Canyon
He frowned at Bailey’s question. “Why what?”
“Why will you be late? Dillon mentioned you left work early today.”
For some reason Bailey assumed being the youngest automatically made her privy to everyone’s business. Instead of answering her, he tapped on the phone several times and then said, “Sounds like we have a bad connection, Bay. I’ll talk to you later.”
He clicked the phone off in time to see Keisha walk back out of the building. Studying her face he saw she was still smiling, which was a good sign. She was also chatting with the little boy whose hand she was holding—a boy who was probably around two years old.
Canyon studied the little boy’s features. “WTF,” he muttered under his breath. The kid could be a double for Denver, Dillon’s three-year-old son. In fact, if Canyon didn’t know for certain that Denver was at home with Dillon’s wife, Pam, he would think it was Denver’s hand that Keisha was holding. An uneasy feeling stirred his insides as he continued to study the little boy whose smile was just as big as Keisha’s.
Canyon took in a gasping breath. There was only one reason the little boy looked so much like a Westmoreland. Canyon gripped the steering wheel, certain steam was coming out of his ears and nose.
He didn’t remember easing his seat back, unbuckling his seat belt or opening the car door. Neither did he remember walking toward Keisha. However, he would always remember the look on her face when she stopped walking and glanced in his direction. What he saw in her features was surprise, guilt and remorse.
As he got closer he watched defensiveness followed by fierce protectiveness replace those other emotions. She stopped walking and pulled her son—the child he was certain was their son—closer to her side. “What are you doing here, Canyon?”
He came to a stop in front of her. His body was radiating anger from the inside out. His gaze left her face and looked down at the little boy who was clutching the hem of Keisha’s skirt and staring up at him with distrustful eyes that were almost identical to his mother’s.
Canyon shifted his gaze back up to meet Keisha’s eyes. In a voice shaking with fury, he asked, “Would you like to tell me why I didn’t know I had a son?”
Two
Keisha drew in a deep breath while thinking about what she would say, and from Canyon’s tone of voice she knew it better be good. She’d often wondered how he would react when he found out he had a son. Would he deny her child was his like her own father had done with her?
Instead of answering his question, she countered with one of her own. “Would it have mattered had you known?”
She saw surprise flash in his eyes just seconds before his lips formed a tight line. “Of course it would have mattered,” he said with affront. “Now tell me why I wasn’t told.”
Keisha could tell by the way her son held tight to her skirt that he sensed something was wrong, and she knew how anxious he got around strangers. Although she wished otherwise, the time had come for her and Canyon to talk. But not now and not here.
“I need to get Beau home and—”
“Beau?”
She lifted her chin. “Yes. My son’s name is Beau Ashford.”
The anger that flashed across his face was quick. And although he muttered the words, “Not for long,” under his breath, she heard them.
She slowly pulled in a deep breath and then carefully exhaled it. “Like I said, Canyon. I need to get Beau home to prepare dinner and then—”
“Fine,” he cut in before she finished. “Whatever you have planned for tonight, I’m included.”
Like hell he was. “Now look here, Canyon. I—”
She stopped talking when she saw Pauline Sampson, owner of the day care, approaching them. Pauline had been one of Keisha’s first clients when she’d begun practicing law five years ago. She was also a friend of Mr. Spivey’s wife, Joan. Pauline was smiling but Keisha saw deep concern in every curve of the woman’s lips. There was also a degree of curiosity in her eyes.
“Keisha, I happened to glance out my window and saw you were still here. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Pauline said smoothly.
If everything wasn’t okay, Keisha had no intention of letting Pauline know. “Yes, everything is fine, Pauline.” She hadn’t planned on making introductions, and she was aware that Canyon knew it. She really wasn’t surprised when he took it upon himself to make the introductions himself.
Extending his hand out to Pauline, he said, “How are you, Pauline? I’m Canyon Westmoreland, Beau’s father.”
Keisha watched Pauline’s brow lift in surprise. “Westmoreland?”
Canyon flashed Pauline what Keisha knew to be his dashing smile, one known to win over jurors in the courtroom. “Yes, Westmoreland.”
