Page 50 of A Billionaire Rebel

I’d been a little worried when Damon asked if I wanted to go out for dinner, and I’d explained to him that I already had plans, but he’d simply smiled and told me to enjoy myself. For all of ten seconds, I’d felt guilty for not inviting him, but then he’d said that he needed to get his head together for his meeting tomorrow afternoon with the record label.

As much as I’d enjoyed my time with Damon over the past week, I couldn’t deny how much the idea of a night home with my sister and nephew appealed to me. While I changed out of my work clothes into something more comfortable, I could hear Jamie and Kevin laughing and talking, the familiar sounds relaxing me.

When she’d first asked to move in with me last year, I’d worried that the two of us living under the same roof again would be a return to our childhood and adolescent sniping at each other, but it hadn’t. Having Kevin had been a turning point for her. She still enjoyed having fun, but it wasn’t a priority anymore, and where that fun came from was different now too. The teenager who used to complain if she had to stay home any Friday or Saturday night now reveled in a weekend home with her son.

“Cheese!” Kevin shouted as I joined him and his mom in the kitchen. In one chubby little hand was what had most likely been shredded mozzarella cheese and was now just a smooshed ball.

“Are you eating the cheese?” I asked as I kissed the top of his head. “Isn’t the cheese supposed to go on top of the pizza?”

“Is good.” He shoved the cheese into his mouth, smacking his lips.

“At least I never have to worry about him not getting enough calcium,” Jamie said as she opened the oven door and checked the pizza.

“The boy does love his cheese,” I agreed. I went to the cabinets and took out three plates. “So, Kev, did you have fun with Mommy today?”

“We ride dragons.” A look of intense concentration came over his face as he tried to figure out if he could reach a few shreds of cheese that had fallen to the table.

“That sounds like fun.” I glanced at Jamie, who was laughing. “How do you ride dragons?”

He gave me one of those toddler looks that said I was clearly not as cool as his mom. “Sit on back and rawrr! Dragon fly!” He flapped his arms, rocking from side to side until he almost tipped over his seat.

“Kevin,” Jamie said, warning in her tone. “What did I tell you about dragons?”

He sighed. “No dragons at the table.”

“You take away all of his fun.” I laughed. “How did dragons come up?”

“Jetta and Mom were showing him dragonflies.”

“Ah.” Everything became clear. “Did you become the dragon?”

“I did,” she said. “I just hope he outgrows it before he breaks my back.”

As I finished setting the table, I couldn’t help wondering if, by the time Kevin was too big to climb on Jamie’s back, she’d have someone in their lives who could take her place as the human jungle gym. She hadn’t dated anyone since finding out she was pregnant with Kevin, and aside from a few comments here and there about good-looking celebrities, she hadn’t mentioned any particular guy she was interested in.

Neither of us were the kind of women who felt like we needed a partner to be complete, but there had to be times it got to her, being a single mom so young. Not for the first time, I wanted to slap some sense into the kid who’d gotten her pregnant and walked away. It wasn’t like I thought they had to get married or anything like that, but he should be bearing some of this responsibility too.

My phone rang, stopping my thoughts before they could become too maudlin. A quick glance showed an unknown number, and I sent it to voicemail. Most likely, it was a sales call, but there was also the possibility that a reporter had gotten my number.

They’d left here sometime after the memorial service, but they’d been back this evening, I assumed thanks to the picture and the video of Damon and me. They hadn’t seemed to connect Jamie and me yet, which was good. The last thing she needed to worry about was the press hounding her at work with questions about my love life.

“Sales call or your fan club?” She took the pizza out of the oven and set it on the cooling rack.

“My what?”

“Fan club.” She used the knife to point to the window before cutting the pizza. “Have you and Damon talked about how you’re handling the questions about the two of you?”

“We haven’t,” I admitted. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to see him after the memorial service. I’m trying not to have expectations.”

She brought over the cooling rack with the pizza on it and took her seat to Kevin’s right. I sat across from her. We ate in silence for the first few minutes, and then she set down her slice.

“You deserve to have expectations, Jae.” Her voice was soft, and she picked at her crust. “I’m the last person who should be giving dating advice, but I don’t want you to ever feel like you can’t have what you want because Kevin and I are here. I’ll move back in with Mom and Dad before I’ll let you lose something you deserve.”

I reached over and put my hand on hers. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you move back in with Mom and Dad. There’d be a homicide within a week, and none of you would look good in prison orange.”

She laughed, and the shadows fled. “That’s a very good point.”

My phone rang again. Another unknown number. I sent it to voicemail and then turned my ringer off. I didn’t want anything interrupting our family night. If someone really needed to get ahold of me, they’d call Jamie when I didn’t answer. If it got too bad, I’d have to look into changing my number, and I didn’t want to do that, but I refused to think about that now. We had pizza to finish and a movie to watch.

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