Finding Us (17 page)

I shake my head, “I’m falling for him, Summer. He’s so different when it’s just the two of us together. I know he’s got demons he’s trying to get past but what if he can’t? What am I going to do?”

Summer lies down on the bed and rests her head in my lap. “He’ll get past it, it’s going to take some time, I’m sure, but if everything you said is true it sounds like he’s falling for you too.” I scoop Summer’s hair up into a ponytail and twist it into a knot.

“I’m scared, Summer. I’ve only let one other person in like this and look how that turned out.” I rub at the tightness in my chest from the memory.

Summer rolls over and looks up at me, “Enough of the serious stuff, we’ll deal with that shit later. Right now, I want to know about the important stuff.” She wiggles her eyebrows up and down at me. “So, I’m wondering if he knows how to use his magic stick like Rex does.” She tries to suppress her giggle but fails miserably.

“I assure you my magic stick works just fine, Summer.” Knox answers when he walks into the room with a smug look on his face. He deserves that smug smile.

Summer, is absolutely speechless which is a very hard thing to accomplish. She has a comeback for everything. Her cheeks grow pinker with every second that ticks by.

Knox’s laugh is low and throaty, “Don’t get all embarrassed now. I’m sure my brother has shown you what us Mitchells can do.” He winks at me and holds his hand out. “I’m stealing her for a few minutes so we can go get dressed.”

I place my hand in his and climb from the bed. Smiling, I let Knox lead me back to the bedroom to change. I hear a little girl giggling somewhere in the distance. I tilt my head to the side, eye brows furrow. “Did you hear that?”

Knox nods, “Yup. That’s Ava, you’ll meet her in a bit.”

A knot in my belly forms wondering what a little girl could be doing here. Is this the something that Knox couldn’t talk to me about yet? If she is Knox’s can I handle that, a little girl that looks just like him? Light brown hair that tumbles down her back and those sparkly eyes? My heart beat picks up a notch.

“What’s running through that beautiful head of yours?” Knox asks as we walk into the bedroom and he shuts the door.

I fiddle with the hem of his shirt that I am still wearing. I keep my head down, “Is she yours?”

When Knox doesn’t answer right away I look up and a painful expression etches his face. He lets out a heavy sigh and shakes his head, “No, she isn’t mine.”

I sigh in relief.

Knox raises an eyebrow at me, “Worried were you?”

Trying to play it cool, I shake my head, “Nope, just curious.” I look around for my bathing suit before remembering I left it in the bathroom.

I see Knox in the corner of my eye with a half-smile playing on his face, “You were worried.”

I roll my eyes, “Was not.”

Standing in the bathroom I start to unbutton his shirt as Knox comes to stand behind me. “Look at me.” He commands.

I look into the mirror, into his smoldering blue eyes. His sun kissed, well-defined muscled body towers behind me. Knox’s gaze drops from my eyes to my shoulder where he leans forward and places a kiss. Something intense flares in his eyes when they meet mine again. My heartbeat throbs in my ears.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

Not as beautiful as you think, my heart whispers back.

“Look at me.” Knox repeats his words from earlier. “You don’t see it do you?”

I chew on my lower lip and shake my head.

“Jasmine,” He rest his hands on the sink on either side of me, caging me in. “I know you feel what I feel. I can see it in your eyes. No one,” he licks his lips, “has stirred these emotions inside me in a long time. I’m still trying to work them out myself but I’m letting you in. It’s all I have to offer right now and I know that pretty little head of yours wants to know everything but like I said earlier I’m not ready for that yet.”

I drop my eyes to my hands that are still playing with the buttons on his shirt. “I’m okay with waiting for you to be ready. There are things from my past that I don’t want to talk about either. Actually they’re not even worth talking about but I should at least tell you what I had to deal with.”

Knox kisses my neck and it causes me to shiver. “Time, we just need time.” I nod my head in agreement. “While we take it one day at a time, just” He takes a deep breath and lets it out “be patient with me. I’m not always easy to deal with. Just ask those guys downstairs.”

“I’ve got the patience of a saint.”