She saw interest shine in Pauline’s eyes. “Are you related to Dillon Westmoreland?”
Canyon kept his smile in place. “Yes, Dillon is my oldest brother.”
Pauline’s smile widened. “Small world. I can definitely see the resemblance. Dillon and I went to high school together and serve on the boards of directors of several businesses in town.”
“Yes, it is a small world,” Canyon agreed, glancing at his watch. “If you don’t mind excusing us, Pauline, Keisha and I need to get Beau home for dinner.”
“Oh, not at all,” Pauline said, beaming. “I understand.” She then glanced up at Keisha. “Have a good weekend.”
Keisha doubted that would happen now. “You, too, Pauline.”
She knew not to waste time talking Canyon out of following her home. He wanted her to answer his question—not tomorrow or next week, but tonight.
When Pauline turned to go back inside, Keisha moved toward her car and gasped in surprise when Canyon reached down and picked up Beau. Keisha opened her mouth to warn him that Beau didn’t take well to strangers. She closed it when instead of screaming at the top of his lungs, Beau wrapped his arms around Canyon’s neck.
Canyon adjusted their son in his arms. “I’ll carry him to the car for you.”
She frowned. “He can walk.”
“I know he can, but I want to carry him. Humor me.”
Keisha didn’t want to humor him. She didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Father or no father, if Canyon thought he could bombard his way into her or Beau’s lives, he had another think coming. He’d made his choice three years ago.
She tried pushing her mother’s warning to the back of her mind. When Keisha had discovered her pregnancy and shared the news with her mother, Lynn had warned her not to assume Canyon would be like Kenneth Drew. Lynn believed every man had a right to know he’d fathered a child, which is why she had told Kenneth. Only after his decision not to accept Keisha as his child had Lynn ceased including Kenneth in her daughter’s life.
Lynn felt Keisha hadn’t given Canyon a chance to either accept or reject his child, and he should be given that choice. Keisha hadn’t felt that way. Knowing her father had rejected her had tormented her all through childhood and right into her adult life. It had been her decision to never let her son experience the grief of rejection.
When they reached her car, she opened the door to the backseat and moved aside to watch Canyon place Beau in his car seat. Then another surprise happened. Beau actually protested and tried reaching for Canyon to get back into his arms.
“It seems he likes you,” Keisha muttered, truly not happy with it at all.
Canyon glanced over his shoulder at her. “It’s a Westmoreland thing.”
Keisha didn’t say anything. If that was his way of letting her know his son should have been born with his name, he’d done so effectively.
“From now on, partner, I’ll never be too far away,” she heard him say to Beau and wondered if he realized he needed her permission for that to happen. When it came to her son, he would only have the rights she gave him.
As if Beau understood, he then spoke to Canyon for the first time. Pointing his finger at himself, he said, “Me Beau.” He then pointed at Canyon. “You?”
Canyon chuckled and Keisha knew he had deliberately said the next words loud enough for her to hear. “Dad.”
Beau repeated the word dad as if he needed to say it. “Dad.”
Canyon chuckled. “Yes, Dad.” He then closed the car door and turned to Keisha.
Ignoring the fierce frown on his face, she said, “You seem to be good with kids.”
He shrugged. “Dillon has a son named Denver who’s a little older than Beau, and I’m around him a lot. They favor.”
She lifted a brow. “Who?”
“Beau and Denver. Although Denver is a little taller, if you put them in a room together it might be hard to tell them apart.”
It was Keisha’s time to shrug. She would know her son anywhere. Besides, she couldn’t imagine the two kids looking that much alike. “Since you insist that we need to talk today, you can follow me home. But I don’t intend to break my routine with Beau because of you.”
“I don’t expect you to.”
She moved to walk around to the driver’s side of the car when he reached out and touched her. Immediately, heat raced up her spine and she was forced to remember the raw masculine energy Canyon possessed. She’d have thought that after three years she would be immune to him, but it seemed nothing had changed in the sexual-chemistry department.
“Keisha?”
With her pulse throbbing, she fought to regain her composure. She lifted her chin. “What?”
He met her gaze and held it. “Is there any reason someone would be following you?”
