Ila slowly nodded, twisting a lock of her wavy hair, her brow creasing. “Did you notice there’s something different about Jack?”
Why, God?Whywas she pulling Jack back into our conversation? Sure, he was Max’s best friend. “He seems the same to me,” I lied.
“Hmmm. Anyway, he appeared quite anxious about you and asked if you were okay.” Anxiety darkened her eyes. “Is there something I should know?”
I shoveled more food into my mouth, giving me a second to decide on what to say. Then I nodded. “Yeah. There was an incident with Petra and her ex. I babysat for her last night, and Oscar came over, drunk. He caused a scene. So, I called Jack.”
Ila’s eyes rounded in alarm. “What happened?”
I had no idea if she meant Jack and I being together with no peacemaker between us or what happened with Oscar. I twirled the spaghetti with my fork and decided to go for the easy one first. “If I remember correctly, you and Max had dinner plans with your future father-in-law. War cannot get into another fight, so…” I shrugged.
Ila frowned. “We had dinner with Max’s father the night before.”
“Oh.” I mashed up more of the pasta. “I must have gotten the days mixed up. But all ended well.”
She waved it off. “Are Petra and the baby okay?”
“Yeah. Jack had Oscar thrown in jail. At least she’ll have a peaceful weekend.” I didn’t mention that he would actually be in prison for longer or bring up the fact that I got hurt.
My sister’s mouth tightened. “She needs to get a restraining order.”
“Yeah…” I set my plate beside me on the swing. “He’s a huge damn problem. He didn’t want a baby in the first place, hasn’t paid any child support ever. He just rocks up whenever, and now he wants Cara.”
“The asshat shouldn’t be anywhere near them,” Ila muttered.
“No, he should have both hands broken then be locked up for a damn long time for his abusive behavior and endangering their lives!” Jack’s hard voice reached me as he strolled across the porch and joined us.
He leaned against the balustrade opposite us and simply stared at me. After a second of Ila’s curious gaze doing a tennis match between us, and at the growing silence, my sister picked up my plate. I grabbed her soda from her hand and took a sip as she headed indoors.
With Jack’s flat stare drilling holes into me, I drew up my knees, refusing to look at him, and instead watched a lone butterfly flitter among the roses.
“You’re upset.”
“No.” I brought my attention back to him. “You were late, and it’s work, I understand that. But I had to meet Ila and Max, so I left.”
“I called you. You didn’t answer.”
Should I tell him that I was oddly disappointed he hadn’t turned up? I shrugged. “I left you a note.”
“I didn’t go back to the house. You couldn’t return my call?” he demanded.
I ignored that. “You didn’t have to rush here just to check on me, Jack.” I lowered my voice. “I’m fine. It’s just a little cut. I’m not gonna die or anything. And thank you for what you did, by the way.”
“Four stitches isn’t alittledamn cut,” he retorted. “And a half-assed ‘thank you’ doesn’t get you off that easy, Ray. You know,” he said contemplatively, “there’s a saying about saving someone’s life, then it belongs to you—”
“What—?” I choked on the cola I’d just taken a sip of, and a spasm of coughing erupted. He strode over and helpfully smacked my back. I pushed him off. My eyes watering, I swiped my mouth with the back of my hand and glowered. “It wasn’t a freaking fatal wound—”
“Says you.” He arched a brow. “You collapsed on me, then I found all that blood on my hand. So, yeah, Bug, I saved your hot, but ungrateful hide.”
Gah, he had an answer for everything! “I’m not sleeping with you.”
He smirked and stepped back, leaning against the wrought-iron table. “We can safely agree we gotthatout of the way.”
A growl left me, and he laughed outright.
“Youcould have gone to another room.”
“Why? I had a perfectlybigbed that easily accommodated us both. But I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised…” The grin remained, making me want to smack it off his gorgeous face or…kiss it. “For a girl who insists she hates me, you turned to me the moment I got in beside you…”
