Chapter 12
“Why don’t you like Xavier?”
Jacob’s comment almost made her speechless. “What do you mean? I do like him. I mean, I don’t hate him.” Not the way she hated Shoemoney.
“You never look happy when he’s around.”
“Uh, no. I’m fine. I’m happy. I’m having a good time.”
“Then why didn’t you tell him to come and swim with us?”
“Uh, well, because, you heard him, he didn’t have his swim trunks.”
“He could have borrowed Tobias’s. They’re brothers. Tobias wouldn’t mind.” Jacob wiped his hand over his face. “Just like I won’t mind when my little brother wants to borrow my swim trunks.”
Izzy blinked a couple of times. “A little brother?” Was Savannah already pregnant? Because, if she was, then WOW. It had to be the best kept secret of all.
“Mommy’s trying to find a baby,” Jacob declared.
“Trying to find a baby?” Izzy wasn’t sure she understood. Was Savannah having problems conceiving? Perhaps he meant she was trying for a baby? She didn’t want to question him, because she had a feeling it was the type of thing Savannah wouldn’t want anyone to know about.
“That’s what she said to Tobias. I wish she would hurry up about it.”
“You’d like a sibling, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Jacob’s voice was sweet, and a little doleful.
“Wouldn’t you?” She asked again, because the way he’d answered, she wasn’t so sure.
“I ‘spose.”
She placed her hand on his shoulder and bent her knees so that she was at face level. “You suppose so? Just a moment ago you sounded pretty excited.”
“It’s always been me and Mommy.”
And that told her all she needed to know.
“I see.”
He stared up at her with dewy green eyes. “I don’t mind sharing her with Tobias.”
“Tobias loves you as much as he loves your Mommy.”
“I know.”
“So why are you worried, Jacob?”
“’Cos if Mommy has a baby, I’ll have to share Mommy and Tobias with the baby.”
She didn’t understand. “What’s wrong with that, Jacob?” she asked gently.
“Tobias said that love was like elastic, and there’s always enough to go around, but Mommy and Tobias are going to be busy with the new baby and they won’t have any time for me.”
“They will always have time for you.” She splashed some water on him to try to lift his spirits. “Parents always do.” She saw the flicker of disbelief skim across his face.
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”
“I have a younger brother called Owen.”
He seemed more interested then, as if what she said meant something because she wasn’t an only child. As if she might know what she was talking about.
“And you only have one daddy?”
“Uh. Yes,” she replied, not sure what he was getting to.
“I wish Tobias was my dad, but he’s not. He’s going to be the real daddy for the new baby. He’s not going to be my real daddy.”
“Uh,” for the first time, she found herself with nothing to say. No comeback, and it killed her, to know she was leaving this child without some kind words of reassurance.
“I have another dad, and he’s not so nice.”
She could see where this was going, even if Jacob didn’t know much about how children were fathered, and she wasn’t sure when that was taught to kids these days. He seemed hung up on something. “But Tobias loves you like a real daddy would.”
“You’re just saying that because you want me to feel better.”
His directness blew her away. “I’m saying that because it’s true.” With both hands on his tiny shoulders, she drew in a breath. “It doesn’t matter who was the daddy in the house you grew up in, your real daddy, the one who’s going to be there for you is the one who’s there for you now.”
He looked unsure. “Look at me, Jacob. I’m right, aren’t I?”
He shrugged.
“Does Tobias spend time with you?”
He nodded.
“And does he tuck you in at night?”
“Yeah. And he reads to me.”
“And he reads to you?” said Izzy. “And what else?”
“I don’t know.” He looked down and shrugged. “He takes me to the park, and he’s took me on a helicopter ride.”
“Taken me,” she corrected.
“Yeah, he did, and he tickles me, and he makes me laugh, and we go for hotdogs and have man-to-man time.”
“Man to man time?”
He shook his head proudly.
“He sounds like a real dad to me, Jacob.”
His lips edged out into a tiny smile.
“So, how about we get out of the pool and shower, and maybe go to the park or something—whatever you want to do?”
~ ~ ~
“You waited for us,” cried Jacob, as soon as he returned from his swim.
“Yeah, dude. I told you I would.” Xavier put away his cell phone knowing that it would take a while to sift through a week’s worth of backlog. He was halfway through it, that and his current goal of trying to get some investment into a new stream of business. His virtual assistant had gone AWOL on him. The normally reliable middle-aged woman who took care of his accounts and paperwork and all the other various tasks he had for her, had left to take care of her husband who’d broken his leg.
Why the fuck she couldn’t work around that was beyond him. It left him in a serious bind. Coming back from the wedding to a truckload of correspondence to deal with as well as her unfinished work had been the hugest pain in the ass.
“How about we go to lunch?” he suggested. “Tobias told me you like hotdogs.”
“I love hotdogs!”
“How about you?” he asked Izzy.
“I don’t like hotdogs. Anyway, we’ve already made plans, haven’t we, Jacob?”
“But I’m hungry.”
“NYB,” he said, trying to appeal to the babysitter. “On the Upper West Side. They do the best burgers in all of New York and you can get a huge plate of salad, and you get to pick anything you want.” Jacob suddenly didn’t seem too excited by that. “And you get to fill your own ice-cream bowl and put anything you want on it!” That seemed to do the trick.
