Bonded by Accident Read online

  Brandi watched as the two of them, followed by Charlie, wagging his tail, went off to Emmie’s bedroom. She couldn’t help smiling a little at the sight of her daughter holding Bud’s wrinkled hand. Her stepfather was the only man in her life who had never let Brandi down. It made her happy that Emmie had at least one stable man in her life she could look up to.

  With a sigh, she drifted to the bathroom and started drawing a bath. The tub was old and rusted but it still held hot water and that was all Brandi needed at the moment.

  She usually made the water as hot as she could stand it but when she went to adjust the temperature this time, something made her turn the hot tap on low instead of high. Why was she doing that? Her bath would be barely tepid.

  Her hand went for the hot knob again…then crept to her belly. Emmie’s words still rang in her ears.

  “The baby brother you have in your tummy.”

  That was ridiculous, right? But still…A bath that’s too hot might hurt the baby, whispered a voice in her head. Better safe than sorry!

  It was silly but Brandi couldn’t bring herself to make the bathwater more than lukewarm. As she soaked in it, she tried not to think about Slade…or the fact that her period was late by almost a week now.

  It’s been late before, she argued with herself. Sure—by a day here or there. Never by a whole week—not since she was pregnant with Emmie.

  Closing her eyes, she remembered the intense look in Slade’s gold and green eyes when he told her he wanted to take care of her.

  “Listen to me sweetheart: if I put a baby in you—if your belly swells with my child—I want to be there. To support and protect you and the baby—and Emmie too. No male of worth would ever even consider doing anything else.”

  A male of worth. Emmie sighed. He had seemed like a male of worth—and then he’d admitted to being incarcerated for years before escaping from a maximum security space prison. And that awful memory in his head…

  I can’t do it—I just can’t give him another chance. It’s not fair to Emmie or safe for her either, no matter how much she loves Slade.

  What about how much you love him? whispered a little voice in her head. Admit it, Brandi—you were starting to care for him. The way he rescued you from Grabbar… the way he fixed your car…the easy way the conversation flowed with him…not to mention that incredible bonding scent of his…

  Even now just the memory of his warm, masculine scent was enough to make her nipples tight and her pussy wet.

  Brandi tried to push the desire away, tried not to remember the way he had gone down on her and made her come again and again…

  That’s over now, she told herself firmly. Think about something else—like the settlement.

  The settlement was a large chunk of cash that was currently coming her way from her ex-employer, the Bank of Tampa. After Brandi had shared her story with Josh, the man who wrote the Bay in Review blog, many other women had come forward too. Abuses and sexual harassment were brought to light—as well as the way the HR department had covered it up. The head of the Board of Directors was forced to resign and several other people—Harold Grabbar included—had lost their jobs and were now facing criminal charges.

  The bank had also promised to pay a good bit of money to the women who had been harassed. It was going to be enough for Brandi to either move out and find her own apartment or go back to college. Not both, unfortunately but it was certainly better than nothing.

  Brandi had been mulling over her options ever since she’d found out what her share of the settlement would be. On one hand, she really wanted to get away from the double wide she shared with Bud and her mom. Mostly because her mother’s drinking habits were going to become obvious to Emmie soon. Three nights out of five now, Ida-Mae staggered back to the trailer in the early morning hours, drunk and rowdy. It was a bad example for her daughter, and Brandi knew it.

  She’d tried taking her mother to rehab and AA but neither one seemed to stick—mostly because Ida-Mae liked her lifestyle. And since there were never any consequences—Bud never left her and he covered the bills when she drank her paycheck away—she had no reason to stop. It saddened Brandi because when she was sober, her mom was a wonderful grandmother, often baking cookies or playing dolls with Emmie for hours. Unfortunately, the sober days were getting few and far between, leading Brandi to think it was time to move out before Emmie got old enough to start asking questions and thinking that it was normal or right for someone to drink their life away.

  So getting out of the double wide was a very attractive option. But on the other hand, if she could just hold on a few more years she could go back to school at HCC’s Plant City campus. They had a nursing program Brandi was really interested in and since there was a nursing shortage at the moment, she knew she would be able to get a good paying job that would enable her to support herself and Emmie much more comfortably if she could just get through it.

  I suppose I’ll have to put up with Mom’s shenanigans a little while longer until I can get through school, Brandi told herself. Wish I could afford to go back to school and move out at the same time.

  But that was a pipe dream. Even with the settlement money she would still have to take some loans and get at least a part-time job to make ends meet.

  A longing suddenly swept over her—a longing for a partner—a wish that she wasn’t so alone. Of course, Bud was a wonderful support even if her mom wasn’t, but it wasn’t the same as having a father for Emmie—a man who would help her carry the financial and emotional burden of parenthood and life in general. A man to cuddle up to in bed at night, a man she could talk to about her day, a man who would love and support her no matter what…

  A man like Slade, whispered a little voice in her head. Brandi was almost too tired to push it away. The longing she felt became a deep yearning—a wish that she could let the big Kindred back into her life.

  But she couldn’t—she’d be a bad mom if she let her daughter be around a convicted murderer and felon! The kind of mom who puts her own needs and desires above the safety of her kids. And after being raised the way she had been by her own mother, Brandi was determined not to repeat Ida-Mae’s mistakes.

  There was no way around it, she had to keep Slade out of her life, no matter how much it hurt.

  Wiping the tears from her eyes, she wrapped herself in a towel and went to her room. Slipping into a worn, comfortable old nightshirt, she cuddled down in bed and reached for the big body pillow she kept to snuggle with when she felt especially lonely.

  With a sigh, Brandi wrapped her legs and arms around the pillow and buried her face in its soft side. She knew it was pathetic but it usually brought her comfort. Not tonight, though. She felt nothing but cold and alone and sad. Finally she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer—low, hoarse sobs came from her throat and she did her best to muffle them in the pillow.

  Her sorrow was made worse because somewhere in the back of her head she could feel Slade’s misery as well. The big Kindred was longing for her tonight. Though he was careful not to project his thoughts into her mind, she could still catch his emotions when they were especially strong.

  Slade, I’m sorry, she thought, crying harder. So sorry but I can’t risk it—can’t risk Emmie. Please…please try to understand.

  At last, all cried out, she fell asleep with her head on the damp pillow. She didn’t even wake when her mother came home around four in the morning, drunk and loud as always when she’d been at the bar too late.

  Someone else did wake up, though.

  * * * * *

  Emmie sat up, wide-eyed as she heard her Grandma Ida-Mae come in. Sometimes Grandma Ida drank too much bad smelling medicine—it smelled like cough syrup to Emmie. After she drank the bad medicine, she couldn’t talk right and she fell down a lot. It scared Emmie when her Grandma got like that so she huddled down in her covers and called for Charlie to jump up on the bed with her.

  Charlie wasn’t supposed to be on the bed and he knew it bu