Deserving of Luke by Tracy Wolff Page A

did.
    â€œYou heard me. If you think you’re going to come here and insult me after all these years, then you’re crazy. I’m not that girl anymore, the one who was so used to being a whipping post that she took insults from everyone—including the guy who was supposed to love her. So, leave. You’re not welcome here.”
    Though he knew there was an important message in her words, he could only handle so much at one time and his brain focused on the fact that she was kicking him out, denying him access to his son.
    â€œYou can’t do this. I have rights when it comes to my son.”
    â€œYou gave up those rights the day you threw me out on my ass and told me never to come back. It was the same day you told me you’d never give my bastard your name and that I should head back to the freak show because you were done slumming.”
    He winced, shocked at how sharp his words had been, at how they still had the power to cut like a knife, even after all these years. “I was angry,” he said stiffly.
    â€œOh, well, whoop-de-do. Let’s stop the presses.Logan Powell was angry. Obviously, that gave you the right to do whatever you wanted. To hurt whomever you wanted.”
    â€œI think you have that backward. You hurt me . I thought I was in love with you only to find out you were sleeping with a bunch of my buddies. What the hell did you expect me to do?”
    â€œI expected you to believe me when I told you they were lying to you, trying to get you upset.”
    â€œWhy would they do that?” he demanded. “They knew how I felt about you.”
    â€œHow the hell should I know? They were your friends. What I never understood, not then and not now, is how you could believe them so easily? You said you loved me, yet the second your friends started with their dirty insinuations, you dumped me. Dumped our child like we were nothing.”
    Her words hit home, a little too closely for his comfort. But at the same time, he had a hard time believing that his friends had been lying about her. Some of those guys were his best friends to this day, had stood up with him at his wedding. They knew almost everything about each other. Surely he would know if they were liars. He was a cop, for God’s sake. It was his job to know those kinds of things.
    Still, he was disconcerted enough by the idea that he blurted the first thing that came to his mind.“Why wouldn’t I believe them? It’s not like you were a virgin when we had sex for the first time.”
    She reeled in shock, as if his words had been an actual physical blow to her. And maybe they had been. Her past was not something most women would be proud of. Still, he hadn’t meant to hit her with it so bluntly.
    But when her eyes narrowed, he realized he’d misread the signs. She wasn’t hurt or upset. She was as furious as he was. “Oh. And you were a virgin?” she demanded. “Because I seem to remember you running around with a number of girls before me, all of whom you admitted to sleeping with.”
    â€œYeah, but—” He bit off the words before he could dig himself in even deeper, but it was too late.
    â€œBut, what? It’s different for you, because you’re a guy?”
    â€œI wasn’t going to say that,” he protested, wondering how the hell this whole conversation had been turned around until he was the one on the defensive.
    â€œThen what?”
    â€œI don’t know. I mean, it’s not like your past ever bothered me—”
    â€œOh, really? Because I figure it bothered you a hell of a lot if you were so willing to toss me out because of a few whispers from your friends.”
    â€œIt wasn’t just a few whispers.” Completelyfrustrated, he turned away from her. Walked over to the railing. Some of the overgrown bushes were visible in the dim light from the porch and he wondered vaguely if Penny and Paige had any idea what they