Full Disclosure (Homefront: The Sheridans Book 2) (17 page)

“Hell, yes, it would.” Cass’s eyes are
wide. “Then suddenly Ryan’s got a criminal record, and we’ve got a rapist
finding out that he’s got a kid.
Her
kid,” Cass says to Allie, pointing
a finger at me. “I’m sure he wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about Connor, but
there’s always a chance he’d exploit this in some way. Connor would find out. And
I’m with Kim on this one. A little kid doesn’t need to know that about his dad.”

I gaze at Cass. She’s always surprising
me. Behind that storybook princess face of hers, resides a thoughtful mind with
a thorough line of reasoning. “Exactly,” I agree.

Allie shakes her head. “If you told Ryan
to not track this guy down, there’s no way he would. He wouldn’t compromise
your trust. It might kill him, but he wouldn’t.”

“I rest my case,” I say. “
It might
kill him
. So we’re right back to square one: Ryan doesn’t need this kind of
baggage in his life.”

Having made my point, I sit back down at
the counter and take a long sip of my wine. I should feel stripped raw from
sharing this dark chapter of my life, drawn into memories of those months of
shame and fear and confusion. Yet somehow, I feel stronger, knowing that my
burden is shared by two women I trust implicitly.

Would it be that way if I shared this
with Ryan? I give myself a mental shake. I’m not willing to take that chance.

Allie frowns. “So you’re going to live
the rest of your life without ever trusting a man with the truth?”

I sigh. “Yep. That’s the plan. For now,
anyway.”

“Great plan,” Allie remarks
sarcastically. “And you’ll just break it off with Ryan?”

I slump in my stool. “I don’t know. I
told him I wasn’t comfortable dating my boss and he still wants to see me. I
figure this thing will burn itself out soon enough though. What is it they say
about the fires that burn the hottest also burning the fastest?”

“He’s not as heartless as everyone at JLS
says, you know,” Allie reminds me. “He’s got a heart. A big one.”

“I know,” I say with a sigh.

“And you’re going to break it.”

 “Oh, I’m not so sure about that,”
Cass offers. “You know what I think?”

I actually do. She seems to be siding
more with me than Allie is on this one. I nod.

“Date him. For God’s sake, it’s nothing
heavy unless you want it to be. You’re crossing that bridge too early.”

“So I just keep the truth from him?”

“Of course. You’ve only been seeing him a
short while. It’s not the time to start pulling the skeletons out of the closet
anyway.”

Allie raises an eyebrow. “Ryan’s a dad,
Cass. He’s looking for something long-term.”

“And after more time with him, maybe Kim
will start feeling like she can share the truth. But now, she should just focus
on enjoying him—
this
—for what it is.”

Allie sighs, sucks her lower lip in for a
moment thoughtfully.

“Okay,” Allie says with some finality.
“They can date for a while. With the option for full disclosure in the future.”

Cass angles her head to Allie. “Deal,”
she says, extending her hand for a firm shake. I roll my eyes realizing that my
two best friends have just negotiated the terms for my sex life.

- RYAN -

Tapping the hands-free button on my
steering wheel, I pull out of my space on Anders Street, my car already filled
with the smell of garlic and shrimp from the take-out boxes I have in the
footwell. “Hey, Logan.”

“Ryan,” Logan barks. “Where the hell are
you?”

“Lunch break.”

There’s a pause. “Since when do you take
lunch breaks?”

“When else am I supposed to see Kim? We’d
need a babysitter otherwise.”

“Allie and I will volunteer for that.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. Right now, I’ll
just take what I can get. What’s going on with you?”

“I just thought you might need a laugh.”

I smile. “I can always use that. What’s
up?”

“I got an offer on the townhome next to
Kim’s.”

“That’s great. But how will that make me
laugh?”

“It’s fifty percent of my asking price.”

“Excuse me? Fifty percent?” My eyebrows
hike up an inch on my face. “Are they on crack?”

“Yeah, that was my first response to the
agent when I talked to her. But she tells me that the seller feels it’s
overpriced on account of the crime in the area.”

“Crime? This is freaking Newton’s Creek. What
are they…?” I pause a moment, realization setting in. “Oh, hell. You mean the
couple broken windows at Kim’s place?”

“Yep. I guess in our town that qualifies
as a crime spree.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. It was just
a random thing. Even Leverty agreed with the police on that.”

“Right. But it made the front page in our
abysmal little town newspaper.”

“Tell the real estate agent that the
offer is turned down. Don’t even counter. They should come back with something
better.”

“Yeah, that’s my thinking, too. But just
needed a second opinion. I mean, it’s not like I need the money, and I’d really
like to unload them both since Allie and I are going to be selling ours after
our house is built next year.”

