Read Online Intimate Strangers by Danielle Taylor - Free Book Online Page B

I’d like to admit.

    Mrs. Fournier offered, and I’m taking her up on it. Ruan and I will just be staying with her until Christiaan leaves. If we’re still welcome after that, I’d love to return. I just…I can’t be near him. I hope you understand.

    Chelsea

    For a moment, everything in the entire universe stuttered to a complete stop. Not even his heart dared to beat. His actions one morning days ago caused her to run from the only place she had to call home. This was his fault.
    “Oh darn, I didn’t mean to leave that out for you to find.” Hannah extricated the crumpled note from his clenched fist. “Tiaan, I’m sorry.” She used the gentlest of caresses on his hand.
    What could he do? What could he say?
    One minute, Chelsea annoyed him to the point of wanting to strangle her – for absolutely no reason whatsoever – and the next, he wanted her, needed her in a way he’d never known. Her touch had the power to heal him, and make him more insecure at the same time.
    Now, thanks to his foolishness, she’d left.
    Head in his hands, Tiaan closed his eyes and practiced breathing in deeply then pushing it out slowly. His good friend Mac chose that moment, while Tiaan’s brain was in turmoil, to drop something on the desk.
    “Paternity results,” he said gruffly, squeezing Tiaan’s shoulders lightly.
    He almost let a string of curses slip past his lips, but remembered Kayla’s presence just in time. He looked down at the envelope, as it stared back up at him.
    An idea came to him so swiftly, it nearly winded him. Tiaan found the Dunlop’s address book on the desk, located the necessary information, and dashed upstairs to shower. When he got back into the kitchen, Hannah was waiting for him with a fried egg, bacon, and cheddar cheese toasted sandwich, and the keys to Mac’s SUV.
    Bloody brilliant woman.
    Tiaan slipped the envelope under one arm, took the sandwich – wrapped in foil with a napkin around the outside – and kissed her on the cheek. Then he bounded out to the driveway, feeling a little more human for the first time in days. However, that didn’t last for long, once he reached his destination, parked, and devoured his sandwich.
    Before him stood the Fournier house. Though not an unusually large building, it loomed above him like a bad omen and instead of letting the moment drag on, he reached forwards and pushed the bell. The manila envelope in his hands felt heavier than an anvil, only adding to the weight of the situation.
    The door swung open to reveal Chelsea, in all her sweet glory, holding Ruan. His throat tightened as he took them in, chest burned with a powerful need to be loved by both of them.
    “I um, I…” A hard swallow later, he endeavoured to try again. “I brought this.” Tiaan lifted the envelope. “Thought we could open it together.”
    For a long moment, she eyed him warily. Exhaustion darkened her eyes. Had she not been getting much rest? Tiaan had the unexpected desire to curl up next to her and Ruan, the three of them drifting off together.
    As a family.
    He didn’t understand that thought. Family didn’t appeal to him!
    Or was it just his family – his mother and father – that evoked such a negative response in him?
    She moved away from the entrance, gesturing for him to step past her. “Come on in.” Once he stood inside with the door shut behind him, Chelsea asked, “Do you want anything to eat or drink?”
    One corner of his mouth jumped back, an automatic reaction. “Hannah has been keeping me fed.” Tiaan patted his stomach, wincing at the contact. Would those damned wounds ever heal?
    As if following her inner instincts, Chelsea reached out to touch his hand, then stopped herself at the last minute. She brought it back to her body, using it to cradle Ruan’s shoulders which gently rose and fell. Silently, she motioned to a sitting room directly to the left of the front door. He took a seat on one of the two small couches, and she sat across from