Return of the bad boy, p.9
Return of the Bad Boy, page 9
“Come on, bud. Let’s hang out today, okay?” He lifted his son off the ground and Hawk continued to wail, kicking his legs as Emily and Jordan blew kisses and walked for the car.
“Tank,” Gloria suggested over Hawk’s cries.
Asher nodded.
“Hawk. Look at the doggie. He’s excited you’re coming.” Ash physically turned his son away from Emily’s SUV. Hawk sniffled and turned his head over his shoulder to find Tank. “You like him?”
“Yeah,” Hawk said tentatively, tears drying on his face. The meltdown had ended as quickly as it started. Glo could only hope that was the last one today.
“Doggie! Down, down, down!” Hawk kicked his legs, and Asher deposited him on the bench, lifting Tank to sit on the bench with him. He snatched up the coffee cups before boy and dog knocked them over. Gloria accepted hers with a tight smile.
“This is cutting me to the quick, Sarge.” He shook his head, his eyes on his son. “And it’s not even his fault.”
“He’ll come around,” she said, smiling as Hawk and Tank played.
“You think?” Asher sought an answer on her face, watching her for so many seconds, she started to sweat. There seemed to be another silent question in the depths of his eyes. A question about her, and whether she’d come around as well.
She didn’t answer that question.
She didn’t dare.
Chapter 7
Lord have mercy, he was tired.
On more than one occasion, Asher had spent the day on a boat with Evan and Lyon. He’d taken for granted that Evan knew his own kid and Lyon knew his dad. Hawk and Asher weren’t strangers, but they didn’t have the closeness a father and son should have. Not yet.
Also, Lyon was several years older than Hawk. Hawk was three. Age three must be synonymous with “tornado on two legs.” Today hadn’t been quite the relaxing outing he’d pictured.
He’d imagined getting his son in the water, them splashing around a while, maybe floating in an inner tube. And then watching Tank doggie paddle—in his own dog life jacket—while Hawk laughed and clapped. Since Gloria had let him talk her into going, he further imagined her on the deck of the boat, phone to her ear, that gorgeous white dress blowing in the breeze. Lifting just enough to give him a view of her delicious thighs.
Things had been less like the music video he’d directed in his head and more like a nightmare on the open water. Hawk was mad about everything. He cried when Tank came near, he cried when Tank ran away. He wailed because he wanted in the water, only to wail that he wanted out once he was wet. Gloria didn’t spend the day on the deck watching the water and sending him flirtatious winks—how could she? Hawk was in mid-fit most of the day, making it impossible for her to excuse herself to take the constant incoming calls on her cell phone.
Surprisingly, the only moment of peace came when the three of them sat down to eat. Asher had no idea if he’d prepared Hawk’s sandwich right, or if the kid even liked cheese sandwiches, or if Hawk would sooner throw his animal crackers overboard than eat a single one.
But Hawk ate. He ate and smiled and fed Tank half his food, which was fine by Asher (and extra fine for Tank) because for once his son wasn’t crying. Gloria joined them, but she’d gone so quiet, he couldn’t get a read on her. Not that he had the space to ask her how she was. While he drove the boat, she sat with Hawk and pointed out gulls. When Ash was with Hawk, she kept her distance from them both.
“I’m going to go,” Gloria announced. They’d docked at Asher’s house and he’d carried a sleeping Hawk inside, happy about getting to hold him and happy he was asleep in equal measures. His boy was sunned and surfed and cried out. Thank God. Asher was exhausted.
“Don’t go,” he told Glo. “Hang out. I’ll make you a cocktail.”
“A cocktail.” Her red lipstick had since worn off, and her plump lips pressed into a line.
“Yeah.” He let loose a tired smile. “We can sit on the deck and talk.” God. That sounded great. Apparently not to her. Her eyebrows crashed over her nose.
“You know, you pulled me into this day with you and your son. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want it.”
