He nods, then cups my breast with one hand and tweaks my nipple through my bra. “So,” he says, fondling and twisting me until my knees are weak, “am I rescuing your boy from the mall?”
“How can I say no to anything you ask right now?” I moan and lean into his touch, but he pulls his hand away, leaving me turned on and needy.
“That’s the point, sweetheart,” he says, giving me a wicked grin.
I swat his perfect butt and follow him back downstairs.
“Girls!” he yells. “Five minutes and Poppy leaves without you!”
Two sets of feet thunder down the stairs. “We’re ready! We’re ready!”
Phantom gives each kid a twenty-dollar bill. “This is for smoothies. Anything else you want, ask Poppy for permission.” He hands me a wad of cash, but I refuse to take it.
“Phantom, I can cover whatever the girls?—”
He holds up a hand and arches a brow at me. “I take care of my girls. All my girls.” He wraps my fingers around the cash. “Get Stella something from me, too.”
Then he leans forward and kisses me on the cheek.
“Well, well, well,” Daisy says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Well, well, well, what?” Phantom looks amused.
She holds a hand out to her sister. “I bet Holly that you would be boyfriend and girlfriend by the weekend. It’s Saturday, so…”
Holly shakes her head and turns over the twenty Phantom just gave her. “I was making the point that adults don’t really say boyfriend and girlfriend.”
Phantom just smirks, and I put a hand on Jax’s shoulder. “Listen to Phantom, okay? I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
Jax nods so eagerly and enthusiastically, my eyes sting with tears. I’m not jealous or feeling left out because he is so, so excited for some time with Phantom. I’m grateful. I know I hardly know the man, but I have his daughters, and he has my son. I can’t imagine a more profound expression of our trust in each other. He loves his girls more than anything on this planet, and he knows Jax is my everything. Sun, moon, and stars. I’m just grateful there’s more than enough room in my universe for a few people to love.
Mom agrees to meet me,Holly, and Daisy at the food court for smoothies in an hour. I spend that entire hour in a total panic.
“What are you feeling for tonight?” Daisy’s question startles me out of my worry fog.
“What? Hmm? Sorry.”
Daisy frowns at me. “You seem weird. Is something wrong?”
I pinch my eyebrows together and frown. “My mom is interesting.”
Daisy gives me a look like I’m completely stupid. And for a minute, I feel like I am. “Did you forget our mom tried to rob you? That Dad has a restraining order against her? How much worse could your mom possibly be?”
I immediately feel like the most insensitive idiot on the planet. These girls are going through so much with their mom right now. The worst thing my mother has ever done is judge me. Make me feel small and inadequate. As far as I know, she’s never committed a felony. Never stolen anything. Never stalked anyone or put rats in their pool. But I’ve got to say, I’d love to see the look on her face if I asked about all that. I can’t remember the last time my mom and I really talked.
I put a hand on Daisy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. You’re right. What you’re going through with your mom right now is really hard. My issues are nothing compared to that.”
Holly grunts, and I swear I hear a bit of her dad in the sound. “It’s fine,” she pouts, sounding really annoyed. My God, teenage girls are a lot harder than ten-year-old boys. “You can have a shitty mom, and we can have a shitty mom. We all have shit. It’s just life.”
I nod and think about what she said. “You’re right. My mom treats me like shit sometimes.” I try not to apologize for cursing. It just felt right in the moment. “She wanted my life to be so different. She wanted me to marry a better guy, a richer guy. To go to college, have a good career.”
“So, you didn’t go to college?” Holly asks. “Why does that even matter? You own an awesome business.”
“Yeah. I’d work there when I’m older,” Daisy says. It’s nice to hear them agreeing for five minutes. “Hair salons are so cool.”
“That’s what I always thought too. I still do. I don’t have any regrets about that.”
We wander toward the smoothie stand and grab an empty table with four chairs. The top of the table is sticky, but I know if I get up for napkins, I’ll break the moment I’m having with the girls. I sit down and keep myself from touching the surface.
