snake!” she shouted at him slapping his arm hard enough to sting her hand.
“What?”
She’d clearly surprised him? Stupid jerk.
“You kissed me! You have a child here, and you kissed me! I can’t believe you would do that.” He’d been in her life for less than twenty-four hours; how could it hurt so much already? The betrayal was eating at her.
Storming past him before he could say anything, she walked by Casey to get to the house. His stupid smirk didn’t help any. “Hear him out, doll,” he whispered as she passed.
Slamming through the door, she wasn’t sure where to go next. Hearing laughter from the back of the house, she followed the sound. The sight that greeted her was something she’d expect to see in a movie.
“Oh, hello, dear,” the woman who seemed stuck to the chair greeted her sheepishly.
“Uh, hi. What happened?”
“Well, the young mister thought it’d be quite funny to glue me to this darn chair. Again.” She shot a look of frustration towards the back of the room. Following her gaze, she found Jaxson peeking around the corner of the wall from what appeared to be a mud room, giggling.
Squatting down, Deidre crooked her finger for him to come to her. He was hesitant at first but finally shuffled towards her. A look of sadness on his tiny face.
“Hi, again,” she said when he finally reached her.
“Hi, Pincess.”
Smiling at what he called her she asked, “Did you do something you weren’t supposed to?”
Looking between herself and what she assumed was a housekeeper, he shook his head no.
“Are you sure?” she asked him. “You know telling a lie is a bad thing, right?” Nodding his head, he shrugged his shoulders.
Leaning towards her, he whispered in her ear, “Unca Casey did it.”
Pulling away, she looked into his eyes. Seeing how serious they were, she tended to believe him. “Does he do it often?”
“Uh huh.” So serious.
“Do you take the blame?”
“Sumtime. You hab pretty eyes, Pincess,” he mumbled, tracing her eyebrows.
Smiling softly, she brought his fingers to lips kissing the tips. “Thank you, sweet man.” He puffed up at that.
Footsteps coming towards them had her standing up. Placing Jaxson behind her, she faced the men as they came in the room.
Dom took in everything with a quick glance, frowning as he saw the housekeeper stuck to the chair. His eyes darted to his son’s. “Jax! What did I tell you about doing that?”
Jaxson wrapped his little arms around one of her legs, shaking his head back and forth.
“Go on, sweet man, tell him,” she encouraged.
“Unca Casey did.”
“Rat!” Case laughed when Dom took a swing at him.
“Why you rotten scoundrel!” The housekeeper hollered at him, looking like she’d like to throttle him herself.
“Angela, this is Deidre.” Dom interrupted the mini fight that was about to break out between her and Casey.
“Nice to meet you, young lady. Next time my ass won’t be glued to a chair,” she growled with an affectionate smile.
“A pleasure, Ma’am.”
“Princess?” Dom called her. Looking to him, she could see the confusion in his eyes. He didn’t understand why she was mad.
At the moment neither did she. Jaxson was the cutest little boy she’d ever met. But the question remained: Was he involved?
Walking to her, he pulled her and his son into his arms, whispering in her ear, “Only you, Princess. No one else.”
She wanted to believe him, but everything was so new. She was in a foreign country basically running away. Her life seemed to be hanging by a thread, and this man and his adorable son were prepared to steal her heart.
*****
Dom could see the doubt in her eyes. He should have told her about Jax but was afraid she wouldn’t come with him. Then on the plane, she’d been terrified, so he didn’t want to stress her any more than she was. Now, he wished he had.
Nuzzling her neck, he enjoyed the feel of her body against his, the way she melted into him