Page 59 of All Wrong
Nick chewed, swallowed. He was no role model, not by a long shot. “Nicki and I are always here for you guys—you know that.”
“I know. It’s like you guys get it.”
“Because we do,” Nick said. He rarely talked about his past, but he wanted Candace to know why he and Nicki were so invested. “We had a shitty mom too. No idea who our father was. We got lost in the cracks of a broken system, and all we had was each other. So, you and AJ looking out for each other? Yeah, we get it.”
The connection between them—that of people who shared similar lousy experiences—grew stronger with the admission.
“They’re going to try to make AJ go back to her, aren’t they?”
“Most likely,” Nick said, not wanting to lie. “But we’ll do whatever we can to keep that from happening.”
She nodded, but he saw the doubt on her face. He wished he could tell her everything was going to be all right, but that was a promise he couldn’t make. He made a mental note to ask Nicki if Shane could do anything. The guy didn’t specialize in child welfare law, but he held a hell of a lot of knowledge in that eidetic memory of his.
They ate in silence for several long minutes, and then Candace said, “I’d better get ready. My shift starts in thirty minutes.”
“You sure you feel up to working today? You’ve been through a lot. They’ll understand if you call in.”
“They would,” she agreed. “They’re good people. But I’d rather stay busy. Less time to think and worry, you know? Besides, I need to make as much money as I can. I’m not letting that hag get her claws into AJ again, no matter what some judge says. As soon as AJ is well enough, we’re out of here.”
Nick put down his fork and wiped his mouth. He wasn’t about to tell her it was a bad idea because if they couldn’t figure out an acceptable legal solution, it was her and AJ’s best chance for a better life.
“Where will you go?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
The words took Nick back to the night before, when he’d asked Corinne the same question and received a similar response. He slammed a wall down hard on everything that had happened afterward. Now was not the time to be thinking about that.
Candace rose from the table. “If we leave in the next few minutes, I’ll have just enough time to drop you off at your place or the garage, whichever you prefer.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll ride with you to the café and walk from there.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, the fresh air will do me good.”
Twenty minutes later, Candace parked in the municipal lot and was about to head into the Grassroots Café. Before she did, she hugged him, and Nick returned Candace’s embrace without hesitation. After the last couple of hours, he was even less inclined to take Nicki’s warning about the girl’s intentions seriously.
“Thanks, Nick. I don’t know how we’d get through this without you.”
“Glad to help,” he said while, inwardly, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for AJ getting targeted.
As Candace released him and turned to go inside, he glanced in the window and saw Corinne sitting at a table with Lacie. They were looking right at him. Corinne’s expression was curiously blank. Then, she returned her attention to her sister and didn’t look his way again.
The lack of acknowledgment prickled. Was she angry that he’d left in the middle of the night? Did she have regrets? Were they going to pretend like he hadn’t been balls-deep in her lush little body? Orthat she hadn’t left claw marks all over his back and ass?
Nick stuffed his hands in his pockets and set a course for the garage. None of those possibilities sat well with him despite the fact that just that morning, he’d been thoroughly convinced sleeping with Corinne was a mistake.
He still did, but the thought of going back to the way things had been didn’t appeal to him. Now that he’d been with her, could he ever look at her and not think about it? Could he be in the same vicinity and not remember the absolute bliss of her soft skin? Not feel echoes of her silken heat wrapped around him, squeezing him into oblivion when she climaxed?
Couldshe?
“Hey,” Nicki greeted, snapping him out of his reverie when he walked into the garage office. “How’s AJ?”
“He’s holding his own. They’re keeping him sedated until the swelling in his brain goes down.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “And Candace?”
“At the café. She’s picking up as many shifts as possible. She’s talking about doing a runner with AJ,” he said as he sank into an open chair, the frustration in his voice palpable. “Nothing’s really changed, has it? Why do we even bother?”