“What are you talking about?” Keisha asked, frowning.
Canyon shoved his hands into his pockets. “I started following you from your job, but I wasn’t the only one. A black sedan pulled out in front of me and whoever was behind the wheel followed you until a mile or so back. That’s when I tried getting the driver’s attention by driving close along the side of the car and forcing him or her to pull over. I don’t know if the driver was a man or a woman since the windows were tinted. Instead of pulling over, the car made a quick right turn at the next corner and kept going.”
Keisha remembered glancing in her rearview mirror and witnessing what she’d assumed were two drivers engaging in road rage. “You’re driving a burgundy car?”
“Yes.”
“I heard a horn blast and saw you trying to run that black car off the road. I figured it was nothing more than two drivers acting like fools.”
“It wasn’t. It was about me trying to find out why someone was following you. I even called the police to report it.”
“The police?”
“Yes. Just so happens that Pete Higgins is a deputy and a friend of Derringer’s. At the time, I only had a hunch you were being followed, so Pete checked it out as a favor. Then he got suspicious when he discovered the license plate had been reported as stolen. He’s since phoned back to say they’re still looking for the car.”
Although Keisha had only met Derringer Westmoreland once, during the Westmoreland Ball, she’d heard about him. Before marrying and settling down, he’d had a reputation of being quite the ladies’ man. In fact, a number of male Westmorelands had claimed that reputation.
“Well, I have no idea why anyone would be following me. Why were you following me?”
“Because on a number of occasions over the past ten months, I’ve approached you, wanting to talk and you refused to give me the time of day. Now I know why.”
Not wanting to get into it with Canyon about Beau now, because she was certain Pauline probably had her face glued to her office window, Keisha said, “We’ll talk later.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Canyon waited until Keisha had gotten into her car before crossing the parking lot to get into his. It was only when he had closed the door and snapped his seat belt that the impact of the past twenty minutes hit him hard.
He had a son. A son he hadn’t known about until today.
* * *
With her heart pounding furiously in her chest, Keisha pulled out of the day care’s parking lot. She thought about Canyon’s assertion that a car had been following her. That didn’t make sense. None of the cases she was working on were serious enough to warrant anyone wanting to harass her.
This was a new car she was driving, a very popular model. Perhaps the person had had carjacking in mind? Shivers raced through her at the thought.
When she came to a traffic light she glanced into the backseat to make sure Beau was okay. She couldn’t get over how easily he had accepted Canyon.
And just how easily Canyon had accepted him.
Canyon hadn’t demanded a DNA test for verification, instead he’d claimed that Beau favored Dillon’s son. Had that been the reason why his acceptance had come without any hassles? Well, there hadn’t been any hassles so far. They still had to talk, and someone who’d been as close to Canyon as she had been in the past knew that while he had a cool demeanor on the outside, he was simmering on the inside.
Keisha drew in a deep breath and exited onto the road that would take her home. Glancing in the rearview mirror her gaze met Canyon’s as he seemed to look right at her. Gee whiz, did he have to look at her like that? With an intensity that had her dragging in more than one shaky breath and a rush of heat flooding her stomach, making it quiver. She gripped the steering wheel and refocused on her driving.
Canyon had always been able to get to her. At that moment, she couldn’t help but remember the day nearly four years ago when they’d met...
“Excuse me. Is this seat taken?”
Keisha looked up from the papers she’d been reading. A shot of hard lust reverberated through her veins. Lordy. Standing in front of her had to be, without a doubt, a man who could get a “yes” out of a woman without even asking the first question.
He was tall, more than six feet, and she had to strain her neck to look up at him. He had smooth mahogany skin, dark eyes, a firm jaw and a too-delicious-looking pair of lips. Once she got past his facial features then she had to deal with his broad shoulders and a too-fine body in an immaculate business suit.
“So, is it?” he asked in a deep, sexy voice.
She self-consciously licked her lips. “Is what?”
“This seat taken? It seems to be the only one empty.”
She glanced around the courthouse’s lunchroom. He was telling the truth. “No, it’s not taken.”
“Mind if I join you?”
She had to bite her lips to keep from saying he could do anything he cared to do with her. Instead, she said, “No, I don’t mind.”
