Page 21 of Jagger

Jagger said nothing else, standing right where he was like some big, dumb statue. But his smirk remained and it was driving me crazy. I scurried around, gathering our things while he was playing the wait and see game. He didn’t think I’d be nuts enough to head out in this weather. I could do it. He was wrong about my vehicle. It was rated excellent in the snow.

I thought so anyway.

I’d need to try.

Staying here. With him. Was a dangerous option.

After shoving my feet into my tennis shoes, I tried to shove aside all the possible issues that could occur. Including freezing to death. When we’d left Baltimore, it’d been in the fifties, sunny, and no mention of snow. Damn it. I was such a bad everything, including a mother.

“Come on. Let’s get you finished dressing,” I said to Cally. We raced up the stairs and since I was tickling her, she acted as if this was the little adventure I’d promised her. I shoved another sweater over her top, grabbing her jacket and putting it on before we went downstairs.

“I want to stay.”

Now she was going to whine.

“This was just a little stopping point along the way, baby girl. We’ll find the best place in the world. I promise.”

“Daddy there?”

Daddy. I’d promised Joel I’d wait until she was eighteen to tell her she’d been adopted. I’d hoped she wouldn’t feel any differently, refusing to look up her deadbeat biological father. Now it just didn’t matter. I was a single parent and I needed to get used to it. “Mommy and Daddy are…” How was I supposed to help an almost four-year-old turning into an adult understand her daddy didn’t really care about her any longer?

Maybe he never had.

“We’ll see, baby girl. Now, come on. Let’s roll.”

“Yay!”

Thankfully, she responded to the phrase I’d used since she was a baby. She tumbled down the stairs as I carried the bags. And wouldn’t you know it, she flew into Jagger’s arms, giggling as a typical happy child would do.

He was as shocked as I was, the hunk of a man tensing since he had no clue how to react. I stopped right on the bottom of the stairs when he crouched down to her level, tugging on the collar of her jacket and whispering something to her I couldn’t hear. From what I could see, she nodded a couple of times as if agreeing with him.

Another flash of anger rose up like a dragon ready to breathe fire. At least this time my common sense took over and I shoved her back into her lair. He didn’t deserve my full wrath. He wasn’t that bad of a guy, just insufferable.

And tempting.

A lump had formed in my throat and I had difficulty swallowing. When I finally did, I tried very hard not to look at him as I grabbed my keys and purse. “Come on, baby girl. Time to go. Tell the nice man thank you. What do I owe you?”

It was said tongue in cheek and he snorted enough for me to notice. “On the house, sweetheart. Damsels in distress are my thing.”

If he wanted to annoy me, he was doing a damn good job.

“Well, thank you. You’ve done your good deed for the year. Maybe Santa won’t bring you coal in your stocking.”

Ouch.

I was on a roll and I hated myself for it.

We headed outside and as soon as I planted a foot onto the first stair tread, I realized just how slippery everything could be. With tiny pellets of ice and snow hitting my face, I remained determined to find a way to leave. Or maybe happen upon a cheaper hotel to stay for a couple of days.

My nerves were frayed, but turning back wasn’t an option. This wasn’t the first time I’d felt all alone and destitute, but it hurt the worst. I’d failed myself and my little girl.

I got her buckled up in the backseat, tossing our bags into the back and slip-sliding my way to the driver’s side.

“You shouldn’t leave, Bella. You’re going to get stuck,” Jagger said, his deep and very husky voice sending a series of dark jolts of current down to my toes.

“I can’t stay here, Jagger. No, you can’t understand.”

“Nah, lady. You’re right. I can’t.” He was leaning against the railing of the porch, his legs crossed at his ankles. With his parka open and his burgundy corduroy shirt unbuttoned, I honestly thought he was the sexiest man alive.