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She sounded so innocent, he thought, hating hoare of the fact that she was in paja a bra It seemed that certain parts of his psyche didn’t care about anything but getting nad

"Amy wants a cochlear implant because she wants to hear your music She never wanted one before It’s pretty sick to use a kid to make yourself feel better"

Claire felt the earth shift beneath her feet and wondered if it was an earthquake

Apparently not, she thought, because Wyatt didn’t see the worst of her

"I doubt you’ll believe ry, "but I never discussed cochlear i one, and I certainly didn’t I didn’t know much about them until you and I discussed them on our date What you decide should and shouldn’t be doneher hear my music in the traditional sense isn’t important to me"

She planted her hands on her hps and raised her chin "What I really don’t get is why I have to be the bad guy in this I’m not Shanna nor aender I ahter I have taken care of her and genuinely like her I will not have you reat kid"

He started to speak, but she held up her hand "I’ to ad that it’s still my body, I’m not even sure I owed you that information But for the sake of your current rant, let’s assuized for that And for the record, you were the one who started the whole ‘I want to have sex with you,’ thing I si pissed off at rowing up and you’re starting to realize you won’t be able to control everything about her life Big whoop That’s part of being a parent But you don’t want to accept that You want someone to bla to take one hundred percent of the responsibility about using birth control e did it"

She leaned in and pointed her finger at his chest "Stop putting the blame onthe worst about ood person, da but sweet to your daughter and you know that, too Now get out of here"

For a second she thought he wasn’t going to move She waited for the verbal explosion to follow, but Wyatt si under his breath and walked out of the house

Claire stared after him until the door slammed, then she sank onto the small chair in the foyer She felt as if she’d had a run-in with the energy vampire and he’d just about sucked the life out of her

Her heart pounded in a way that should have , but she didn’t She’d handled Wyatt, she could handle a stupid panic attack, too She was done being afraid or judged based on half-truths and stories She was going to stand up and be counted on her own th

Nicole clumped in from the kitchen "Impressive," she said "You really took hiot that So did he Men can be such idiots I hate to put Wyatt in that category, but I sort of have to Are you okay?"

Claire drew in a breath, then stood "I’er than he knows"

"Apparently You’re practically self-actualized Soon you’ll be living on a higher plane"

Claire grimaced "I can’t wait"

RATHER THAN GO INTO WORK and snap at people who hadn’t done anything wrong, Wyatt went home to cool down

He stood in his study and wondered rong with hiht first and then reacted He h to require an apology He kept his life sihtforward When it caot involved with his daughter and no one got to himExcept Claire

She pushed buttons he didn’t know he had She , which meant he didn’t want to be around when she decided to deliberately push hiainst the far wall, opened it, stared at the liquor there, then re A little early to start, even on a bad day

He sla in the chair, he stared down at the surface, as if the ansere there The hell of it was, he didn’t even know the question

Did he really think Claire had been the one to bring up the cochlear iht--what did she care how A Claire had faults, but being a raging egomaniac wasn’t one of the to trust her to be a decent person?

He’d been mad at her since they’d had sex, he rein So what about that got to hi the truth was like lying, that he didn’t want the responsibility, that it was all too strange But he kneas bullshitting himself The real reason was that Claire was unpredictable She had been froed

He didn’t like unpredictability, especially in wo to happen, then he couldn’t stay in control

Was that what this was all about? Being in control?

Asking the question made him uncomfortable, which meant he was probably close to the truth

His past had a lot to do with his need to be in control He couldn’t risk caring andanother Shanna-like mistake No male in his family had ever had a successful relationship Why should he be any different?

None of which was Claire’s fault He see to have to do so to make that better

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

WHEN AMY FLEW into the house that afternoon, Claire knew there was a good chance that Wyatt wasn’t far behind While she was annoyed with him, there was a still a part of her that wanted to see hied her and signed, "Hoas your day?""Good Hoas school?"

"I got an A oninto the living roo and tall and handsoh to make her breath catch All part of his appeal, she re a type, but she would guess he was hers

She leaned against the counter, determined to make him speak first

"Got a minute?" he asked

Did she want to have another conversation with him? The last couple had been awful And yet she found herself nodding

They went downstairs, into the studio Claire settled on the bench in front of the piano while Wyatt pulled up one of the stools in the corner

She waited

"It’s possible I’ve been an ass," he began

Despite her lingering hurt and annoyance, and maybe because of her powerful attraction to hi to decide?"

"Really soon"

"Let me knohen you do"

He looked at her "You’re not like anyone I’ve ever known I like my women easy You’re not easy"