Page 76 of Hot for the Jerk

“I was scared I would hurt the family we had by bringing in someone new.I was scared that I could get my heart broken.I was scared that you might learn to love him too, and then if the relationship ended, your heart could get broken too.”

“You’re not scared of that now?”he asked.

“I’m terrified,” I whispered.“But I’m also stronger.”I locked eyes with him.“We both are.”

“Did you also still miss my dad?”

No.I was relieved he was dead.In fact, I was grateful Josiah was dead.I made sure to thank the universe every morning when I woke up, and every night before I went to bed that my devil of a husband no longer walked this earth.

But I could never say that to Marco.So I just offered him a smile.“It was too soon to start dating after your father passed away.”

“And now it’s not?”

“I don’t think so.But we’ll have to see.We’re going to go out for dinner.Take things slow, and see how it goes.I’m not going to rush anything because I have you to think about.”

He blinked a few more times, wrinkled his nose in that cute way he’d done since he was just a baby, and flicked his coppery-brown hair off his forehead.“I want you to be happy, Mom.Don’t worry about me.”

Spinning around in my seat, I faced the love of my life.“I will worry about you until the day I die.Then I will worry about you from beyond the grave.It’s what mothers do.”

He made a face of slight disbelief before collapsing on the bed in a dramatic fashion.“That sounds exhausting.I’m not sure I want to have kids if all you do for the rest of their lives is worry about them.”

I flung myself onto the bed beside him and brushed the thick lock of hair off his forehead.“Being a parent is exhausting, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.Especially when you have such a great kid.”I tickled his belly, eliciting a laugh.“I wouldn’t trade away all my worries for one less day of you, kiddo.Know that.”

He swallowed and smiled at me, his round cheeks rosy, eyes bright and cheerful.“You look nice, Mom.”

Unshed tears burned the back of my eyes and my jaw grew tight.I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead.“I truly have the best kid.”

“Argh!”He bolted upright, checking himself in the mirror.“Did you just get lipstick all over my face?”

With a smirk, I grabbed his face and kissed each of his cheeks.“No.I haven’t put lipstick on yet.”

“Mooooom,” he moaned, just as there was a knock at the door.Butterflies took flight in my belly as I grabbed my purse.“Can you grab that, sweetie?”

Marco slid off the bed, and I slathered on some tinted, plumping lip gloss in “Razzle-berry Delicious,” double-checked my red waves and makeup in the mirror, took a deep, fortifying breath, and then headed out to the entryway.

“Hi,” came a familiar voice that sent a chill straight down my spine.“You must be Marco.I’m your Uncle Soloman.Your dad and I were brothers.”

A pit the size of the Grand Canyon opened up in my gut as I came face-to-face with a man I hoped to never see again.Not only because Soloman Aaronson was just as despicable as his brother, but because he and Josiah looked a distressing amount alike.Both men were tall, with narrow shoulders, scraggly gray and brown beards, no cheekbones, and with disturbingly pale, soulless blue eyes.Just like Josiah, Soloman was losing his hair, and what he had left was thinning and patchy on his lumpy head.

They weren’t twins, but they may as well have been.Honestly, if I hadn’t made sure of Josiah’s death myself, I would have thought I was seeing a ghost.

Myformerbrother-in-law’s haunting, pale gaze flicked to mine.“Raina.”

“What are you doing here?”I demanded, reaching for Marco, who glanced up at me with wide, confused eyes.I shoved him behind me at the same time I reached for the door and tried to close it, but Soloman wasn’t a small man and pushed it open.“I came to see my family.”

“We’re not your family,” I spat back, just as the headlights of a familiar truck and the crunch of gravel under big tires filled the dark night.

“But we are,” he argued.“Marco here, is my nephew.And I want to get to know him better.”

“Mom?”Marco said behind me.

“Go,” I said, not taking my eyes off Soloman.“Go get Aunt Gabrielle.Now!”

Marco took off through the house, using the door that connected our basement suite to the upstairs of the house.

More gravel crunched, this time it was boots approaching.Both fear and relief flooded me as Jagger came into view—holding a small jade plant this time.“Hello?”he said, his eyes asking all kinds of questions.

I glared at Soloman.“You.Need.To.Go.”

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