Chaser (Dive Bar #3)(65)
And that’s how I wound up answering the door to Jean’s parents the next morning half naked.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jean’s mom’s mouth just kind of hung open. Meanwhile, her dad’s lips disappeared into a very thin white line.
“Hi,” I said, settling Ada a little higher on my shoulder. Bare because the baby had puked on my undershirt after her morning feeding a few hours ago. True, my hair was tangled to shit and I didn’t exactly look my best. But at least I had pants on. “Was, um, Jean expecting you?”
Apparently this was the wrong thing to say because they both looked even crankier. Neither of them deigned to reply.
I stepped back from the door. “Ah, please. Come in. Jean’s just sleeping so I was looking after the baby. I’m her neighbor, Eric Collins.”
“Yes, she mentioned you at dinner last night,” said her mom. “Do you look after Ada often?”
“Sometimes.”
“You know how to look after a baby?”
“I learned. Ada’s a great teacher.”
“Thought Jean was only friends with Nell,” said the dad, finally speaking. Though given the tone he used, I really wished he hadn’t.
“Your daughter’s a smart, kind, sweet woman,” I said, getting a little cranky myself. “She’s had friends here since the day she arrived. There are plenty of people here who care about her.”
“You’ve heard something about our family dramas obviously,” said the woman, smoothing back her neat head of thick dark hair. Easy to see where Jean had gotten her good looks from. Fine lines bracketed the woman’s mouth and eased out from beside her eyes. But age hadn’t diminished her one bit. Pity about the shit attitude. “It’s easy to judge from the outside.”
“Very easy,” I agreed. “For instance, you’re assuming all sorts of crap about your daughter because of me being here.”
The dad grunted.
Fuck, I knew that noise. My own father made it all the damn time. Especially when he was seeing something he didn’t like and hearing things that didn’t suit him. Old bastard. The older couple stood in the living room, still giving me weird looks. Whatever. Without a doubt, they’d be reflecting on how much I was like the dick who’d knocked up Jean and disappeared. So I didn’t look like a doctor or a lawyer or someone who wore a suit five days a week to work in a corner office. Tattoos and long hair didn’t make you a bad person. All of this shit was on the inside.
“Where is our daughter?” the dad finally asked, looking around the apartment. As if she might be hiding in a corner and spring out at any moment to surprise them and save them from this awkward-as-fuck encounter.
I wished.
“She’s sleeping,” I said. “That’s why I’m looking after Ada. With her teething, Jean hasn’t gotten much rest the last couple of nights. So I crashed on the couch and took care of the baby so she could get some sleep.”
“Oh.”
The mom sighed. “We warned her having a baby on her own would be hard work.”
“Jean’s a great parent and she deals just fine.” I kept my face nice and blank. These people, they hurt my head. “But everyone can do with a little help now and then. No one should have to go through life on their own. That’s what family and friends are for, isn’t it? Supporting each other, being there for each other even if you don’t exactly agree with all of their life choices?”
Hint, hint.
Dad’s frown increased by about a billion. Over guilt or me, who knew? Meanwhile, the mom seemed to be putting a whole lot of effort not to let her gaze drop to my bare chest.
“Ada threw up on my shirt,” I told her.
“Oh.” Again.
They actually seemed a bit startled by this new information. Judgey asshats. And even if I might in fact be having sex with their daughter, information like that definitely fell under the heading of none of their goddamn business.
I physically resisted the frown lines threatening to crease my brow. No sense making this more uncomfortable for Jean than it already looked like it was becoming. On my shoulder, Ada babbled happily while sucking on a fist. I don’t know how she could be so happy with life on so little sleep, but at least she wasn’t crying or puking anymore.
“I’ll go see if Jean’s awake,” I said, walking, not running away from her parents.
All those years of avoiding meeting a girl’s folks. I’d been so right. A shame I’d fallen headfirst into the situation here and now, but the rules for what I was willing to do for Jean were distinctly different than for just about every other woman I’d ever been involved with. It was a fact. No point denying it. Eventually, I’d probably have to give her the whole, “Hey, let’s attempt being a couple” speech. Hopefully, she’d be more receptive to it than Karen had.
A guy could only hope.
Gently, I knocked on Jean’s bedroom door before opening it to peek inside. Shit. Even first thing in the morning, the woman looked like my dirtiest dreams come true. Sometime during the night, she’d kicked off the blankets and the negligee had ridden up her thigh. I slipped into her room, closing the door behind me. Let her folks think what they liked. Honestly, the damage was probably already done.
“Jean?”