Knox gives me an irresistibly devastating smile. “So do you need help with the rest of those buttons?”

I push back against him, “Get out of here, we need to get dressed before Jeremy comes up here begging for your attention again.”

Knox turns me around and gives me one of his knee weakening kisses.

After we finish changing into our beach attire, Knox grabs my hand again and leads me downstairs. As we are walking down the stairs the little girl’s voice rings through the whole ground floor. I can’t help but smile. Knox looks back at me; he smiles and gives me a wink when he sees that I’m smiling and not nervous anymore.

A little girl with raven black hair that flows in curls down her back comes running down the hallway in our direction. “Uncle Knox!”

Knox lets go of my hand and crouches down as the little girl runs right into his open arms. “How’s my little lady doing?”

She giggles, “I’m not little. I’m a big girl.”

Knox sighs dramatically, “How could I forget. You’re three now right?”

She swings her little body from side to side, “Yes.”

Jeremy comes walking down the hallway with a princess cup in his hand, “More like going on thirty.”

I put two and two together and discover that this little girl is Jeremy’s. Seeing them together makes it undeniable. Same color hair, same bright green eyes and killer smile.

Knox turns the little girl in my direction, “Ava, this is our friend Jasmine. Jasmine this is Ava.”

Ava’s little mouth hangs open like she just saw the most memorizing thing. “Are you a princess like Princess Jasmine?”

The biggest smile appears on my face, she is too cute for words. “Ha! Princess my a…” Jeremy trails off and Knox and I start laughing.

“What’s funny?” Ava asks with a frown on her face.

Knox kisses Ava on the cheek, “Nothing, little lady.” He places her back down and she wraps herself around Jeremy’s leg acting shy now.

Jeremy hands Knox Ava’s princess cup so that he can reach down for her. “They were laughing at Daddy, sweetheart.” He explains. Jeremy reaches for the cup again and then walks back down the hallway with us trailing behind.

I wrap my hands around Knox’s forearm. “I can’t believe he has a daughter.”

“Hard to believe, huh?”

“It’s kind of hot.”

Knox stops dead in his tracks, “What did you just say?” His jaw is clenched tight as he turns and stalks towards me.

I bite my lower lip and take a step back, right up against the wall. We’re chest to chest, nose to nose, and toe to toe. “What did you say?”

I don’t back down, “You heard me. I said it’s kind of hot.”

“I’ll show you hot.” Knox says through gritted teeth.

As his mouth is descending upon mine someone clears their throat. Both our heads turn to the sound but no one is there until they clear their throat again. We look down and see Ava standing there with her hands on her hips. “No kissing a princess, Uncle Knox!”

I quickly look the other way so that Ava doesn’t see me holding back my laughter. Knox is somehow able to hold it in and answers her, “No kissing Princess Jasmine?”

I look back down to Ava who shakes her head. Her black curls bouncing as she does.

Knox takes a step away and puts his hands up in surrender.

“Thank you for saving me, Ava.” She shrugs her little shoulders and walks into the kitchen.

I follow right behind her before Knox can finish what he started.

“This isn’t over.”

“As long as Ava is here it is big guy.”

Knox groans but doesn’t say anymore. Jeremy is buttering a bagel at the kitchen counter, he shrugs when he sees me looking at him. I walk over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water. I lean up against the counter and twist the cap off. “She looks just like you.”

Jeremy places the knife down on the counter and then picks up the plate and walks around me. “Thanks.” He places the plate down in front of Ava, “Tanks Daddy.” Jeremy kisses the top of her head.

Rex walks in with Summer on his back. “Who’s kid?” Summer asks as Rex lets her down.

“Jeremy’s.” Rex answers.

Summer reaches in the bowl on the table and grabs an apple. “That’s hot.”

I look over at Knox and mouth, “Told you so.”

Knox just shakes his head. I glance over to Rex to see his reaction; he’s glaring at Summer who blows him a kiss.

“Where is everyone else at?” Knox asks.

