Chapter Six #2
Mia fits into my life so seamlessly and on so many levels it scares me, and for a man who used to use a gun in my daily job, that strikes me as ridiculous.
But look at the situation I am in thanks to letting myself be manipulated by Bailey’s mother.
I am finished with marriage and happily ever after, and Mia still wants those things.
Hell, after the childhood she had, she deserves those and more.
I just can’t give them to her. With a little girl in my room at night and us both keeping busy during the day, Mia and I haven’t connected again, and maybe not being able to drag her back into my bed really is for the best.
“Can I lick the bowl?” Bailey’s voice travels to me, and I force myself to stop overthinking and step into the room.
“Hi, girls.” I come up to the counter. Mia is putting the cupcakes into the oven while Bailey is, as she requested, running her fingers through the bowl and feasting on the remaining batter.
“Daddy!”
“Those cupcakes look good,” I say as Mia slides the final tin into the oven.
She turns back to me and grins. “It’s Bailey approved. Chocolate cupcake and confetti frosting.”
“Yum.” He actually wasn’t so sure about the confetti. He figured it was too rich for his taste.
“Taste.” Bailey holds out a finger for me to lick, but it is a wet finger that was in her mouth numerous times. “Umm, I think I’ll take a pass.”
Mia chuckles. She picks a clean part of the bowl that Bailey hasn’t yet tackled and swipes her finger into the batter. She slides it into her mouth and moans in delight, inadvertently meeting my gaze as her lips cup the frosting-coated finger.
My cock twitches at the sexy sound that escapes her lips, not to mention the visual of her sucking off her finger, something she’s yet to do to me.
I am grateful the counter between us blocks my firm package from being noticed.
Her gaze locks on me, sudden awareness in the mossy depths.
I want nothing more than to say to hell with what is for the best and drag her off to my bedroom so she can suck on my cock the same way.
“Isn’t it good?” Bailey asks Mia.
She jerks her stare away from me, and I swallow a rough cough.
“I think your friends are going to love the cupcakes,” Mia says in a husky voice. “Let me set a timer.” She turns away to focus on her task, but the awareness between us remains.
* * *
Mia
After dropping the cupcakes off at Bailey’s school, I return home to a blue car turning into the driveway. Since it is blocking my ability to pull into the garage, I park on the street and exit the vehicle, walking toward the car.
A man climbs out of the driver’s side and meets me halfway down the drive.
“Mia Atwood?” he asks.
I don’t recognize him at all, which makes me nervous, especially after what happened at the grocery store.
“You’ve been served,” he says, handing me the manila envelope I didn’t notice in his hand.
“What is this?” I ask.
“Information’s inside. Have a good day.”
“But—”
He doesn’t wait for me to speak, merely returns to his car, climbs in, and turns on the ignition. I step aside so he can pull out of the driveway, turning my attention to the ominous-looking envelope.
Could this have to do with Austin’s custody case? I open the folded flap and pull out the blue-backed page, scanning the contents, a sickening feeling settling in the pit of my stomach with every word I read.
The State of New York versus Parker Alexander.
Retrial for embezzlement among other crimes.
I swallow hard, nausea filling me. I don’t understand, thought my ex-employer was in jail.
I flip the envelope in my hand and a business card falls out.
A glance tells me it is the same district attorney I dealt with during the last trial.
I head inside, glad Austin is at his weekly meeting in the office. I don’t need him to see me shaken up before I have all the details.
A quick call to Kate Collins, the district attorney, answers my questions, and I don’t like what I learn.
Parker was released from jail when his conviction was overturned due to a technicality the DA doesn’t bother to explain, and I really didn’t care why.
The end result is the same. He is out and the state is retrying him.
Because I moved to Connecticut and there was no reason for her to leave a forwarding address, as the case was concluded, it took Kate time to find me and let me know I’ll be needed at another trial.
I am not happy.
I don’t want my life, my job, or Austin and Bailey’s life disrupted by me having to go to New York to testify.
I sigh and am about to head to my room when the home telephone rings. I answer.
“Rhodes residence.”
“Hello, is Mr. Rhodes home?” an efficient female voice asks.
“No, can I take a message?” I tuck the phone between my ear and shoulder and grab a piece of paper and pen.
