Page 46 of Wait For Me

“Yeah, but why?”

“You went out on your own and made your money. It’s yours, Star.”

“Well, that also makes it mine to invest how I see fit. Just think, if we had this conversation yesterday, you’d still have all your hair.”

My dad and Bagger both laughed then, and I joined in too as he rubbed his hand across the short hair on his scalp. “I don’t know, I kind of like it. Think it will be a lot easier getting up and going in the morning now.”

We sat there for a few more minutes, just staring at one another before my father cleared his throat. “As much as I’d like to spend more time with you, baby girl, I have shit to do before I can relax later today.”

“Speaking of relaxing,” I said as I turned my attention back to him. “Word on the street is that you’ve been seeing June, down at the bank, for a good while now. You should bring her by for dinner sometime soon.”

“Not sure we’re ready for that step,” he admitted.

“Well, you of all people know that tomorrow isn’t promised. So, figure it out and then decide if she’s worth taking that next step for. I’d like to meet her in an official capacity if you’re serious about this lady.” I teased him in a very adult, role reversal way.

“Yeah? Maybe you should invite a certain someone along to this dinner too,” he hinted.

I nodded my head, but refused to look at Bagger. “I suppose. You know, Trench hasn’t been around in a while though…”

“Fuck that,” Bagger hissed as he spun around until he was on his feet in front of me, then he hoisted me up in his arms. “Sorry Tripp, got some shit to discuss with your daughter in private.”

“You can’t just manhandle me like this!” I yelled at Bagger as I slapped his ass.

“Who is going to stop me?”

“Daddy?!” I yelled dramatically.

“The way I see it, is you got yourself into this adult mess, and you wanted freedom to learn how to get yourself out of them too.” He winked at me. “Then again, maybe you’ll realize you don’t want a way out.” My father closed his office door behind us as Bagger practically ran us, me bouncing the whole way, to where his room was in the clubhouse.

“Oh, that’s rich!” I heard my brother call out sarcastically. Not that he could see me, but I rolled my eyes at him too. There was no telling when he showed up at the clubhouse, but I knew exactly what he was insinuating. I couldn’t forgive Ash, but I could forgive Bagger. I didn’t feel the need to explain the difference again. Not to anyone, least of all my brother who had cut me so far out of his life that I just found out he was a father to a six-month-old child.

“Kip! My office now!” My dad yelling out to him was the last thing I heard before Bagger ducked through the doorway to his clubhouse room and shut the door on the rest of the world.

18

Bagger

I tipped Star back off my shoulder and made sure she had her balance before I stepped back away from her. For a minute, my eyes scanned her, and something happened that has never been a problem for me before. I was unsure as fuck what the hell to do next. My mind warred with itself. One side yelling for me to throw her on the bed and give her what we’d both been dreaming about for years. The other side, the hesitant one, was frozen in place because of what she had just offered me in the office.

“You caveman carried me to your room. Was your grand plan to get me here and then just stare at me all day?” There was a twinkle of humor in her eyes as she spoke.

“Honestly, I didn’t really have a plan except to get you alone.”

“What did we need to be alone for?” Her tone was still teasing, but there was a hint of concern there too.

I took her hand and guided her to the bed since it was the only place to sit in my room. While having a room to myself was an upgrade over being housed in the bunkrooms with a bunch of other assholes, this one was tiny compared to the VP suite Star had used as her own room when she lived here. There was a bed, a dresser with a thirty-two-inch television on top, and a basket for my dirty laundry.

We both sat at the end of the bed, angled slightly toward one another as I nervously raked my hand across the short hairs on the top of my head. “Were you serious about becoming a silent partner?” I asked.

“I was. I am.” She turned away for a minute, and then when our eyes met mine again, they were all business. Any semblance of the friendly or flirty Star from moments ago was wiped away completely. “That’s not a guarantee though. I need you to know that from the start. Getting involved, for me, will depend on your business plan. That won’t change no matter what else is going on here between us.”

My head snapped back a bit in shock that she would go there, even if it had been a similar source of hesitation on my part. “Do you really think I would use you just to get my restaurant off the ground?”

“I’d like to think not, Bagger.”

“Jared,” I corrected her. For some reason, Star calling me Bagger was an insult. It wasn’t hard to figure out, considering the name was literally given to me because I always double-bagged women when I was a prospect the first time. Fucking two women at once all the time to avoid relationships would forever bite me in the ass thanks to my road name.

Star smirked, as if she could read my reasoning on her face. Maybe she could. “Okay, Jared. I’ve been away for four years, so I honestly don’t know who you are now, if I ever did.”

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