She motions for Brody to move over. “Mind if I join you?”
He slides over in the booth to make room. “What are you doing here, Rainey?”
She shrugs. “I felt like playing darts and having a couple of beers.”
Brody raises his eyebrows. “By yourself?”
“I never have trouble finding someone to play,” she says. “Or someone to buy me drinks, for that matter.”
Brody glares at her. “Is that so?”
She holds up her bottle and nods to a guy over by the bar. “I certainly didn’t pay for this. He did.”
Brody takes a long pull from his bottle while he’s glaring holes through the guy at the bar. That’s an…interesting reaction.
Rainey diverts her eyes to me. “So, Riley…what were you boys talking about before I got here?”
“Uh…” I stammer.
“How he’s going to get Devyn to break up with her boyfriend,” Brody interrupts.
She smirks. “You don’t say.”
I flip Brody off. “No, I don’t say. I mean…I didn’t say that. I said I don’t know what I’m going to do about her.”
“But you want her to leave Jackson, right? To be with you?” she asks. “She told me about the house.”
“Well…yeah,” I reply.
She smiles. “Look, Riley. I’m going to tell you something but if you mention anything about it to Devyn, I will castrate you.”
My balls instinctively recoil into my body. “What’s that?”
“I’m on your side.”
“Come again?”
“Jackson’s…decent enough. He’s good to her. And Nathan. But she’s different since you’ve moved to town. She lights up whenever she talks about you. And I know now that you didn’t know about the kid. I still think you’re an asshole for what you did to her, but I get your side of it too.”
“She talks about me?”
“Of course she talks about you, dipshit. I’m her best friend. And you’re her child’s father, who has magically reappeared.”
“Wow, you don’t mince words, do you?” I mutter.
“Quit being such a Sensitive Sally,” she says. “Geez, no wonder you and Brody are friends. You’re both whiny little bitches.”
“Hey!” Brody complains.
She rolls her eyes and ignores him. “My point was that I think you’re a better fit for her. And not just because you can clearly incinerate her panties with a simple glance. I’ve never seen her react to someone like she does with you. It’s refreshing to see her so…alive. And since you’re the kid’s father…even better. You can be the picture perfect family that she’s always dreamed of having for Nathan. But she needs to settle things with Jackson on her own terms. And if by chance she chooses to stay with him, I’m going to support her then too. Whatever decision she makes, you need to respect that as well.”
“Yeah, easy for you to say,” I scoff. “She and my son mean everything to me. I’m not going to give that up without a fight.”
“I don’t think that will happen,” she assures me. “I know my girl and I know what she wants, whether she’s ready to admit it or not. Just give her time, Riley.”
DEVYN
IT’S A SATURDAY NIGHT and Jackson has taken me to a fancy French restaurant overlooking the Puget Sound. It’s a little too stuffy for my tastes, but he likes it and the view is wonderful.
“Welcome to Sur L’Eau,” the tuxedoed host says. “Do you have reservations?”
Jackson grabs my hand. “Yes, we do. Williams for two in the private dining room.”
The private dining room? I give Jackson a quizzical look but he simply smiles.
The host’s face brightens as he grabs two menus. “Of course, monsieur. Please follow me.”
We’re led to a rectangular room off the main dining area with floor to ceiling windows taking up an entire wall. There are at least a dozen small tables topped with crisp white linens but we’re the only people in the room.
The host pulls out my chair. “Madame.”
I take a seat. “Thank you.”
He hands us our menus and nods to Jackson. “I’ll be right back with the champagne you requested with your reservation, monsieur.”
“Merci,” Jackson says in a perfect French accent.
I wait until we’re alone. “Jackson, what’s going on?”
He gives me a sheepish smile. “I can’t take you out for a nice evening?”
I gesture to our surroundings. “Sure you can…but this is over the top. What’s the occasion?”
He waits to respond as our host returns with a corked bottle of champagne and two flutes. He fills each glass and sets the bottle in a bucket of ice next to our table.
“Would you like to hear our specials?”
Jackson shakes his head. “No, thank you.”
The waiter gives a short nod. “Very well. Olivia will be your serveuse this evening. She should be with you in a few moments.”
When our host exits the room I lean over the table. “Jackson, seriously. What’s going on? Why all the fanfare?”
He grabs my hand and begins stroking his thumb over my knuckles. “You’ve been working so hard lately and we’ve barely seen each other. I thought this would be nice.”
I sink into my chair with a knot in my stomach. “This is too much.”
He holds up his glass of champagne. “Just relax, Devyn. Should we toast?”
I grab my flute. “What should we toast to?”
He clinks his glass to mine. “To the future.”
I take a lengthy sip of bubbly without echoing the sentiment. Thankfully, Jackson doesn’t seem to notice. We eat dinner with polite small talk and share a dessert afterwards. The food was great and the atmosphere is lovely but I can’t escape this feeling of dread.
Jackson stands and offers his hand. “Dance with me.”
I look around the room. “There’s no dance floor.”
He helps me stand. “We don’t need one.”
He pulls me into him and we begin swaying to the instrumental music that is piped through the restaurant. He starts trailing kisses down my neck. Public displays of affection are very out of character for him.
“Jackson, what’s gotten into you tonight?”
He moves up my neck to nip my ear lobe. “You look so beautiful tonight I can’t help myself.” He pulls back and looks at me thoughtfully. “We haven’t made love in six weeks, Devyn. It’s been too long since we’ve been able to connect. I want to come home with you tonight.”
“Oh. Uh…I’m sorry; I’ve just been so busy at work.”
He trails his finger down my cheek. “Don’t be sorry. I’ve been thinking about how to fix this problem we have. I know we talked about you moving in with me several times now but I think I finally understand your hesitation.”
“You do?”
He nods. “I do. I understand Nathan is your top priority. You’re an incredible mother…it’s one of the many things I love about you. And I understand why you wouldn’t want to rock the boat with him involved. A child needs stability. You don’t want to shack up with your boyfriend because there’s always that measure of uncertainty about the future.”
He does finally get it. “I couldn’t have said it any better myself.”
He smiles. “That’s why I came up with the perfect solution.”
“You did? What’s that?”
He pulls back and digs into his pocket. Before I can ask what he’s looking for, he drops to one knee. Please don’t.
He takes my hand and holds out a beautiful diamond and sapphire ring. “Jackson—”
“Shh,” he says. “Please let me get this out before I muck it all up. Devyn, I don’t want to be your boyfriend anymore. I want to be your husband. I want to be Nathan’s stepfather. I want the three of us to live together and be a family. We’re good together. It makes sense to take this next step. What do you say? Will you marry me?”
I slam my hand over my mouth to choke back a sob. Jackson’s expression tells me he’s reading my reaction wrong. He thinks these are happy tears. “I…” How am I going to say this? It’s going to crush him. “Jackson…I can’t marry you. I’m sorry; but I can’t. I’m not ready.”
He frowns. “I don’t understand. Don’t you love me?”
I wipe a tear away. “I do…but it’s complicated.”