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When the food was done, we sat at the table to eat. It was awkward. Harley sat across from me at the other end of the table, with Jordyn and Mariah on each side. The first few
minutes were really quiet, which only made things worse, but then Jordyn piped up and filled the silence with her endless chatter.
“Did I tell you I was starting high school this fall?” she asked me.
I bit back a groan. Jordyn was a very friendly person, and high school was full of assholes and bitches who would take advantage of that. She could end up with fake friends who only wanted to use her, or a shitty boyfriend who would make her life hell. Neither me, nor my dragon, were particularly fond of the idea of her getting hurt. Instead of telling her all that and damping down her excitement, I went with the safe response.
“Nice. Are you excited?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’ll be cool. Not sure if it’ll be easier or harder to make friends in such a small school. I think the whole school, like all four grades, is as big as my freshman class would have been back in New York.”
I shrugged and made a face to show my understanding. “That’s to be expected. Colorado is not a hub of humanity like New York.”
“What do you do for work, Tate?” Mariah asked.
“I’m part owner of a security firm here in town. Three of my best friends and I started it about fifteen years ago.”
Mariah frowned. “So, like, you do network security or something?”
“Eh, one of the guys does stuff like that. I’m actually in charge of personal security. I’m a bodyguard, more or less. I get to be around a lot of cool people.”
“Anyone famous?” Jordyn asked, eyes widening in excitement.
I chuckled. “A few. I can tell you who as long as you don’t spread it around.”
The girls nodded eagerly. Jordyn said, “Spill it.”
I laughed and started dropping names. “Jacob Vance, quarterback for the Jets. Patricia Long, the actress in that new vampire movie. Let’s see, hmm, Sebastian Justice, the tech billionaire. Just between us, his real name is David Walker, he changed it to sound more mysterious and important before he launched his company, and he’s a real douchebag. My last long-term job was going on tour with Brittany Leigh.”
Jordyn gasped. “BrittLeigh? Shut up. You were BrittLeigh’s bodyguard?”
Too late, I remembered Brittany had been the naked woman Harley had found on her front porch a while back. I glanced across the table. She was stiff, robotically stirring sour cream into her baked potato and doing everything possible not to look at me.
“She is, like, my absolute idol,” Jordyn gushed.
I put a hand out to slow her down. “Look, it’s totally fine to enjoy her music, but I would find a better person to idolize. Brittany is… well, to be honest, she is a spoiled, entitled brat. Not fun to be around. She also has a hard time hearing the word ‘no.'”
Jordyn’s face fell slightly. “Ugh, seriously? That sucks. But if you say it’s true, I believe it.”
Furrowing my brow, I wondered why she took my word on it so easily. Her trust in me and my judgment was strange since we barely knew each other. For whatever reason, she trusted me, and it warmed my heart. I grinned and shook my head, thinking how strange this all wasin a good way.
The rest of the dinner continued in a similar fashion. The girls and I had great banter and conversation. Harley, stiff and uncomfortable, only contributed a word or sentence here and there. She avoided making eye contact with me the whole time. The girls cleared the table after dinner. Mariah and Jordyn
wouldn’t let me do anything, since dinner was a thanks for fixing the water heater and the air con.
Everything had been amazing. The steaks were cooked perfectly. The salad had some kind of dressing I’d never had before that was delicious. In my line of work most of what I ate was either quick bites, like protein bars, or a sandwich. I realized how much I’d missed home cooked meals.
“Harley…” I said, “…that was one of the best dinners I’ve ever had.”
I was happy to see her blush and smile a little, even though she still wouldn’t meet my eyes..
Pushing away from the table, I said, “Ladies, do you mind if I borrow your mom for a second?”
Harley’s gaze darted to mine, fear, and uncertainty written all over her face. I nodded toward the back porch door. Reluctantly, Harley pushed her own chair back and followed me. The girls watched us goMariah with a raised eyebrow, Jordyn with a goofy grin. I wasn’t sure what they thought about the whole situation, but I’m sure they were starting to piece some things together. They were smart kids. We really needed to sort all this out soon.
I opened the door and let Harley through first. Once the door was closed, I said, “Can we talk?”
Harley walked around the deck in a big circle before taking a deep breath and saying, “Okay, sure.”
I sighed. “Good. Look, I’m not trying to wedge my way into your life. If you really want me to back off and not come around as much, I will. That doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore the fact that you’re possibly carrying my child. The only reason I was here today was because it seemed like the girls wanted me around. I didn’t want to let them down or reject them.”
Harley’s eyes flashed with surprise. “Why would you care about that?”
That felt like a bit of a kick in the balls. Jesus, did she really think I was that big of a piece of shit?
“Harley, I’m not an asshole. I have no reason to be a dick to your kids. Hell, I didn’t have a reason to be a dick to you, either. I’m sorry. Anyway, they’re good kids. If I had to guess, this whole thing today was more about you than about feeding me. They were worried about you and wanted you to feel better. You’ve done a really great job raising them. I’m sure you’ll do the same for the baby. You should be proud as shit of yourself for what you’ve done as a mother.”
Harley’s eyes welled with tears. “It wasn’t