She watched as he pulled out a chair and settled his tall frame in the seat. She had to be in court in less than an hour. At any other time she would have been annoyed at being disturbed, but not this time. This man was worth the interruption.
Extending his hand out to her, he said, “I’m Canyon Westmoreland. And you are?”
“Keisha. Keisha Ashford.” She accepted his hand and wished she hadn’t. Her belly vibrated the moment they touched. And then, suddenly, it seemed the room quieted and they were the only two people in it. The only thing she heard was the sound of their breathing. The way he stared into her eyes made her breath catch. She felt the rush through her veins.
The sound of silverware hitting the floor made her blink, and she realized Canyon still had her hand. She tugged and he released it.
“So, Keisha Ashford, are you an attorney or a paralegal?”
She lifted a brow. “Does it matter?”
He shrugged broad shoulders. “Not with me. I’m sharing a table with a beautiful woman and I’m not complaining about anything.”
She chuckled, appreciating his compliment. “You sound easy.”
“Um, maybe.”
A smile spread across her lips. She liked him. She had checked out his ring finger. It was bare, with no indication that a ring had once been there. “I’m an attorney.”
“So am I,” he said smoothly.
“I can tell. You look the part,” she said.
He leaned over the table and she drew in his intoxicating male scent. “Let’s meet later so you can tell me what you mean by that.”
Oh, she thought. He was good. As smooth as silk. Any other time, and with anyone else, she would have brushed off what was definitely a flirtatious come-on. But not today. And, for some reason, not with Canyon Westmoreland.
Instead of agreeing to his suggestion, she said, “Canyon is an unusual name.”
“Not according to my parents,” he said, smiling. “I was conceived one night in the Grand Canyon, so they felt my name fit. I understand it was one hell of a night.”
She tilted her head. “Your parents told you that?”
“No, but I heard them share a private joke about it every once in a while. It brought them fond memories for years.”
“And what do they think now?”
She saw a flash of pain flare in his eyes. “I don’t know. My parents were killed in a plane crash a little over fifteen years ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.
“Thanks. Now what about meeting me later for drinks? There’s a place not far from here. Woody’s.” He glanced at his watch. “Around five. Hopefully, if we win our individual cases, we will have reason to celebrate.”
She smiled. “That would be nice. I’ll be there.”
He tipped his head and the smile that spread across his lips was priceless...and sexy as hell. “Good. I’ll look forward to later, Keisha Ashford.”
She swallowed as his gaze raked over her in a way that had her skin scorching. At that moment she was drenched in full awareness of him and could only respond by saying truthfully, “So will I....”
“Mommy.”
Keisha’s thoughts returned to the present at the sound of her son’s voice. He had been busy playing with one of his toys while sitting in his car seat. Beau was just as high-spirited as any other two-year-old and typically never stopped talking except when shoving food into his mouth. But today things were different. She couldn’t help wondering if Canyon’s presence had something to do with it.
“Yes, Beau?”
“Dad gone?”
Was that disappointment she heard in his voice? Moving here from Texas had been hard for him. Her mother had become a regular fixture in his life and the first months away from his grandmother hadn’t been easy. Beau had made her fully aware what tantrums were about.
“He’s in the car behind us.”
She looked in the mirror and saw Beau trying to twist his body around in his car seat. “Why?”
She lifted a brow. “Why?”
“He not here. Our car?”
Keisha felt a headache coming on and knew after Canyon’s visit she would have to have a talk with her son. “Because he has his own car.”
“Go home with us?”
“Yes.” Too late she realized how that sounded and quickly moved to clear it up. “He has his own home. Not ours.”
“Not our house?”
“No, not our house.”
He didn’t say anything, but went back to playing with his toy. When they got home she would feed him dinner, give him a bath and then let him have a little playtime before putting him in bed. When it came to bedtime, she was lucky. Beau didn’t have the issues some other kids did with fighting sleep. He eagerly went to bed each night as if it was his God-given right to get eight hours or more of sleep.
She glanced back into her rearview mirror at the car still following closely behind her. Her gaze connected with Canyon’s once again.
