Evan grinned. “I’m going to give it my best shot. Either way, it’ll be an experience.”
Cade pointed at him. “Call me as soon as you find something out.”
“I will,” Evan promised.
Cade clapped his hands together. “I’ve got a client waiting on a training session, so y’all have fun.”
Jessica waved. “Bye.”
I put my hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the front door. “You need anything before we leave?”
She shook her head. “I think we’re good.”
I shifted everything from Cade’s car to mine. Jessica sat in the back seat with Baby J, and Evan added his suitcase to the trunk and climbed in the front with me.
“You nervous about tomorrow?” I asked Evan as we drove along the Interstate.
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
“I know the competition will be stiff, but for what it’s worth, I think you’ve got a good shot.”
“Thanks.” Evan shot me a grin. “I know it’s hard for you to admit that I’m in better shape than you.”
“I don’t recall admitting that,” I said, even though he and I both knew he was.
“See, I told you it was hard for you.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. I guess there’s a lot of shit that I’m not good at admitting.”
“You and every other man on the face of the planet,” Evan agreed. “There’s a reason we don’t stop for directions.”
I held my phone up. “Thanks to technology, we don’t have to, anymore. No asking for directions. No driving in circles because you refuse to. It’s a win-win. Plus we have a chick in the back to remind us when we’re being stubborn.”
“I’m taking a nap,” Jessica said, yawning. “So y’all are on your own.”
I looked at her in the rearview mirror, glad she was in the car with me. “I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
“You could write an article about that, you know. Men Suck at Admissions.” Evan cupped his hand and drew a horizontal line in the air as if he were highlighting the title of a newspaper article.
“If I can sell one of my fitness articles, then maybe I will venture into other subject matters.”
We rode in silence a while, and I thought about Jess and Baby J and selling articles and my brothers. I thought about the past and the present and the future. The more I thought about things, the more I had no idea what path I should take.
“Mom and Dad said they’d drive down tomorrow,” Evan said, breaking into my thoughts.
“Yeah, Dad told me.” I stared through the windshield, which was now becoming smeared with insects. “Too bad Cade is stuck at the gym.” I snapped my fingers. “Which reminds me, I have an idea I wanted to run by you. Actually, it’s Jessica’s idea. You know we’ve been talking about ways to increase our revenue. What do you think about enclosing a room or two in the back corner for massages? Maybe we could even get someone who specializes in sports massage therapy.”
Evan glanced at Jessica, who was sleeping in the back seat, before he focused on me. “I think that’s a great idea. I know there’s been a few times I would have liked to have someone help me get the kink out of some of my muscles.”
“Me, too,” I agreed. “Remind me to ask Cade what he thinks. We should have enough equity in the building to get a loan. Of course, Dad will have to sign it, so we’ll need to get him on board. I don’t think it would cost that much to do what we want to do. In fact, maybe we should create an outside entrance, too. That way it would seem more approachable to people who aren’t members of the gym.”
“I agree with that.”
“I think the biggest expense would be hiring the therapist and someone to keep up with scheduling, but hopefully, that would all pay for itself.”
“It should.”
“We’ll all get together and hash it out.”
***
We arrived at the hotel and unloaded the car. Our hotel rooms were in the same hallway.
“What are your plans tonight?” I asked Evan as we stood outside his door.
“A bunch of the contestants are going to meet at the bar in the lobby. Do y’all want to go?”
I shook my head. “No, you go ahead. It’ll be a good chance for you to network. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See you then.”
With the diaper bag slung over my shoulder, I wheeled our suitcases down the hallway until I came to our room. I swiped the key, pushed the door open, and motioned for Jessica to go in first.
She sucked in a breath.
“What’s wrong?” I peered over her head, wondering if the room hadn’t been cleaned.
“Nothing’s wrong.” She turned around and beamed. “Look how nice it is!”
The luxurious décor was prevalent in every facet of the room, from the plush king bed to the granite countertops and glass shower of the restroom to the clean lines of the desk. A crib flanked one wall, and Jessica set Baby J in it and then collapsed on the bed.
“This is heavenly,” she whispered, her dark hair fanning around her head while she spread her arms across the comforter.
I set the suitcases and the diaper bag down and joined her. “We can skip dinner and go straight to bed if you want.”
“I would totally go for another night like last night, but Joseph is probably hungry.”
“There’s always room service.”
“You don’t want to explore the city?”
I had been to Atlanta a few times, and I’d seen most of the city. The thought of taking her to bed had been so enticing, it hadn’t occurred to me that she might want to get out. “The Georgia Aquarium is just a few blocks away. Why don’t I take you and Baby J there? We can either eat at the aquarium or find a sidewalk café on the way back.”
Her face lit up, and I liked knowing that I had made her happy. “Yes! I’ve never been there, and I vote for supper at a sidewalk café.”
“You got it.”
She got up and grabbed the diaper bag. “Let me feed Joseph a bottle and change his diaper first.”
“No hurry.” I pulled out the chair from the desk and sat down. Jessica sat cross-legged on the bed, cradling Joseph in her lap. He latched onto the nipple and suckled vigorously.