“Cade never came home and Rhea and Tanner ran out to get ice for the cooler.” Ava picks up a half her bagel and acts like it’s a steering wheel. “Ava, you have to eat that or you can’t go down to the beach.” Jeremy says with authority in his voice.

“Ok Daddy.” Ava takes a big bite out of her bagel.

Summer fills us in on what everyone did last night. They all went to Margaritaville and that’s where they lost Cade. She explains that they tried to call him and looked around for a good hour before calling it a night and leaving him there.

“Speak of the devil.” Rex starts. “Holy sh…sugar.” Rex catches himself before cursing in front of Ava. “What happened to you?”

Cade takes a seat at the table next to Knox and across from Ava.

“Uncle Cade, you got a boo boo?” Ava says through a mouth full of food.

Jeremy starts laughing, “Yeah he does, Ava.” Jeremy puts a hand on top of Cade’s head and faces it towards him, “Damn, you got it.”

“Daddy!” Ava yells, “You said a bad word.”

“Sh…Crap, Daddy’s sorry sweetheart.” Ava takes another big bite and goes about humming to herself while she’s eating.

“So what happened?” Knox asks.

Cade groans and rubs his temples. “I didn’t know.”

“Know what?” Summer asks.

Cade glares at Summer who glares right back, “That she had a boyfriend.”

The guys all shake their heads and I scrunch my nose up in disgust. I know I haven’t dated much but I can’t see how girls can do one night stands. I guess it could be just me. Sex isn’t something I think I can leave my emotions out of. Hell, just messing around and my emotions are involved. I know Summer has done it a time or two and even though she said it didn’t bother her that she didn’t hear from the guy again I secretly think it did.

“Let me guess,” Rex says, “He caught you in the act?”

Cade shakes his head and groans. He lays his head down on the table, “No he found us asleep in their bed.”

“You never sleep at a girl’s house.” Jeremy pipes in.

“No kidding. I was so drunk I passed the hell out.” Jeremy cuts him off, “Sorry Ava, Uncle Cade’s having a bad day.” He wipes her hands and face. “Why don’t you run upstairs in my room and play with your dolls for a few minutes and then as soon as Aunt Rhea and Uncle Tanner get here we will take you down to the beach.” Ava jumps down from the chair and runs into the hallway. “So finish.”

“I was woken up with a right hook. It took me a few minutes to figure out where I was once the pain subsided. The bitch kept saying she was sorry to her boyfriend, begging him not to leave her. I got my shit and got out of there.”

I go into the freezer and look around for something for his face. I spot an ice pack. I take it and wrap it in a paper towel before I hand it to Cade.

“Thanks.” Cade puts the ice pack up to his eye and then rests his head back on the table.

“When are you ever gonna settle down?” Knox asks.

“When you do?” Cade retorts back quickly. Knox shoots me a glance. I respond with a half-smile.

Jeremy’s laugh starts out low before Rex joins in and now they are both full out laughing. “Looks like it might happen sooner rather than later.”

I shake my head and glance over at Summer who has a Cheshire Cat smile on her face.

Finally Rhea and Tanner walk in with a bag of ice in each of their hands. Jeremy runs up to get Ava while Tanner puts the ice in the cooler on the back deck. When everything and everyone is ready we all head down to the beach.

When I heard Ava’s voice, I knew that was the reason Jeremy had come looking for us. He’s a great father to that little girl but he doesn’t think he knows what to do with her. Jeremy had a one night stand with some girl he met at a bar. He swore black and blue that she was the one for him but the next morning she was gone, he said. Two months later, when we were all hanging down at the beach, she came looking for Jeremy. She told him she was eight weeks pregnant and it was his. It destroyed Jeremy. He didn’t know whether to believe her or not. He did what any of us would have done and was there for her; he went to every doctor’s appointment, every ultrasound and everything else.

When Ava was born Jeremy said he wanted a paternity test before signing her birth certificate. Weeks later Jeremy got the results, ninety-nine point nine percent Jeremy’s. He signed Ava’s birth certificate the next day. He went to April’s house, Ava’s mom, and they talked for a long time. Jeremy gave it everything he had to make it work but in the end it just didn’t.