She no longer loved him, she was sure of it. Her love hadn’t dissipated immediately but in slow degrees. And just to think—she had planned to tell him about her pregnancy when she had returned home early and found him with Bonita.
She broke eye contact to face the road ahead, which is what she’d been doing since that night. And she didn’t intend to look back again.
Moments later she was pulling into the driveway of the home she considered hers. The community was a new one, and most of the families were progressive couples or singles with small children. She’d already joined the homeowners association and knew several of her neighbors. It was a friendly neighborhood and she enjoyed living here.
She brought the car to a stop and then got out. She had moved around to the side of the car by the time Canyon got out of his. She glanced over at him and said, “I really wish you’d wait and talk to me at another time.”
“We don’t always get what we want, Keisha.”
Feeling frustrated and annoyed, she narrowed her eyes at him and opened the door to get Beau out of his seat.
“I’ll do that,” Canyon said.
She stepped aside to let him, not wanting to make a scene in front of Beau. However, the main thing she intended to do when they talked was to make it absolutely clear that while he might be Beau’s father, she would not allow him to bulldoze his way into their lives.
Pulling her keys from her purse, she moved up the walkway to her front door. Canyon followed with Beau in his arms. She was tempted to remind Canyon once again that Beau could walk, but decided to keep quiet for now.
The moment she opened the door, Keisha knew something was wrong. For starters, the chime from her security alarm didn’t sound. And when she took a step inside and glanced around, she gasped in horror.
Someone had broken into her home.
Three
Canyon quickly went into action and handed Beau to Keisha. “Take Beau and get back in the car.”
Already he was on the phone calling Pete. “This is Canyon. The woman who was being followed earlier today had her home broken into.”
“What’s the address? I’m still in the area. Don’t mess with anything.”
Canyon turned around, not surprised that Keisha hadn’t gone back to the car like he’d told her to do. “What’s the address?” He could tell from her dazed look that she was still in shock at what she’d found when she’d opened her door.
“Keisha?”
She looked at him. “Yes?”
“What’s this address?”
She rattled a number off to him which he gave to Pete.
“Home messy, Mommy.”
Their son’s words made Keisha suck in a deep breath and Canyon saw how Beau’s innocent words had crushed her. This was the home she had made for her and their son and someone had invaded her sanctuary. They had violated it.
“Come on, let’s step outside, Keisha. The police are on the way,” he said softly. When she opened her mouth to protest, he added, “We can’t touch anything until they get here.”
Keisha closed her mouth and drew in a deep breath, feeling the pain in her chest when she did so. Canyon, she knew, was intentionally blocking her view but she’d already seen her living room and could just imagine how the rest of her house looked. Had the intruder gone into her bedroom? Beau’s room? What had been stolen?
“Keisha?”
“Yes?” The single word had been hard to get past her lungs.
“Come on, let’s sit in the car.”
She hesitated but knew what he was suggesting was reasonable. There was nothing they could do until the police arrived and Beau could tell she was troubled. She didn’t want to upset him.
“Play, Mommy,” Beau said when they reached her car. She placed him back in his car seat and gave him his favorite toy. When she went around to get into her seat, she noticed Canyon talking on his cell phone. Was he talking to the police again?
* * *
“Yes, Keisha’s okay, Dil,” Canyon told his oldest brother. He’d given Dillon a quick rundown on what had transpired over the past hour, including the fact that he had a son.
“Everyone is here for dinner, so how do you want me to handle things?” Dillon asked. “I’m sure you’ll want to be the one to tell them about Beau.”
Canyon drew in a deep breath. “Yes, I want to be the one. Pete is on the way. When we finish here, Keisha and Beau are coming with me until we figure out who did this and why. I’m leaving my car here so I’ll need someone to pick it up and drive it to my place later.”
“I can do that. But will Keisha agree to go anywhere with you, Canyon?”
Canyon rubbed a frustrated hand down his face. He was more than certain she wouldn’t. At least not at first. Keisha had an independent streak that she’d inherited from the single mother who had raised her. He’d always admired her ability to stand her ground and not depend on anyone for anything. But in this case things were different. She didn’t have just herself to think about. She had their son.