Mine to Keep, page 20
“Caine,” I call his name when I walk out of the bathroom.
“Yeah,” he says, and I can smell cooking.
“Do you have a hand mirror?” He comes into the hallway, and I see the confused look on his face. “That’s a no.” I shake my head. “How is she supposed to see her hair?”
“Take a picture,” he suggests, and I smile.
“So smart.”
“My phone is on the bedside table.” He points over at his bedroom. I rush into his room, grabbing his phone that is next to mine. Smiling, I grab both phones, putting his in my back pocket and grabbing mine.
“Okay,” I say when I walk back in the room as Meadow tries to look at her hair from left to right. I snap a picture, then turn it to her so she can see.
She gasps. “I have a mermaid braid,” she says, throwing herself into my arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” And just like that, I’ve fallen for the man and his daughter.
twenty-eight
Caine
“Are you sure you’re okay with me coming to the zoo with you?” Grace asks quietly as she brings the plates to the sink. We have just finished eating pancakes, and Meadow is on the couch watching television.
“I’m more than okay with you coming to the zoo with us.” I grab the plate from her. “Are you sure you’re okay spending the day with us?” I look away from her, not willing to see her eyes if she isn’t sure.
She moves close to me, close enough I can feel her, but she doesn’t put her hands on me. “I would love nothing more than to spend the day with the two of you.” My eyes look back at her when she says the words, and I see the smile on her face and the way her eyes light up.
“Then it’s a date.” I wink at her before I look over my shoulder to see if Meadow is watching, and I bend and kiss her lips chastely.
“Then it’s a date,” she repeats, and she motions with her head to the side before she walks out into the hallway and away from the television.
I follow her out into the hallway, wondering what she has to tell me. I stop in front of her. “Just so you know, Office Caine is really hot.” She puts her hands on my bare chest, and my cock stirs in my shorts. “But Daddy Caine is”—she gets on her tippy-toes—“flaming hot.”
“Is that so?” I put my hands on her hips, dragging her closer to me so she can feel my cock.
“I wish I could show you.” She rubs her nose against my jaw. My hand moves from her hip to her head, burying it at the nape of her neck, fisting her hair before pulling her to me. My tongue slides into her mouth for a second before we hear Meadow.
“Dad.” We both look over to see her staring at us. “Can I have an apple?”
“Yeah,” I reply, not moving, “I’ll get it now.” She turns and skips away, her braid going back and forth.
“Oh my God,” Grace says, “she just caught us making out.”
“In her defense, I don’t think she knows what she saw,” I remark, letting go of her.
Grace shakes her head. “She doesn’t; it’s not like she’s ever seen me kissing a woman before.” I put my hands on my hips. “Let’s just not freak out.”
“Oh, easy for you to say,” Grace retorts. “I’m going to be the one who sucks face with her dad.” I can’t help but laugh at how nervous she’s getting. She’s usually cool, calm, and collected, always has been. Heck, she went toe-to-toe with me on day one, and I’m a big scary guy, but she’s scared of my daughter. “I’m going to go cut her an apple, so she likes me.”
“You made her a mermaid braid,” I remind her, “so you outrank me, and I’ve been with her since she was born.” She smiles at me. “Now, let’s go in there and pretend nothing happened.”
“Okay,” she agrees, and I slide my hand in hers until we get to the kitchen, and she walks over to the fridge. She moves around me as I clean up the breakfast plates, while she cuts an apple for my daughter. I’ve never had someone who has helped me with Meadow, and for some reason, it feels so fucking right with Grace.
Even when we get into the car an hour later, she knows how to buckle her in. When we get to the zoo, she’s the one telling me we should hydrate often. She makes sure Meadow is right there beside us. It’s one thing to fall for someone, and it’s a whole other ball game when you fall for a woman who likes your daughter. It’s like a game changer in my book. I never thought about dating before Grace. Sure, I thought about perhaps in the future, but I never knew when it was the right time. With Grace, it just happened so naturally that I didn’t even know it was a part of my life I was missing. I watch the two of them holding hands most of the day as they point out different animals to each other. Even when we stop to eat a hot dog, she and Meadow talk about which animal is their favorite.
By the time we leave the zoo, Meadow is dragging ass and half asleep when I pull into the driveway. “Dad, I’m tired,” she says when I put the car in park, making Grace laugh.
“It’s hard being a rock star,” she tells her, and I laugh as we get out of the car.
“I think I’m going to head out,” Grace says quietly when we walk up the stairs to the front door. “Let you get back on your routine. I have to prepare for the week anyway.”
I don’t want her to go, but I know she has to go anyway, so I just nod. “I’ll go get your bag,” I whisper to her when I open the front door, and Meadow kicks off her shoes.
“I’m going to go and watch TV.” She walks away from us.
“Thank Grace for today,” I tell my daughter, and she turns to run back to her, hugging her around her waist.
“Thank you for giving me a mermaid braid.” She looks up at Grace, who just smiles down at her and hugs her back.
