Chapter 29 #2
Jaeger stops at the front door and turns toward Kate, who’s holding a mug in her hand this time as she watches us leave. “You pull anything like that again, Kate, and I’ll file charges, kid or no kid.”
He guides me to my car. “I’ll follow you to your place,” he says.
I have questions, but I get the feeling now isn’t the time to bring them up. From the rearview mirror, I notice Jaeger parked and talking on his cell phone as I pull away.
Tyler’s still out when I get home. I plop on the couch, and Jaeger walks in a few minutes later. He drops his duffel by the front door and scrubs his face—
The front door swings open and bangs him in the back.
Tyler peeks around the corner. “Sorry, man. Didn’t see you there.”
Jaeger sinks into the recliner, elbows on his knees, head lowered.
Tyler looks at me. “What’s up?”
He knows about Kate’s kid extortion. I fill him in on Jaeger’s failed attempt to track down Kate’s sister and what I walked in on at the woodshop.
I’ve calmed since seeing the half-naked woman between his legs. If Jaeger were any other boyfriend, I might be suspicious. But he’s totally befuddled.
Tyler flips one of the dining chairs around and sits on it backward. “Older gal, huh?”
Jaeger looks up. “I had no idea,” he says stone-faced.
I shake my head in disbelief. “What do you mean? That woman was all over you at the Blue bar.”
“But”—he looks around as if mentally searching—“she’s my client. I thought she was being friendly.”
“Dude,” Tyler says, “you’re kidding, right? She took her top off in your house.”
Jaeger frowns. “I figured it out by then, man. She walked in without her top on. Kinda obvious at that point. Still stunned me, though. She managed to back me into the damn couch,” he grumbles.
Tyler and I look at each other, and Tyler snickers. If the situation weren’t so infuriating, it would be funny.
Jaeger glares at Tyler. “Not funny, man. I was attacked unawares.”
“Older women,” Tyler says. “Predators, every one of them.”
“Tyler!” I exclaim. “What do you know about older women?”
He holds up his hands innocently. “What? I’m in my prime. Older women flock to virile men like me.”
I did not just hear that. “I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.”
He shrugs. “You asked.”
Jaeger groans, leans his head back, and stares at the ceiling.
I walk over and sit on his lap. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’ll just have to get used to the older ladies not looking at you as a nice young man anymore. They want to get into your pants now.”
He glares at me, and I smile.
“She seemed like such a nice client,” he goes on, as if he hasn’t heard anything Tyler or I have said. “She was friendly, but, well, you know.” He shrugs.
“Oh, she was nice, all right,” Tyler says. “She would have given you a nice, long blow—”
“Tyler!” I yell. “Knock it off, you jackass.”
I rub Jaeger’s shoulders and his head lolls, his eyes drooping. He’s exhausted. Danielle was startling, but not our biggest problem. “What are you going to do about Kate?”
He huffs out a breath. His muscles bunch up again, but his eyes remain closed.
“I called my credit card company. Told them the situation and asked them to block those purchases. My father’s speaking to a lawyer.
We’ll need to establish paternity before we move forward with custody arrangements if it turns out…
Anyway, Kate acted like we’d live happily ever after.
She’s nuts.” He shakes his head. “Not gonna happen. And she has to have another agenda if she’s trying to fleece me now. Gotta get her out of there.”
“You think she wants your money?”
I wasn’t raised to rely on a man for financial support. My mom taught us to take care of ourselves. It’s partly why I’m having issues with the career upheaval. I’m like a guy; I need to know I’m financially capable before I feel complete.
“Oh, I have no doubt she wants my money, my home, whatever she can get. If I was sure the child wasn’t mine, I’d kick her out right now, but… I’ve had Mason and Adam asking around, though Adam’s been useless. He’s all bent out of shape over his breakup with Breanna.”
“They broke up?” I interrupt. “Adam treated her like crap. Why is he so upset?”
Jaeger shrugs. “That’s Adam for you. No one knows what goes on inside his head. He’s a good guy when it comes down to it, though.”
“Let’s get back to the part where your friends are asking about Kate,” Tyler pipes up. “What did they find?”
“Mason says she ran off with a guy from Reno after my accident. I was in and out of physical therapy and pretty messed up. Didn’t keep in touch with friends or hear the news.
Supposedly, the guy she’s been dating since then deals drugs on the side.
Light stuff—pot, acid. He started dabbling with meth over the last year and got caught running a lab out of Sparks. He’s serving time for it.”
Unbelievable. “How does she go from you to a drug dealer?”
He raises a shoulder. “The guy was loaded. Drove a nice car. Mason heard he bought her a place. I had things going for me back in high school, but once my Olympic career faded, she took off. I guess now that this guy is in prison, her funds have dried up too. She needs someone to leech off and is using our connection—our kid… if the little girl’s actually mine. ”
I slide next to him on the chair. I can’t stand Kate, but I don’t think mentioning it will help the situation. “Kate wants in your life because you’re beautiful and wealthy.”
He wraps his arm around my shoulders and smashes me to his side. “You think I’m beautiful, babe?”
I frown. “Everyone thinks you’re beautiful, including the Danielles of the world.”
“Well, I don’t think you’re beautiful,” Tyler says drolly.
Jaeger ignores him and looks down at me. “You’re the beautiful one. I think of myself as a manly sort of guy.”
“Fine,” Tyler interrupts. “I’m the beauty. And being admired for my looks does not diminish my sense of masculinity.”
I swivel my head. “Tyler, why are you still here? I’m trying to have a private moment with my boyfriend.”
He stands and shoves the chair back in place, narrowing a look at Jaeger. “Just don’t make it too private.” Jaeger glares right back. My man is not having a good day. Tyler had better not push it.
Tyler digs in his jeans pocket and pulls out his keys. “I gotta run another errand anyway. See you in a bit.”
He leaves and Jaeger stands, pulling me up with him. “I have something in the back of my truck I want to show you.”
Outside, Jaeger grabs two large boxes from his truck bed—one long, the other wide and flat.
I stare at the packaging. “You bought camping gear?”
“If I’m going to stay with you, I need a place to sleep. Your couch is nice, but I’m not looking forward to my knees dangling off the end again tonight.” He holds up the king-sized, pillow-top air mattress. “This way, we can sleep together.” His grin is highly suggestive.
I like where his head is, but I eye the box skeptically. “Where exactly are we putting it?”
He hoists the boxes on to his shoulder, grabs my hand, and walks to the gate. “Your backyard.”
“Uhh, did you learn nothing from our game of catch at the beach? I’m not sporty, remember? That includes camping.”
Okay, there’s no technique required in camping. I’m just not a fan of cold and rough sleeping arrangements.
He drops the boxes on the cement patio outside the back door. “You go hiking. You can’t be that opposed to the outdoors.”
Foiled by my own actions. I grumble and he grins at me.
Jaeger rips open the tent box, an act that would have taken me thirty minutes with the help of a large screwdriver and scissors. His muscles and large paws are a huge turn-on. I follow those clever hands as he sorts and puts together the tent.
“I bought one with a skylight.” He glances up and smiles. “We can look at the trees and stars at night.”
I’m sort of following what he’s saying, nodding in agreement. But mostly I’m thinking about that tent and how see-through it is. It’s definitely not soundproof. We’ll have to be quiet…
This could work.
I grab the mattress box and hand it to Jaeger to open. He tears it apart and I smile happily, admiring the muscles flexing through his jeans as he bends and builds our home with his bare hands.
He glances up and sees me watching. Instead of scolding me for the dirty thoughts that must be evident on my face, his jaw clenches and he works faster.
I love this man.