Fuck. He wondered if her silence meant she was pissed today. He gestured to the front door and Glo crossed her arms defiantly. He dropped his hand and lowered his voice. “Can we bitch at each other outside?”
God help them all if Hawk woke up right now.
She took in Hawk’s temporary sleeping spot on the couch and then marched out the back door. Ash looked at the ceiling, then at Hawk, who was definitely snoozing, and followed her out to the deck. The second he was outside, she lit into him.
“You know what I’d like? I’d like not to be pulled into the drama going on between you and Jordan.”
And we’re off.
“Drama?” Asher gestured to the house. “That’s my kid in there, Gloria. He’s not drama.”
“I don’t mean Hawk! I mean you pulling me into a family day with you like I’m the girlfriend or something. I’m not. I had work to do! I have a life. I can’t just…just”—she threw an arm in the direction of the boat—“go out and play with you whenever you feel like it.”
“You could’ve said no,” he said, raising his voice some. “Last I checked, you aren’t accustomed to agreeing to things you don’t want to do.”
And wasn’t that the fuckin’ truth?
“You don’t own me, Asher Knight. You don’t get to be possessive when I’m on a date—”
“Come on!” he interrupted. “You want me to believe you’re pissed that I interrupted your date with Brice McGuire?” He knew her better than that—hell, Gloria knew herself better than that.
“Yes, Asher. A date.” She leaned closer to him, fire in her eyes, her hair wild from the wind. “You don’t get to pull me into your life whenever you need help. I have a life, too.”
“I know that.” But she kept going.
“A life that is not in this house, that is not on this dock.” She pointed at the wooden slats they stood on now. “A life that shouldn’t be happening here, of all places.”
Okay, she’d officially thrown him. “What does my house have to do with anything?”
“How about the fact that I saved every dime I had to buy it?” She pointed at herself, poking red nails into her white dress. “I put down an offer and you outbid me. I was supposed to be living and working here, not playing family with a guy who only wants me sometimes!” She quit speaking when her voice became choked with emotion. He heard it. He saw it.
It took him a few seconds to piece together what she’d said.
“You put an offer on this house?” he asked, pointing at the deck.
She sniffed, crossing her arms and looking past him at the lake. “Yeah.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? I would have pulled my offer and let you buy it!”
“I know you would have!” she shouted, dropping her arms and going red in the face. “I didn’t want you to!”
He couldn’t win. And he also couldn’t keep from grabbing her face, tugging those lips to his, and kissing her with every ounce of passion and anger and whatever else flowed between them whenever they reached this point with each other.
Gloria responded like he expected, tugging his T-shirt in both fists as she dragged him closer. They’d always been a volatile mix, their arguing a twisted form of foreplay. But when Asher’s hands went to her hips and pulled her close, he found himself softening and her softening against him.
She pressed those pillowy breasts to his chest and looped her arms around his neck as he tilted his head to the side to make out with her as thoroughly as possible. She let out a muffled moan and he splayed his hand across her back, tucking her into him.
She tasted like everything he wanted but couldn’t have. Being this close wasn’t enough. Not for either of them. He could tell by the sweep of her tongue in his mouth she felt the same way.
The sound of barking cut through the haze fogging his brain. Glo started to pull back and he groaned in disagreement.
“Ash,” she said, pulling her lips from his, but he went for her again.
More barking. Gloria shoved him back and this time when he turned to the house to tell Tank to shut up, he saw Hawk had climbed off the couch and was on the move.
Shit.
“Give me one second,” Ash said. “I have to get him.”
But Gloria had already sobered. She stepped back, her top teeth sinking into her bottom lip.
“Don’t move,” he told her, then ran for the house. He was out of time, and he knew it. He scooped up Hawk, who’d narrowly missed pulling a potted plant onto his head, then propped his son on his hip and went outside. Just as he’d anticipated, there was no one there.
The only sound was the clop-clop of retreating high-heeled shoes against the deck as Gloria made her way to her car.
