Chapter One
A bell dinged, and the fasten seatbelts sign went off. The captain’s voice came over the intercom system. “Welcome to Seattle, and thank you for flying with us at…” Kiona toned the rest of his message out, unbuckled herself and her son, and stood. She grabbed her overnight bag from the compartment above their heads and set it in her seat.
“Come on, Alex, baby, wake up. We’re here, and it’s time to get off the plane.” Her son yawned but didn’t budge. She tapped his cheek. “Hey, sleepyhead, you’re going to miss Daddy.”
That did it. The head full of dark curls popped up, and gray eyes opened wide. “Daddy? Where’s Daddy?”
Kiona chuckled. “Come on, you. The sooner we’re there, the better.”
She led him off the plane and down the long passage to the baggage area. After waiting what seemed like forever, Alex’s luggage came around the turnstile, and she lifted it off. Between juggling the bag and holding on to a sleepy child’s hand to keep him moving, she lamented wearing the heels. Her feet hurt, but that’s what she got for trying to be cute. Not that it mattered anymore anyway. She wasn’t trying to win him back.
“Mrs. Foster?” came a tentative voice behind her.
She turned and corrected without thinking, “ Ms. Foster.”
The young woman ducked her head as if in apology. “Ms. Foster, your husband arranged for me to drive you and your son to the island. I’m sorry it will be a long one as we’ve just missed the ferry. We’ll take the bridge.”
Kiona resisted correcting the woman again to say that he was her ex-husband. “Thank you. No problem. We don’t mind as long as we get there.” She had been to Bainbridge Island just once during her whirlwind marriage, and while she enjoyed the island itself, she could not say much for the relationship. They had vowed forever and only lasted two years. For that, the shame would go on forever, she suspected, because she could not be more wrong in her choice of a man—and because she still loved him with all her heart.
They left the airport terminal and walked toward a waiting car, and Kiona compressed her lips together at its luxury class. Typical of Ridge and his family, no expense spared for anything. They strove to impress at every opportunity. Of course she had done the same in a way, with the dress and shoes. Trying to look cute for a man she wouldn’t take back if he were the last one on earth, hell, she had to show him what he was missing.
Bainbridge Island housed about twenty-three thousand people and was quaint in her opinion with its comfy small town feel. Of course the residents were diverse, ranging from the lower middle class to the wealthy like the Fosters, but it was still nothing like Baltimore where she was born and raised.
All too soon, they turned into the winding driveway that led to the Fosters’ fourteen acres. Kiona felt the tension rolling into her shoulders and the stiffness in her neck. She knew it was too much to hope Ridge’s mother wasn’t at home. His father was fine, but the dragon lady, as she liked to think of the woman, got her back up and kept it there.
When the car rolled to a stop, she eased her son’s head up and opened the car door. At three, with a small build, she struggled to lift him. She put a foot out and startled when a hand appeared in front of her. A fraction before she accepted the offering, she realized the large hand did not belong to the female driver, and she rose to come face-to-face with her ex-husband.
Craning her neck to look up at him might be a more accurate description as Ridge stood at six foot four inches, and she reached just beneath five foot six. She liked to add on the extra quarter inch to her height, but either way, he dwarfed her.
When he should have let her hand go, Ridge held on, sending shockwaves of desire ricocheting every which way through her body. The man’s shoulders hadn’t diminished in their incredible width. His rugged
A bell dinged, and the fasten seatbelts sign went off. The captain’s voice came over the intercom system. “Welcome to Seattle, and thank you for flying with us at…” Kiona toned the rest of his message out, unbuckled herself and her son, and stood. She grabbed her overnight bag from the compartment above their heads and set it in her seat.
“Come on, Alex, baby, wake up. We’re here, and it’s time to get off the plane.” Her son yawned but didn’t budge. She tapped his cheek. “Hey, sleepyhead, you’re going to miss Daddy.”
That did it. The head full of dark curls popped up, and gray eyes opened wide. “Daddy? Where’s Daddy?”
Kiona chuckled. “Come on, you. The sooner we’re there, the better.”
She led him off the plane and down the long passage to the baggage area. After waiting what seemed like forever, Alex’s luggage came around the turnstile, and she lifted it off. Between juggling the bag and holding on to a sleepy child’s hand to keep him moving, she lamented wearing the heels. Her feet hurt, but that’s what she got for trying to be cute. Not that it mattered anymore anyway. She wasn’t trying to win him back.
“Mrs. Foster?” came a tentative voice behind her.
She turned and corrected without thinking, “ Ms. Foster.”
The young woman ducked her head as if in apology. “Ms. Foster, your husband arranged for me to drive you and your son to the island. I’m sorry it will be a long one as we’ve just missed the ferry. We’ll take the bridge.”
Kiona resisted correcting the woman again to say that he was her ex-husband. “Thank you. No problem. We don’t mind as long as we get there.” She had been to Bainbridge Island just once during her whirlwind marriage, and while she enjoyed the island itself, she could not say much for the relationship. They had vowed forever and only lasted two years. For that, the shame would go on forever, she suspected, because she could not be more wrong in her choice of a man—and because she still loved him with all her heart.
They left the airport terminal and walked toward a waiting car, and Kiona compressed her lips together at its luxury class. Typical of Ridge and his family, no expense spared for anything. They strove to impress at every opportunity. Of course she had done the same in a way, with the dress and shoes. Trying to look cute for a man she wouldn’t take back if he were the last one on earth, hell, she had to show him what he was missing.
Bainbridge Island housed about twenty-three thousand people and was quaint in her opinion with its comfy small town feel. Of course the residents were diverse, ranging from the lower middle class to the wealthy like the Fosters, but it was still nothing like Baltimore where she was born and raised.
All too soon, they turned into the winding driveway that led to the Fosters’ fourteen acres. Kiona felt the tension rolling into her shoulders and the stiffness in her neck. She knew it was too much to hope Ridge’s mother wasn’t at home. His father was fine, but the dragon lady, as she liked to think of the woman, got her back up and kept it there.
When the car rolled to a stop, she eased her son’s head up and opened the car door. At three, with a small build, she struggled to lift him. She put a foot out and startled when a hand appeared in front of her. A fraction before she accepted the offering, she realized the large hand did not belong to the female driver, and she rose to come face-to-face with her ex-husband.
Craning her neck to look up at him might be a more accurate description as Ridge stood at six foot four inches, and she reached just beneath five foot six. She liked to add on the extra quarter inch to her height, but either way, he dwarfed her.
When he should have let her hand go, Ridge held on, sending shockwaves of desire ricocheting every which way through her body. The man’s shoulders hadn’t diminished in their incredible width. His rugged
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