Suddenly Sexy by Linda Francis Lee

men. He had never been weak.

Besides, what did any of it matter? Deep down they both knew that she
was right. He would leave. He hadn't come back intending to stay.
Didn't want to stay. He only wanted a short diversion from the
chaos in his head. And he couldn't turn Katie into one of his
diversions. She deserved better than that.

The doorbell rang, the sound seeming far away as they stared at each
other, neither of them moving.

"Someone's here," he said.

"So it would seem."

They heard keys in the lock, then someone barreled inside.

"Kate," Suzanne called out, her voice an octave higher than normal.
"Kate, where are you?"

Kate tore herself away completely, then hurried into the living room.
Jesse shoved his hands in his
back pockets, and after a second he followed. Suzanne Bloom
Chapman—Kate's sister, Jesse's sister-in-law—stood in her bathrobe and
slippers, an unfamiliar young boy with shaggy dark brown
hair and dark eyes standing behind her.

"Suzanne, what is it?" Kate asked.

Jesse felt a low prickle of concern when Suzanne yanked her gaze back
and forth between the boy and him.

His older brother Derek flew into the house, his hair still damp from
his shower.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he demanded of Jesse.

Years seemed to circle back to when they were young, still at home,
always at odds.

"Tell you what?"

The boy shifted his weight uncomfortably, his shirt ill-fitting, his
stiff blue jeans too large.

Derek's jaw muscles ticked. "That you have a son."
    Four
Jesse took a step back. "What are you talking about?" he demanded. "I
don't have a son."

They stood in the foyer, the gawky boy staring up at Jesse with an
expression of sheer awe.

"Hello . . . Mr. Chapman," he said awkwardly, his hands tucked into his
pants pockets. "I mean,
ah, Dad."

Dad .

Shock rippled through the room at the word, at the reality of what that
single syllable meant.

Kate could see the stunned expression on Jesse's face. He was visibly
shaken.

Suzanne and Derek started talking at the same time, their voices rising
in the foyer.

Kate watched, hardly able to take it in. A person only had to look at
the boy to know that he was Jesse's. He had the same hair and eyes. A
hint of the same strong jaw that would one day emerge from beneath the
boyhood chubbiness.

When no one seemed to know what to do about the child, she kindly said,
"Hi, I'm Kate. What's your name?"

"Ah, um, Travis."

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

Kate took in the boy and could tell his too-big blue jeans were
brand-new, a belt holding them up. His blue T-shirt still had crease
marks on it, as if he had gone to the local discount store on the way
over
here for a new set of clothes. But his boots were old and brown, with
scuffs that needed polish.

Then every trace of awe and excitement on his face vanished when
another woman marched in the door.

"There you are," the woman accused, one long hot-pink nail pointing at
Jesse.

The boy flinched, his blush going a bright painful red that seeped up
into his hairline. Kate didn't know
the child, but she could tell how hard he was trying to hide his
emotions as he stared at his feet.

"Travis," Kate said, "there's a pool out back. Why don't you wait for
us out there?"

His brow furrowed with a much older man's worry. Then he nodded and
walked carefully to the back doors that led to the yard.

"Belinda?" Jesse said the word like he wasn't absolutely sure.

"Belinda Martin, now Sanders," she stated. "Remember me? We used to
date?"

She was short, with heavily highlighted blond hair, gigantic breasts,
and lots of makeup. Kate had practically memorized Jesse's high school
yearbooks, and she remembered that this woman had been in his class at
Coronado High.

Belinda's brown eyes turned sly. "I've seen you all over the news
lately, even saw you on TV here the other morning. And as long as
you're in town, I figured it's time you started shouldering some of the
responsibility for your son."

Suzanne stood to the side, shocked.