Play Fair (The Devil's Share Book 3)(37)

Chapter Eighteen


Bryan


Landry’s mom showing up had shaken us all to the core. Diane had called back, telling Jacks to get all his ducks in a row so to speak. He needed to make sure that all the social worker checks would scream “healthy, stable environment.” We couldn’t give her mom any ammo to use against us. No one spoke a word about the encounter with Landry. Jacks didn’t want it brought up anywhere around her. He instructed us all to act like it had never happened if she was in the house. She didn’t need to know, not yet. She was so happy here, she was letting her guard down and learning to relax. Knowing her mom was back would only terrify her. Jacks had taken her and Dagger down to the beach so I could fill Dylan and Smith in on everything. I’d never really pictured myself as a parent, never really gave it much thought. But after spending this time with Landry, I was finally starting to understand. I would do absolutely anything and everything to make sure that little girl was safe and happy. I would go to the ends of the earth for her.

“Honey! We’re home!”

I closed the tile catalogue I’d been looking at when I heard Jacks and Landry come through the door. “How was the beach?” Jacks came in, smiling, and pulled me close for a hug. Kissing the top of my head before heading to the kitchen.

Landry trailed in behind him, still in her damp swimsuit and miniature aviators that matched Jacks’s large ones. “It was great! We saw a stingray!”

“You did?! That’s so cool!” I put my hand on top of her head and turned her in the direction of the stairs. “You need to change out of that wet suit and jump in the bath to get all the sand and sunscreen off you.” Before they’d left the house I’d slathered Landry in SPF 50. She had more of an olive skin tone, but that sun reflecting off the water could make anyone burn.

“Okay.” She put one foot on the stairs, and then looked into the kitchen. “Thanks for taking me to the beach again, Jacks.”

He grinned. “Any time, Buttercup.” I collapsed on the couch and a few seconds later he joined me. “What are you looking at?”

He was sticking by what he said. Her mom didn’t exist right now, and I’d honor that. For him and for her. “Tile.”

“For the house?” He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. He smelled like sunscreen and salt water. I had the sudden urge to lick his skin; I bet he’d taste like summer. I also knew what he meant by saying the house instead of my house. “Take things slow” didn’t really seem to mean anything to him.

“Yes, for your and Landry’s house.” It would be her house, too, so maybe I should let her pick out her own bathroom stuff. If she went with unicorns and rainbows Jacks could always have it remodeled later.

He was quiet for a while, just sitting next to me looking at flooring over my shoulder. “I have no intention of this relationship going badly, baby doll.”

I shrugged. “I’m sure no one goes into a new relationship thinking it’ll fail. Right?”

“We’re different. Special.”

I smiled, loving his cheeseball side. I leaned away from him so I could look in his eyes. “Oh yeah? And what makes us so special?”

He brought his finger under my chin, guiding me toward him. His lips touched mine, just once, but so sweetly I melted into him. “Because we’re best friends.”

I kept my eyes closed when I answered him. “I think that’s what scares me the most.”

Luke walked in and sat down in the recliner. “What are you two lovebirds up to?”

Jacks kept his eyes locked on mine when he answered, “I’m trying to convince B here that she is it for me.”

“Well, actions speak louder than words, my friend.” Luke flipped on the TV and leaned back in his chair. “And if you two are going to keep staring into each other’s eyes, take it upstairs. I’m in no mood to watch another set of people make out right now.”

Jacks chuckled, finally releasing my gaze. “You walk in on Smith and Dylan again?”

Luke shook his head but didn’t answer. Which I assumed meant that he’d walked in on Lexi and Dash. What the hell was the deal with him and Lexi anyway? Sometimes you could cut the tension between them with a knife but then other times it was like they were inseparable. “Any signs of you-know-who while you guys were at the beach?”

Jacks stiffened at Luke’s words, glancing at the stairs to make sure Landry wasn’t within earshot. “No. I took her down to the private beach club over by Water Sound. They weren’t huge fans of Dagger being there, but they got over it. There is no way her mom could get inside that place, security is tight.”

He nodded. “So anytime she wants to go, that’s where we take her?”

“For sure.”

Landry came bouncing down the stairs and into the living room. Jacks patted the couch next to him. “I was thinking after I shower all the sand out of my hair maybe we could grab one of my guitars and I can give you a little lesson?”

Landry bit her lip and looked down to the ground. “Sure.”

It was obvious she wasn’t pumped about the idea. I leaned forward, putting a hand on her knee. “Landry? Do you want to learn to play the guitar?”

“Um…”