“But I do,” I said while leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.
“Yes, and I can’t thank you enough. The good news is that Cam's willing to give me everything I’ve asked for. The bad news is that in the divorce agreement, he wants to share custody.”
“And you know damn well that he won’t hold up his end of the deal,” I said.
She silently nodded and stared out the windows. “Jake, he hasn’t made any attempt to see her. How dare he want to share custody! He has no right doing this to Caley, coming in and out of her life. She deserves to have a positive father figure. He’s got some balls.”
I reached over and began to massage her shoulders. I listened to Julianna go into more detail about the divorce, how he willfully signed the house into her name, and let her keep everything inside. Of course, he did. Men like him only cared about one thing, a hot woman to go to bed with every night. If that meant giving up all of his earthly possessions, including his own daughter, then he’d do it.
It made my stomach twist with anger.
“So, what’s the hold-up?” I didn’t want to come across as too brazen with her, but Cam needed to be kicked to the curb.
“Just waiting to hear from my lawyer,” she said as I massaged her shoulders a little deeper. “Truth be told though, I’d give him this house and everything in it in exchange for his regularly scheduled visits with Caley. He doesn’t even have to have her spend the night at his place, even though I know Caley would love that.”
“You wouldn’t, though, not with the girlfriend there.” I knew that Julianna despised Lydia, even though she no longer had feelings for Cam.
“She’s not a good mother figure if that’s what you’re getting at. What kind of woman actually encourages her man to stay away from his own daughter?”
I could hear the anger in her voice. Julianna was not a selfish person. Her whole world revolved around Caley. Even her wardrobe was reasonably minimalistic, which I knew was because she spent as much money as possible on her daughter.
It was probably to make up for having a deadbeat father. “Women like her are, to be blunt, only good for one thing and after a guy’s wallet.”
She closed her eyes as she leaned into me. “I hope he does to her what he did to me.”
“He will,” I said into her ear. “And he’ll never mature. He’ll just always be that guy chasing one woman after another.”
I said it both to assure her that he was a jerk, and also as a subtle hint that I’d rather be with her than chasing women like Lydia.
“Thank you. I needed to hear that. I often wish that I’d never even met Cam.”
I rubbed her back. “But you got Caley out of the deal, so not all of it was bad.”
Sweet, beautiful Caley. She and I had been getting so much closer lately. Between game nights, ice cream trips, and bedtime rituals, I found myself missing her just as much as Julianna whenever we were apart.
“That’s true. I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world.”
I tilted Julianna's face upward. “And I wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world, either.”
It was getting dark outside, and I was pretty tired. A part of me wanted to just fall asleep with her right there on the couch, with her wrapped up in my arms and then sneak out in the morning before Caley woke up.
“As usual, I think it’s time for me to head home.”
She let out a disappointed but sexy moan and then flopped her head against my shoulders. It was the part of the evening that both of us hated.
“Don’t,” I said and nibbled on her ear.
“All I did was sigh,” she said in an innocent voice.
“That was a moan baby, and you know it.” She playfully ran her hand up and down the outside of my pants, hovering it very carefully along the zipper. “Why don’t you spend the night?”
The thought of spending the night with her stimulated the animal in me, and my zipper started to bulge. “What about Caley, though?”
Julianna turned around and looked at me. We stared at each other for a few moments. I knew she was searching for security, to know that if she let her daughter wake up and see me that it wouldn’t be a one-time thing.
“I think it’ll be alright,” she said. “You two have been bonding so much lately, and she’s a lot smarter than other girls her age.”
I knew the last part was her subtle way of saying, hey, if things don’t work out between us, she’ll be okay.