She stroked his hair and his plump cheeks, telling him the entire time how much she loved him. Other than my own mother and brothers, I’d never really experienced a mother-child relationship from such a close-up perspective as I had since Jessica had moved in with me. She was a good mother, and it was obvious that she and Joseph had developed a strong bond. Watching them together gave me a surge of pleasure I would have never expected, but children were a lot of work.
I was selfish, and I knew it. It was one of the reasons I had never wanted children. Children meant making sacrifices. Hell, they meant more than making sacrifices. They affected every single thing in a person’s life. People with children shopped for cars that were safe and had four doors. When they purchased homes, they considered whether the bedrooms were on the same level, whether there were stairs, whether they felt safe with a pool. Hell, even something as simple as making a trip to the grocery store became complicated.
And yet Jess had been doing it all alone. She had struggled, but considering her resources, she was doing a damn good job.
I realized as I watched Baby J suck down his bottle in record time that my protective feelings were encompassing him as well as Jess. And even though I wasn’t a father, I was starting to see why people were willing to make those sacrifices that parenthood required.
When Jessica finished feeding him, she changed his diaper.
“Let me just wash my hands and freshen up, then I’ll be ready.”
I held my hands out. “Here, give him to me.”
She did, and Joseph watched me with wide eyes while his mother went to get ready.
“Hey, little man.”
He grinned, giving me a nice view of his teeth.
“You sucked that
bottle dry, didn’t you? I’m guessing you’re going to be a tit man. Me, too, buddy.”
“Paxton!” Jessica shrieked from the bathroom.
“What?” I asked innocently. “It’s not like he understands what I’m saying.”
“But I do.”
“You already know I like tits.”
Running a brush through her hair, she stepped out of the bathroom. Damn, she looked cute in her Tennessee shirt, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders and contrasting against the bright orange fabric. Her jeans clung to her shapely hips, and I wished she would turn around and give me a view of her butt, just in case I wanted to change my vote to being an ass man. “I think it’s a little too soon for a talk about the birds and the bees.” She groaned as she stepped back into the restroom. “What am I going to do when the time comes for all that stuff?”
“You have a few years to come up with a plan,” I told her.
Baby J’s eyes were wide as he watched me speak. Jessica opened a small stroller, and I stood and walked toward her, handing him back to his mother.
When we rode the elevator down to the lobby, a middle-aged woman smiled at us. “He’s so cute,” she told Jess. “What’s his name?”
“Joseph.”
“How precious.” The lady glanced from Joseph to me. “He looks like his daddy.”
I froze, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, the elevator stopped on her floor, and she quickly shuffled down the hall.
“Don’t pay her any mind,” Jessica said to me. “People say stuff like that just to make conversation.”
“He may not look like me,” I told her, “but I can see how the woman might be confused.”
“You can?”
“We may not have the same coloring, but we’re both good-looking. Isn’t that right, little man?”
Jessica grinned at me, and I was glad the awkward moment was behind us. “Okay, I’ll give you that one.”
Her mouth looked so damn kissable that I decided there was no reason to deny myself. I pressed a quick kiss to her lips.
She pulled away from me, giggling as the elevator doors opened again and revealed a couple who were patiently awaiting its arrival. I glanced up into a face that looked a lot like mine. “Dad.”
“Hey, son.”
We walked out of the elevator and to the right, my parents following us as we gathered in a small sitting area.
I rubbed my palms together. “I thought y’all weren’t coming up until tomorrow.”
My father stood his suitcase upright. “We thought we would go ahead and come up tonight. I didn’t think we were going to get a room, but while we were standing at the front desk, they had a cancellation.”
“Yeah, I called earlier today to get an extra room tonight, and they told me it was a good thing I called when I did because they didn’t have many left.”
My mother’s cold gaze settled on Jessica.
I put my arm around Jessica’s shoulder, hoping to make her feel more comfortable. “Y’all remember Jessica and her baby, Joseph.”
My dad shook her hand and patted Joseph on the head. “He’s really grown since the last time I saw him.”
The last time my parents saw Joseph was a fiasco, and I wished he hadn’t mentioned it. My mother’s eyes narrowed as she focused on Jess, and I knew she was recalling Jessica’s proclamation that my brother, Cade, had fathered Joseph.
Even though Cade had explained the situation later, along with the fact that it hadn’t been true, I had no doubt that my mother still believed it to at least be a possibility.
Jessica replied to my father’s comment, “He’s definitely growing like crazy. He’s crawling now.”
My mother slowly dragged her eyes from Baby J to Jessica’s face. “His father must be proud.”
Leave it to my mother to say the most inappropriate comment possible. “Well, we were just heading out for the night, so we’ll catch up with y’all tomorrow.”
“Nice to see you again, Jessica,” my dad said, clearly trying to compensate for my mother.
“You, too, Mr. Mayfield.” Jessica’s gaze toggled toward my mother. “Mrs. Mayfield,” she said sweetly.
