Betting the Bad Boy

by Sugar Jamison

  He nodded, feeling a little choked up.

  “I’m sorry, Duke. I’m so sorry for not trying harder to tell you.”

  “I know, Gracie. You don’t have to keep apologizing. I’m not mad at you.”

  They was a funny look in her eyes and he wasn’t sure if she believed him. “Our thirty days is almost up.”

  “Is it? I wasn’t counting.”

  “No? I heard you on the phone with your shop. They’re missing you. You have clients who only want their cars designed by you.”

  “I know.”

  “You have to go back there.”

  “I do.”

  “I can’t leave my father right now. Not just yet. I promised my mother I would take care of him. I can’t leave him alone now.”

  “I’m not asking you to. Stop worrying.” He kissed her forehead. “Stop thinking. Everything will be fine. I promise you that.”

  He would make it fine. He would make it all work. He would make sure she was happy.

  “Life is too hard without you,” she said softly.

  “You’ve been worrying.”

  “I’ve been worrying for thirteen years. That’s nothing new. I’m feeling a little funky. My stomach is off today. It could have been all the Chinese food last night. Or the omelets this morning. Or the two dozen cookies I just baked and ate half of.”

  “You baked cookies? I thought I smelled something good.”

  She nodded. “You were on the phone with the shop for that long.”

  “My poor baby.” He lifted up her faded shirt, making a mental note to send her shopping for some new clothes, and kissed her soft belly. “You want me to run to the store and get you something for your stomach?”

  “I love you, Duke.”

  He froze for a moment, his lips still on her stomach. He felt her love. Inside he knew that she did, that she must have, but it was still a jolt to his system. Part of him went back to the time when he was a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, wondering what he’d done to get her to love him like she did.

  “Um…” He heard Ryder’s voice. “I’m home.”

  Duke kissed Grace’s stomach once more before he looked back to his son. “Welcome home, boy.”

  “Are you guys … like a couple now or something?” Ryder asked with a scrunched face.

  “I’ve had a major crush on your mother for the past fifteen years. I think she finally agreed to go out with me,” he answered.

  “Whatever.” Ryder rolled his eyes and looked at Grace. “Did you make cookies? Can I have some?”

  *

  It had been over a week since Grace had been to the hospital. Not since the day before her car broke down. But now she was back, walking through the halls on her break heading up to the ICU floor.

  “Well, it’s about time you came to see me, girlie,” Lolly said from her bed when Grace walked into her room.

  Grace looked at her, knowing her visit was long overdue. She had avoided Lolly since she had moved back to town, knowing the old woman was as sharp as they come. She would look at Ryder just a little longer than anyone else did. Of course she had seen Ryder’s likeness to Duke. She had taken over raising him when his father skipped town. Lolly probably knew Duke’s face just as well as Grace.

  “I was afraid to come see you.” She sat in the chair beside her bed, studying the woman with the highly teased hair and made-up face even though she was sitting in intensive care.

  “Why?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Public shaming. You hating me for ruining Duke’s life.”

  “Duke’s life is a lot of things, but it sure as hell ain’t ruined. No one as successful as him can say that their life was ruined.”

  “You are far kinder to me than I deserve. You are kinder than I have been to myself. Why didn’t you tell Duke about Ryder earlier? You had to have known.”

  “Wasn’t my place to tell him.”

  “I was secretly wishing you had. It was like I was waiting for him to show up ever since I came back to town. Every day, I’d look over my shoulder hoping to get a glimpse of him.”

  “I understand why you didn’t go to him while he was away. That prison was a horrible place to bring a child. I think it would have killed him to only see his son behind glass and not have been able to be there. But why didn’t you go to him when he got out?”

  “I did try to tell him, but I gave up too soon when I didn’t hear back because I was a scared. Too ashamed to face him after what I did to him. Too scared that prison might have turned him into a man I didn’t recognize. He was perfect, Lolly. He was sweet and decent and kind and he loved me. And it would have killed me if any of that had changed.”

  “Very few people saw past all that anger back then. They just looked at him and thought he was trash, but you loved him.”

  “I still do. I told him so.”

  “But he didn’t say it back,” she said, seeming all-knowing.

  “No. He’s been good to me. He promises to take care of me. He tells me not to worry, that he forgives me, but I’m not sure he’ll ever love me again.”

  “He loves you.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t talk back, girl! I said the boy loves you. I know these things.”

  “Has he told you that?”

  “No, but he comes to visit me every day. I raised the boy up since he was fifteen. I went to visit him every week in prison. I’ve seen Duke lower than low. I can tell when he is happy. Your boy makes him happy. You make him happy.”

  She wished she knew that for sure. But there was still a little doubt in her mind and she didn’t think it would ever go away. She didn’t think he would ever be fully able to forgive her, because she would probably never be able to fully forgive herself.

  *

  Duke watched Ryder with pride as he watched his son tighten the bolts on the new door for the El Camino they had salvaged. He had expected this process to be slow going as he explained every step to his thirteen-year-old. But that wasn’t the case. Ryder was smart and sucked up every piece of information Duke gave him.

