At least Clio let me off the hook.
“These other ones on your shoulder and down your arm? From a distance, they look like something tribal, but up close, I can see they’re flames.” Her finger tracing my ink soothed me. “They’re so intricate. What are they for?”
“I got that ink on my one-year anniversary after joining Balefire.”
“The band is important to you.” Her tone took on a sadness I had to deflect.
“The guys in the band are my other family. When you spend as much time together as we do, either you become brothers, or you want to kill each other. Tron, Blu, and Dakota are my brothers. I wanted something to honor us as a band. My tats are all about the connections in my life, the people who matter most to me.”
She laid her head back down on my chest and wrapped her arm around my body, holding me close to her. “Your ink fascinated me before. Now I think it’s super sexy,” she whispered.
When she said that, she let me breathe again. But in the back of my mind, I knew I had to tell her about the deal I’d made with the devil in the guise of her father. And I had to tell her soon.
Chapter Seventeen
Clio
When Jack made love to me the first time after Angel’s birth, he made the whole world disappear. Afterward, I awoke from my post-lovemaking nap to Angel’s fussing and the low sounds of Jack talking to someone. From the lulls in his conversation, I could tell he was on the phone. I rolled out of bed, grabbed my short bathrobe from the back of the chair, and wrapped it around me. I scooped Angel out of her bassinet and walked out into the living room where late afternoon light slanted over the floor in front of Jack. He sat on the couch wearing nothing but his boxers. From the animated way he spoke, he was obviously working hard to keep his temper in check.
I stood quietly by the arm of the couch and cuddled Angel close to me. Jack looked up, the scowl on his face briefly replaced with half a smile as he patted the spot next to him.
“For fuck’s sake, Tucker, I don’t need a paternity test to prove the baby is mine. What I need is a restraining order against Clio’s parents and anyone associated with them. They’ve harassed my girls for the last time.” He sat forward, his hand gesturing to drive home his point even though the person on the other end couldn’t see it. “And I want you to make it clear to Garrett that my being a father is not a publicity stunt, so it doesn’t need to be splashed across social media and the press.”
He listened for a few seconds before saying, “I know that Tucker. But the longer we can wait to share the news, the better I’m going to feel about the safety of my family. I have to consider them now too.”
When I heard Jack say that, I shivered. Even with his focus on his conversation, he noticed and slipped his arm around me and pulled me in close to his side. In early July in Fort Collins, the weather was not the cause of the chill ghosting over me. Unfortunately, even cuddled up to the furnace that was Jack Whitehorse at the moment, cold still passed over my skin. Cold dread of being in any kind of spotlight. Cold dread of Angel’s pictures available for anyone to see. Cold dread my little girl could be in danger purely because her daddy played drums for a famous rock band. Most of all, cold dread Harrison and Meredith Barnes could come anywhere near Angel, could hurt her the way they’d hurt me. The coldness of my thoughts left my skin goose-bumped and clammy.
Jack’s sigh pulled me out of my morose reverie. “Thanks Tucker. The restraining order is the most important thing right now. I’ll call Garrett and the band today, let them know what’s going on.”
He clicked off and tossed his phone onto the coffee table.
My thoughts must have crossed my face, and he tried to put my mind at ease. “Clio, baby, I told you I’d take care of you and I meant it. I wasn’t here for the most important day in all three of our lives . . .” When my upturned brow prompted him, he clarified, “The day you gave birth to Angel.”
I smiled. That day truly was the most important day of my life.
“But I’m going to be here from now on. Your parents need to know that. Right now, they think you’re on your own with no support since they jerked theirs right out from under you, but you have some great friends, and most importantly”—he wrapped his arm tighter around me—“you have me. I’m not going anywhere.”
With his free hand, he held my face for a kiss that might have gone places had Angel not chosen that moment to remind me I had other obligations.
“Shhh, little one. I’ll fix it.” Turning to Jack, I said, “She needs a change and a snack. Back in a few.”
In the bedroom, I lay Angel on my bed to change her. Before I could even turn around to retrieve a clean diaper and the wipes, Jack was there with them in hand. “I got this, Clio.” He smiled.
Ever since I’d introduced Jack to Angel, he’d shown me time and time again he meant to be a hands-on dad. But what did that mean with his career? With the band?
“Um, Jack? I take it the person on the other end of your call was your lawyer?”
“Yeah,” he said as he efficiently stripped off Angel’s soiled diaper and tossed it into the Diaper Genie.
“You said something about telling the band. What are you going to tell them?”
“That they can stop calling me the monk since I’m a dad now.” He glanced away from his task long enough to grin at me. “And Garrett won’t be booking more concerts far from home over Christmas since I’ll have somewhere more important to be.”
The tone of his voice when he made that comment told me there was a story behind it, but that wasn’t important at the moment.
“You’re not quitting the band?”
Though he’d been in the middle of changing Angel’s diaper, his hands stilled. “Do you want me to?”
“Of course not. You’re a musician.” I forced a smile. “The band is probably part of your DNA. I could never ask you to stop being who you are. I wouldn’t want you to be anyone else.”
He let out a breath and finished changing Angel.
As he lifted her up onto his shoulder, he gazed over her at me. “Being in the band means I’m still going to be in the studio, and I’m still going to tour. But my home base has changed. Now it’s going to be wherever you and Angel are.” Angel seemed on board with that idea judging from the cooing sounds she made as Jack absently rubbed his hand over her back. “I know how much you want to finish your degree and be a nurse, so when you finish school and decide where you want to work, we’ll set up our home there.”
“That sounds pretty permanent.”
He stared at me like I’d suddenly grown another head. “We have a kid together, Clio,” he said, his voice low and rumbly. “We have a history together.” Then a smile like sunshine broke over his face. “Besides, I’m crazy about you, which means I’m gonna be with you whenever I can.”
He leaned down and kissed me softly. A slight brush of his lips over mine, but it felt like a promise.
Again, Angel interrupted.
“You know, little girl, as the daughter of a drummer, your timing sucks. We need to work on that,” Jack teased before he handed our baby to me. “Guess it’s snack time.”
I smiled at him over Angel’s head and walked back out to the living room. We returned to the couch where I opened my bathrobe and put our little girl to my breast while Jack busied himself with taking out the trash I’d been working on when he arrived home earlier.
Home. Maybe my place lacked in size and style, but it was mine. Now, it seemed, it was ours.
Play For Me Page 17
