Page 28 of Fierce-Jax (Fierce Matchmaking #18)

FALLING INTO PLACE

“ T his worked out well,” Dillion said on Saturday morning.

He turned from where he was making pancakes. He’d woken up before Dillion and showered.

Normally he slept like the dead with her because she wore him out, but last night that didn’t happen.

Dillion cooked the three of them dinner.

They watched a movie that he’d seen before with Eli, then played a game, and Gianna was sleeping by seven thirty.

He and Dillion were in bed by ten, the door locked, the two of them being much quieter this time than they’d been on Tuesday during their stolen lunch hour. Then she’d unlocked the door and kept it open a crack.

There’d been no mention that he was staying the night and Gianna hadn’t asked, but Dillion had told him she’d be honest with her daughter if it came up.

“It did,” he said, flipping the pancakes over.

While Dillion was quietly breathing next to him all night, he lay there staring at the ceiling.

Everything he wanted in life was falling into place and it just felt as if it was all too neat.

It’s like he was waiting for something to happen or go wrong, but nothing was.

She moved over and put her arms around his waist from behind. A move that he secretly loved. “You didn’t sleep well,” she said. “I can see it and you were tossing and turning. How come?”

Not much got by her.

“I think I was worried Gianna might wake up and come looking for you and I’d be there.”

“It would have been fine if she had,” she said. “She is young enough to not understand.”

He snorted. “She asked if I was going to be her father the first day we met. What do you think she’d say if she caught us in bed together?”

“Caught?” she asked, frowning.

“You know what I mean,” he said. “You don’t like secrets and neither do I, but I’m not sure how to handle this.”

“I know my daughter,” she said. “Trust me on this.”

“I do trust you,” he said. “But I don’t want her upset either.”

Or hating him thinking he was going to steal her mother away.

“She won’t be,” she said. “She was so excited you were coming over last night. I’m lucky I got her in bed as early as I had. I expected it to be later.”

He laughed. “We tired her out playing hide and seek.”

He had to admit it was fun letting her run all over the house and hide while they tried to find her. There weren’t too many places he could fit and was caught fairly quickly when it was his turn.

“She’s a good kid,” she said.

“The best,” he said.

Dillion smiled shyly. “She is. She doesn’t know what she’s missing in her life and I’ve made sure she doesn’t.”

“She has your father,” he said. “And there are a lot of kids who don’t have both a mother and father. They could have two mothers, two fathers, or just one of either of them. Nothing is normal anymore.”

“Exactly,” she said. “You know that and see those things in the services your agency offers. To me, I just want Gianna to be loved, safe, and happy. She’s all those things.”

“You do a great job at it,” he said.

So good that there were times he was worried she’d say she could do it on her own and not need him, which was why he never overstepped when it came to her daughter.

“I do,” she said. “It’s not easy. I’m not afraid to admit that it takes a village and accept help when I need it even if it means having to listen to my father criticize me. He means well, but we don’t always see things the same.”

“I’m glad,” he said. He pulled her close. “I’m not sure if you want to hear this, but I need to say it.”

She was smiling at him, her eyes a little misty. If it wasn’t for the smile, he’d probably lose his nerve. “I think I do want to hear it.”

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her. “I think I fell in love with you before I even asked you on that first date.”

She pinched his side. “Who asked who?”

“Fine,” he said. “Before I was given a few pushes to get the ball rolling. But I was afraid to do it. I saw myself falling for you and knew it’d hurt worse than anything else if you didn’t feel the same way.”

And it’s not as if she returned how she felt just now. He hoped the fluttering in his stomach was hunger and not nausea that he was moving too fast and she’d want to step back.

“You didn’t need to worry,” she said. “I know I don’t act as if I’m all old fashioned, but when it came to you, I was.

Could be that I just didn’t want to put myself out there and feared the rejection too.

It’s been so hard to let someone into my life.

It’s not just me. It’s Gianna too. But you’ve made it so much easier than I thought it’d be. ”

“Good thing for the Fierce women,” he said, kissing her.

“Good thing,” she said. “Without them, I’m not sure how long it would have been before we landed here and I’d get to tell you I love you.”

Jax let out a breath. “Thank God you feel the same way.”

