“So,” I say after Zoey is settled on the couch. “Leo’s going to take care of your car.”
“Morris…” Alice sighs. “I can’t afford to get it fixed. I can’t…”
I shake my head and motion for her to sit. “I didn’t say anything about paying for it, sweetheart.”
Alice’s face falls even more. She drops down into the chair beside me, hunches her shoulders over, and rests her face in her hands. “I had a plan…” she explains. “I prepared for every possibility. Months,” she says, sounding more and more defeated. “And the one thing I didn’t expect is the one thing that’s going to ruin everything.” She trails off into silence and closes her eyes. “I can never repay you for what you’ve already done. I don’t think I can ever repay Leo and you for what you’re about to do.”
“Baby,” I say, reaching a hand across the table. I scoot my chair a little closer to hers. Our knees brush under my kitchen table and I notice she doesn’t move away, but she flinches a little, as if surprised at first, and then she relaxes. The warmth of her thigh suddenly lines up against mine, and I feel her heat in my cock. “What’s this plan? It’s time you level with me.”
Alice draws a shaky breath and shakes her head. “I don’t want to involve you any more than I already have. I can’t—”
“Alice.” I clap my hand over her knee under the table. I give her a gentle squeeze and leave my hand there. If she looks uncomfortable, I’ll take it away, but right now, I need her focused on me. On telling me everything I need to know. “Who are you running from?” I ask. “Husband, boyfriend? Baby daddy?”
Alice shakes her head and clamps her mouth shut.
“Alice.”
I look behind us into the living room, making sure that Zoey’s watching TV. The little princess is totally preoccupied by a cartoon princess kicking some ass against a squad of bad guys with a dagger. Is this what kids watch these days?
“Alice,” I repeat, bringing my attention back to the beauty beside me. But this time, I lift her chin with my hand.
If she’s going to ignore me, she’s going to have to do it looking me dead in the eye.
I raise her chin, and she flicks her eyes to meet mine. But once I have her skin under my fingers, I can’t help myself. Her sugary scent draws me closer, and I stroke the ridge of her chin softly with my thumb. My dick reacts to that light touch, and I have to release her before I go full animal on her.
Jesus, what this woman does to me.
I want to sucker-punch the fucker who put those shadows under her caramel eyes. The light purple bags make her look tired and lonely. Like she’s been running a long, long time.
If I could pull her close and shred the assholes in her world like that TV princess, I’d do it with my bare hands. No dagger required. But first, I need to know what the fuck she’s dealing with.
“My husband,” she admits. “He’s…an asshole,” she supplies.
I drop my hand from her skin, which draws both of us out of the sensual haze.
“Zoey’s dad?” I ask.
The answer to that one simple question will make everything either a hell of a lot harder or a hell of a lot simpler.
She shakes her head. “No. I think that’s why all this is so fucking triggering,” she explains. “When I met Jerry, I was working as a waitress, a single mom with a four-year-old. He owned the car dealership across the street, and for months, he worked me over. Coming in, waiting to sit at one of my tables, leaving really big tips.”
Alice sighs, her shoulders sagging even lower. She plays with the ends of her hair and avoids my eyes like she’s embarrassed or ashamed.
“In my eyes, sweetheart.” I lift her chin again. I can’t stand to see the fear worrying her face.
“I didn’t want to date him. I really didn’t.” She meets my eyes and laughs, a frustrated, ironic laugh. “He had that slightly slimy vibe, you know?”
She sighs.
“But he was charming too, and he was really persistent. Begged me to just let him take me to dinner. And eventually, I caved. One dinner led to two, and within three months, he gave me a huge ring.”
She holds up her unadorned left hand. She chuckles a wry laugh. “I sold the ring to buy that fucking car,” she laughed. “I should have known.”
“Jesus.” I can’t help myself. “You traded in an engagement ring for a whole goddamned car?”
She sighs. “Jerry was all sparkle, no substance. Just like our marriage. Just like that car. I got taken for a ride yet again.”
“And let me guess, the blush was off the rose by what, the end of the honeymoon?” I ask. “When did the mask come off?”
“Well, we didn’t go on a honeymoon,” Alice says. “I had Zoey to think about. He made me quit the job as soon as he proposed. He didn’t like how it would look to his clients and business partners if his wife worked in a greasy diner. I’m qualified to do other things,” Alice says, her voice suddenly small. “I didn’t finish college, but I have an associate’s in business. I just… Well, that’s another failure.”
“You’re not a failure,” I snap, a little more harshly than I planned.
She looks surprised by the tone of my voice, but she continues. “Oh, wait,” she says, half bitter, half ironic. “I am. My college boyfriend left me when I got pregnant. That’s how I ended up waitressing with a four-year-old. He ended up with a scholarship from a university out west. He said a kid and no degree weren’t in the cards for him. He knew I was pregnant, but he just transferred. And since he was out of state and I was broke, pregnant, and twenty-two, I just didn’t have the money to pursue him. He’s never even met Zoey.”
“And this Jerry character? He married you but didn’t adopt Zoey?”
I can’t imagine what kind of piece of shit gives his wife a sparkler worth as much as a car but who doesn’t adopt the child he is responsible for helping to raise.
“That was never on the table,” she says simply. “I mean, it literally never came up. I think in the back of Jerry’s mind, Zoey would always be just mine, my problem, my responsibility. In fact, the older she got, the worse things became between us. When she was four and was in day care all day while I worked and while we dated, I think he was able to pretend I didn’t really have a kid. But once we moved in to his house…”
I clench my fists, bracing for what comes next. “Did he—”
The color must be flooding my face because suddenly, I feel a soft hand on my bicep.
“No, Morris. Not Zoey. He never laid a hand on her.” Alice’s voice is so, so small. I can’t comprehend what it feels like to have a child, to be responsible for a beautiful little life like Zoey’s, and to be beholden to anyone to provide for her.
“I would hunt him down and kill him right on that goddamn showroom floor if he did.” I can picture it now, the image of this fuckwad’s jaw when my fist hits it freeing a little bit of the rage building up in my chest. “You sure?” I press. “You’d tell me.”
She blinks fast and smiles. “I would tell you. I trust you,” she says.