play another game,” Knox said as a new anger toward Allison burned in his belly. What had she been thinking?
They played video games until six when he called the local pizzeria and made their order to be delivered. While they waited for the pizza, he and Cody set the kitchen table with paper plates and napkins.
When the meal arrived, Cody shouted up the stairs to his mother and she came down to join them. Knox swallowed his anger, not wanting a hint of it to show while the three of them ate together. But there was no way he was leaving this house tonight before he spoke his mind to her.
He’d ordered a large meat-lovers for them to share. He waited until Cody and Allison took their first pieces and then he served himself. Automatically he picked off the pepperoni on his slice and placed them on Allison’s plate. It was a habit deeply ingrained from when they’d been a couple.
“How did you know Mom loves pepperoni?” Cody asked.
“I know a lot of things about your mother,” Knox replied. “We went to high school together.”
“You did? Tell me some other stuff you know about her,” Cody asked as Allison handed him his napkin to wipe off a string of mozzarella cheese that clung to his chin.
“I know her favorite color is purple and when she laughs too hard she gets the hiccups.” His gaze locked with hers and for the moment his anger was gone, replaced by haunting memories.
“She likes pizza, but she loves cheeseburgers with lots of dill pickles and mayo,” he continued. What he couldn’t say was how soft and inviting her lips were when she kissed or how her hazel eyes changed colors when she was fired up with desire. “She also isn’t much of a chocolate eater, but give her a bag of chips or a loaf of French bread and she’ll tear them up.”
Cody laughed in delight and then looked at his mother. “That’s all true! Now, Mom, tell me some stuff you know about Knox.”
She finally broke eye contact with Knox and instead smiled at her son. “He was the star of the high school football team. He had great moves on the field, but he doesn’t dance very well.”
Cody shot a glance at him and giggled.
“He’s very loyal to his brothers and sisters and when he laughs too hard all the dogs in the area howl.” Her eyes twinkled with a teasing light. “And don’t ever ask him to sing to you because he can’t carry a tune worth a darn.”
Knox found himself laughing and for a moment it felt good to be there with her and his son and sharing some humor. The rest of the meal passed with easy conversation and was filled with more laughter. At one point Allison laughed hard enough that she got the hiccups, to the utter delight of her son.
Knox had forgotten how much he enjoyed her sense of humor and how delightful he’d always found the way her mind worked. And just that quickly he closed off to her as he remembered what she’d told Cody about his father. What on earth had she been thinking then?
The meal finished and cleanup was done and then Cody and Knox returned to the living room to play some more games. Rain still bounced off the windows and it felt as if in no time Allison came back downstairs to tell Cody it was bedtime.
“Would you like for me to come up and tuck you in?” Knox asked before the boy went up the stairs.
He held his breath, surprised by how much he wanted to tuck the sheet around his son’s neck and tell him to have sweet, wonderful dreams.
Cody’s eyes brightened. “Sure, I’d like that a lot. I’ll call you when I’m ready.” He bounced up the stairs and disappeared from Knox’s view.
He turned to face Allison who had come downstairs to get Cody for bed. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, it’s fine,” she replied.
“And after he’s in bed you and I need to have a talk.”
“About what?” Her eyes filled with an instant wariness.
“You can come on up, Knox,” Cody’s voice drifted down the stairs.
“I’ll tell you when I finish tucking in my son.” He turned from her and headed up the stairs.
* * *
Great, what now? Allison wondered as she watched Knox climb the stairs and disappear at the top. Whatever he wanted to discuss with her had put that cold chill back in his eyes.
As days went, this one had already been pretty crummy. Not only had George reported that three windows on the Wilkenson home had been broken overnight, but she’d also received a flurry of unpleasant text messages from Chad.
He’d threatened to turn her into OSHA, the IRS and any other number of government authorities. Although the business was in compliance with every one of those agencies, she couldn’t afford a ton of legal costs incurred by frivolous lawsuits or government inquiries.
She still hoped he was just blowing off steam and would eventually stop with the texts. However, the whole thing had put her a bit on edge.
The only thing that had taken Chad and the new vandalism out of her mind for a little while had been the laughter they’d all shared over pizza.
It had been so unexpected. In a million years she’d never dreamed that she and Knox would be able to laugh with each other again. But he hadn’t been amused when he’d gone upstairs to send Cody off to sleep.
She went back into the living room and sank down on the overstuffed brown sofa to wait for Knox’s return. There was no question that her son was developing a huge case of hero worship for Knox. Did it worry her? She had to admit it did a little bit.
She just didn’t want Cody’s fragile heart to be hurt in any way. It should be a little girl that gave him his first heartbreak, not his father.
Her muscles tensed at the sound of Knox’s footsteps coming back down the stairs. She’d stayed out of the way this afternoon and evening so that he and Cody could spend quality time together. From upstairs it had sounded like they’d had fun. What on earth could he have to discuss with her now?
He entered the living room and immediately she felt the heavy tension that wafted from him. “Did you get him tucked in?” she asked.
“I did.” He sat in the wingback chair opposite her and stared at her with his beautiful but cold blue eyes. “What on earth were you thinking when you told Cody that his father is some kind of a superhero who is off fighting crime?”
Allison physically felt the blood drain from her face. “I didn’t know what else to tell him.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t tell him his father was dead.”
She sat up straighter. She refused to allow his harsh gaze to cow her. “Three years ago a close friend of Cody’s lost his father in a car accident. Cody was distraught for his friend and while he was crying he asked me about his own father. That certainly wasn’t the time for me to tell him that his father was dead, so I told him he had an important job fighting crime and couldn’t come to visit because he was keeping us all safe.” She raised her chin a notch. “Besides, it was the truth.”
“Except the part where you didn’t tell him that I didn’t even know he existed.”
She leaned back and released a deep sigh. “Knox, I agree that I’ve made some mistakes. I thought...” She cast her gaze to the right of him, not wanting to look at him as she continued. “I thought I was doing what was best for everyone in the situation.”
“By telling me you got pregnant by another man when we were together? What part of that was best for everyone?”
“You had already left town. The last thing I wanted to do was force you to come back to me by telling you I was pregnant.” And then there was the fact that his mother was a convicted murderer.
“I thought you cheated on me.”
“I’d