“It’s the Lakewood Elementary School.”
“This is Mia Atwood, Bailey’s nanny. Is everything okay?”
“Oh, Ms. Atwood. I see you’re on the approved list to pick up Bailey. We seem to have an issue. There’s a woman here claiming to be Bailey’s mother and she’s insisting she see her daughter. She wants to remove her from the premises but she’s not on our list.”
“No, she isn’t. I’ll call Mr. Rhodes immediately. Please don’t let her anywhere near Bailey,” I say. “I’ll come by myself to pick her up when school is over.”
“The problem is, the children were in the hallway walking to the gym, and Bailey saw Ms. Gibson. We took Bailey away and brought her to the nurse’s office, but Ms. Gibson is still here and making a scene,” the other woman explains, sounding upset now that she’s gotten into the details.
My stomach flips over. “I’ll call Mr. Rhodes immediately. Please don’t let her near Bailey,” I repeat urgently.
I hang up the phone, grab my cell phone in one hand and my keys in another. I set the house alarm and call Austin’s cell phone as I run for the car, which I left in the street, thinking only of getting to the school and to Bailey as quickly as possible.
He picks up on the second ring. “Mia? What’s wrong?” he asks, probably because I never call him unless Bailey is sick.
“Your ex is at Bailey’s school.” I detail the rest of the situation. “I’m heading over now.”
Austin swears. “Okay, I’ll meet you there. I’m already on my way home, so it shouldn’t take long. You know what to do. Keep her away from my baby.”
I swallow hard. I know. “You got it,” I promise as I reach my car.
The school isn’t far from the house, and I reach it in record time, bypassing yellow lights that turn red as I drive past.
I arrive at the school, stopping at the main office to sign in. I don’t see Kayla, and I don’t ask where she is.
“Where’s Bailey? Is she still at the nurse’s office?”
The gray-haired woman behind the desk in the office nods. “I thought it would be best to put her someplace where she couldn’t see her mother since what she said seemed to upset her so much.”
I swallow hard. “Where is it?”
“Down the hall to the left,” the other woman says.
I run, slowing when I reach the nurse’s office, not wanting to freak Bailey out. I step into the room and smile at the school nurse.
“I’m here for Bailey?”
“Mia!” The little girl flies out from a side room and wraps her arms around me, holding on tight.
“Hey, baby.” I glance over her head to meet the nurse’s kind gaze. “Is she okay?”
“A little shaken up. She stopped crying when I gave her juice and a book to read so she’d put the incident out of her mind. I just thought it was best she went home early to her family.”
I stroke the child’s head. “Her father will be with her in a little while,” I assure the nurse. “Ready to go home?”
Bailey nods against me.
“Do you need to get anything from your classroom first?”
“No.” She steps back and glances up at me. Tears stain her cheeks, and my heart squeezes tight in my chest.
Unfortunately, to leave the school, we have to walk past the main office.
If luck holds, we won’t run into Kayla. I lead Bailey down the hall and turn toward the office.
I immediately catch sight of Austin, having his say with the principal and the office staff, no doubt making it clear Kayla is not allowed anywhere near his child and only Austin, his parents and I are allowed into the school or to pick up Bailey.
“Daddy!”
Austin turns, and Bailey runs into his open arms. He picks her up and holds her tight against him. “Do we have an understanding?” he asks Principal Shay, a middle-aged man with a good reputation among teachers and parents.
“Of course. And we have your instructions in writing. Don’t worry.”
Austin nods. He glances at me. “I’m getting a restraining order,” he mutters. “Are we ready to go?”
I nod. “I’ll meet you and Bailey at home.”
“I want to ride with Mia.” Bailey wriggles to get down from her father’s arms.
“Honey, no. I’m sure your dad wants to talk to you.”
“It’s fine,” Austin says, an unreadable glint in his eye. But I don’t get the sense he is unhappy about his daughter’s proclamation.
I make sure Bailey is buckled into her car seat, and we head home. The adrenaline of my day is beginning to wear off, and I am exhausted. I hope Bailey will be in a let’s-just-chill-and-watch-a-movie mood. All I want to do is relax.
But when we arrive at the house, the burglar alarm is going off and the police are parked out front. Obviously our day isn’t over yet.