Page 16 of Jagger
“What the hell are you standing here for? Call your brother and go get this woman back if she’s your Angel. Good God, boy, maybe I need to meet this woman for myself. She must be something else if she’s got you this damned rattled. I think she may deserve a man who thinks a little quicker on his feet.”
That brought me out of my daze. I narrowed my eyes at my old man, who looked younger than his forty-five years. He was a good-looking man and had often been mistaken for our older brother rather than our dad over the years.
“You stay the hell away from her until I get her locked down. I’ve seen you in action, Dad. No way am I letting you anywhere near her yet.”
He barked out a surprised laugh and slapped my shoulder as I turned to head down the hallway. It didn’t even register until later that I’d called him Dad, for the first time I could remember in years.
Rome didn’t answer my call, which probably meant he had an early appointment with a client at the tattoo shop. His phone was glued to his hand otherwise these days in case Abby needed him.
She was my next call.
“Hey Jagger,” she greeted me, sounding too damn cheerful for my grumpy ass to deal with right now.
“What does E’s teacher look like?” I demanded tersely.
“Huh? Well, hello to you too, Abby. How are you this – “
“Quit bustin’ my balls for a minute, will ya, Abs? This is important. What does she look like?”
“Um, she’s young, about my age I suppose. She’s beautiful. About my height, with blonde hair that’s kind of wavy. Why, Jag? What’s going on?” she asked hesitantly, and I could hear the worry in her voice.
“Everything’s fine, Abs. I just think I might know her, and if I do, it explains why she acted so weird yesterday afternoon.”
“Why would knowing you make…oh my God, tell me you didnotfuck-and-duck with my son’s teacher!” she gasped, sounding absolutely appalled.
“Look, do you happen to know if she drives a Honda Civic?” I asked.
“I have no idea what she drives. Is your chick’s last name Walsh?”
“Fuck if I know, babe.”
“Oh my God, you’re such an ass, Jagger. What else do you know about her?”
I smirked at that question, my tension easing at the possibility that I had found Angel and could work this out after all.
“Well, she smells like vanilla and peaches, kisses like a wet dream, and has an ass that would bring a man to his knees.”
“I take it back, Jag. You’re not an ass, you’re a pig,” she sputtered. “I have no damn idea what she smells like and I’m not kissing her, but Icantell you that she has a bodacious booty. One of the other dads stared at her so hard the other day he almost walked into the side of his own car because she bent over to help one of the kids tie their shoes.” She giggled at the memory of it, and I clenched my fists.
Jesus Christ, I was losing it. Here I was, ready to throat-punch some asshole for looking at the woman who may or may not be the same woman I’ve only known for two damned days now.
“Hey, wait a sec. I took a picture of her and Ethan when I picked him up on his first day, so I could add it to his baby scrapbook. I’ll text it to you…hang on.”
I heard her fumbling with her phone, and moments later, my phone buzzed with an incoming text. I held my breath as I opened it, and there she was, looking cute as hell in a light blue dress with a thin navy-blue sweater over the top of it, and her hair in a ponytail. A few of her wavy curls had worked their way loose and were framing her face, and she had a wide smile as she stood with her arm wrapped around E’s shoulders. He was grinning ear-to-ear. Fuck, I would be too, if she had her arm around me right now.
“Fuck yes, that’s her!” I almost shouted into the phone, before the reality of the situation hit me. “Dammit to hell,” I yelled and smacked the palm of my hand against the wall.
“What’s wrong? Did you not want it to be her? Because you kind of sounded like you – “
“What’s wrong is that she saw Rome there with you yesterday and thinks I’m him. That’s gotta be it. I told her I had a brother, but I’m almost positive I never mentioned that we’re identical twins. If she saw him with you and E, she would have thought I’m a motherfucking married man cheating on his pregnant wife. Fuck me sideways, she’s gotta be hating me right about now.”
“Uh, yeah, that would do it. So, are you going to tell me what’s going on with you two?” Abby asked curiously. “I’ve known you forever, Jag, and I’ve never heard you get so worked up over a woman.”
“As soon as I know what’s going on, I’ll let you know. Promise.” I told her with a chuckle. The relief I felt was unreal, but I knew I could fix this as soon as I could speak with her. “Hey, what time does that school get out for the day?”
“At four o’clock, why?”
“Because I’m going with you to pick E-Man up today, that’s why, and you’re going to help me explain to Angel what happened.”
