Coming closer, he grabbed one of my hands in his big strong palm. “It’s not just a flat tire, Gemma. Someone slashed the tire.”
I pulled my hand from his, slid past him, and went to look for myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him but I was so spitting mad, I didn’t know what else to do. After peeking at the flat that someone had created intentionally, I kicked the tire with the toe of my tennis shoe and cursed again. Only this time I remembered to not do it out loud so no little ears could hear.
Bodie grabbed my hand again. “Come on Karate Kid, I want to have the guys come take a look at this before we get it fixed.”
I couldn’t help but smile at his choice of nickname and the teasing in regard to my amazing kick. But then reality sunk in again and I frowned.
“Who do you think did it? Brett or whoever wrote the letter?” I asked him.
“I’m not sure, but we’ll figure it out. But right now, I’ll take you to school. After I drop you and the girls off, I will take care of having it checked out and fixed. I can pick you up whenever you need me to.”
My head automatically started shaking from side to side. I couldn’t make him late or impose. He had enough to do and taking care of me wasn’t one of the many things he should worry about.
“I can call an Uber. You have the girls and work.”
With the hand he was still holding, he pulled me over to the passenger side of his SUV. “Get in and don’t argue. You need help and I’m right here. I’ll even take you to Capri’s first, the girls will love it.”
The man let go of my hand, opened the door, then put his hands on my hips, picked me up and plopped me onto the seat. “Girls, Gemma’s coming with us.”
As squeals of excitement rang out from the back seat, he gave me a sexy wink and shut the door before heading to his side.
The damn man knew I wouldn’t argue in front of the little ones. But I’d get him back for being bossy and manhandling me.
Right after the tingling sensation that traveled south to my nether region stopped.
ChapterEight
BODIE
For my kids’sake, I tamped down my anger.
Seeing the slashed tire shot fire through my veins. My brain told me it wasn’t Brett but we already knew he had a nasty temper and although I thought my conversation with him was clear, he may not have been bright enough to heed my warning. But it didn’t feel right. Something was telling me it was whoever sent the note to Gemma.
Not wanting my children to hear about what happened and worry, I put off calling the guys until we got to Capri’s and I could step away from everyone.
When we walked into the bakery, Capri was excited to see everyone. She’d also given Gemma a questioning look. I’d heard stories about the women meddling and caught a bit of it since moving to town, but I had a feeling I was about to be the focus of that once we left and phone calls could be made.
I wasn’t sure I liked that idea but I did know that being around Gemma would be worth the hassle I’d likely get.
“Hey, girls. You two can pick out one thing from the case and get a juice, okay?”
Peyton and Piper nodded vigorously, bouncing up and down. “Yes, daddy.” Then they took off to check out their options.
Gemma approached, laughing and it was a wonderful sight as well as a change of pace to earlier when she noticed her slashed tire. “They sure are happy.”
“I’m not sure they need any more sugar but I told them that they each get to pick one. Can you help and watch out for them while I call Braxton?”
She dropped her eyes to the floor for a second and when she brought them back to mine the haunted look in them almost killed me.
“Sure, go ahead, I’ll watch the girls.”
Moving in closer to her, I once again couldn’t help but touch her. After reaching up, I softly ran my hand down the side of her arm a couple of times. “We’ll figure out who is behind all thisandkeep you safe from Brett.” I dropped my hand back. “I’ll be right back.”
I slipped outside and dialed Braxton to let him know what happened so someone could head over to take a look at Gemma’s car. They had cameras in the parking lot so I thought it might be possible they picked something up. I didn’t like that this shit was happening close to my kids. After a few rings, Braxton picked up and asked what was up.
“We have a problem,” I told him.
I looked through the glass window of the bakery at Gemma and my daughters who were all laughing. Why did the sight make my heart pause and then start beating faster? The three of them looked so natural together.
