Page 36 of Until Daddy

“And her mom? Carissa made it sound like she had a bit of a revolving door for men.”

Garrick laughed. “Yeah. Gail is like that. Meets a guy, moves in with him right away, breaks up and starts over. Just her way. She’s never done much good for Carissa, but at least she never tried to use her or hurt her.”

“No wonder the woman doesn’t think a relationship is possible. She’s never fucking seen one.”

“I told you. Black and white, that’s just how she thinks.”

“You know, you sound very much like a big brother. You aren’t going to give me trouble about her, are you?” Jamison and Garrick had never argued about women, or really discussed them much in the past, but now that they both found themselves with people important to them, their relationship had somehow changed.

Garrick laughed. “Fuck, no. From what Jade said, you’re just what that little brat needs. And besides, she helped me get Jade’s head on straight when I needed her help. I’m pulling for you to win this little battle. Jade also told me about the expiration date.”

“You shouldn’t let your girl gossip.” Jamison tried to sound firm, but weren’t they doing that exact thing?

“It’s not gossip when it’s true.” Garrick pulled the collar of his jacket up around his throat. “Don’t look at me like that. Those are her words, not mine.”

“You’re getting soft.”

Garrick shrugged. “You’re still coming over tonight, right? Jade hasn’t seen much of Carissa since you two started seeing each other, and she asked me at least a million times this morning to make sure you let her come over.”

“A million?” Jamison quirked an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean, she’s like a dog with a bone when it comes to Carissa, and she swears you’re keeping her locked up somewhere.”

“I assure you, as much as I’d love to have her locked up anywhere, that’s not the case. She’s been working insane hours and volunteering. Don’t they see each other at work?”

“Different shifts this week.” Garrick waved down a cab. “It’s cold as fuck out here. I’m heading home. Jade is probably already cooking.”

“I’m on my way to Carissa’s. I doubt she even ate today, let alone cooked anything,” Jamison said. The shipment of groceries had been delivered the day before, but he wasn’t positive she’d done anything with them except put them away. She’d grumbled the entire time they’d talked on the phone that night about how many groceries he’d ordered and how she was never going to be able to eat it all.

Garrick laughed, opening the door to the cab that pulled up in front of them. “Not like you to be so gentle with your women. Guess she’s got her hooks in you.”

“Guess yours does, too. Make sure you tell Jade you’ve relayed her message, and I will bring her friend to her with no delays.”

Garrick’s expression darkened. “Now I’ll have to make sure she can’t sit for dinner, just to repair the injury you’ve just inflicted on my manhood.”

Jamison let out a burst of laughter. “Like you weren’t already going to do that anyway!”

Garrick flashed a smile and got into the cab. “True enough. But she’s never uttered a word of complaint so far, I don’t see that changing this afternoon!” He closed the door, and the cab drove off.

Chapter 10

“Who knew you could actually cook?” Carissa leaned against the counter next to Jade, who was chopping lettuce.

“I’ve cooked before.” Jade shot her a nonplussed look and scooped the lettuce into two hands, dumping it into the bamboo salad bowl.

“Yes, I believe I’ve enjoyed such entrees as macaroni and cheese—the powder variety, and hamburger helper, which you substituted with ground turkey. Such a culinary success you’ve been.”

Jade laughed and placed a ripe tomato on the cutting board. “Okay, so I don’t usually cook, but it’s not that hard. We’re just having spaghetti and salad.”

“That’s my Jade.” Carissa laughed and walked over to the wine rack. She’d give almost anything to have a glass of pinot with dinner, but she wasn’t sure Jamison would allow it. He hadn’t said she couldn’t have any wine ever, he had just said that one night she couldn’t. And they had been heading into the playroom, so that made perfect sense. This was just dinner with friends.

“Grab a bottle, I’ll have a glass, too,” Jade said.

Did she need to ask? He hadn’t given her any actual rules about alcohol, and he had said going out with her friends for a glass of wine or two was fine with him.

Feeling safe, she grabbed a bottle of pinot and shuffled around for the wine opener.

“What are you looking for?” Garrick stepped up behind her, startling her.

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