“Are you actually making a joke right now?”
I try to hold back a smile but fail. “It’s been known to happen from time to time.”
He chuckles. “Good to know I can put a smile on your face. And about the concert, we’ll have to make it happen on a night that works for you.”
Just like that, I know he’s not mad at me for what I said earlier, and I’m flooded with relief. “Can I ask a question? Is the name of your band a reference to that old Kansas song?”
His grin widens. “Shoulda known my classic rock girl would see the connection.”
Tilting my head, I study him. “I’m surprised you front a country band. With your love of classic rock, I mean.”
He shrugs. “We’re a little country and a little rock. But the truth is, I can’t be all rock ’cause it’s too hard to hide my twang.”
This time, I chuckle. “I see your point.”
Layla flaps her hands and shouts, “BA DA BA!”
“Listen to you.” He turns her in his arms. “Can you say Dada?”
Layla tilts her head. Purses her lips. Thinks about it before she mutters, “Mama.”
His smile falters as I smooth my hand over the back of her head where little curls sit up. “She’ll say ‘Daddy’ soon. She probably misses her mom.”
“I’m just gonna have to love her enough for two,” he says quietly.
His words make my throat tight. “You’re going to be a great father. I know she feels how much you adore her.”
“You think so?”
“Absolutely.” When that smile returns, for some stupid reason, I feel like I’ve accomplished something significant. But I know Jace is affable. He can turn on the charm when he wants to. And yet he seems sincere around his daughter.
I twist my wedding band as I watch him with Layla, and then I realize I’m staring. “So, um, what are you feeding me tonight? Nothing with anchovies. Unless you want me to yak in your favorite pair of cowboy boots.”
“Harsh.” He laughs, and it lights up his whole face. “How about Hawaiian pizza?”
“We’ll never be friends if you try to get me to eat pineapple and ham on pizza.”
“See, you wouldn’t expect that to taste good, but the salty offsets the sweet. So you have balance. That’s the magic.”
“Jace!” someone shouts from the front of the bus. “Get up here!”
I hold out my arms. “I can take her.”
“Why don’t you take a break? I can watch her for a bit.” After he gets up, he holds out his hand and helps me stand. “Oh, don’t forget. We’re supposed to figure out our rules.”
Right. Rules. I’m starting to realize how much I’m going to need them.
During dinner, I sit next to Jace and try not to act as out of place as I feel. I got off to a bad start with his bandmates, and I’m not sure how to turn that around, so I keep my mouth shut.
Jace keeps Layla on his lap, somehow chatting with his buddies while he eats and serves her up little bites of mashed potatoes. I’m honestly shocked by how good he is with her. The rest of us have pizza. There’s no pineapple-ham combo in sight.
“So Rory, how did you and Jace meet?” Shane, the Sheldon lookalike/bassist, asks as he shoves half a slice in his mouth. “We’re all dying to know the story.”
Relieved he doesn’t hate me for making that “slappin’ da bass” joke, I nod to buy myself time. Jace and I haven’t discussed this, so I go with the truth. “I… We were in his brother’s wedding together, and I guess we formally met at a family dinner.” Jace barely spoke to me that night because he was preoccupied with his phone.
Jace leans back and tosses his arm around my shoulders, pulls me close and kisses my temple, sending my heart into an arrhythmia, especially when I get a whiff of his citrusy cologne. Has he always smelled this good? “I was kind of an ass that night. Was busy scheduling a show and going back and forth with the bar owner. Felt bad about it, so I asked her out afterward, and the rest is history.”
Good save. “I can vouch for his assholery.”
