Page 36 of Jagger

Maybe three or four minutes passed in silence. “I called the towing company the resort uses. Your vehicle should be back here later today.”

When she didn’t respond, I finally turned toward the door.

She’d left the room.

The ride to the resort had been just as awkward as the morning at the cabin. She’d had the same kind of issue looking me in theeyes, which was fine with me. Maybe there were no words that needed to be said.

After pulling into the employee parking lot, Bella stiffened.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s just been a long time since I worked in a restaurant.”

“What did you do prior to coming here?” I’d paid close attention to how adept she’d been in suturing Carlos’ wrist. That took skill. Skill that she refused to acknowledge and it continued to nag me.

“None of your business, Jagger. Okay?” She didn’t waste any time bolting from the vehicle, ignoring me as she chatted with Cally while getting her out of the backseat.

I waited a few seconds before climbing out, hating the tension we shared, but my gut telling me it was for the best.

Bella gripped her daughter’s hand as we started walking toward the front entrance. When Cally noticed a group of lit reindeer as we were getting close, she pulled her hand free, racing the rest of the way.

“Be careful!” Bella shouted. “Look both ways, young lady.”

A grimace remained on my face as we continued walking side by side. But before we were even on the front concrete pad in front of the doors, she turned to face me.

“Look. I need to say something,” she said.

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Last night was… Well, it was wonderful, but I can’t do that again. It’s not me.”

“A one-night stand?” There was no reason her push off should bother me since that’s what I’d wanted in the first place, yet it did. I was the guy who ran away from any concept of a relationship. If a woman I’d fucked asked for us to exchange phone numbers or what I was doing the next night, I made a beeline for the exit. The fact she was ditching me hit me hard in the gut.

“That and being with a man in general. I have a new life to build and along with Cally, those are the only two things that I plan on concentrating on. I hope you get it.”

I’d learned more about her former life with her single sentence. She wasn’t just running. She had left her entire world behind. “Sure. I get it.”

She seemed relieved. “Good. I don’t want this to be… difficult.”

Yet it already was.

She touched my arm and I’d be damned if the jolt of current wasn’t enough to light up the entire resort. I shrugged it off, moving to the front entrance instead. I heard her exasperated sigh, but she’d drawn the line in the sand. Not me.

Her choice.

As before, I cringed the moment I walked into the resort. Seeing that more decorations had been added meant at least some of the staff had likely been snowed in and had nothing better to do with their time. Maybe I’d take a leave of absence until spring.

“Mama. Look!” Cally was pointing to a huge banner of Santa and his arrival time that also hadn’t been there the night before. The little girl was jumping up and down. I noticed she’d dragged the koala bear with her, insisting on calling him Mr. Bear. Fora man who considered himself all but dead inside, I’d purposely listened in on their conversations. Why? I wasn’t certain, but it had been a nudge to try to keep my emotions in check.

Cally’s squeal was loud enough that several people glanced in our direction, smiling at the sight of the happy little family. Something we’d never be.

That also included my brother Hunter.

From the goddamn smirk on his face to his swagger as he approached, I wasn’t certain my decent mood was going to last through today.

“Jagger,” he said instead of his usual asinine greeting. “Who’s your lady friend and what about this adorable little angel?”

Who’d killed my brother and sent in a body double? “Bella Winters, meet my kid brother Hunter Fox. He’s also the operations manager for the restaurants. This is her daughter Cally.”

---