Page 50 of Don't Lie to Me
He looked at the wall and then back to me with a roguish grin, “I’ll do it tomorrow. There’s more important things to take care of right now.”
I snorted. “You know how to clean?”
“I can be domesticated,” he stated. It reminded of the very first night he ran into me on my blind date and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at the memory.
“You’re anything but domesticated, Jack.” He picked me up like a rag doll in his arms and nuzzled his chin into my neck.
“Then let me show you how naughty I can be.”
SIXTEEN
“Will my dad like me?”
We were sitting on a park bench at a playground near our house waiting for Marcus while I held Logan in my lap and softly ran my hands through his hair. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked the question in the last few days since I told him he had a dad and that Marcus wanted to meet him. My heart broke a little bit each time he asked though, especially when he looked at me with wide, nervous eyes. I hated this.
“Of course he’ll like you, Logan,” I said softly and pulled him to my chest, hoping he couldn’t hear the frantic beat of my heart. I knew Marcus would love him. I wasn’t worried about that, his face when he saw the picture told me all I needed to know. What worried me – terrified me – was his dad making good on his threats.
I pressed my teeth together and with closed eyes, sighed heavily. How do you explain to a four-year-old why his dad hasn’t been around? Or why he wanted to know him now? I’d been through days of questioning, and lots of tears – mine and Logan’s – as we talked about Marcus being gone for work and just now back in Chicago. I couldn’t bear to tell him the truth, and I didn’t think he needed to know it anyway. He was too young to understand. Hell, I still didn’t understand.
My phone rang with Jack’s ringtone and I cringed. He wasn’t happy about me meeting Marcus alone, although after hours of arguing the night before I knew this would be easier for everyone. He had called me every thirty minutes all morning since he left my apartment this morning checking up on me and trying to get me to change my mind.
“Hey, Jack,” I said softly and watched Logan’s eyes light up with a large smile. He was growing to love Jack. I wondered if it would change how he interacted with Marcus.
“Is he there yet?” His voice was impatient and I sighed.
“Not yet.” I looked at the time on my watch. It was still five minutes before we agreed to meet. “He should be here any minute. And I promise, again, to call you as soon as we’re done here.”
“Don’t bother,” he said gruffly. “I had a meeting come up this afternoon and I might be tied up for the rest of the day.”
He sounded annoyed, and slightly pissed off. I didn’t know if it was me meeting Marcus or this new appointment. Regardless, I didn’t want to argue with him about it. We’d fought enough over the last couple of days.
“Okay….” I said reluctantly. “Will I see you later?”
“Maybe. I need to go, but I’ll call you when I can.”
I ran my hands through Logan’s hair again and shooed him off towards the playground.
“Is everything okay?” I asked once Logan was climbing up the slides.
“Nothing I can’t handle. Be safe, and called Shane if you need anything.”
He hung up without giving me a chance to say good-bye and I sat there staring at my phone, looking at Jack’s name flashing on my disconnected signal. Something wasn’t right and something else told me it didn’t have to do with me meeting Marcus.
“Hey Emma.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath when I heard Marcus’ familiar voice. It was deeper than it used to be, but sounded so similar to the loving way he used to talk to me that my spine tingled.
I looked at him, standing next to the park bench and waved for him to sit down next to me. He took his seat and clasped his hands together, his right foot bouncing.
“Nervous?” I asked with a slight grin as I looked at his legs.
He stared out at the dozens of screaming and smiling kids on the playground and said nothing for several minutes while his heel kept bouncing away.
“I don’t even know which one he is….” his voice trailed off and finally he took his eyes off the strangers on the playground and turned to me. “I’m a father, Emma. And I have no idea who my son is. You have no idea how that feels.”
I grasped my phone tightly in my hands, suddenly scared he was going to lash out at me for keeping Logan a secret for so long. I looked away from him, afraid he would see the fear in my own eyes, but he kept talking.
“I don’t blame you, you know. I’m just pissed and angry at myself for not realizing sooner what an asshole my dad is.” He ran his hands roughly through his hair and cursed. “All I’ve been able to think about since you told me about Logan is all the plans I had for us. I wanted to marry you and make a life with our child, and now it’s all so fucked up that I can’t even look at these kids out here and recognize my own son. Do you have any idea how shitty that makes me feel?”
I turned my head away from him and swallowed down the tears that threatened to spill over.
