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and would always love him. “I can’t take you now, son,” he murmured, “but one day it’ll be different. One day we will be together and do fun stuff together. Hiking and fishing and camping. Sports, too—”
    “Not one day. Now,” TJ said, arms squeezing tighter.
    “I can’t,” Trey said.
    “Why not?” TJ pulled his head back to look at Trey.
    McKenna was there now, in the street, shivering, teeth chattering. “TJ, get out of the truck right now. I’ve tried to be patient. I’ve tried to be understanding, but I can’t do it anymore. You can’t do this now. We have everybody waiting. Lawrence is waiting—”
    “I don’t care!” TJ shouted at her. “I don’t like Lawrence. I don’t want Lawrence. I want my dad. He’s my real dad.”
    McKenna paled. Her gaze lifted. She stared into Trey’s eyes. “Trey, tell him he has to come with me. Make him listen to you. I’m sure he’ll listen to you. Tell him he has no choice.”
    McKenna’s eyes were a brilliant green, shimmering with emotion. She was angry and scared and he understood, he did. But at the same time, she had no idea what he’d been through, living without TJ these past four years. She had no idea what it was like to love someone so much and then be completely cut out…
    Trey held her gaze, his voice soft. “Why doesn’t he have a choice?”
    Her lips quivered. She pressed down, thinning them. “He’s five. He doesn’t know what’s true, or right, or real—”
    Trey’s brows flattened. “Real? Am I not real? Is my love not real? Am I not here, fighting for him, fighting for a chance to be his father?”
    “That’s not what I mean!”
    “What do you mean?”
    “He just…He just…” she took a quick breath, shivered, arms crossing over her chest, “doesn’t know .”
    “Know what?”
    She shrugged helplessly. “ You .”
    “Then maybe it’s time he does.”

Chapter Five
    ‡
    M cKenna suppressed a shiver as Trey’s dark head jerked up, his narrowed gaze locking with hers. For a split second she could see his shock. She’d hurt him. But in the next moment, the surprise disappeared, replaced by fury.
    Mistake, she thought, inhaling sharply, she’d make a big mistake. Perhaps even a critical error.
    You didn’t really want to make Trey angry. Not truly angry.
    When pushed too far, Trey didn’t bend or yield. He didn’t compromise, nor was he a man of words.
    Trey Sheenan was a man of action, and she could see from his hard, shuttered gaze that he was done talking. Done playing nice. Trey had tried diplomacy and he was reverting to what he did best: taking control.
    Fighting.
    And this time he was fighting her.
    McKenna’s heart pounded. Her legs shook. She took a step toward him. “No, Trey, no,” she choked, seeing him place TJ in the middle of the truck’s bench seat. “Don’t do this.”
    He clicked the seatbelt around the child’s waist and then turned the key in the ignition. The big truck roared to life. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the powerful engine. “I won’t have him thinking I don’t love him, Mac. I won’t have him believing I don’t care—”
    “But this isn’t the way, Trey. This isn’t the answer.”
    His brow creased, his jaw thickening. “He thinks I don’t love him. He thinks I don’t want him. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
    “Take him out of the truck.”
    “And put him on the curb and drive away like he isn’t my whole world? Like he’s not the most important thing in my life?” He drew a swift, shallow breath. “TJ’s the only reason I survived in that place. He’s the only reason I’m still here.” His deep voice dropped as he spit the words at her, each syllable sharp and rough. “He’s five and I’ve only had one Christmas with him and I want more. I want more with my son. And I deserve at least one Christmas with him before he becomes part of your new family with this other man.”
    “TJ will always be your son,