanced into the front yard. From where they stood, they could see Jason on his knees in the dirt, running trucks over the ground and making engine sounds. “What are the other options? Seems like he’s already been through enough.”

Bethany shook her head. She pushed off of the tree. “I’d give everything to save Jason from this. We put off any thought of surgery once Tayra got sick, but…well, I’m worried now. Jason saw his mom go into the hospital and not come out. That’s not a great thing for any kid to see and now he has to go into another hospital.”

Slade touched a hand to her cheek, brushing at a freckle. “He’s a tough kid. Give him some credit. But this has been hard on you, too.”

She tipped her head to one side. “You really do have a white knight complex, don’t you? Is that the reason for the help? You’re going to bring in an army of contractors, fix the house? Then an army of doctors to fix Jason? Next you’ll be fixing me? Is that the idea? And when you’re done, you can ride off into the sunset.”

“Isn’t it cowboys who ride off? Knights hang around for the bar-be-queued dragon before they split.”

Bethany shook her head. “Nice. Make a joke about it. But I’ve got your number, Slade. Your work is your life, and that means a little boy like Jason would get the best money could buy—but forget about giving him your time. That’s another reason for you to be on my side about me adopting him. I’ve structured my work, my life, for him. I’ve been there for him when Tayra wasn’t. I’m Jason’s stability.”

Slade held up his hands. “Whoa, there, now who’s the cowboy? I’m not here to fight you.”

“Really? Then what are you here for?”

Slade pulled in a breath and let it out. He glanced at Bethany. She was staring up at him, her blue eyes bright. She was going to put two and two together, eventually. But he didn’t want to say anything. Not until he was certain. He shook his head and asked, “When’s Jason’s next doctor’s appointment? I’d like to be there to talk to the doc.”