Once I had successfully whisked them away from my parents and out onto the sidewalks of Atlanta, I apologized for my mother.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Really. I deserve every bit of her hostility.”
I took a deep breath and looked away. Jessica had definitely made some mistakes in the past, and my mother wasn’t known for her forgiveness.
Then again, neither was I.
Things had definitely gotten better between Jess and me, and I had to believe that eventually, my mother would lighten up, too.
I cupped Jessica’s slender neck and braced my thumbs against her jawline. “We’ve all made our share of mistakes. My parents, included. We can keep our distance from my mother this weekend.”
She had one hand gripping the stroller, but she laid her other hand on mine. “I don’t want you to do that, Paxton. Family is the most important thing. She loves you. You should spend time with her.”
I took the handles of the stroller and started pushing Baby J. “Come on. Let’s forget about all of this and enjoy our evening.”
Jessica scurried to catch up with me, and I glanced down in time to see her gracing me with a dazzling smile. She was a beauty, but maybe the most appealing thing about her was the fact that she was beautiful on the inside, too. She wasn’t flawless. Sometimes she made choices with which I didn’t agree, but she usually made them with a greater good in mind. Not that I had the right to cast any stones.
Hell, maybe I was just a sucker for her. She was the one woman who managed to tackle me, no matter how far or how fast I ran. I’d always known that about her. It was the very reason I chose to stay away from her.
She wrapped her arm around my elbow and squeezed. “I’ve never been to an aquarium.”
I could hear the excitement in her voice, and it buzzed through my veins as I realized how much I enjoyed making her happy.
“I’ve been to this one before. It’s huge. You and Baby J are going to love it.”
As we strolled along the sidewalk, her hand resting in the crook of my elbow, I gazed at the people we passed. Couples strolled hand-in-hand, gazing into the sky and pointing at the menagerie of buildings, some jutting stubbornly into the skyline, their spires reaching like fingertips trying to touch the clouds, some more subdued. Moderate traffic filled the street, the occasional blare of a horn filling the air.
“Is that it?” Jessica pointed at the huge metal and glass building, shaped like a ship, its hull forging through ocean waters.
“It is.”
“It’s huge,” she gasped.
“One of the largest in the world.”
After paying our entry, I wheeled Joseph into the building. Jessica’s excitement was infectious as she oohed and aahed over every exhibit.
When we reached the underwater glass tunnel, we sat on the bench, not only to rest a few moments while she gave Baby J a snack but to absorb the plethora of aquatic life that surrounded us.
“Look!” Jessica pointed to a whale shark swimming lazily overhead, its tail moving subtly through the water. “It’s so graceful.”
She picked up Baby J from his stroller and held him so he could watch. “See the fish,” she said softly in his ear. “Fish.”
He babbled something indecipherable and smiled.
“Fish,” she repeated.
I smiled. “Calling a whale shark a fish is like calling a dinosaur a lizard.”
She laughed, and it was the most magical sound in the world, the kind of sound that made a man smile, made his troubles seem less serious, made his world a better place. Her laughter was my nirvana, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her face as the sea creatures captivated her. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and followed the path of a school of blue tang surgeonfish.
I could have stayed in the tunnel forever, watching her, but eventually
, we moved along. When we reached the petting tank, Jess dipped her hand into the shallow pool and skimmed her fingertips along a cownose ray. “This is so cool.” She gazed around the tank. “I wish a little bonnethead shark would come over here.”
I held Baby J up where he could look into the tank. “What’s Mommy doing?”
Another ray swam by, undulating its body. Jess let her fingertips dip lower until she touched it.
“Come on, shark,” she said, glancing longingly across the tank. “Come to Momma.”
“You gonna talk one into swimming over?” I asked, amused by her antics.
She turned and looked back at me, her dark hair dangling toward the water’s edge. She raised her thin brows. “You think it will work?”
I walked around to the other side of her and gathered her hair with one hand while the other gripped her son tightly. I scooped her silky tresses back over her shoulder to keep them from getting wet. “Let’s just say that if I was in that tank, I’d swim over if it meant you were going to touch me.”
“Max!” She giggled, and I wasn’t sure whether it was the sound of her laughter or the fact that she’d used her nickname for me that made me feel possessive of her. I wanted to be the man who could stir those emotions in her, and I sure as hell didn’t want her calling anyone else by a nickname that had been borne of lying in bed naked together.
“When I get my own place, should I install a tank, one large enough that you could come over and swim?” She eyed me, waiting for me to respond.
“Now that depends on whether I’m going to be rewarded.”
“I don’t know. Are you a ray or a shark?”
I shot her a look of disbelief. “Do you really have to ask? Definitely a shark—although I’m going with the great white species.”
“A great white shark-man, huh? Don’t worry. I’ll stroke you with my fingertips.”
I grinned in approval. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“I’ll even make sure the water’s good and warm, so your great white doesn’t turn into a little bonnethead,” she continued in a hushed voice.
“Wait a minute. Are you talking about my manhood?”
Betrayed (Whiskey Nights #4) Page 16