“I wanna go!”
“I thought you might.”
NYB was touted as a child friendly place, and had won rave reviews for its salad and ice-cream parlors. He wasn’t so keen on the noise, what with it being full of families on weekends, but the burgers were amazing.
Izzy snorted. “I prefer not to pay overinflated prices.”
“Lunch is on me.”
“No, thank you.”
“C’mon, Izzy,” Jacob pleaded.
“Yeah, C’mon, Laronde,” he said, easing into his usual Xavier-The-Stud-Stone smile. “A nice fat piece of meat might put a smile on that face of yours.” He was fully aware of the innuendo, but he wasn’t at all prepared for her answer.
“I’m a vegetarian.”
How could he forget? A vegetarian. Of course, she would have to be. No alcohol, no animal products. Fuck. He hoped she wasn’t one of those virgins-until-she-got-married types. “They’ll do some … some … green stuff, I’m sure.”
Jacob giggled. “Like grass, you mean?”
“Vegetarians don’t eat grass, Jacob.” Ouch. She sounded pissed, and pissed wasn’t going to get him in her good books. He gave her the once over, when she was glancing at her cell phone.
He didn’t know what it was—a sudden change in the weather, or a lack of sexual activity, or the fact that she was so obviously not interested in him, but damn it if Laronde didn’t look more attractive each time he saw her. On the flipside, she was cold, possibly frigid even, and a smile wouldn’t go amiss on that pretty little face of hers either. His gaze fell to her lips, and he wondered what it would take to make her face light up.
“You want to go with Xavier?” she asked Jacob.
“Yeah. I’m staaaaar-ving. Can we go now?” Jacob asked.
“Sure, kid.”
“Lemme just get my bag of toys.” He raced away, leaving him and Laronde staring at one another. It was a deja-vu moment, taking him back to the party in the summer, when Petra had spilled her drink over her. Laronde was in the same jeans and leather jacket, with her nearly-dry tousled hair hanging down, and looking at him as if she wanted to scalp him.
“Have I done anything to offend you?” he asked, trying to warm the atmosphere between them.
“I had plans to take Jacob to the park this afternoon.”
“We can still do that.”
“My plan didn’t include you.”
“That was very selfish of you.”
“I think it was very selfish of you to change our plans to suit you.”
“Why do you have such a problem with lunch, with me coming along?” he asked, walking towards her, unable to keep that grin from spreading across his face. It was a thing with him, that hardened expression on her face was like an ultimate challenge, and he was determined to make it soft again. “And are you always going to be pissed when you see me?” he asked, ignoring the seething look on her face when she didn’t say anything.
“It depends, are you always going to show up wherever I go?”
He chuckled, because she was so dangerously close to the truth and he needed to deflect it. “Don’t flatter yourself, Laronde.”
“Why are you here, Stone?”
“To spend time with Jacob. I didn’t want him to sit around by himself and get bored.”
She punched out a laugh.
“I’m ready.” Jacob stood between them with a backpack on his back and Iron Man in his hands.
“Shall we go?” He flashed her an over-the-top dazzling smile, and for a fleeting second wished this chick would melt so that he could get to the fuck-like-rabbits part. She wasn’t about to warm to him anytime this month, he was in for the long-haul, but once she got to know him, she would soon come begging.
He had everything on his side to win; the territory, for one. This was New York, his city and not some goddamn rock pool in Fiji which was going to ruin his Salvatore Ferragamo loafers.
All he had to do was give her the right amount of attention and he’d soon be in her panties.
Fact.
Some things were done deals, and this was one of them. “What about your grandparents, Jacob?” Izzy asked.
Grandparents? Shit. Grandparents weren’t part of the deal. He knew where this was going and he opened his mouth to object, but she beat him to it.
“It wouldn’t be fair to leave them at home, would it, Jacob? That would be very selfish, not to include them.” She gave Xavier a self-satisfied smile.
Jacob piped up. “Can they come?”
“I’m sure they’d love to try the best burgers in New York.” She exaggerated the words and flashed him a smile that was worthy of a toothpaste ad. “Go and ask them.” They glowered at one another in tortured silence while Jacob disappeared.
“Burgers for lunch?” exclaimed Dale, walking into the living room. “Why, thank you, Xavier.”
“Are you sure you’d like us to come along, dear?” Savannah’s mother asked.
“It’s supposed to be the best burger place in New York,” Izzy said. “We’d love for you to join us.”
He grimaced at Izzy. The conniving little thing.
“Let me fetch my bag,” Jean said. “Dale, you need your jacket.”
As Jacob’s grandparents disappeared again, he sucked in his cheeks. This wasn’t part of the plan.
“Oh,” said Izzy, staring at her phone. She looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I can’t come. I need to deal with an emergency.”
“Aaaw.” Jacob whined as if he believed her, but Xavier knew better. She had done this on purpose. “An emergency?” She’d stitched him up, and now she was pissing off and leaving him to have lunch with the kid and the golden oldies.
What the hell was he going to talk about?
“Sorry, Jacob,” said Izzy, gleefully. “I’ll make it up to you another time. Enjoy your lunch, guys.”
“Can we still get a ride in your Ferrari?” Jacob asked.