“What are you doing outside Jagger’s apartment?” I question, crossing my arms to keep from running.
I feel uneasy.
He smiles softly. “I’m not here to cause trouble. I was coming to see my son, and as I was getting out of my truck, I found myself being bowled over by a very beautiful woman.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I snap.
He laughs, and it’s a rich, rusty sound.
“I don’t mind, I assure you, Angel.”
Why does him calling me Angel make me feel sick to my stomach?
“Don’t call me that,” I say, my tone bitter.
“What will I call you?”
“Willow!” I mutter.
“Okay, Willow. I’m just here to see my son.”
“I assure you he doesn’t want to see you.”
“Whatever he told you is true,” he admits with a light shrug. “I did bad things to him, Willow, but that was a long time ago. I was an alcoholic, I went away and got help. I can’t make up for what I did, but he needs to know it was never his fault.”
Do I believe him? I don’t know. To be fair, sometimes life isn’t perfect and people get tangled up in messy shit. He outright admitted to what he did and didn’t try to spin me a little lie, so maybe he is here for a good reason. He could also be a rotten liar and wants to hurt Jagger. I don’t know him well enough to be able to tell which is the real reason.
“Tonight isn’t a good night. He has his sister and aunt visiting for dinner.”
He looks down at me, his blue gaze burning into mine. “My daughter is there, too?”
“Yes, but I’m not taking you over there. I don’t know you. I don’t trust you. He has the right to choose if he sees you, and so does Maggie.”
He scans my face. “I understand. Tell them I’m here though, will you?”
I nod.
He reaches out and strokes my cheek, causing me to stiffen. He makes my stomach turn.
“Be careful running around out here alone, babe. Bad people want you, and I’d hate to see something happen to such a beautiful girl ...”
“Excuse me?” I whisper, fear gripping my chest.
He smiles, as if he didn’t just drop that line on me. “Just be careful, you’re well known out there, and Jagger won’t always be around to protect you. Running around at night, that’s dangerous.”
“Is that a threat?” I growl, stepping back.
He chuckles. “Come now, I don’t make threats, I was just pointing out a fact. Please tell my son I’m here. It was lovely talking to you, Willow.”
He goes to his truck and drives away, leaving me standing there alone in the cold. Something about him has my senses on high alert. While he is acting genuine, I don’t have a good feeling about him. Maybe it’s just the mood tonight all around.
Still, something just doesn’t feel right.
I DON’T GO BACK TO the house, instead I go to the park and sit on a swing, staring off into the darkness, wondering why the hell things keep ending like this for me. I’m off in my own little world when a set of hands slide around the chains beside mine, and I know whose they are. Jagger. He pulls the swing back and lets it go, swinging me gently. We do this for a while, him pushing me and neither of us speaking.
Finally, he grips the chains and slows the swing down, leaning in to wrap his arms around my neck and pull me backward into his chest. When my head is resting against the hard wall of muscle, he reaches down and lifts me off the swing, carrying me over and setting me on the soft grass beside it. I’m not ready to tell him about his dad just yet, not when he’s being so damned perfect.
“I’m sorry about the way Aunt Mary behaved. If I had known she was going to do that, I wouldn’t have invited her over. She was wrong.”
“She doesn’t like me,” I mumble, turning to face him.
“Give her time. She didn’t like Sharleen at first, either. So don’t let that fool you. She can be like this.”
“She thinks Sharleen was all sunshine,” I mutter. “And me, I’m just rain. Dark gloomy rain.”
He strokes my cheek. “I like rain.”
“Maybe she’s right,” I say on an exhale. “Maybe I am dark, maybe I am no good for you.”
“She’s not right. I know what I want, and I’ve never been so clear about where my life needs to go. My life is with you, it was since the moment I laid eyes on you. I’m not givin’ you up again. No fuckin’ way.”
“She’s your family.”
“You’re my family.”
I lean in, pressing my face into his chest. He kisses me, long and deep, hands roaming, bodies touching, and it feels good. So good I want to live in it a little longer before I drop the bomb I’ve been hanging onto since he found me in the park.