“You haven’t told me you love me, just that you were falling in love,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind hearing it if it’s how you feel.”

“It’s how I feel,” he whispered. “I love you too.”

She hugged him tighter and then turned when they heard Gianna’s steps on the stairs. She didn’t move quietly.

He thought Dillion would step out of his arms, but she didn’t, just turned her head.

Gianna came around the corner.

“Jax, you’re still here!” Gianna shouted and ran toward him, her arms hitting his legs for a hug too.

“I am,” he said. “I’m making pancakes. Do you like them?”

“I love them,” Gianna said. “I’m going to eat three of them.”

Dillion stepped out of his arms and picked her daughter up. “I think I’m going to eat three of them too,” she said. “But Jax has only made four so far. Guess he needs to get to work.”

“Get to work,” Gianna said, clapping her hands. “You need to feed us.”

He laughed over Gianna’s bossy attitude. Got that from her mother that he was seeing signs of. Like earlier this week at his house during lunch. “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“I’m hungry,” Gianna said. “Can I eat now?”

“You can,” she said. Dillion brought her daughter to her booster seat at the table off to the side, then grabbed a plate and put one pancake on it to cut up. “Do you want milk or juice?”

“Milk, please,” Gianna said.

Jax had four more pancakes poured and was ready to flip by the time Gianna was eating the one already on her plate.

“Go eat,” he said.

“I’ll wait for you,” she said, cutting up another one.

“Is that for you?”

She squinted one eye at him. “No. This way I’m ready for her when she wants another and we can all be sitting at the table eating together.”

Like a family, but he didn’t say that.

“I like it when you’re prepared,” he said.

“It comes in handy,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“What are we doing today?” Gianna asked.

“Jax is going to take us on a lemur tour. Do you know what a lemur is?”

Gianna was shaking her head side to side as she chewed. Her brown wavy hair was falling out of her ponytail that was off-center on her head.

“It’s a monkey,” Jax said.

“I’m going to see a monkey?” Gianna yelled and flung her arm up. The pancake that was on her fork went flying.

“You are,” she said. “Because you run around like one most of the time, so you might as well do it with them.”

“Yes!” Gianna said, stabbing another piece of pancake while Dillion picked up the piece that had flown across the kitchen.

Jax took the next set of pancakes out of the pan and then shut the burner off and brought the plate of them to the table that Dillion had set for him and her.

They sat down and ate. “I thought we could go out to lunch after we saw the monkeys,” he said. “Do you like eating in restaurants?”

“I do,” Gianna said. “They give you crayons and paper to draw on.”

“I’ll give you a list of a few places to go,” she said.

“You forget I’ve got a nephew,” he said. “I’ve been taking Eli to restaurants for years.”

“Who is Eli?” Gianna asked. “Is that your kid?”

“No,” he said. She obviously didn’t understand what a nephew was. “Eli is my sister’s son. He’s older than you, but I get to hang out with him a lot too.”

“Can I meet him?” Gianna asked.

“Sure,” he said. “But not today. He’s with his mother.”

“How come you don’t have any kids?” Gianna asked.

“Gianna,” Dillion said. “It’s not nice to be intrusive.”

“It’s a question,” Gianna asked. “I wasn’t being mean.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “You can ask me any questions you want.” He had to figure out the best way to answer this though. “I want to have kids, but it hasn’t happened yet. Someday.”

“You’ve got me,” Gianna said. “I can be your kid.”

His shoulders dropped.

He looked at Dillion to see her grinning at him.

Yeah, she knew her kid.

Looks like she knew him well too.

“You can be my kid,” he said. “If you want to be.”

“I do,” Gianna said. “Just like I want a little sister. Can you give me one of them?”

Dillion coughed on her breakfast. He would not answer this one and turned his head to watch her, grinning like she’d been doing.

“It’s a little early to be asking those questions,” she said.

“Can I ask after lunch then?” Gianna asked.

Jax burst out laughing. “I think what your mother is saying is that it’s not a simple question to answer and we’d much rather focus on you. I bet you like having all the attention, don’t you?”

“I do,” Gianna said.

“Then you get to have it all,” Dillion said. She turned her head and mouthed, “Thank you” to him.

Guess it wasn’t as hard as he thought it might be.