Read Online Texas Lullaby (Texas Montgomery Mavericks Book 7) by Cynthia D’Alba - Free Book Online Page A

your ass out of my house. Better yet, I’ll nag you to get the hell out of my business.”
    Jason lifted a spoon of––he stopped to read the jar label. Pureed turkey. Yum?––to Levi’s mouth, which opened immediately for the food.
    “Sorry. You can’t scare me off.”
    “I’m. Not. Trying. To. Scare. You. Off.” Each word was said with exact pronunciation. “I’m telling you that I don’t need you, or anyone else, to rescue me.”
    “Good. I’m not trying to rescue you,” he said, putting air quotes around the last two words.
    “You are really pissing me off right now.”
    “Okay.” He pulled on his in-the-courtroom calm composure. She was beyond exhausted. He’d bet every dollar in his wallet that her shoulders were a rock garden. This situation wasn’t healthy for her or the children.
    He wiped Levi’s face with the wet cloth on the table and then fed him another spoon of something that looked disgusting but must have tasted fine.
    “Lydia. I love you. You know that. Do you think for one minute I’d do anything that I thought would hurt or embarrass you? Of course not,” he added before she could say anything. “But these children have been through so much. Uprooted to a new house. New adults taking care of them. The most important people in their young lives gone forever.”
    “I know,” she said, her voice tense enough to cut solid wood.
    “What I know about children won’t fill a thimble, but what my mother knows about kids would fill this house and overflow into the streets. She’s the one who pushed me to get you some time off. Time to recharge your batteries so you can be a better mother.”
    The word mother felt so foreign rolling off his tongue when talking about Lydia. It wasn’t something he’d ever expected to call her.
    She slumped back in her chair, not defeated, but weakening.
    “Mom and Dad want to stay here this evening. Let me take you somewhere special. Somewhere that will put some sparkle back in your eyes.”
    “If this is about sex…”
    He laughed. “I wouldn’t say no. I’ve missed holding you, but, no, this isn’t about sex. This is about you. You’ve known me for a long time. Can’t you trust me?”
    She sighed. “But the house––”
    “Is fine,” he completed. “Go take a shower. Put on some shorts and a T-shirt. Don’t worry about make-up or anything like that. It’s just a little Lydia time. Okay? We’ll be back before you know it.”
    She hesitated and he went in for the kill, just like he did anytime he saw a weakness in the courtroom.
    “Lydia. Trust me.”
    “I will kill you at some point for letting your parents see my house like this.”
    “Accepted,” he said with a grin. “Go. Get ready.”
    After she left the room, he looked at Levi. “I’m telling you, man. These females are tough, you know? But don’t you worry. I’ll teach you all the tricks.”
    Spit dribbled off Levi’s chin, and somewhere deep inside Jason, a powerful emotion tugged at his heart.
    He’d lived the past ten years knowing that children weren’t in his future. He’d accepted that reality, built his life around it, made sure everyone around him knew it. He had never allowed himself to want children. Never allowed himself to daydream about being a father. He’d told—no, convinced—himself that being an uncle would fulfill any nurturing urges he might have.
    Except now, fate had dropped three children into the life of the woman he’d been ready to spend the rest of his life with, which posed huge questions.
    Did he want to spend the next eighteen years––minimum––raising children that he’d been sure he didn’t want?
    How could three tiny people get wedged into his heart so fast?

Chapter Five
    Lydia was embarrassed, humiliated and beyond pissed off at Jason. Not only was her house a total wreck, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d washed her hair. His parents would think her a horrible substitute parent. They probably were