Daddy by Surprise Read Online Free PDF Page B

it up before Tag could get the extension. If this was the biker named Jack, she preferred not to have to explain the call to her son.
    “Hello?”
    “Um…good morning. Is this Kat?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’m Jack. We met at the bar last night. By the way, thanks for trying to keep me from making a complete ass of myself. I’m sorry about that incident with the Three Stooges woman.”
    She snickered. “Mo. How’s your jaw?”
    “A little sore, but I think I have you to thank that I’m still talking this morning. Was that guy she was with as big as I remember or is that the booze talking?”
    His humility and embarrassment seemed in direct contrast to Pete’s attitude. “He was rather large.”
    “That’s what I thought.” He paused. “So, um…are we still on for that tattoo?”
    She swallowed the lump that suddenly thickened in her throat. He’s a client. Free money. You can do this. “I printed out the information about the black dye. This is nasty stuff and it can cause some really bad reactions. I’d like to go on record as one hundred percent against the idea of using it, but if you’re supplying the ink, I’ll give it a try. No promises.”
    “Great. Brian dropped the stuff at the front desk this morning. Apparently he handles his liquor better than I do, because I could barely open my eyes until about an hour ago.”
    She liked it that he was honest about his hangover. Most men of her acquaintance would have pretended they could handle anything.
    “I’ll do it, but I have a small change of plans. My son came home early from his camping trip and his father could show up at any time to pick him up. Since I’d planned on doing it outside…well, if having an audience makes you uncomfortable, we might have to reschedule.”
    He didn’t answer right away. “How old is your son?”
    “Eight. He’ll be nine in September.”
    There were a few seconds of dead air, then he said, “You’ll be there the whole time, right? I guess it’s okay.”
    She didn’t understand what he meant by the comment but assumed he’d asked about Tag’s age fearing she might need to juggle a toddler on her hip while applying the tattoo. “Do you have a pen handy? I’ll give you directions to my place. Say at two?”
    “Perfect.”
    He listened without interruption until she mentioned the turnoff for Sentinel Pass. “If you see a big white tepee, you’ve gone too far.”
    “Sentinel Pass? Is that the town where some film crew is supposed to be making a movie? Brian was talking about it last night.”
    Rumors had been flying ever since Libby’s new husband, Cooper Lindstrom—a popular TV personality—had arrived in the area in response to Lib’s online ad. And once Jenna’s boyfriend, producer/director Shane Reynard, showed up a few weeks later, the truth had gotten splashed all over the newspapers.
    “It’s a television show, not a movie,” she told him. “A half-hour sitcom. And the actual onsite filming isn’t starting for another week or two. My friend’s fiancé is the director.”
    “Cool. Never watched a TV show being made, but I’ll be back in Denver by then.”
    A good thing to remember, Kat told herself. In case his swoo started to get to her. A very good thing.
     
    J ACK WONDERED why nobody warned him that the roar of a motorcycle engine magnified the pain of a hangover. The noise and vibration traveled up his spine making his brain feel as if it might explode inside his helmet. He’d meant to take another handful of painkillers before he left his hotel room, but a call from his mother had thrown him offtrack. Now he had to hurry or he’d be late for his appointment.
    “Stop acting like a petulant little boy,” his mother had scolded. “Jaydene will come around eventually.”
    Come around. The irony of her word choice would have amused him if he hadn’t been slightly nauseous from the greasy meal he’d consumed the night before.
    “Mother, as I told you before I left Denver, Jaydene and