On My Own: Book Three in the Who's Your Daddy series Read Online Free PDF Page B

right?”
    “It’s, um, how can I say it, still road worthy.” He watched her lips twitch and soon both of them were howling. His heart warmed hearing her laugh. “Why are you driving this thing?”
    She quickly sobered and took a deep breath. “It’s all I can afford. The library is not doing wel l and the board had to cut my salary last year.”
    He bit the inside of his c heek to avoid saying what he really wanted. If she hadn’t hidden his son’s existence from him, she wouldn’t be in this position. He was well on his way to becoming a billionaire with his salary and endorsement revenues. She could be living in the lap of luxury, driving the best and most expensive vehicle on the market.
    “You know you don’t have to live this way. Let me buy you—”
    “Don’t even finish that sentence,” she shouted. “I won’t take your money.”
    “I’m not going to give you any money, per se,” he countered. “I’m going to give you money so you can take care of my son. And hopefully one of the things you’ll do is purchase a vehicle that’s safe for him to travel in. This thing is beyond repair and you know it.”
    “Like I said, it’s all I can afford. And it’s safe. Dad makes sure of it.”
    Dirk simply grunted at the mention of her father. The man went out of his way to make his dad’s life miserable, and when he died, he shifted his vitriol in Dirk’s direction. To say he truly disliked the man would be quite the understatement. “Still, you could do better.”
    They were touring the city with the film crew in a truck trailing behind. She took him to areas he hadn’t seen Sunday, way off the main drag, places where he once hung out daily. The building that housed the after school programs looked as though it had been empty for some time. All the windows were broken out and trashed littered the exterior grounds. “What happened here?”
    “Lost our funding about six years ago. We begged the county not to do it, but they claimed they couldn’t afford it. Put a lot of kids on the street and into trouble.”
    “Things were getting bad when I left. Still having problems with the drug dealing?”
    “You really haven’t been keeping up with what’s happening here, have you?” He shook his head and shifted his eyes away from her. “Things are a little better, but that’s only because we don’t have as many people living here. The police still do round ups, but not as often.”
    Guilt zinged through Dirk, making him lower his head. Maybe ignoring his hometown wasn’t such a cool thing to do. In addition to missing out on the first ten years of his son’s life, he als o turned his back on people who weren’t the cause of his pain.
    “You’re pretty quiet over there,” Caroline pointed out with a sigh. “I guess I’m used to the way things look now.”
    “But I’m not. ” He took a shuddering breath and sat up straighter in his seat. “Things will change. I’ll see to it myself.”
    “I’m not showing you all this to get your money,” she said with a hint of irritation in her voice. “You can go back to the way things were before. Forget about us.”
    “Listen here, Caroline,” he responded forcefully. “There’s no way in hell I can ignore what I’ve seen.” Especially my son. “I don’t plan on making any kind of public announcement of my intentions, but the city can expect a large check from me to start to make things right around here.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered . “Everyone will appreciate it.”
    A wave of satisfaction rolled through him at her gratitude. “Now do you mind if I ask you some questions, about my son?”
    “I don’t think this is the time—”
    “We’re alone, with no one to overhear us, Caroline. Plus I don’t think it’s asking too much to get a little information about my son.”
    “He’s my son. I’m the one who’s raised him, on my own.”
    “And who se fault was that?” Dirk stopped himself and tried to reign in his