“Thank you for the best day ever,” she says before Meadow drops her arms from around her and walks into the living room. I walk up the steps to grab her bag, ignoring the dread I’m also fearing.
“Meadow, I’m going to walk Grace out to her car.”
“Okay, Dad!” she shouts back.
I walk down the steps with Grace beside me, heading to her car. I put the bag in the back seat and then stand with her at the driver’s door. She steps to me and wraps her arms around my waist, looking up at me. “Thank you for the most amazing weekend.” She smiles at me as I pull her even closer.
“I’m going to go on the record. This has been one of the best weekends I’ve ever had.”
She rolls her lips. “Imagine after we do anal.” She winks at me while I throw my head back and laugh.
She gets up on her tippy-toes and kisses my neck, and all I can do is look at her. We stare into each other’s eyes for a second, neither of us saying anything before I bend my head and close the distance to devour her mouth. We stand in the middle of the driveway, lost in each other. “You should get back inside,” she suggests when she lets go of me. “If she falls asleep now, you’ll regret it.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say softly, kissing her one more time before opening the door for her.
“I’ll be there,” she replies, smiling as I close the door and watch her drive away. Something about her driving away bugs me, but I don’t know what it is, or if I do, I don’t want to think about it. I wait until I can’t see her car anymore before I jog back into the house, just in time to stop Meadow from falling asleep.
She barely can keep her eyes open, and when it hits seven, she’s already sleeping in her bed, the mermaid braid untouched. I pull out my phone to FaceTime Grace, who answers after two rings, and I see her sitting up in bed. “Are you in bed?” I chuckle as I walk into my own bedroom.
“I am,” she confirms, “all that fresh air and extra activity has me done for.”
“Really?” I slide onto my bed. “You don’t say.”
“I do,” she says, “even took a bath.”
“Are you okay?” I ask, wondering if it hurt or anything.
“Yeah, I think I read online that we should keep having sex daily and it’ll feel better.” She smirks at me. “I read it on I’m addicted to Caine’s dick dot com.”
I howl in laughter. “Well, maybe tomorrow we can sneak off and have a business meeting?”
She shakes her head. “We shall see.” We spend two hours talking on the phone, and after the fourth yawn, I let her go, putting the phone on the bedside table, then turning in the bed. Feeling empty without her.
The next day, she waits for me in her car, and kissing her isn’t enough anymore. Not being able to hold her hand is starting to really get to me. It’s so bad that on Friday morning I’m barking at everyone and everything. It’s only after lunch when she comes into my office, and I look up. “So, I was thinking,” she says to me as she walks to my desk and then looks over her shoulder to make sure that no one else is in the room, “that I skip tonight’s class and come over and maybe—”
“Yes,” I snap, “come at five thirty.”
“People usually say please,” she huffs and puts her hands on her hips. The tight white pants she’s wearing haven’t helped my mood all day long, and that fucking clown Kevin or Ryan or whatever his name is keeps fucking sniffing around. I thought of putting rat traps around her desk.
“I’m skating on very thin ice, Grace,” I growl between clenched teeth.
“Then I expect you to take it out on me all night long.” She winks at me before she saunters out of the room.
She leaves work, sticking her head in and wishing me a nice weekend before leaving. I rush out, grabbing Meadow, and then shower quickly once I get home. The doorbell rings just a bit before five thirty, and I’m not the only one rushing to the door. When Meadow found out she was coming over, she was so excited, obviously for other reasons.
I can’t help the smile on my face when I see her shocked to see both of us. “Well, if it isn’t my two favorite people,” she greets us.
“You look like a fairy again,” Meadow states, looking at her. She changed her white pants, and in their place, she is wearing a long white skirt that has red flowers all over it, and a white top that shows off a bit of her stomach, ruffling at the hem.
“Thank you,” she says, stepping in. “I got you a present.” She holds up the bag in her hand and squats down so she’s on the same level as Meadow. Closing the door behind her, I watch Meadow take out the gift.
“Look, Dad.” She picks up the gift, which is the head of a Barbie with long blond hair.
“I bought it so when I do your hair, you can do this hair,” she tells her. “So, we can practice together.”
Meadow gasps. “Can we do mermaid braids?”
“We sure can,” she agrees, and Meadow gets up at the same time that the bell rings again.
I open the door, thinking it’s the delivery guy but come face-to-face with Marylin. I’m in shock when she throws up her hands. “Meadow,” she says, ignoring me, “come see Mommy.” Meadow rushes to her. “How are you, my princess?”
“I got a Barbie head to do braids,” she tells her excitedly.
“Meadow,” I say, finally snapping out of it, “go put that away.”
“Okay,” Meadow says, not catching the impending drama. I wait for her to walk up the stairs to her room when I turn on Marylin.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hiss.
“I came to visit,” she says, looking at me and then catching that Grace is here.
“Oh, are you going out?” she asks. “You got your assistant to babysit for you.” She shakes her head.
