Betting the Bad Boy by Sugar Jamison

Author:Sugar Jamison [Jamison, Sugar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Swerve
Published: 2016-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

When Grace left her room the next morning she found Duke and Ryder side by side at the stove. They were making scrambled eggs, Duke instructing Ryder as he moved the eggs around the pan with a rubber spatula.

Her heart tugged painfully as she watched them together. Father and son. Duke teaching him little things that would help him become a man. “Good morning,” she said, injecting brightness into her voice, wondering if she would ever forgive herself for not trying harder.

“Good morning,” they said in unison.

“Finish them eggs up, boy. They’re looking good.” He ruffled Ryder’s hair before he turned away from the stove and handed Grace a cup of coffee. As he did, he stroked his thumb over the back of her hand, which sent tingles all over her body. He didn’t say anything, but he looked at her in a way that let her know that even though they were pretending that there was nothing going on in between them during the day, the nighttime was just for them.

“You’re not working today.”

“No.” She tried to remove the breathless quality from her voice. For some reason this morning she felt like she was in high school again, the young girl who felt a rush anytime he looked at her. She stepped away from him just a bit to regain her senses. “I have to go visit my father, though.”

Duke barely suppressed a scowl.

“He’s the only family I have left,” she said softly.

“No, he’s not,” Duke said as he turned away, and that left Grace confused. Was he talking about Ryder or was he talking about him?

She didn’t know what to say to that so she walked over to Ryder and kissed the side of his face as he was piling eggs on his plate. “Those look good, sweetheart.”

“Thanks. Da—Duke showed me.”

“I see. I’ve got to stop by your grandfather’s house. Do you want me to wait for you to finish school so you can come with me?”

“No. I don’t have to go back there now that Duke’s here, right?”

“No,” Duke answered for her. “He won’t be watching you again as long as I’m living.”

“Duke—” Grace started, not sure why she felt the need to speak up. She didn’t want her father watching Ryder because it made her feel like she owed him. But Duke’s objection felt like a slight. As if he didn’t approve of her parenting choices.

“My son will not be watched by that man. There’s no discussion about it,” Duke snapped.

“That’s cool with me,” Ryder said as he sat down at the table, diffusing the argument before it could begin.

“What’s going to happen when you go back to Vegas?” Grace asked him, knowing how hard it was to have someone else take care of Ryder while she had to work.

“We agreed on thirty days,” he said, reminding her of their bet. “Then I get to decide where my son stays and I’m telling you it’s not going to be with him.”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now.

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