I'm All Yours by Vanessa Devereaux

wanted to find your mother.”
    “The real reason…” If she thought she would lie or sweet talk her way out of this situation, she was wrong. She’d picked the wrong guy to mess with.
    She’d kissed him before he had chance to say another word or get his defenses in full swing .
    And i f she thought them getting physical was going to put things right , she was … almost dead right. She’d be hard to resist , but he’d do it.
    He opened the door and put his hand in the middle of her back to encourage inside. After all, she’d traveled all this way . A nd there was also a sudden chill to the air , so he could hardly make her stand outside all night.
    She rubbed her hands together before taking off her coat. Shit, she was wearing tight - fitting jeans and a n even tighter ribbed sweater . K eeping her at arm’s length was going to be tougher than he’d thought. But maybe she’d worn them just to try to win him over.
    “Look , Evie, I think I’ve already said all I want to on the matter of you prying into my mother’s affairs.” He put both hands in his pockets and made a fist. That would help him focus and remain angry with her.
    “Please, let me explain everything to you.”
    “There’s nothing more to say or explain. You are a career - minded woman who’d do anything to get ahead in the business even if it means ruining people’s lives. I was a fool to think we had a chance to make a go of this relationship.”
    Fuck, tears were sliding down her face , and he felt compelled to rush over to her to wipe them away and hug her. This time it was his feet he focused on, pushing his toes down into his shoes, making sure they were anchoring to the floor , so he didn’t get any silly ideas about doing just that.
    She was sobbing now , and it was tearing him apart. He tried to look away but caught sight of the little red velvet box sitting on the countertop. He looked at her again. If she was all the terrible things he’d just said to her face then she should be the actor not him because right now she was looking pretty convincing about being sorry.
    And everyone deserved to be heard , didn’t they? Deserved a second chance? Hadn’t he pleaded with the judge on his mother’s behalf that taking his father’s life wasn’t all her fault?
     
    He took a deep breath. Maybe he’d regret this , but what the hell.
    “Okay , Evie, you have five minutes to explain things to me.” He looked at his watch.
    She wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
    “I realize now that I should have asked you if it was okay to contact your mother before I went ahead and did it . However, my plan was to invite her to travel with me here for your big birthday.”
    Kyle closed his eyes and opened them a few seconds later. If this was true, she was not only innocent but a hell of nice person. And he, well he was as she’d originally called him , an asshole for not listening to her and accusing her of being all those awful things.  He loved this woman, period.
    “And I should have be en hone s t with you and told you about her before now, but I got so nervous. I thought I’d lose you. Oh Evie, can you forgive me f or saying those vile things on the phone to you?”
    Evie raised her hand. “Hey, I think I would have thought the same thing. I only got the PI involved because I was busy, I knew him , and I thought he’d do the job I couldn’t.”
    He couldn’t resist her any longer. He marched over to where she stood and grabbed her hand. “I never wanted anyone to find out about this, not because of me, but because of my mom. She deserves her privacy. God knows she’s been through enough in her life.”
    “I know she’s serving time for murder and that it was self defense.”
    Kyle took another deep breath. They had to be honest from now on, so she might as well know everything. No secrets, no lies, nothing . “It’s the reason I stood you up that morning.”
     
    “What?”
    “I got the call about he r shooting my dad