“I just came to drop something off,” Grace states nervously. “I was just leaving,” she says, avoiding looking at me. “Have a nice night.” She rushes out of the house before I can stop her.
I watch her walk out, not able to chase after her because I have Marylin in my house, and I don’t want her in my house. “Marylin, this is ending today,” I snap between clenched teeth, “from now on before you come to my house, my place of employment, or any other place I’m going to be, I want notice or else I’m filing a police report for harassment. This is the third time that you’ve pushed your way into my space.”
“I came to see my daughter,” she huffs.
“And like I said, you call before.” I open the door. “We’re busy tonight.”
“But I’m here.” She throws up her hands, shrieking, “I came all this way!”
“Well, you should have called. We have plans this weekend.” She stares at me, or better yet, looks at me in a way that says if looks could kill, I would be dead.
“I wasted all that money coming here,” she huffs. “I have no place to go.”
“Not my problem.” I shake my head. “Now, are you leaving, or do I call the cops?”
“I’m going to talk to my lawyer about this,” she huffs again as she walks out the door. “To be treated like this is unacceptable,” she rants, and I slam the door behind her.
I’m pulling the phone out of my back pocket when Meadow comes back downstairs. “Where is Mom?” she asks, looking around.
“She had to go. She said she would call you later,” I tell her, and she doesn’t even bat an eye.
“Where is Grace?” She turns to walk into the living room.
“She had to go and get something,” I lie to her, and she looks disappointed. “She’s coming back.”
I pull up her number and call her, and the call goes straight to voicemail. I close my eyes, ignoring the hammering in my chest.
Me: Can you please call me, or better yet, come back?
I wait for a second and then two before I call her again and still it goes to voicemail. I leave her a message as I walk back into the house and go to the couch.
Me: Please call me.
twenty-nine
Grace
I look down at my phone as it pings again in my hand.
Not Batman: Please call me.
My heart beats erratically hard in my chest. From the minute he opened the door until I left, I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. Seeing Marylin there and then hearing Meadow say Mommy, I felt like I was an intruder. Instead of watching it, I took myself out of the situation. As I walked out of the house, my hands shook, my knees wobbled, the back of my neck was on fire, and I generally thought I was going to be sick in the middle of the driveway.
I put my head down on the steering wheel as my phone pings again in my hand, but there isn’t a new message. It’s just alerting me of the ones that came in. I think about calling him, but instead, I just send him a text.
Me: I’ll call you later.
I’m about to press send when I delete it and think about what to write.
Me: I don’t want to be in the middle of this. I don’t want to be in this fight.
I press send before I can take it back. I see the bubbles come up right away and the phone pings in my hand.
Not Batman: You aren’t in the middle of anything because there is nothing to be in the middle of.
I close my eyes as they start to burn and itch.
Me: I’m going to head home for the weekend. Give Meadow some time with her mom without someone else there.
I press send and pull up the number I know can help. He answers after half a ring. “If it isn’t my favorite granddaughter.” I have to laugh at him.
“I know that’s a lie.” He chuckles. “Hi, Pops,” I say, feeling more conflicted than I have in my whole life. “I was thinking of surprising Mom and Dad with a visit this weekend.”
“Yeah?” he says, and I can hear a car door slam. “I can be there in an hour.”
I shake my head. “An hour?” I look around. “How?”
“I’m close by doing business. I was just about to head home but could do a pit stop,” he says, and I know he’s lying. He would move heaven and earth for his family. He also knows that me calling him has to be the last thing I would do. We, including him, all know when we call him, it’s to make things happen.
“Okay, where do you want me to meet you?” I ask, and he laughs.
“I’ll pick you up.” I roll my eyes.
“Pops, I have to be home on Sunday, and I’m going to have to drive home. This will save everyone time.”
“Negative,” he says. “You are probably going to be home late on Sunday, and I don’t want you driving at night. Do you know the dangers of driving at night?” I close my eyes, my head going back to Caine and hating that I miss him. “I’ll have a driver pick you up in forty minutes.”
“Oh, I can’t drive alone at night, but you can hire a man to drive me home? Do you know how many people go missing with a driver?”
He laughs. “You think I’m going to let just any old driver drive you? These men have training.”
“Jesus, Pops, I’m not the president’s daughter,” I huff. “I’ll be ready in forty.”
I hang up the phone and look down to see if he answered my text, but nothing after my message to him. I put the phone down, making my way to my place, packing a small bag since I still have some clothes at home. The doorbell buzzes, and my heart speeds up, thinking that it could be him, but instead, it’s a man wearing a black suit. “Ms. Barnes, I’m your driver.”
I ignore the pang of regret, grabbing my bag and walking out with him. He quickly takes the bag from my hand. My phone feels ever so heavy in my hand. Every single step I take feels like I’m climbing a hill. I get in the back seat of the car and think about calling him, but maybe we just need time to settle things. He has a whole ex-wife sniffing around, and the thought she is still there with them eats me up inside. I wipe away the tear from my eye, knowing my grandfather is going to see right through me if I even shed one tear.
