Need You Tonight (26 page)

Gibson looked up with a smirk. “His house has an iron fence around it. That’d probably
do. But yeah. Maybe even throw in a golden retriever because that image of the scary
whip-wielding, leather-clad freak is going to be hard to overcome in court.”

She pressed her fingers to the spot between her brows, a headache forming. “And instead
he’s wasting time with me.”

Gibson sat in the chair like the conversation was exhausting him. “Whatever y’all
have going on is none of my business. But know that I told him he should take your
relationship public, even if y’all were just doing the casual thing, and make it look
more serious—even to you. But Kade’s a better guy than I am. After what you did to
him, I wouldn’t have had qualms about breaking your heart back.”

Her ribs cinched and her attention snapped upward.

Gibson shook his head. “Maybe that makes me a dick, but you crushed him, Tessa, and
sent him into a lion’s den with no weapon. The shit Doug did to him that night . . .
he wouldn’t even talk to me about it. But I know it was more than just your average
beating. Something in my brother died that night. He was in therapy for a year after
he moved in with his father because everyone was so worried about him. He’d never
tell you that because he thinks it makes him look weak. But you have no idea what
he went through. None of us really do.”

Tears pricked her eyes between blinks, guilt raking through her with jagged force.

“I don’t have a problem with you now. I can see you’re trying to change. But whether
you realize it or not, keeping your relationship secret is a selfish move, especially
if you know there’s no future. You get to date Kade for whatever purpose you want,
you get to have a new job, you get to help your charity. It’s the same as it was in
high school. Kade helping, you taking. Kade tutored you when you needed help, he gave
you friendship when you hadn’t done anything to earn it, and he protected your secrets
at great cost to him. And he never asked for anything back from you.”

Tessa swiped at the moisture that tracked down her cheek. With each jab she felt smaller
and smaller, but he was only speaking the truth. “I know. I didn’t mean for it to
be that way . . .”

“Doesn’t matter what you meant, only what is. So, if you really feel bad about it
and want to make it up to him, now’s the time. Either suck up whatever consequences
you might suffer and be seen on his arm or cut him loose so he can find someone who
isn’t scared to be out in public with him and who isn’t opposed to the kind of relationship
he wants. You two have been seeing each other a lot, so I know you’re not blind. Kade
cares about you. You knew it back then and you know it now. So it’s your turn to take
a hard look at your motivations. From the outside looking in, I see a girl who’s enjoying
a wild adventure and is soothing her wounded pride from getting cheated on with a
guy who openly adores her. I don’t see a woman willing to give herself to something
real. My brother deserves better than that.”

She stared at him, words leaving her.

He pushed up from the chair and tapped the top of her desk with his palm, returning
to cool business mode. “I have to get to a meeting. Give it some thought. And call
me if you need any help with the rest of that potential donors list.”

He walked out without waiting for her reply, leaving her reeling. So much for speculating
on whether or not Gibson still held any bad feelings toward her. He’d been better
at hiding his low opinion of her than she’d thought.

But harder than fielding the barbs he’d thrown her way was wondering if he was dead-on
right. Maybe she hadn’t changed at all.

Maybe she’d never be able to be the kind of person Kade deserved.

Because even knowing how much hurt she’d caused him back then and how he needed her
help now, she still felt like running.

TWENTY-FIVE

Kade sat on a bench under the massive oak tree that served as their meeting place
and turned his phone on silent. Work wasn’t allowed to invade this little sliver of
sacred space. The park was pretty empty this afternoon, the chilly overcast day chasing
cold-sensitive Texans indoors, but Kade didn’t mind the quiet. Sometimes there were
so many people out here that it was like trying to spend quality time in a fish tank.

A car door slammed a few yards away and he turned toward the parking lot. A small
tornado of blonde curls was already hurtling his way. He stood, holding out his arms
to prepare for impact. Rosalie was wearing white tights, a pink skirt, and a flower-patterned
sweater—perfect princess wear, but he knew that pristine outfit wouldn’t last long.
And sure enough, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, her foot smacked into a
mud puddle, creating a Jackson Pollock version of her former self. Her mother shrieked
her name from behind her, but Kade just laughed. Rosalie was rough and tumble wrapped
in glitter. If Angie kept putting her in white, she was just asking for it.

Rosalie didn’t even break stride and before he knew it, she was barreling into him
like a mini-linebacker. “Daddy!”

“Spark!” He lifted her into his arms, spinning her, and she wrapped herself around
him like an octopus. He closed his eyes as he hugged her back, inhaling the smell
of banana Laffy Taffy and Burt’s Bees baby shampoo. Angie had never changed the shampoo,
and the scent reminded him of those early days when he’d rock Rosalie to sleep after
Angie had nursed her. Back then, even when he knew his marriage was struggling, he
never once considered the possibility that he’d be relegated to cameo appearances
in his daughter’s life.