  He even studied at night, picking up on the technical aspects far quicker than Duke had when he was learning. Ryder was meant to be an engineer. Duke knew that he had a talent for taking rusty pieces of junk and turning them into beautiful pieces of art, but Ryder could see things on a conceptual level. If the kid wasn’t designing cars from scratch for a living by the time he was twenty-one, Duke would eat his hat.

  That’s why it was important that Duke stressed education to him. Get him the right tutors here in Destiny. King’s Customs kept a few engineers on staff for product design. Now that they were going forward with the racetrack here, Duke was going to have to hire an engineer willing to work with kids who had a different set of talents that needed nurturing that they might not find in school. Just like Duke, and now Ryder.

  “That’s good work, son,” Duke praised him when he was done.

  “Thanks.” Ryder smiled at him. His smiles were coming easier lately. Grace said he was happy, that she had never seen him this content before. Duke was glad for that, but he thought it had more to do with them all living as a true family.

  The thirty days had passed, but there had been no mention of the bet. No discussion of custody or co-parenting. They had somehow eased into a comfortable routine. He went to bed and woke up with Grace every morning. They ate all their meals together. They spent time together as a family every evening, and weekends with his brothers who were still hanging around Destiny, too.

  He thought he would miss his shop more. For so long that had been his life, the only thing he had looked forward to. All that had changed in the last few weeks. He woke up every day looking forward to being with Grace and Ryder. His little family that he’d never even dreamed of having.

  “Are you going to let me weld that rusty spot on the floor?”

  “No.”

  “Why not? I read all about it. You said I do good work. You should let me try.”

&nb
sp; “You’re only thirteen and your mother would have my ass if I let you start welding now. She wasn’t crazy about me letting you do this much work as it is.”

  “You’re a little scared of her, aren’t you?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.” Ryder grinned at him. “What about replacing the catalytic converter? I read up on that. I think I can replace it by myself.”

  Duke shook his head. “That involves even more steps and jacking up the entire car, which we don’t have the capability to do in here yet.”

  “What will you let me do alone now?”

  “Wash it. That’s about it. This space isn’t big enough to do the serious stuff that you want to do. I thought you would just be interested in making her beautiful. I didn’t think you would want to go rebuilding the damn thing.”

  “Uncle Levi says you’re going to build a full shop in Destiny.”

  “Your uncle has a big mouth. But yeah, I need a place to work while we’re here.”

  “There are people who only want you to work on their cars.”

  He nodded. He could charge a premium for his services, but he didn’t like doing that. He’d hired a talented group of guys who were capable of amazing things. But Colt told him it was just plain good business to charge more for his work, because people were willing to pay for it. Duke learned to defer to Colt on things like this. After all, Colt was the reason Duke could afford to do all he was doing for his family now.

  “How long do you think you’ll stay here?” Ryder looked slightly concerned.

  “Wherever I go, you’ll go.” He set his hand against Ryder’s cheek. His only goal in life was to make sure he grew up stable and happy. “I don’t want you to worry about anything anymore.”

  Ryder nodded. “I’m glad it was you,” he said.

  “What?”

  “I thought Mom wouldn’t tell me about you because you were some lame loser or something, but you’re not.”

  Duke knew high praise from a thirteen-year-old when he heard it and grinned at his son. “You’re not a lame loser, either.”

  “I knew I would find you two here.” Grace walked in, looking a little tired and slightly pale. He’d had her meet with the architect today to go over the plans for the house. For all the work that was about to go into it they could have just bought a new house, but Duke didn’t want to do that. Grace had sold her car to buy this place. She had worked two jobs and sacrificed to give Ryder a home. He had to honor that.

  “Hi, Gracie,” he said to her as she walked straight into his arms. She held on tightly to him and he sensed that something was wrong. “What’s up?”

  “I like the contractor you choose. He said we all went to school together.”

  “You don’t remember him?”

  “No. Should I?”

  “He was in science class with us. Real smart. Used to be really short and skinny. Wore wire-rimmed glasses.”

  “No … That’s can’t be that Ace Costa. He’s beautiful. I mean gorgeous.”

  “Hey!” He frowned at her. “I’ll fire his ass in a minute.”

  “I think you’re gorgeous, too. I haven’t dated anyone else in the past thirteen years. You think I would start looking now?”

  “No.” He kissed her forehead. She had waited for him. Secretly and quietly devoted herself to him. He wouldn’t find another woman like her.

  “I asked him not to touch the basement. I want to keep that room just the way it is.”

  “Can I move down there?” Ryder asked.

  “No,” they both said in unison.

  It was their special place. Duke didn’t think he could ever go down there and not think of the nights he and Grace had shared. They slept on the ground floor in her bedroom now, but sometimes they would sneak down there and make love just for the hell of it.

  “I missed you boys today,” she said, looking at Ryder. “You’re having all the fun in here without me.”

  “You could help us with the car,” Duke offered, much to Ryder’s horror.

  “And intrude on your male bonding? Never. I came out here to see what you want for dinner. I was thinking we could grill tonight.”

  “Sausages, corn, and potato salad.”

