Page 58 of Resisting His Target
“Yeah. You want to go out sometime? Maybe catch a movie?”
She reached over Selena and smacked his arm. “You ass! You made me think you didn’t want to see me again.”
He laughed again. “Gotcha.”
“You are not funny, mister,” she said, kicking his thigh.
“Oh yes, I am.”
She kicked him again, harder this time, and Selena awoke. With sleepy eyes, she looked from one to the other. “Razorback!” She sat up, moving into his arms for a tight squeeze.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he said. Jackie’s heart warmed at the sight of the two of them together.
Selena leaned back. “I know you’re not really my father.”
He nodded. “That’s right.”
“But can I tell people you are?”
A flash of emotion crossed his features, and he shot a questioning look at Jackie. It was the first time she was being asked to share her daughter. “You definitely can, kiddo,” she said. This was going to change things between them, almost as if Selena really was his daughter. Yet she didn’t feel scared or anxious or worried. Razorback would be there for them in any way they needed him to be. “You definitely can.”
37
Jackie walked up a carpeted flight of stairs and unlocked her apartment door, a bottle of champagne in her hand and a bag of groceries balanced on her hip. The furnishings were sparse, but bit by bit, she was making it her own. “I’m home!”
“Hi, Mom!” called Selena. “Did you get the job?”
“Yeah, did you get the job?” called Razorback, both of them walking into the kitchen just as she put the groceries on the counter.
She frowned. She’d interviewed for a production assistant position at the local television station, having finally decided she was ready to step out from behind a reporter’s desk and do a different type of news. “It didn’t go quite as I’d planned.”
Razorback leaned on the counter and put a hand on his hip. “What happened?”
“The station manager felt my experience at the newspaper left me overqualified for the production assistant position.” She did her best to look as disappointed as possible, letting her shoulders slump forward and keeping her eyes down, before picking up the champagne with a smile. “So he’s giving me a shot at producer.”
He laughed, a deep, rich sound she was getting used to hearing in her household. He hugged her, lifting her off her feet. “Congratulations, baby.”
“Good job, Mom!” said Selena.
“Thanks, kiddo!” She and Selena had moved into the Tarrytown apartment two weeks ago, and while Razorback didn’t live with them, he was there almost every day he wasn’t out of town on a mission with HERO Force.
A large box in the corner caught her eye. “What’s this?”
“UPS guy brought it by,” he said.
“I didn’t order anything.” She brought it to the counter and opened it, lifting out another box. “A sous vide cooker? What is this?”
Razorback chuckled and rolled his eyes. “That would be Sloan.”
She pulled a paper from the bottom of the box. “Happy housewarming. Love, Sloan. P.S. Don’t let Razorback put bread in this thing.” She shook her head. “There’s a story there someplace. That was nice of him.”
She unpacked groceries. “I also stopped at the town office complex and officially had my death certificate revoked, so I can get my social security card tomorrow and actually be able to work, and get my driver’s license so I can prove who I am and the judge can finally rubber-stamp my divorce. What did you guys do today?”
“I installed a rescue ladder under Selena’s window.”
The girl was beaming. “Now I won’t have nightmares.”
“And I finished painting your room.”