* * *
After the longest day in recent history, Gloria decided she couldn’t eat another frozen dinner. She headed out to Salty Dog instead and ate comfort food in the form of a fish and chips basket with a tall Dr Pepper.
Diet be damned. It’d been a hell of a long day. In the parking lot, she dug into the bottom of her purse for her keys, pulling out a toy dinosaur instead. Hawk must have hid it in her purse today when she wasn’t looking.
The toy brought back memories of the day and stress pulled her shoulders tight. Being pushed into Asher’s day, him pushing her into his day, had frightened her in a way she couldn’t categorize. Never in her life had she pictured herself hanging out with Asher’s son. Asher and Jordan’s son.
Gloria may be good with Evan’s son and Kimber’s son, but when it came to Asher, she worried she’d fail Hawk and fail him big. She didn’t want Hawk to feel Gloria’s animosity toward his mother and Gloria was afraid she radiated it even if she didn’t speak it.
Hawk deserved the best. Every child did.
She smiled down at the T. rex in spite of her tumultuous thoughts. Today she’d been uncomfortable, and she’d admit it, a little afraid. Okay, a lot afraid. She hadn’t had the most stable home life and today was a reminder of just how ill equipped she was when it came to hanging around with a toddler.
It’d all bubbled over into an argument with Asher—admittedly the last thing he needed after working hard all day to be a good dad. God. She could be so selfish sometimes.
Bonus: During her rant, she’d told him about how she put an offer on what was now his house. She wasn’t supposed to tell him about the house. Yes, she’d dreamed of owning it, but sometimes things didn’t work out. She was accustomed to pulling on her big-girl panties and dealing with things, so why hadn’t she?
The stress of standing on that deck with the man she’d shared too many close encounters with, his sleeping child in the house, had pushed her over the edge. She’d lashed out at Asher, who had already had a hell of a day.
Both of them had.
She wasn’t really surprised. They tended to bring out the worst in each other. And the best. As illustrated by the kiss that followed. The kiss was nothing short of amazing. Had Hawk not been there, who knows what would have happened.
You know exactly what would have happened.
With a sigh, she climbed behind the wheel of her car and jammed the key in the ignition. She threw her purse on the passenger seat, dropped the toy inside, and pointed for Asher’s house. She’d return the toy and apologize. Those big-girl panties also meant she could admit when she was wrong.
She fiddled with the radio as she took left and right turns on autopilot, shaking her head at the song. It was about breaking up in a small town. The man sang about how he couldn’t avoid her after they split. How he ran into her at stoplights, at parties, at the same gas stations…It paralleled her life so closely, she had to smile.
Asher Knight. The man she’d never be rid of.
She pulled into his driveway a few minutes later. Toy in hand, she left her purse and phone in the car. Soft strums from a guitar floated on the air, a song she didn’t recognize. Goose bumps covered her arms when Asher’s rasping, sexy voice accompanied the melody.
Like a hapless sailor drawn by sirens, she slipped off her heels and followed the wooden deck around to the back of the house. What she should do was climb back in her car and leave, because no good could come from her being around Asher when his crisp voice hit that one note that made her shudder.
He sang another line. Predictably, she shuddered.
Damn. That was the one.
At the corner of the house, she spotted him on the bottom step. From there, the deck shot out into a long dock in the deep part of the lake.
Gorgeous night. Gorgeous guy. Gorgeous song. Definitely, she should leave.
Asher’s voice, low and heartfelt, sent chills up her spine. She listened to the lyrics as he sang. Something about “blue eyes and summer skies and floating around with you.”
She thought of the night in the mansion last year and chills covered her arms.
That’s a song, baby.
Glutton for punishment that she was, she stepped lightly across the deck. A few candles in metal buckets were burning and the light from the flames danced off his bare arms. He hadn’t noticed her yet. Unashamedly, she watched him without him knowing.
