“He’s my boss,” Jaxson blurted, and I dropped my forehead to rest on top of his head. Of all the damned things that could pop out of his mouth right now.
“Uh, well, thank you for dropping him off?” his mother said as I raised my head and tried not to look as guilty as I felt, but her words were more a question than anything.
The doctor snagged her arm and gently urged her a few steps away, talking quietly to her again. Every now and then she shot me concerned glances that had me feeling like an asshole for being here. After what I’d overheard earlier in the bathroom, I didn’t want to leave Jaxson alone anywhere. Obviously bad things happened when I wasn’t around, and fuck, it might be safer for me and my career to stay far away from him, but I had no intention of doing it. I rested my chin on his head again, cuddling him as close as I could, and he let out a weak chuckle.
“You okay?” I asked, and he barely shrugged, so I was guessing that was a big fat “no” on the doing-all-right front.
He rested his hands on top of mine where they clasped his hip, and it was weird and good. I growled low in my throat and got a small huff of air from him that might have been amusement.
“What?” he asked.
I only kissed his cheek in response, and his mother happened to be looking at us when I did. Her eyes nearly bugged right out of her head.
“Come on, all this standing around isn’t good for the baby,” I grumbled softly into his ear, and happily enough, I was rewarded with a weak chuckle. He allowed me to walk him over to a two-seater chair packed in among the singles in the small waiting room without windows. The cheap artwork on the walls assaulted me from every angle, and I tried not to be myself right now. The last thing anyone would appreciate was me bitching about Thomas Kincaid prints.
We sat down, and I half expected now that he’d seen his mother, he’d be back to wanting to do everything on his own, or maybe he’d just be… embarrassed to be seen with me. My stomach flipped in an unpleasant way and my face burned. It had been a long time, but I’d never had a relationship that was conventional or socially acceptable, and judgment was all I knew when I stepped foot out of the house with the person I was with. It would happen with Jaxson, too. If this ever went public, I sure as hell would be judged as a monster, even though I hadn’t started anything.
Predatory boss.
He was so young, I’d be marked as predatory,period. Hell, I was probably fifteen years older than him, if I had to guess. I glanced at Jaxson. I wasn’t a troll under a bridge or anything—I knew most people thought I was attractive—but at a glance, he was definitely younger than me by a good deal. He cut a look toward my face, and a ghost of a smile tilted the corners of his mouth and then fell away again.
“Are you okay?” I rubbed a hand over his belly.
He laughed, but it didn’t last long, and then his face pinched immediately afterward before his expression smoothed out. The play of emotions captured me. Had I ever felt that many things at once?
“No. How mad are you? Are we done?” His voice quavered, and I hated that he had to question me, even though I hadn’t given him much reason to think I was someone who would commit.
Leaning close, I whispered, “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re mine?”
“Okay, well… you’re still pissed, right?” He barely moved his lips to talk and didn’t look at me.
“Fuck that right now.” I kissed the side of his head and he sniffled. “You need me.”
“You know fucking around with me could be a career-ender for you? And you’re staying with me?”
Snorting out a chuckle, I leaned back but kept my arm around him. “Really? This?” I hugged him. “Nah, not in New Gothenburg. Maybe I’ll be kicked out of my deputy mayor position with the next vote, but… I’d just do something else. I’ve never let anything keep me down.” My heart scrabbled along faster and I stared at the scuffed tile on the floor in front of us. I hadn’t lied to him, and I was surprised I’d told him the truth. Obviously I rocked my job and would use every dirty trick in the book to keep it, but I was a selfish man, and if I could, I’d keep both: the cushy jobandJaxson. “I’m more worried about you. One crisis at a time.”
“Then you admit Kalinski blackmailing me is a crisis?”
“Not yet it isn’t.”
“Damn it” came a shrill screech from nearby, and we both snapped our attention to Jaxson’s mother.
“What?” we asked at the same time, and she slapped her hands to the sides of her head for a second before dragging them down her cheeks in a way that made her eyes bulge briefly.
“Your dad’s going to need surgery. I don’t even want to think about the bills.” She scrubbed a tissue across her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” the doctor said from behind her with a sigh. “I know you don’t want to hear that he’s not good, no one does, but he’s being prepped. We’ll do all we can.”
Jaxson sagged against my side, and the feeling of beingthe strong oneswamped me, but instead of feeling powerful from the sensation, like I normally did when I did things for Jaxson, I only felt sad that it was necessary. All the different sensations swirling around in my chest left me reeling. I wasn’t feelinggood, but I was happy to be here with him. I didn’t give a fuck who could see me, either. I dropped a kiss onto his soft hair.
His mom collapsed into the chair across from ours. “I didn’t realize… Jaxson, I didn’t know you were seeing someone.” She stared at me, and her body only seemed to be staying upright through sheer force of will. She blinked tiredly in our direction.
Jaxson stilled against my side and rested his head on my shoulder again.
The situation clearly called for some sort of civil intervention on my behalf, but I wasn’t sure what, so I dragged out an election-day smile and leaned Jaxson and I far enough forward that I could offer her my hand. Immediately it was clear I’d made things even more awkward, but she shook my hand anyway. When she was done with me, I leaned back and tugged Jaxson into a more comfortable spot at my side.
“Vane Elwood,” I said, a touch too loudly.
