Page 17 of Infected By Virus

“Right? I was expecting Darrin would be pissed even after I explained, just not at me per se, but I knew if someone else spilled the beans, I’d never even get a chance to explain.”

She turned and looked over at Harmon and Adam with a lump in her throat.

“You know, he also looks a little like you. So, I could see it would be easy to mistake him for yours too,” he said cautiously.

When she didn’t speak, Outlaw apologized. “Sorry, that wasn’t very sensitive of me. I just …” He trailed off.

“No need to apologize. Celeste and I looked more like twins rather than sisters with three years between us.” She didn’t turn back his way as she spoke. It wasn’t lost on her that Adam could be her and Darrin’s.

Speaking to Outlaw but not looking at his intense eyes that seemed to read people so well was easier, so she continued.

“He’s always been that way, you know, Darrin. Spur of the moment. With everything. He feels things at light speed and makes some crappy decisions because of it. But he’s also quick to love and quick to forgive. He doesn’t hold grudges, or he didn’t use to. It’s one of the things I love about him.”

Rae wanted to kick herself. No doubt the lawyer would pick up on the tense of her last statement. She finished Harmon’s glass too and turned back to Outlaw.Yep, there it was. He was smirking and his eyes were smiling. He’d understood the weight of her words.

“Me, on the other hand, well, I’m the opposite. I’m slow and methodical about everything. Only one time in my life did I act without thinking, and that was when I ran from Darrin. But my overthinking is how we ended up where we are now. Sometimes I’m too slow with my actions and it costs me.”

That was the understatement of the century. Had she not been so slow, she would’ve called Darrin sooner, confronted Celeste, hell, moved back home and maybe things would’ve turned out so different.

“I bet that’s what made y’all so good together. Opposites I mean. It’s all about balance.”

A sad smile crossed her face.

“She wasn’t always that way,” her sneaky friend said from right behind her. Harmon rounded the table and sat next to Outlaw, keeping one eye on Adam, who was playing just a few feet away.

Rae shot her a look and she stuck her tongue out. Apparently, Harmon had been standing behind her for a while before making her presence known.

Rae gave Outlaw a stern look.

“You couldn’t have warned me we had an eavesdropper?”

He gave her a shrug, but his attention was on Harmon.

“You drank my wine. The least you could do is offer me an introduction,” her friend snarked.

Rae rolled her eyes. While her friend was watching Adam, she was also clearly checking out the man next to her.

Great.

“Outlaw, Harmon. Harmon, Outlaw.”

Rae feigned irritation, but she was grateful to her friend for interrupting them. Rae was telling Outlaw way too much.

She turned her attention to Adam since the two across the table from her only had eyes for each other.

When Rae held out her arms, Adam came running into them with enthusiasm. Rae turned with Adam in her arms. They’d achieved their goal, he was clearly tuckered out, but his eyes widened at the sight of Outlaw.

“Adam, this is your …” She hesitated for a moment but decided to go for it. She wanted Adam to have a sense of family and Outlaw was obviously family to Virus because he took up where she left off.

“I’m your Uncle Brad, but you can call me Uncle Outlaw.” He offered his hand across the table and Adam took it and shook it with the enthusiasm only a six-year-old could.

It was so adorable an ache formed in her heart that she couldn’t shrug off.If she had to give him over completely to Darrin and move back to Vegas, her heart would break.

“Do you think I could take some pictures of you to show your other uncles?”

Rae was relieved he didn’t add Dad to that list. She was so lost how to approach that information. Besides, that wasn’t her place or even Outlaw’s. It was Darrin’s right and obligation as his father how to open that can of worms.

Adam knew they were going to meet his dad when they left California. However, he had no real timeline or who that man would be. She believed that right now the concept of his dad was just a vague notion.

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