After five excruciating minutes, she finally nodded. “I’ll think about it. For now, I need to get back to my hotel. I have calls to make and arrangements. I need to cancel my Christmas plans. And you need to tell me what happened with Hamilton other than you talked to him.”
I shook my head. “I won’t tell you anything other than that. It’s for all our protection. Cancel those plans. If it was with a man, tell him you’re done with him.”
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t with a man. Stop being a dictator. I won’t be able to stand that.”
I gave her a slow, soft kiss. “I’ll only be one when I think you need it.” She groaned and rolled her eyes. I reluctantly got up. I pushed down on my erection. Her eyes followed my hand, and I saw her gulp and her eyes got bigger. “Stop it or I’m going to say the hell with it and get you naked. I can convince you that way. Get up. If you’re going to the hotel, you need to go see your dad. He’s anxious to talk to you.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were on our way to see Bear. He’d brought Ilara home from the hospital for the night. We’d spend a little time with them then I’d take her to her hotel. I hadn’t told her she wouldn’t be sleeping alone. I might not be able to have sex with her yet, but I would be staying with her.
??????
It had been a week since I’d told Tarin I wanted us to be together. I knew she still wasn’t sure if I was lying or not. I knew it was hard for her to trust, though I had some idea why. I’d made a little headway. She’d tried to convince me that I couldn’t stay that first night I went back to her hotel, however, I convinced her I wasn’t leaving. She could either let me stay or come back to the compound and stay with me. In the end, she gave in only after I promised I wouldn’t try anything.
It had been pure torture to be in a bed with her. She ended up curled up in my arms after she fell asleep every night. I’d suffer an erection any time, to have her like that. Every morning, I’d get up and hurry to the bathroom to shower and to relieve myself. I didn’t know if she knew. I tried not to make enough noise to give myself away. Not that I was shy, I just didn’t want to push her or make her uncomfortable.
Today, she was doing some shopping for Christmas. I’d planned to go with her, but I got called in to work on something else. She decided to go on her own. I was finishing my work when I got more information on her stepdad. It wasn’t anything bad, but it left me with more questions. I called Bear. “You got time to talk?”
“Sure, what about? The fact you’re staying with my daughter every night in her hotel room?”
“No, and you knew I planned to make my move. We’re not sleeping together like you think. She’s got trust issues, Bear. She doesn’t think men can be faithful, except you.”
“Shit, that blows. Okay, when and where?”
“I’ll come to The Dark Angel in an hour, if that works for you.” I knew he spent the mornings there and then the afternoons at the hospital with Ilara and Hope.
“That’ll work. See you then.” He hung up.
I finished off the one thing I was working on then I headed into town. I was a little early, but I knew he’d see me. Once I was in his office, I didn’t waste time. I slid a folder across the desk to him.
“That is all I have so far on Merrill Mercer. Everything points to him being an upstanding citizen, who was on several charity boards and he was an entrepreneur. He was married to Carol for just under eleven years. He comes from old Atlanta money.”
“So, what did you want to talk about then? You could have told me this on the phone.”
“I think it’s a bunch of bullshit. No one’s that clean or nice. There’s some reason that he gave his wife a divorce without contesting it or fighting for custody. He didn’t hook up with another woman right away, so I don’t think it was because he was cheating. He gave her more than generous alimony and child support payments every month. He never saw Tarin again, as far as I can tell. They lived on opposite sides of Atlanta. Something stinks, Bear. The few things she has said and the way she acts, tells me there’s more to it.”
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. “I think so too. I wondered if it could be that he was physically abusive to them.”
My gut clenched. I’d thought that too. I knew what that kind of life could be like. My dad had been an abusive prick. If he’d ever divorced my mom, I would’ve never wanted to see him again. There was nothing I hated more than a woman and child abuser. He was watching my face. He and the entire club knew my history and my hatred for abusers.
“Me too. I swear to God, if he was, I’ll dig him up and burn his bones,” I growled.
“You and me both. We could be way off base. If he was abusive, don’t you think someone else would have made an accusation against him? Is there even a whisper of it?” He was flipping through the papers.
“No, but then again, he had money. He could pay them to stay quiet. I want to hire that PI that Hamilton used. I want to send him to Atlanta to dig and talk to people who knew Mercer.” We’d contacted the PI who’d been helping Hamilton track Ilara. He'd been shocked when he found out the real reason he had been looking for her. He looked sick when we met him. We knew he hadn’t done it on purpose, so we let him go without punishment. He did tell us if we ever needed anything to let him know. He wanted to atone for what he did. Also, he sent Ilara flowers and a big note of apology. I doubted he’d ever believe another guy again when he said he couldn’t find his girlfriend or wife after they had a fight. He’d learned a valuable lesson the hard way.
Bear thought about it for a minute. “Okay, let’s see if he can do it. It’s close to Christmas. He might be busy, but we’ll find out how soon he can do it. Now, tell me how is it going with my daughter? You said you’re not having sex with her, but you stay with her every night. Any progress on getting her to stay?”
“Yeah, I stay every night. I sleep in the same bed.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Jesus, don’t look at me like that. She’s a grown woman. I told you, I’m not having sex with her, yet.” He growled when I told him that and I smiled. He’d have to get used to it. “She needs time to trust me, Bear. She thinks men don’t stay and only want sex, and that she’s not beautiful, sexy, smart, or skinny enough. Jesus, I wanna know who filled her head with that shit.”
“What the hell? She’s beautiful and all you have to do is talk to her and you know she’s smart. She’s like my Ilara and she’s too damn good for you.” He smirked. I didn’t argue. He was right. “And this ‘too fat’ shit is for the birds. Why do women think men want a fucking anorexic bone?”
“Watch TV and look at magazines. That’s all they see and hear. If you’re not a size zero, you’re fat. I’ve met plenty of bigger women who put those skinny bitches to shame. I can promise you, your daughter won’t be starving her ass for me.”
He laughed. “What if she becomes pregnant and gains weight one day? Ilara tells me she’s going to be as big as a house soon.”
“She can gain whatever she wants. As long as she and the baby are healthy, I won’t care,” I told him without missing a beat.
“So, you think you and her will have kids? You’re going the whole distance, without backing out later. Because if you do, I’ll have to kill you, Outlaw. I might not have been there for her when she was growing up, but I’m here now,” he warned me.