My guy slowly closed his eyes and shook his head exasperatedly before acquiescing. “Yeah. We’re going.”
I slipped my hand in his and squeezed gently.
This would be the first time since Donovan got custody of Imogen that he’d spent the night away from her. He wouldn’t even stay at my house, so I wasn’t sure Cash understood the significance of what Donovan had agreed to.
My guy gazed at Wilder and murmured, “You’ll look after her, right, son? You won’t let me down? My girl’s precious to me.”
The little boy met his stare full-on and jerked a nod. “I look after Immie.”
Donovan glanced longingly at his daughter, then his shoulders slumped in defeat. After a beat, he pulled me to him, slung his arm across my shoulders, and led me from the room.
“You okay?” I asked, my tone laced with concern as we hit the stairs.
“No choice,” he muttered. “Am I happy my daughter’s been claimed by a five-year-old Wilder Stone, the crazy child of Hambleton? No.”
“It’s good to get a break now and again, for youandImogen. And Cash is right. There’s nowhere safer than the Speed Demons’ compound.” I gave him a tentative smile. “Plus, it’s nice she’s made a best friend. At least you won’t have to worry about her getting picked on at school. Wilder will look after her.”
“Jesus, Posy,” he rasped. “I see hours spent in the principal’s office at Hambleton High because a boy looked at Imogen sideways and Wilder Stone kicked his ass.” He shook his head frustratedly. “And so it begins.”
I laughed softly.
“I just thought she’d be seventeen before this happened, not eleven months,” he added.
“Everything will work out the way it’s meant to,” I declared gently as we headed back down the stairs.
Donovan glanced back toward Wilder’s room. “Yeah, babe,” he muttered huskily. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
CHAPTER 16
DONOVAN
Rosie was preoccupied the entire drive home, and I couldn’t blame her because my head was up my ass too.
It had been a day, and although it had started out just like any other, it had crashed and burned in a big way, and I’d crashed and burned right along with it.
There was so much shit swirling inside my head that I couldn’t deal with much more. I knew Rosie wanted to talk, but hand to God, I wasn’t sure I could do it. At least not tonight.
Rosie was great in so many ways. She was beautiful, fun, interesting, smart, and sexy as all hell, but she liked to go deep with the emotions. I was more practical, and although I opened up to Ma and Callum when my da died, and when I found out about Imogen, it wasn’t something I’d ever been comfortable with.
Maybe it was the military man in me, but talking my problems to death only wound me up, and getting pissed about life shit wasn’t gonna solve anything.
I was more of a doer than a talker.
All I wanted to do was drop Rosie off, get my ass home, and call Colt. Although I wasn’t up to Colt’s speed, I was handy witha computer and the internet and knew that with enough digging, I could uncover some information on the PI and the firm they worked for. To be forewarned was to be forearmed, so the more shit I had in my arsenal, the better I’d feel about everything.
I turned up the dirt track to Rosie’s house and felt her squeeze my thigh.
“It may be a good thing that the kids are staying out, Donovan,” she said softly. “We need to check in with each other, especially after today. It’ll be good to have some alone time to talk.”
“Not staying, babe,” I told her, pulling the car to a stop next to the house. “Wanna get back home and talk to Colt. Then I need to get online and find out everything I can about this asshole PI that’s been taking pictures of my girl and me.”
The air in the truck turned cooler, and it compelled me to glance at Rosie’s face as I put the car into park. I immediately wished I hadn’t because she didn’t look happy at all.
“Donovan,” she said, her tone firmer. “We need to talk.”
“I don’t need to talk; I need to do something. Talking’s overrated, especially when my girl could be in danger.”
She turned in her seat to face me. “You’re not the only one who’s worried. I get it; I’m worried too, but we need to be in this together. That’s what being a couple is all about. We can’t plan if you won’t let me in.”