He sang another verse, stopped, replayed a few chords, and hummed to fill the spaces between words. Then he leaned over and jotted a few notes on a yellow pad with a pencil she’d just bet was full of tooth marks. She’d noticed the habit the first time she was around him. Nerves didn’t get to Asher Knight on the outside, but showed on his Number 2s.
“Knock, knock,” she said softly.
He turned, eyes glazed from deep concentration, clearly surprised to see her.
“Hey.” He dropped the pencil and set the guitar aside, leaning it on the steps. The instrument was like a loaded gun. Each strum, each chord, every word he’d sung bullets drilling holes in her chest. Or maybe she was being melodramatic.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said.
“Brought you this.” She offered the toy dinosaur.
“Aw, you shouldn’t have.” He accepted, sticking his finger into the rex’s jaws. “Hawk.”
Risking dirt on her white dress, she sat next to him on the step and put her shoes down next to her. Dresses could be cleaned. This was important. She’d been unfair and wanted him to know she could admit when she was wrong.
“I also wanted to apologize.” She folded her hands together, arms resting on her knees.
He leaned, elbows on his thighs, and faced her, sending her a smile that made her weak all over. The same way he looked at her when they were in bed together.
“Not like you to apologize, Sarge.”
That was, unfortunately, true. She hadn’t given in where it counted with Asher. Opening up to him had always scared her right down to her toenails. Time to grow up.
Past time.
“I’m sorry,” she blew out. She opened her hands and then clasped them together again. “I was mad and I overreacted.”
He put a hand over both of hers. A small gesture, yet so big. And it made her want to scoot closer to him, which of course put her on the defensive again.
“You can’t blame me. Not like you put me in the most comfortable position,” she snapped, undoing the apology she’d just doled out, so she added, “Anyway, I’m okay now, and I wanted to make sure we were okay.”
He watched her for a moment, then his lips curved in bemusement. He gave her hand a squeeze and let go. “We’re okay, Sarge. You let loose with me and that’s not a bad thing.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. She did let loose with him. Of all the stress-induced moments of her life when she’d been able to hold it together, she came completely unglued when it came to Asher. Whether they were arguing or kissing.
She tightened her folded fingers, her nerves rattling. So…she could leave now. She guessed. But she didn’t move.
“How’d the rest of your day go?” he asked.
“Busy.” She tilted an eyebrow at him. “I feel like crashing. Or drinking a bottle of wine. Or going out dancing.”
“Interesting mix.” He smiled.
“You know me. Restless and don’t know how to fix it.” It was supposed to be a throwaway statement, but he didn’t let it go.
“I do know you, Sarge.” He stood, balancing the toy on the railing and extending a hand. “I know exactly what you need.”
“Ash.” She ran her suddenly sweaty palms down her skirt.
“It’s totally innocent.”
She didn’t fully trust him, or herself when she was with him.
“Okay, mostly innocent.” His smile broadened to a grin.
She put her hand into his. He held her fingers loosely against his palm and together, they walked down the dock.
“Beautiful night,” she said as they strolled.
The stars glimmered in a navy sky and the pale moon shone, reflecting off the lake’s placid surface. The back of the house faced a huge private portion of the lake surrounded by trees. Another mansion-style house was on the other side, another off to the far left, but unless someone had a telescope, he had privacy.
“You have a slice of paradise here.” She lifted her head to take in the night sky.
“What was supposed to be your slice,” he muttered.
She looked back at him. “I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”
“You should have mentioned it sooner.”
“I have a place.” She shrugged. “I’m settled.”
“Don’t want you to settle, Sarge.” He held her eyes for a beat too long before saying, “Haven’t seen where you call home yet, you know.”
“No, and you won’t, either.” The retort came out like a bark. She didn’t make it a habit to let people into her private space. She closed her eyes briefly, realizing she was being mean yet again. “Sorry, that wasn’t nice.”
“Nice doesn’t suit you.” He chuckled.
He knew her. He got her. She’d never known anyone like him.