“Look, if you want to give the house
away, give it to someone who really needs it. Not some damn opportunist who will
probably flip the place in a few months after people have forgotten about a
couple broken windows.”

“You think he’s a flipper?”

“I
know
. What’s the person’s
name?”

I hear Logan rustling some papers before
he says, “Jason C. Bradshaw.”

“Jason C. Bradshaw,” I repeat, committing
it to memory. “I’ll have Leverty look him up. I guarantee he’s a flipper.”

“So where are you meeting her for lunch?”

“The parking lot of Home Depot.”

“
What
?”

“You heard me.”

“Uh, bro, I see you could use a few
pointers in the romance department.”

This, coming from a man who wanted to get
engaged over Mom’s meatloaf?
I want to point that out. But I decide to skip it… this time. “No, I couldn’t. But
Kim could. It’s her idea. I get takeout and we eat in the car. She doesn’t want
anyone to see us together.”

“Well, I can see her point. I don’t
really like being seen with you either.”

“Seriously. You’ve known her for longer
than me. How long is she going to be stubborn about this?”

“Ry, I’ve never understood women. You’re
asking me?”

“You’re marrying one.”

“Doesn’t mean I have her completely
figured out yet. It only means that I want to take the rest of my life to try
to figure her out. So you really like her?”

“Yep. I do. I like Connor, too. But how
long am I supposed to deal with eating lunch in parking lots?”

“As long as it takes. She’s been through
a lot. It’s got to be hard to trust
any
guy after her ex bolted on her
when she got pregnant. And it doesn’t help matters that you’re her boss.”

My ears perk up. “He bolted on her
because she was pregnant?”

“Yeah, I think that’s what Allie told me
a couple months ago. Sounds like a winner,” he adds sarcastically.

“Yeah,” I murmur, pondering how this
story differs from what Kim told me the other night in the weight room. She had
said Connor’s dad never even knew he had a son. I open my mouth, about to ask
Logan for any additional information, but snap it shut again.

Kim lied to one of us, but I can’t be
angry about it. I’ve never been one to see things in black and white, right and
wrong. In business, and in life, I’ve seen a hell of a lot of gray area in
between.

If Kim did lie, then there’s a
reason—a reason she doesn’t feel comfortable sharing yet. I flick on my
turn signal and pull into the parking lot. “Well, I’m here. Gotta go,” I tell
him as I spot Kim’s car on the other side of the lot. “I thought I was through
parking with girls when I got out of high school.”

“Yeah, well, just don’t let the cops
catch you this time,” Logan warns with a laugh.

I wince, remembering that time when I was
seventeen, in the back seat of my dad’s sedan with Heather Connelly during
winter break, when we were interrupted by a cop tapping on our steamed up
window and the night ended with a call to my father.

“Will do.”

I tap the button on my steering wheel to
end the call as I slide into a parking spot next to Kim.

“Mmmm. Do I smell shrimp?” she asks when
she climbs into my car. Her eyes are playful and I swear she’s enjoying our
clandestine meetings, even if they are killing me.

I lean into her to greet her with a kiss,
threading my fingers through her bobbed hair and inhaling that scent that I can
only define as Kim. It somehow centers me, this feeling I get when I’m around
her, as though when she’s near the world seems to make a little more sense.

“Shrimp scampi from Francesca’s.”

“You know I’d be happy with a hamburger
from Bob’s.”

“That makes one of us. But you’ll have to
hold out a little longer before we eat.”

“Why?”

“I’m taking you somewhere, if you’re up
for it.”

Her brow furrows with concern. “Ryan,
I—”

“You don’t want to be seen with me,” I
finish for her. She’s so damn predictable in that regard. “Yeah, yeah. I get
it, Kim. No one will see us. Are you game?” Before she even answers, I put my
car in drive and head back toward downtown Newton’s Creek. “I’m just sick of
staring at a drainage ditch at Home Depot while I eat.”

“Okay,” she says tentatively.

“Trust me. You’ll love this.”

I drive her to the clearing that will
soon become JLS’s newest development alongside the river. The place is full of
memories for me now, since that moonlit evening with Kim, certainly more so
than any other project site. Some of the trees are cleared away now, and a
gravel path leads down to the water.

“Wow. They’ve been busy here,” she
comments.

“Yes, they have. We’ll actually start
building the Monday after the Buckeye Festival.”

“When you make your big announcement.”

“Exactly. There are already rumors,
though.”

“I know, I’ve heard some of them.”

“You have? What are you hearing?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yep.”

“That JLS is going to turn it into a big
ugly development, with a bunch of houses that no one can afford.”

I smile. I can’t help it. That will make
for an even better surprise with people thinking that way. “And you haven’t
told anyone the truth.”