  “I can do that.” Grace rested her cheek against his chest.

  “What’s the matter, honey?” He could feel her sadness today. He had been sensing it lately though he wasn’t sure what it was about. He thought he might be reading too much into it, but as the days went on he felt it more and more and it was starting to worry him.

  “I love you. That’s what’s wrong with me.”

  Duke laughed. He knew she loved him. He felt her love every day in everything that she did. “That doesn’t sound like much of a problem to me.” He tipped up her chin and kissed her, unable to help himself.

  There would be no going back to life without her. He didn’t see how he could function again alone.

  “Could you two stop being gross?” Ryder asked. “I get it. You guys like each other. You don’t have to make out all the time.”

  “We don’t make out all the time,” Grace said. “At least not in front of you.”

  Duke grinned again and shook his head. “Come on. Let’s go to the store with your mother so you can watch us make out in public.”

  “No thanks.”

  “Come anyway. We promise we won’t be gross where other people can see us.”

  “Can I stay here?”

  “You want to stay home by yourself?” An uneasiness swept across Grace’s face. “I don’t know about that.” She looked around the garage, seeming to catalog all the things that could hurt him.

  “But it’s just for a few minutes and I’ve been home alone before.”

  “That’s true. But you were too preoccupied with your model cars to get in any trouble.”

  “I’ll go inside. I promise. Just let me stay here.”

  Duke looked at Grace. When he was thirteen he was working to help support his family. “We’ve got to learn to trust him. If anything happens, you can blame me.”

  “Okay.” Grace relented. “You can stay. We’ll be home in a few minutes.”

  *

  Grace had put the last bag in the back of her SUV when Duke closed the door, pushed her against it, and kissed the breath out of her. She was surprised but immediately melted into him, looping her arms around him and returning his kiss with as much passion as her body could muster.

  He broke the kiss and looked down at her in a way that turned her on more than any kiss or touch he could give her. She would never get tired of that look, especially since she knew it was reserved only for her.

  “What was that for?” She was a little breathless, her heart beating a little faster.

  “You promised the boy we wouldn’t be gross where other people could see us. Well, he’s not here, and this parking lot is empty.”

  “Duke.” She grinned up at him feeling a little naughty. “You think we could sneak away to our old special spot one of these days?”

  “We had a lot of old spots. Any spot that I got you alone was special.”

  “I mean the place you took me on my nineteenth birthday. The place we made Ryder.”

  “I used to borrow my friend’s pickup truck when I took you there.” He kissed her throat. “Dwight moved out of town a long time ago.”

  “We’ll have to buy you a new pickup then.”

  “It’s been a while since I restored a pickup. I can make a beautiful one in black and chrome. We’ll be the envy of the whole damn town in that thing.”

  “You always have cars on the brain. You can’t make me wait that long till you take me there.”

  “I won’t.” He kissed her lips once more. “I’ve got a pickup in my collection in Vegas. I’ll have it sent up.”

  He was having more and more stuff sent up, she noticed. Their thirty days together came and went and he was still here. There was no mention of the bet. No winner. No loser. No discussion of where they were going
to live anymore.

  They were a couple. There was no mistaking it. Everywhere they went they presented as a united front. He held her hand. He kissed her in public. He was possessive in just the right way. There was no mistaking that they were in a relationship. But she wasn’t sure what she was to him exactly. Just his girlfriend? The mother of his child?

  For her, boyfriend and co-parent didn’t seem like big enough words. There wasn’t one that could encompass everything that she felt for him.

  Well … Maybe there was one.

  But she wasn’t sure they were there yet. She still wasn’t sure what he wanted because every time she tried to bring it up, he told her not to worry, that he would take care of her.

  She didn’t need to be taken care of. She needed to be loved. She had been by herself. She had worked and provided. She had done everything for herself, but she couldn’t love herself the way he could love her.

  “Let’s go home.” He kissed her again. “Ryder is probably starving by now.”

  They got in the car, Duke holding her hand, and he drove the familiar route through town. “Maybe I shouldn’t give up the second job,” she said and Duke shot her a look. She had gone in a couple of times over the past few weeks when the head of the hospital called her and begged. “With the way Ryder has been eating lately, we might have to take out a loan just to feed him.”

  “I know. When he was hungry last night after dinner he wanted to make a pot of spaghetti. I told him to eat some fruit instead.”

  “Did he?”

  “Yeah, three plums, two nectarines, and half a watermelon. And he still asked me to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

  “He was so hungry this morning he actually ate the steel oats I made him and two eggs and toast.”

  “Colt used to eat like that,” Duke said, a smile curling his lips. “I see a lot of Colt in Ryder.” He glanced at her. “You sure you don’t have something to tell me?”

  “Ha! I heard that due to some smart investments, Colt is way richer than you. I would have definitely followed the money if that were true.”

  “No, you wouldn’t. You’re in love with me.”

  “I am. And don’t you forget it.”

  They pulled up to the house to see a sedan parked in their driveway. Immediately dread washed over Grace. The car had barely stopped before she jumped out to see Patrick Andersen standing there, a tortured look on his face.