Page 70 of Cougar

“I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name,” Bass says. “This is where the princess lives.” There’s a pause, and then he says, “You tell me. Can you?” Another pause. “Enter at your own risk.” He laughs as he pulls his phone from his ear and presses a button.

I stay standing at the edge of the hall and watch in amusement as Bass peeks through the glass panel, chuckling like an excited kid. He swings the door open and I can see the shit-eating grin on his face as he says, “To what do we owe the pleasure, Romeo?” He’s getting too much pleasure out of giving Zach a hard time. Jay would kick his ass.

“Quit messing with him, Bass,” I warn as I walk into the foyer. “She’s in a mood today. Don’t make it worse.”

I jerk my head toward the hallway. “Come on in, Zach.”

He steps inside and brushes his hands down the front of his shorts nervously. Turning, I lead him down the hall. “She’s in here.” Twisting the knob, I push open one of the two doors and Zach follows me inside. “This is her office.”

Zach pauses inside the door to take in Jay’s office. His expression is curious as he scans the room, a mixture of blues and grays with silver accents, in keeping with most of the colors in the house. It’s feminine and sleek. His attention is snagged by the painting over the sofa. It’s a black-and-white of Jay’s eyes, fringed in long, thick, black eyelashes. The only color is her blue-green irises.

“Marcus painted that,” I tell him. He was a talented artist. “Every painting or picture in this house is sentimental.”

He points to a rug in the middle of the room? “Is that made from real zebra skin?”

I snort a laugh. “God, no. Jay would flip out.”

The sound of her piano drifts from the adjoining room and I gesture to the hallway. “That’s her music room.”

Zach makes his way down the short hall leading to the music room but stops to skim over the framed photographs. He takes a few more steps until his attention falls on the sheet of paper that started it all.

I lightly brush my fingers over the little gold plate with “Jaybird’s First Song” inscribed in the center. “She was barely six years old when she wrote this,” I tell him, smiling like a proud mom. “You should ask her about it sometime. It’s a cute story.” I shoot him a wink.

Zach stops at the edge of the hall and scans the music room. It’s much bigger than her office but keeps the same color scheme. The walls are lined with framed gold and platinum records, more photos and framed album covers. On the right is a door with “Studio” written in silver letters across the top. There’s a light above the door and a long two-way mirror strategically placed to the right.

To the left is Jay, sitting at her white grand piano centered in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Her eyes remain closed as her fingers glide over the keys, lost in the melody of “Nobody Knows.” My heart twists painfully in my chest. Music is Jayla’s way of expressing herself. I know this song very well. It’s one of my all-time favorites, but it’s also about suffering in silence. Letting others see what they want to see on the surface and not the suffering buried deep below. I make a mental note to put a call in to Dr. Ramos and have her check on Jay.

“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” I say as I stare at her in awe before turning to Zach. “I’m sure you’ve been warned, but nowI’mwarning you. She puts on a hell of a front, which is what she’s been taught to do by me. But she’s fragile. She’s my baby girl, and she’s all I have left. She cares for you. She always has. I’m asking you nicely to be careful with her heart, Zach.”

“I will,” he promises, and I believe he’ll try. I can’t help but worry because as her mother, it’s my job. Zach has no idea what Jay is capable of putting herself through when she’s in a dark place. But it’s not my place to tell him. I don’t know what happened between last night and this morning, but I really hope whatever it is, they can work it out and find a way to be happy together. I won’t push her, but I hope she’ll trust me enough to tell me. She asked me to trust her and I will, until she gives me a reason not to.

“Thank you.” I pat Zach lightly on the arm. “Treat my daughter with respect and make her happy, and you’ll always have my support and protection from that big motherfucker out there waiting for you to screw up.” I turn and head back down the hall. “Good luck,” I call out, leaving him to grovel.

Bass is standing in the main hallway outside Jay’s office with his arms crossed over his chest and a pout on his face.

“What?”

“I changed my mind. I don’t like him.”

I snort. “Yes you do.”

“He’s going to break her heart.”

“How do you know? She might break his.”

“Oh she will, no doubt.” He sighs. “They have a long bumpy road ahead of them.”

I nod. “She’s a King. She can handle it.”

“But canhe?”

I shrug. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Cam

It’s been a few weeks since Emerson and I have hung out, but we talk every night, and she keeps me updated on all the Zach and Jayla drama. She still hasn’t given me an answer on taking her out, but tonight I’m not giving her a choice. I dial her number and she answers.

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