“You’re never in the mood. Please!”
“Maizey! I said not now,” he bellows, and she jumps away from him, her chin wobbling. “Ah, Maizey. I’m so sorry—”
“—You’re nothing but a mean old man!” She stomps on his foot and runs away, crying as she slams the door to her room.
He barely has time to take a breath before Reaper is throwing a punch across his face, busting Badge’s lip open. “You won’t ever raise your voice to my daughter again. Am I fucking clear?” Reaper has Badge by the shirt, but Badge doesn’t seem to even care if he dies at that moment.
“Yeah, Reaper. I’m sorry. It’s been a rough night. I already regret it,” he says earnestly.
Reaper lets him go by shoving him back and Badge stumbles, watching as Reaper marches down the hall to Maizey’s room. They have a cabin, but their time is split between here and there since there are so many responsibilities.
“Badge—”
“—I don’t want to talk about it, Sarah,” he exhales, disappearing once more to go to his room next to his office. The door slams and I jump. The unexpected bang wakes Faith and she begins to fuss.
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay,” I croon at her.
“I can see why you like him,” Sarah drawls in a monotone voice.
“He’s different. I’m telling you; he isn’t this guy he paints himself to be.”
“Well, you’re going to have issues convincing me. He doesn’t like kids, Hope. You just saw how he treated Maizey.”
“Yeah, but the stories you tell me, when he was Santa and when he plays dress-up with Maizey, you mean to tell me that’s him not liking kids?”
“I think it’s him in the mood to be tolerable.”
I shake my head, completely disagreeing with her. I can voice my reasons until I’m blue in the face, but it doesn’t mean a thing if I really don’t know Badge. What if he is an asshole and I’m just wrong? I don’t know anything about men or what they are really like. The only man I have experience with is Faith’s father, and his position was the same as mine. We made the best of a bad situation, but we only knew each other.
I just… I know. Like when your gut tells you danger is coming or someone is watching you, that’s how I know. Those instincts tell me Badge is different and I can’t wait to prove it to everyone.
“Well, I’m going to go give him his gift as a thank you, and a pack of ice.” Faith quickly falls back into a slumber and I’m able to move freely without worry. A burst of cold air hits my face when I open the freezer door. The ice pack is cold in my hand, and I open the drawer to grab a dish towel to wrap it in.
“Your funeral,” Sarah mumbles, stealing my half-empty coffee mug off the table.
I dip inside my bedroom and pick up the simple black box that has his necklace in it. I was so excited at first, but now I’m not sure. Badge doesn’t seem to be in the mood for company but the naïve part of me thought it might put him in a better mood.
Maybe. A big fat maybe.
“If he doesn’t like it, he can throw it away for all I care,” I mutter to myself. But as I walk out of the bedroom and Sarah gives me a thumbs up, I realize I do care. I want him to like it and I want him to like me.
I want him to trust me with who he is, not who he pretends to be.
Shoulders back. Spine straight. Don’t lose your nerve.
I knock on his door lightly, careful not to wake up Faith.
“What?” he calls aggressively.
“It’s me. It’s Hope.”
“Go away,” he huffs.
“No. I’m not going away. Open the dang door you freaking… ogre!” I gasp and throw a hand over my mouth when I realize what I called him.
The door swings open, and a shirtless Badge is standing in front of me with a tissue held against his lip. “Did you just call me an ogre?”
Focus. Focus on his face, not on his wide muscular chest and abs. Oh god, my mouth is watering.
“Well, maybe if you didn’t act like one, I wouldn’t have called you one.”
“So I can say when you’re being annoying and mouthy?” He tosses the tissue in his trash bin against the wall.
“So what if I am?” I own it. I won’t let his insults weigh me down.
“What do you and your little spawn want?” He sits on the edge of the bed and stares at me with bright blue eyes.
“Don’t call her that. You know you love her.” I lift my chin and wait for him to say something, but he just grunts and shifts his eyes away.
Ha. Knew it.
“Well? What do you want, Hope? I don’t have all day. I have work.”
“You’re such an ogre. I’m not even sorry.”
“I don’t care what you think of me. I stopped caring a long time ago when it comes to that. And besides, ogres have layers.” He rolls his lips together to stop himself from saying anything else, as if he has already revealed too much about himself.
“On top of being an ogre, I think you’re a liar.” I hold out the black box for him and he just stares at it like it might explode.
“What is it?”
“It’s a gift.”
“Why?”
“Why is it a gift? You’ve received them before, haven’t you?”
“Yes, but why are you giving me one?” he asks.
“Maybe I want us to get to know one another, Badge. We can be friends.” I don’t dare tell him that I want more.
“I don’t want friends. I don’t need friends.”
I press the ice pack to his lip, and he flinches before accepting it, sighing in relief as the ice begins to work. “Liar,” I say gently, and he places his hand over my mine to hold the pack in place.
It’s then that I finally see the true Badge. All those layers peel back and for the first time, I feel like I really see him. He is a gorgeous, tortured soul, living in a purgatory he’s created all on his own. Our eyes meet and the air changes around us, the energy shifting into a territory that should never be created. I slip my hand away and it breaks the contact with him, and I lower my eyes to Faith to make sure she’s sleeping soundly.
Badge clears his throat and takes the box out of my hand, his thick fingers grazing against mine.
He has working hands, with long, calloused fingers. I’ve always had a thing for hands. The feeling of being completely engulfed by palms that make me feel small has always turned me on.
“Thanks,” he opens the drawer and I get a glimpse of a kid’s book. He throws the gift in there and slams it shut. “Is that all?”
“That’s all, Badge.”
He nods and walks to the door, swinging it open to signal my need to leave. His cock is pressing against his sweatpants, the thick outline of the head making me wonder what weapon he is carrying under there.
Big is an understatement.
He’s uncomfortable with me here. He won’t meet my eyes now and I can tell he wants me.
“Bye, Badge. I hope you have a good day, and whatever happened last night, if you want to talk about it, I’m here for you. I won’t say a word, but I’ll listen.” I place my hand over his heart, the warmth of his body radiating like a furnace under my palm. His eyes close from the touch as if he has been deprived, but then he pulls away from me.