“It’s killing me to keep quiet, but I am.
When I make a promise I keep it.”

I know she means that, and I like that
about her. “Good. Because that will make the big reveal even more dramatic, if
I can just keep people from putting a price on my head in the meantime.”

The gravel pecks at the underside of my
Mercedes as I pull up to my parked RV alongside the creek.

“What is this?” she asks.

“Remember the RV I said I bought for that
trip with Hannah? Thought I should maybe see if the engine still runs.” I catch
her surreptitiously looking both ways as I open the car door for her. “Don’t
worry. No one will come down here till the project starts now. The site is
off-limits.” I pull her close to me and steal a kiss as I slam the car door
behind her. We walk to the other side of the RV that faces the water.

I watch a smile touch her cheeks.

“Oh, this is lovely, Ryan,” she comments,
her eyes taking in the white clothed table and chairs I set up earlier this
morning. It’s not much, but it’s the best I could do on short notice.

“Well, it beats eating in a car.” I pull
her chair out for her after I set down the bag of food on the table. “I have
wine chilling in the fridge. I don’t suppose you’re interested?”

“I’m on my lunch hour, Mr. Sheridan,” she
says pointedly. “I don’t think my boss would appreciate me coming back to the
office tipsy.”

“Your boss wouldn’t mind at all.”

“I meant my supervisor. The one who, God
willing, has no idea I’m having lunch with the CEO.”

“Understood. We’re stocked with sodas,
too, in that case.”

I retreat to the RV and emerge juggling
two cans and a couple glasses with ice.

“Let me help you,” she says, starting to
rise.

“Nope. You just sit. Relax. That’s the
whole point of this. There’s nothing relaxing about stuffing your face with food
in the middle of the parking lot. A nice view like this is always better.”

“You’re right about that.” She looks
around her as I spoon the shrimp onto her plate from the take-out container.
“So, what’s going to be here when you’re done with it?”

“This is where the playground will be. That’s
why I had to have the trees cleared out a bit.”

“I thought that was where we were. I
remember from the other night when you pointed it out. But it was so dark, I
wasn’t sure. We were standing just over there, right?” she asks as she points.

“That’s the spot.”

I see a blush creep up to her cheeks at
the memory of that first kiss. I can’t help the quickening of my heart rate at
the thought, too. A thought occurs to me. “Wait. Nearly forgot something.” I
dash inside again and bring out a box of matches to light the candles. Okay, so
they don’t exactly let off much of a glow in the middle of the day, but I’m
hoping the thought will count for something.

“Nice touch,” she says, desire glimmering
in her eyes as she takes a bite of her shrimp.

“This is killing me, Kim. I don’t want to
have to sneak around with you.”

“I just don’t feel comfortable telling
people at work. I’ll be known as the girl who slept with the boss. Or if I get
my Christmas bonus or a raise, everyone will think it’s because I’m sleeping
with you.

“Is that your way of saying you want a
raise?”

“No! God, Ryan.” She shakes her head.

“Oh. Then is it your way of saying you’re
still going to be sleeping with me at Christmastime?” I reply, a mocking
glimmer in my eyes. I like that idea.

She gives me a light smack on my arm.
“I’m being serious here. No one will bat an eye at what you do, but I’m the one
who will bear the brunt.”

“Kim, I’m not looking for a short-term
relationship. You know that, don’t you?”

I can see her swallow. Hard. I should
wait for some answer from her, some sign, but I can’t resist bringing my hand
to her head, lacing my fingers into her soft hair. She leans into me, and every
trace of rational thought leaves me. I can taste her again, the white wine
sauce on her shrimp seeming to accentuate that sweet taste that is entirely Kim
and nothing else. I could let myself get carried away by desire right now, but
I know that she only has an hour for lunch. And this little excursion from the
parking lot has already cost us at least a quarter of that.

“You better eat,” I tell her, even though
she’ll never know the cost of those words to me. “Have you thought about
Allie’s job offer anymore?” I ask her, thinking a safe subject might be in
order.

I watch her eyes drift momentarily to the
sparkling water in front of us, almost dreamily. Then the dreamy look washes
away, replaced by a practical front. “I like my job at JLS,” she replies. “I
don’t need another job.”

“But do you love it?”

“That’s an unfair question since you’re
my boss.”

“Just looking for an honest answer.”

She looks thoughtful. “I don’t know. Answering
phones and filing away résumés isn’t exactly a thrill ride. But as a single
mom, I can really appreciate the importance of the HR department. We give
people jobs. Good jobs.”

“So you find it fulfilling?”

“Yeah,” she says feebly, as though trying
to convince herself as much as me. “Yeah, I do.” Her eyes drift back to the
water again. “I love the dogs, though,” her voice confesses quietly.