Page 21 of Ravaged By the Dark (The Righteous 2)
Arek must have recognized the danger, too, because he’d sprung away from the Hummer like a cheetah. He beat her to J.J. and protectively whipped him up into his arms.
“Hey!” Arek slammed his free hand down on the trunk of the car. His face was dark as he practically snarled at the driver, his voice deep as he yelled for the guy to watch out.
“Holy shit, man! I’m so sorry. Did I hit you?” the guy called from the driver’s window.
Renee didn’t bother to answer or pay attention to Arek’s conversation as relief flowed through her system. The adrenaline was making her body shake as she took J.J. from Arek.
“You can’t do that. You were almost hit by a car. Do you know how much you scared me?” She closed her eyes and held him to her chest as tight as she dared. She tried to calm her galloping heart with little success.
J.J. buried his face in the crook of her neck, his arms wrapping around her tight. “I’m sowwy,” he mumbled into the side of her neck. He let out a small sniffle, and she could feel his tears as he wiped his face on her shirt. She wasn’t mad at him and hated that she scared him, but her mind kept playing the image of him being run over right before her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Arek’s voice was soft.
“I will be. Thank you, I wasn’t going to be fast enough.” Renee choked back her rising emotions.
Arek gripped her shoulder, and the warmth from his hand was more intense than the mid-summer sun. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know he’d run to me like that.”
“What are you doing here? I thought I told you I wasn’t interested.”
“I came to apologize.” Arek took off his sunglasses, and his sky blue eyes had her heart racing again for a whole new reason. “I realize I was a…” He paused and looked at J.J. “Tool the other night, and I didn’t want that to be your impression of me. In my pathetic attempt to impress you, I ended up making myself look like a D-bag. I’m hoping you’ll accept my apology and know I never meant any disrespect.”
“Okay…I get why you’re here, but how did you know where I was?”
“It’s surprising what you can find out about someone when you search for them online.” His whole face lit up, eyes glittering with mischief as a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. He puffed out his chest slightly as if what he said should impress her.
“So you’re saying you stalked me.”
“Technically, yes, but that is such an ugly word. It’s more like I took a strong interest in learning where I might find you other than at the club.”
“Uh-huh, still creepy.” She smiled and had no idea why. She should be backing away and calling the police, but instead, she was happy he’d taken the initiative to find her. Yup, her mother had certainly passed along the terrible taste in men gene.
“I guess it is, but I didn’t have your number.” Arek rubbed the back of his neck. “And sitting outside your doorstep seemed like an even worse idea.”
“At this point, I’m pretty sure that finding my number is something you could’ve found if you wanted to.” She raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed, his smile showing off a dimple. “Fine, your apology is accepted, but I really should be getting home, I….”
Arek held up his hands to cut her off.
“No, my apology is bigger than that. I figured the best way to apologize to you would be to do something nice for J.J.” At the sound of his name, the little boy lifted his head and looked up at Arek. “I was thinking we could all go to Pacific Park for the afternoon. Would you like to ride on a Ferris wheel, J.J.?”
“That’s really sweet of you, but we can’t afford that.”
“You won’t have to spend a cent. This is an apology, after all. Rules with an apology are simple—the apologizer pays, and the apology receiver accepts it. That’s the rule. I didn’t make it up.”
“Can we, Nae Nae? Please, please, please,” J.J. begged, his big brown eyes full of excitement. They’d never had the money to do anything this exciting, and her heart seized in her chest at his bright smile. This kid had her wrapped around his finger.
Renee took a deep breath.
“Fine, we can go.” She shook her head. “I must be crazy,” she mumbled.
“Yay!” J.J. yelled and then surprised her as he held his arms open for Arek to take him. Arek paused, obviously just as stunned as she was, but then smiled and took J.J. from her arms. J.J. had always been naturally social, but this was different.
She hadn’t seen him take to a man like this since Cody had left. She didn’t want him getting attached to Arek when this wasn’t likely to lead anywhere, and yet she’d do anything to make sure J.J. had a semblance of a normal childhood. She’d grown up way too fast, and all she wanted was to save J.J. from the same fate.
I mean, what was the harm with one fun day at the park?
Arek opened the back door of the Hummer, and before she could object to the obvious issue, she was shocked to see a car seat already installed.
“Do you have kids?” She held her breath while she waited for the answer. Maybe he had a whole family or a girlfriend with a kid, or—
“No, I don’t,” Arek answered as he buckled J.J. into the expensive seat. She’d taken care of almost all of J.J.’s shopping needs since the day his father took off, and her mother withered into a useless twit. So she had gone shopping enough and wandered the store aisles so many times that she knew this model was almost a thousand bucks.
She took a long, steadying breath as she pushed down the building anger that threatened to overwhelm her. Her grief seemed to want to fluctuate between a raging inferno and balling like a baby.
Arek straightened and closed the door before looking down at her.
“I bought it for J.J. If I’m going to take the two of you places, I figured I’d need one. I got the sales guy to show me how to install it and properly buckle J.J. in.” He smiled and walked to the driver’s side, leaving her standing there reeling.
Who the hell was this guy?