Rosalie leaned back, her arms looped around his neck, and grinned a semi-toothless
grin. “Look, I lost a front one. The tooth fairy brought me
ten dollars
for it. ’Cause those are more special.”

Everything was a little lispy with the missing tooth, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
No matter how hard it was knowing that he’d only get a couple of hours with her, there
was no way he could maintain a grim mood under the power of a seven-year-old ball
of sunshine. “Wow, you’re rich, Spark.”

“Yep. I bought
five
packs of glitter stickers,” she said, a touch of awe in her voice.

He set her down, shaking his head. At least she was doing justice to the nickname
he’d given her. Since age two, she’d never been able to resist something sparkly.
Rosalie started to chatter again, but Angie stepped up behind her and put a hand on
her shoulder. “Baby, can you go play on the swings for a minute? I need to talk to
your dad.”

Rosalie stuck her bottom lip out for a second and looked to Kade as if to get a veto,
but he nodded toward the swings. “Go on, Spark. I’ll be there in a second to give
you a push.”

When she was out of earshot, Angie crossed her arms and glanced toward the car. No
doubt her husband, Chris, was there waiting for her. They would sit and wait for Kade’s
two hours to be up, watching him like he was some sort of prisoner on leave for the
day. “I heard Barcelona burned down.”

“Yeah,” he said, not in the mood to talk with her when the clock was already ticking
for his visit.

“I’m sorry. That’s terrible.”

He sighed. “Why are we having small talk, Angie? This is my time with Rosalie. Get
to the point.”

“You need to drop the custody case.”

He scoffed. “Good-bye, Angie.”

She reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “Wait, listen to me. I’m serious. It’s just
going to go like it did last time and will waste my money and yours. And even if they
do make some adjustment to the arrangement, you’re going to be doing Rosalie more
harm than good by disrupting everything. Things are stable for her now. Every time
she comes home from these visits, it takes me days to get her back on track. It confuses
her and fills her with all these questions she doesn’t need to be worrying about.”

Kade’s jaw clenched so hard, his teeth hurt. “What? Like why don’t I get to see my
daddy more? Why can’t I go to his house?”

Angie’s gaze flicked over to where Rosalie was playing, her pixie-like features going
hard.

“Those are valid questions, Angie. I’m her father. Just because you don’t want her
to love me, doesn’t mean you get to make it so. You can’t just insert a replacement
dad and expect me to disappear from her mind.”

She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “God, it’s always about you,
isn’t it? This is about winning to prove a point and punishing me for moving on. You
wouldn’t even know what to do for Rosalie. You haven’t had to parent her since she
was two. You get to just walk in for two hours every now and then and be fun times
guy. Skip all the hard stuff. You don’t have to comfort her when she’s sick or clean
up the vomit. You don’t have to make sure she gets to bed on time or deal with her
crankiness when she doesn’t. Chris and I handle that.”

The trees around them seemed to turn from brown to red as fury leaked into Kade’s
system. “Are you seriously throwing that in my face? I don’t handle it because
you won’t let me.
”

Her attention zeroed back on him, eyes narrowed. “When exactly would you fit in her
bath and bedtime story? Before the threesome you have on the docket that night? Or
maybe right after you chain some woman up in your bedroom?”

He gritted his teeth and tried to keep from shouting. He didn’t want Rosalie to know
they were fighting. “That’s not my life anymore.”

Her lip curled. “Sure it isn’t.”

“Daddy! Push me!” Rosalie called. Her little legs were pumping but she wasn’t getting
the swing going like she wanted.

“Be right there, Spark.” He spared Angie one last look. “I expect an extra ten minutes
today since you’ve wasted my time.”

He didn’t wait for her response. There was no reason to. No matter what he said, Angie
wasn’t going to listen. If he’d hoped for her to one day grant mercy or become reasonable
on this topic, he was a fool. She knew that he’d lay his life down before he’d hurt
Rosalie or expose her to anything she shouldn’t see. But ever since Angie had gotten
remarried, Kade’s presence in Rosalie’s life had become a blemish on the picture perfect
family image Angie wanted to create.

She’d come from divorced parents who’d remarried so many times and had so many combinations
of step and half-siblings that Christmas had become a weeklong marathon just to visit
all the different families. He knew how much she’d hated it both as a child and adult,
so on some level, he understood why she was being so ruthless about this. But he no
longer had patience for her fucked up view on things even if she’d come by it honestly.
See a shrink and get over it. Don’t cut your child’s father out of her life just to
make yourself feel better.

