Page 38 of Unveiled

He turned his attention to the other guys, and Jaxon’s thoughts drifted back to Adalyn and Jaclyn. Jaclyn was his, too, and what he had told Adalyn yesterday was true—he wanted to be involved in her upbringing. He replayed Adalyn’s reaction in his mind, her hackles rising, claws coming out. She was like a tigress, protective of her cub. He smiled at the image. That was Adalyn, all right. Seeing her with the baby had made him want her all the more. She obviously loved their daughter and would do anything for her.

He was still angry with her—who wouldn’t be?—but he couldn’t deny that he still wanted her. It might require a lot of convincing on his part, but he would just have to show her he meant every word of what he had said before. He wanted Adalyn and the baby, and he wanted to be part of their lives. He needed to make Adalyn see that he didn’t want to take the baby away—just the opposite, in fact.

They could make this work. She wasn’t going to give in easily, but he was going to win her over—one way or another.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

The doorbell rang, making Adalyn jump and causing her heart rate to double. Jaclyn continued to play on the floor, undisturbed by the sound. Pushing off the couch, Adalyn headed toward the front door, dread sitting like a lead ball in her stomach. Even through the narrow, frosted pane of glass in the door, there was no mistaking Jaxon’s broad form.

Drawing in a fortifying breath, Adalyn unlocked the door and pulled it open. Jaxon stood there, larger than life, his presence dominating the entire front porch. Face unreadable, he silently stepped inside. Without waiting for an invitation, he toed off his boots, then turned to Adalyn, holding out a plastic shopping bag of Chinese takeout. A peace offering?

Adalyn slipped the handles from his fingers, careful not to touch him. “Thank you,” she said. Her stomach rumbled as the delicious smells wafted up to her. She’d gotten home barely fifteen minutes ago, giving her just enough time to change out of her work clothes and into a pair of comfy sweats and a T-shirt.

Closing the door, she flipped the lock, then gestured down the hallway. Instead of preceding her down the hall, Jaxon tipped his chin, gesturing for her to go first. Adalyn felt his gaze on her the whole way, like he was painting a bull’s-eye on her back, just waiting for her to slip up. So far, nothing she had done was good enough. He hadn’t allowed her to explain herself, had only thought the absolute worst.

Maybe tonight would go better since their previous two encounters had been less than successful—an understatement of the year. Tonight he’d brought dinner. The fact that he’d gone out of his way to do something nice amped up her guilt. It was an uncomfortable situation at best, but she was determined to play nice, for Jaclyn’s sake. If he could come halfway, she could too.

Rounding the corner to the living room, Adalyn saw Jaclyn was still in her spot, eyes glued to the cartoon playing on TV. She set the food on the counter and began to remove the containers.

She felt Jaxon come up beside her, his huge form moving into her peripheral vision. “You leave her alone like that all the time?” he asked.

Adalyn bristled at his words. So much for that peace offering. She wanted to speak up in her defense, but instead, she swallowed the words down. She knew he was still angry, but it wouldn’t do either of them any good to feed into it. Be the bigger person, Adalyn.

“I was gone for thirty seconds. Besides,” she gestured around the room, “everything’s baby-proofed.”

“It only takes a few seconds for them to get into something and get hurt,” he replied.

Adalyn barely held back a snort. Now he suddenly had a wealth of knowledge about raising kids from some Google search he’d come across in the last two days? Was he out of his mind? What did he think she’d been doing for the past year?

“You know, that never occurred to me. You’re absolutely right.” She turned toward him and pasted on a sweet smile, a direct contradiction to the sarcasm flowing from her tongue. “Next time, I guess I just won’t answer the door.”

Intense blue eyes narrowed on her, and she glared right back. If he thought he could just walk in here and start criticizing her parenting skills, he had another thing coming.

She could practically feel the animosity vibrating off his tense body, and her gaze skittered away, back to Jaclyn. She’d hoped they could at least be civil for her sake, but gauging from the attitude he was carrying around, she didn’t think that was very likely.

Appetite gone, Adalyn shoved away from the counter. Brushing him off, she made her way around the couch and settled on the plush cushion. Her book still lay on the armrest where she had discarded it when the doorbell rang, and she picked it up and began to read again.

For several long moments, Jaxon stood rooted to the floor, and Adalyn could feel his angry gaze on her, burning into the back of her head. Finally, with an irritated sound, he entered the living room and settled beside her on the couch. Her muscles tensed, acutely aware of him.

Finally noticing his presence, Jaclyn turned and peered warily at Jaxon. Adalyn watched surreptitiously over the pages of her book as Jaclyn studied him. The sight sent a little pain of regret shooting through her heart. For both their sakes, she wanted Jaclyn to be comfortable with him. She wanted Jaclyn to know her father, and he deserved to know his intelligent, sweet little girl.

With a soft sigh, Adalyn set her book aside. Infusing as much enthusiasm into her voice as possible, she directed her words to Jaclyn. “Why don’t you come see Daddy?” Her eyes flitted to Adalyn for a moment before darting back to Jaxon, and she shook her head emphatically. Next to Adalyn, Jaxon tensed, his hands clenched into fists where they rested on his thighs.

“Don’t take it personally,” Adalyn said, gently resting a hand on his forearm. Thick cords of muscle tensed under her touch, and she pulled her hand away, tucking it into her lap.

Jaxon leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. For a long moment, he stared at the ground, then lifted his eyes to Jaclyn.

His voice was quiet when he spoke. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a jerk.” He spread his hands wide. “I don’t have a good excuse. I’m just… lost.”

Adalyn knew how that felt. “I understand.”

He watched Jaclyn for a moment before speaking. “What’s she like?”

“Smart. Too smart.” Adalyn smiled. “She watches everything and everyone. She loves to play, especially with things she can build.”

A grin cracked Jaxon’s face, transforming him into the handsome man Adalyn remembered. “That’s probably my fault. I was always that way, too.”