“I can touch my great-grandchild.”
“I wouldn't do anything with our son that you wouldn't want,” Jonas tells me. From the look in his eyes I believe him.
“Thank you.” I give him a tight smile. “I need a moment.” I turn, leaving them behind.
“Darby, you need to eat,” I hear him call after me. I ignore it. I am not going to break down in front of Jax. I don't want to do it in front of that woman either. I have a feeling she might like to see me fall apart. That she might find some pleasure in it. I refuse to give her the satisfaction.
What had I ever done to her? If what Jonas is saying is true, she went to great lengths to get rid of me. Why? Was I that horrible of a person or was she?
“Darby?”
I whip around at the sound of Jonas’ voice to see him half running with Jax in his arms. The sound of Jax giggling at being bounced around echoes through the hall.
“Jax needs to eat,” I hurriedly say, still trying to make my escape back to our room. Jonas’ face looks a little panicked. “What’s wrong?” I take a step toward him. Did something happen? Jax seems to be okay. I’m actually surprised he’s not pissed that he’s been taken from his carrots and French toast. He will eat anything covered in syrup. He gets that from me. Jonas continues to stare at me.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” He shifts on his feet.
“I don’t like you running off and not knowing where you are going,” he admits.
“I promise I would never take off without Jax,” I reassure him.
“It’s not that.” He runs his hand down his face. “I just got you back.” Oh. More of my anger at him melts. He might actually care for me.
“This is a lot to take in. I needed a moment and that woman—”
“She doesn't matter.” He cuts me off. He’s so wrong. I think she matters a lot. Not only is she his family but she ripped us apart once. She could do it again. “Come here.” My feet move on their own accord to get closer to Jonas. He wraps his arm around me. My body melts into his side. I tilt my head to look up at him.
He leans down, his mouth brushing against mine in a soft kiss.
“Kiss?” Jax asks, puckering his own lips. Without hesitation, Jonas gives him a kiss. Jax turns to me, puckering his lips again. I don’t have to be asked twice. I give my little angel a kiss. We actually look like a family. How many times have I dreamed of this?
“We’re a family. I want us to get married as soon as possible. For you and Jax to have my name.”
“Jonas, I-”
“Don’t. I’m having the breakfast brought to our room. You both need to eat. We’re not doing anything until I feed you.” My stomach lets out a loud growl in agreement.
“Okay,” I agree. Jonas smiles, thinking he’s won. And maybe he has.
Chapter 15
Jonas
Hot food is at our suite door almost before we arrive.
“The people who work here are efficient,” Darby notes as she takes a seat at the table that was just rolled in.
“Gran would not tolerate anything less. Come here, Jax. Have some more carrots.” Jax shoves a handful of the little orange discs in his hand and smiles toothily at me. I brush a hand over his thick hair and pull his small body closer to mine.
“You’re really good with him,” Darby says. She eyes me with a bit of suspicion.
“My sister has a five-year-old. I’ve been changing her diapers since she was a wee one.”
“Oh.”
It’s a short sound but loaded with disappointment. Melody is another thing Darby can’t recall. I don’t feel guilty anymore. I’ve let my anger go. Now I feel sadness. For nearly three years she’s been alone. Melody hates it when her husband is gone, telling me that taking care of a five-year-old is difficult by herself. It’s why I go over there frequently when her husband has to work an extra shift, particularly at night. Darby had no one. There was only one person who got up in the middle of the night to feed Jax or change his diaper. There was only one person who soothed Jax when he was upset or disciplined him when he was bad. She would have had a rough time of it. Maybe I shouldn’t have punched Luca Ward so hard. I’ll have to send him a box of cigars by way of apology. First, though, I need to help Darby out. I need to fill in her gaps so she doesn’t feel so clueless and left out.
“Melody’s husband, Dean, used to work security here. He and Melody fell in love and because he’s a decent guy, he quit and got a job running security at a high end shopping center. It’s where you can buy your wedding dress.”
“I’m not marrying you today,” Darby interrupts but I can tell by the bright sparks in her eyes she wants me to continue. I also note that she qualified her statement with the word “today,” meaning she’ll be ready to marry me at some point. Unfortunately for her, that some point is today, but I’ll deal with that when the priest gets here.
“I’ve offered Dean his job back with a promotion and a raise, but he won’t take it, which is a point in his favor. Another point in his favor is that he isn’t a hard-ass about Melody’s money. She can spend it on her family and he doesn’t feel like his dick gets smaller just because her bank account is fatter. Another point in his favor. He’s generally a decent guy who plays a mean game of pickup basketball. You liked him.”
Darby forks some of the pancake into her mouth. “Did your sister and I get along?”
“Yup. She told me I’d be a fool if I let you go.”
And I did, sort of. I jostle Jax a little to disguise my unease. “Have some tofu, Jackers. It’s good for you.”
Darby makes another sound. I jerk my head up to see a rueful smile tilt the corners of her lips up.
“Jackers is what I call him, too.”
“Jax is a good name.” We’d talked about the name Jack but Jax is better, I think. More unusual. Every kid is named Jack. I wipe my son’s hands clean and then his face. “You have a good name, little man.” I hold him up and bounce him lightly. He belches and then laughs at his accomplishment. I laugh, too, because how can you not?
He pats my cheek and says, “Kiss.”
I lean forward but he averts his face and points to his mother. “Kiss,” he repeats.
Darby grows flustered and tries to reach for the boy. I hold him to the side. “You heard your son. He wants us to get married.”
She blows a raspberry in my face. “He said kiss, not marriage.”
“Kissing is for married people,” I declare piously. “Jax and I believe that physical contact between two people should be saved for marriage. Good thing that is happening today.”
“We aren’t getting married.”
I shake my head at Jax in mock dismay. “Your mom wants to turn me into a scarlet man. That’s from a dumb book I hope you never have to read, but basically a character gets a letter branded onto their forehead for being loose. You wouldn’t want that for your old man, would you?”
Jax solemnly moves his head back and forth. “Loose,” he repeats and traces his finger over my forehead. Then he points to his mom again. “Kiss.”
“I want to, son. Let me tell you that I want to lay my mouth against your momma’s lips and I’m not talking about the ones on her face.”
“Jonas!” Darby shouts.
“What?” I blink at her with as much innocence as a thirty-three-year-old person can muster which is not much because I have done some filthy things with her. Things that make me hot and hard just at the memory. I shift Jax higher in my arms so he doesn’t accidentally kick my newly formed wood.
“Little pitchers have big ears.” She taps her ears with the tips of her fingers.
“I know, and I can teach him way worse things every minute we’re not married.”
“Are you blackmailing me with my own kid?”
“I could be. I don’t have a lot of shame here. I want you in my life and…” I trail off because Jax is looking at me in great interest and there are some things I think he should wait until he?