“Are you and mom fighting?” Rosalie asked when he made it over to the swing set.

He sighed and squatted down in front of her. “Nah, we were just talking.”
Heatedly.

She tilted her head, considering him in that evaluating way only a seven-year-old
could. “Did you ask her if I could come to your house? I want to see the room you
told me about, and you could help me make those cupcakes like we did at your restaurant
that time.”

His chest felt like a bale of hay had been dropped on it. “No, baby, we can’t go to
my house.”

“Why not?”

Her big blue eyes flickered with sadness and a hint of betrayal—like he was the one
who didn’t really want her there—and he had the sudden urge to swoop her up and just
take her home, rules be damned. Show her the room he had designed for her. Tell her
that he wanted her there more than anything in life. But through all of this, he’d
worked hard not to show the strain. She didn’t need her parents’ drama set on her
little shoulders. “I’m hoping that will happen one day soon, Spark. But today we get
the whole park to ourselves. And I brought you a special present for later.”

Her grin returned with extra wattage with the mention of a present. And she jumped
off the swing and challenged him to an epic game of hopscotch. When he lost that,
twice, and not on purpose, he brought out her gift—a sparkly purple pair of rollerblades
and helmet. Kade spent the rest of his time with her trying to teach her how not to
be a crash test dummy. He was only partly successful. And before he knew it, Angie
was heading back over, calling to them that it was time to go.

Rosalie whined, but he knew she wouldn’t get too out of hand. She, unfortunately,
knew the drill. She pulled off her rollerblades and helmet and walked them over to
Kade. “Thanks for the skates, daddy. I love them
so
much.”

He squatted down to her level and ruffled her hair. “You don’t have to give them back,
peanut. You can take them home.”

“Yeah, sweetie, Chris can help you practice. He has rollerblades in the garage,” Angie
added, her tone a little too bright.

Rosalie shook her head. “
No
. I want daddy to teach me. He’s good at it.”

Kade coughed over the snort that tried to escape. His kid was awesome. “You sure?”

“Yes,” she said, determination in her little voice as she thrust the rollerblades
toward him.

He could tell it was costing her something to part with the glitter-coated gift, but
he took the skates and set them down on the ground, his heart swelling and breaking
at the same time. Whether Rosalie knew it or not, this was her way of showing him
that he still meant something important to her, that she was holding a spot for him
in her life even if no one else wanted him there.

He pulled her into a hug and gave her a squeeze, smiling even though everything inside
him felt off-center and broken at the thought of not seeing her again for another
two weeks. “You be good for your mama, okay?”

“I will,” she said, giving him an extra tight squeeze before letting him go and taking
Angie’s hand. “I love you, daddy.”

He swallowed hard. “Love you, too, Spark.”

Watching her walk away and then peek over her shoulder for one last wave before climbing
into the car was about all he could take. He waited until the car pulled away then
he sat down on the sidewalk, laced his fingers behind his head, and let the anguish
overtake him.

It was a full fifteen minutes before he had the energy to get up, grab the rollerblades,
and head to the car.

But when he rounded the grove of trees by the parking lot, he stopped midstride. Tessa
was sitting on his back bumper with her chin in her hands. When she saw him, she lifted
her head and her gaze flicked to his face, then to the skates, then back. Sympathy
shrouded her features.

She knew.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice croaky from the tears he’d shed.

She stood, clasping her hands in front of her like she was afraid he was going to
tell her to fuck off. “Gibson told me where I could find you. I thought maybe we could
go to dinner . . .”

“Dinner? Like pick up take out.” That’d been their MO for the last few weeks.

She shook her head and stepped forward, holding her hand out. “No. Dinner. Like a
date. In public.”

“Tess, you don’t have to . . .”

She closed the distance between them and took the skates from his hand. “Hush, I still
plan on using you for your body later. Don’t worry. I’ll even pay for dinner so you
feel really cheap and tawdry.”

He laughed and drew her into his arms, setting his chin atop her head. Somehow she
knew exactly what to say to make the load on his shoulders not feel so damn crushing.
“Thank you.”

She tilted her face up and pecked him on the lips. “Thank me later. Come on, the line
at Dairy Queen’s going to be killer if we don’t get there soon.”

“Ooh, big spender.”

“You know it. I may even spring for a peanut butter sundae.”

He released her from his hold and let her lead him to his car. “Well, now I’m just
feeling pressure to put out.”

She peeked back over her shoulder with a saucy smile, but he saw the tenderness lingering
there in her eyes and felt it reach down into his bones, setting up shop like it’d
never left. He knew then that he hadn’t learned a thing since he was seventeen. This
girl was going to break his heart all over again.

And if he didn’t do something soon, all he was going to be able to do was stand by
and let her.