Read Online Hold on to Me by Elisabeth Naughton - Free Book Online

to be close to three a.m. Realizing she was asleep, he laid her on the couch and pulled a throw over her, then looked down at all her curly red hair fanned out around her and remembered why he’d never wanted to have a family of his own. Because this kind of stuff killed him. The highs he could totally manage, but the lows… He wasn’t strong enough to deal with reality when the bottom fell out beneath him.
    The scent of coffee beckoned from the direction of the kitchen, and he headed that way.
    Tate—always a night owl—was sitting at the counter, tinkering on his laptop, when Mitch walked into the room. Darkness pressed in from outside, just a twinkle of lights across the water reflecting in the glass. Tate leaned back in his chair. “She finally go to sleep?”
    Mitch opened a cupboard and pulled out a mug. “You mean pass out from crying? Yeah. Finally.”
    Tate chuckled. “Gotta admit. All those years you spent helping Ryan with Julia, I never saw you as the father figure. Not until tonight.”
    Mitch scowled as he poured coffee into his mug. “Don’t get used to it. She’s not my kid, and her mother has made it more than clear she doesn’t want her to be my kid. I am not, and never will be, dad material.”
    Tate was silent for a moment. The strong, bitter coffee went down hot, but at least it cleared the last of the cobwebs from Mitch’s brain. He took another sip, wishing it would clear away that lingering ache in his chest too.
    “What are you gonna do?” Tate asked quietly.
    What he wanted to do was drink himself into oblivion and pass out just like Shannon. What he had to do was call the woman who’d just shit kicked him in the groin and tell her her daughter was over eight hundred miles away. With him.
    “Consider moving to a deserted island.” He pulled out his cell and cringed when he saw seven missed calls from Simone.
    So much for passing out.
    He punched in Simone’s number. Then drew a deep breath and steeled himself for what was about to happen next.
    Simone answered on the first ring. “Mitch? Is Shannon with you?”
    Just the sound of her voice caused his stomach to tighten with a mixture of pain and stupidity. He clenched his jaw. “She’s here. And she’s fine.”
    “Oh, thank God. I’ve been going out of my mind. Put her on the phone.”
    “She’s sleeping.”
    “Well, wake her up. She’s in some serious trouble for this stunt.”
    He leaned back against the counter. Across the kitchen, Tate watched with interest. “No.”
    “This isn’t funny, Mitch. Put her on the damn phone.”
    Simone was good and fired up. The woman rarely swore. But that only fueled Mitch’s own rage. “It’s three o’clock in the freakin’ morning, Simone. She’s tired and upset and already feels like crap, thanks to you. So forgive me for not waking her so you can lay into her and make her feel worse.”
    “ Wha —?” Shock reverberated through the line. Then, steadier, Simone said, “Where are you? I’ll come get her.”
    Bullshit. She wasn’t coming up here and fucking up any more of his life. She’d done enough of that already. “I’ll take care of it.”
    “What? No. Just put her on a plane in the morning, and I’ll meet her in San Francisco.”
    She didn’t want to see him. Yeah, that made this all the more fun. “And leave her feeling abandoned all over again? I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure we’ve both fucked things up for her enough for one week. I’ll call you tomorrow when I know our flight time.”
    “Wait, Mitch. Have her call me.”
    Now she didn’t even want to talk to him? Oh yeah, this was just so fucking excellent .
    “Not if she doesn’t want to. And right now, you’re like the last person on the planet she wants to talk to.”
    “Mitch—”
    “You know what, Simone?” He rolled right over her, his own emotions melding with Shannon’s, leaving him vibrating with anger. “You’re just gonna have to learn to deal with disappointment. I sure