Free On My Own: Book Three in the Who's Your Daddy series by Rhonda Marks

he made me promise not to do so. Said you’d be mad at him. So I didn’t. And before you ask, I checked the hallway again to make sure no one was out there.”
    She let out a shuddering breath and leaned back in the chair. “This is what I was afraid of.”
    Dirk wrinkled his brow and asked, “What are you talking about?”
    She waved her arm toward the front of her house. “All this! I wanted to avoid all this media attention. I want my son to be normal.”
    He’s my son too, Caroline. And just because I’m famous doesn’t mean he can’t grow up as a normal child.”
    She stood, pulled the curtains open and pointed to the crowd outside. “You call this normal?”
    “Caroline, they’ll all go away soon. The press has the attention span of a gnat. Something else will pop up tomorrow and we’ll be forgotten.”
    “I can’t take that chance, Dirk. I just can’t.” She slid the curtains closed again and sat down on the sofa next to him.
    “What about last night?” he whispered as tendrils of fear sped up his spine.
    “I’m sorry, but I need time.”
    “You need time? How about all the time I didn’t have with my son?”
    She stood once more and headed for the door. “I think you need to leave now. I’ll have my attorney contact yours.”
    Blowing out an exasperated breath, Dirk rose and headed for the door. He towered over Caroline and just looked down at her, trying to figure out how things had gone to pot in less than twelve hours. But by the set of her mouth, he knew she was not in the mood to talk now.
    “Please bring my son to the game tomorrow, okay?” When she gave him a noncommittal expression, he simply turned the knob and left. The mob instantly set upon him, but he was in no mood to deal with them. His life was truly a mess now.

    Chapter Ten
    The atmosphere at the stadium practically crackled with electricity, the fans bouncing in their seats awaiting the start of the game. This was the first time that LA had been in Pittsburgh in over ten years. And the fact that LA was the defending professional football champs made the game almost feel like a playoff game.
    Caroline couldn’t see an empty seat in the place, but saw plenty of Pittsburgh fans decked out in the team colors. She wore a black and gold sweatshirt, but despite telling herself she was an idiot, she had on a tee shirt underneath with the LA logo on it. JJ pressured her to wear it, while he proudly wore an LA jersey with Dirk’s name on the back. A package with the attire arrived yesterday. They were sitting in the end zone with what looked like half of the city of Devinne. She didn’t know how Dirk pulled it off, but he certainly took care of his home folks.
    She had to call the police yesterday to get the crowd to disperse. There was a lot of grumbling, but eventually they left in a trickle. Her cell phone buzzed incessantly until she had no choice but to shut it down. Luckily her parents decided not to bug her when they brought JJ home after a few hours. Her nerves were on tender hooks and she couldn’t deal with anymore drama.
    Sleep was an impossibility last night. Did she really want to involve lawyers in this custody matter? She and Dirk were adults and at one time loved each other to distraction. Thinking back to her actions yesterday, she now regretted them and wished she could speak to Dirk. The genie was certainly out of the bottle now, and they needed to move forward.
    But after her blow-up yesterday, would he want to speak to her? Sadness drifted down over her and she felt pinpricks at the back of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes closed and willed the tears away. This was not the time , nor the place for crying.
    With that settled, she slid forward in her seat and anxiously looked out onto the field. The announcer was introducing the opposing team and Dirk was the last one to sprint onto the field. The crowd rained boos onto him, but it seemed like all it did was make him smile wider. Her heart began to beat double