“Always so much fun talkin’ to you,” he grunted through the line.
“Can you just say what you need to say? It’s late and I’m beat.”
“It’s barely eight o’clock.”
I closed my eyes and practiced my deep breathing. I would not lose my cool. I wouldn’t, no matter how much or how often he pushed my buttons. Of course a man like him who partied until the ungodly hours of every morning would think it was still early.
“I worked all day, then spent the better part of the evening chasing Liddy around. You try keeping up with a three-year-old while simultaneously trying to prevent her from killing herself. It’s exhausting, so forgive me for not feeling particularly chatty.”
“She still up?”
Damn it. If he talked to her now, there was no way I’d get her to sleep any time soon. But I promised myself I wouldn’t become that bitter woman who kept her child from her father just because I couldn’t stand the guy. “Corrine’s in reading her a bedtime story right now, but if you want to talk to her—”
“That’s okay,” he said over me. “I don’t want to fuck with your schedule.”
That unexpected, slightly bewildering response left me at a loss for words.
“You still there?”
I shook myself out of my trance. “Yeah, sorry. That was just… surprisingly considerate of you.”
“Shit, Gwen,” he mumbled into the phone. “You make me sound like a complete dick.”
“Well…,” I dragged out, refusing to lie. “If the shoe fits.”
“Christ. Can we have one fuckin’ phone call where we don’t fight? Is that really too goddamn much to ask?”
Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose as shame took root inside my stomach. Not because I was acting like a bitch, but because I was a twenty-six-year-old woman with a daughter. I at least needed totrybehaving like an adult.
“Sorry,” I said on a sigh. “I’ll curb my bitchy instincts, but just this once.”
Garrett laughed down the line. He had areallygood laugh, and the sound caused my belly to do a backflip just like it always did. That only pissed me off more, because I didn’t want anything about him to have an effect on me. Unfortunately, my body hadn’t gotten the message that he was an asshole, and I struggled with the desire to tear his clothes off and climb him like a tree whenever he was around.
I really need to get laid.
Shaking off the tingles spreading along my skin, I asked, “What’s going on? Aren’t you supposed to be performing tonight?”
“We don’t go on ’til nine. I wanted to call before to tell you that we get back from Portland tomorrow.”
“I know, Garrett. I get a copy of your tour schedule from one of your lackeys.”
“Well, I kinda need to talk to you once I’m back in Seattle. Any chance you could get someone to look after Liddy tomorrow night so you could meet me at my place?”
Oh no.Hellno. I’d successfully avoided one-on-one interaction with the man for over three years; no way was I getting sucked back in now. “Can’t you just say whatever it is you have to say now while you have me on the phone?”
“Christ, Gwen. I’m not asking you for a fuckin’ kidney or anything. I’m asking the mother of my child to spare a few minutes to talk with me face-to-face. Is that really so hard?”
Hell yeah, it was hard. It was harder than he could ever imagine, because nearly four years back I’d been the stupid girl who’d foolishly put my trust in a man I thought saw me as more than just a one-night stand. I’d lost so much by then that it was a wonder I was even able to stand, so the blow from him that morning had done serious damage that I was still recovering from.
“I’m working at Bernie’s tomorrow. How about you just meet me there and we can talk?”
Bernie’s was the coffeehouse I’d worked at since moving from Idaho. The owner, Bernadette, had been amazing the last few years. She took me under her wing like a second mother and looked out for me the best she could while I was pregnant. After Liddy was born, she went out of her way to schedule my shifts to fit my new life as a single mother. I worked my ass off in the hopes of paying back her kindness in some way. About a year ago, she promoted me to manager, which came with a pay increase that left me enough to afford to put Liddy in daycare so I could work a regular nine-to-five. I wasn’t sure what I’d have done without Corrine and Bernie in my life.
“You know I can’t do that, Gwen. What if someone recognized me? Your picture would be splashed around everywhere, and then some asshole reporter would more than likely dig until they discovered something about Liddy. You really want that?”
Damn him and his valid point and logical argument. “Fine,” I relented on a sigh. “I’ll meet you at your place tomorrow. How does seven work?”
“That’s perfect. Thanks, sweetness.”
