Page 14 of Drive Me Wilde

"It's about time, Sir James. I've got breakfast ready."

"Stop calling me that." Jameson rubs his face and then continues right up to his scalp to give his thick hair a good raking.

I'm slowly putting those puzzle pieces together, but the picture they're forming doesn't make sense. Jameson reaches the kitchen and looks at me almost as if he forgot I stumbledonto his front stoop last night. He gazes at me a long moment and seems to be searching for words.

"Awkward," Rio mumbles as she turns back to the stove.

Jameson rakes his fingers through his hair again. His arms look even bigger when they're in motion. "How'd you sleep?" The words finally crack out of his dry throat.

"Solidly. I'm sorry I kicked you out of your bed."

He clears his throat as he heads to the coffeepot. "I don't mind the couch."

"Bullshit," Rio mutters under her breath.

"Enough comments from the peanut gallery," he says.

Rio spins around so fast grease flies off the spatula. "Did you just call your only child, heir to your vast fortune and person who will be in charge of wiping drool off your chin when you're ninety, a peanut? And what the heck is a peanut gallery? Is that where they keep painted portraits of peanuts?"

I'm still absorbing the news that Jameson Wilde is a father, but her question makes me laugh. "The peanut gallery was what they called the cheap, impossible-to-see-the-stage seats back in the old days of theater and vaudeville acts," I say.

Jameson hands me a cup of coffee. "Really?"

"Yep."

"You always were one of those brainy nerds under all that beaut—" he stops himself short.

"Aha," Rio says. "You were going to say beauty, and I heartily agree. Indi is going to help me with my makeup later, right?"

"Only if by helping you mean she's going to help you take it off," Jameson says. "You look like Cleopatra, and I don't mean that as a compliment."

Rio drops a pancake unceremoniously on a plate. "Mean people are only allowed one pancake, but no maple syrup. Indi, talk sense into the grumpy old man."

I look at Jameson. He's wearing a crooked smile, and his brow is cocked.

"How old are you, Rio?" I ask.

"Thirteen," she says with a chin lift.

"In six months," Jameson adds as he drowns the one cake in syrup.

"Five months, three weeks and six days," Rio says emphatically.

I pour syrup onto my pancakes. "Let me just say, Rio, I wish I'd held off on the makeup thing because frankly, it's such a pain in the rear. It's expensive and messy, and my eyes were always burning from mascara and eyeliner. There's nothing better than getting up, washing your face and going out the door with no makeup. I do it all the time now."

Rio seems to be considering my advice. Her bow shaped mouth twists in thought. "I suppose you have a point. This stuff does make my eyes burn." She puts down the spatula. "Don't eat my pancakes. I'll be right back." She dashes off toward the bathroom.

Jameson nods a thank you toward me, and we carry our plates to the breakfast table. I ate at the same table many times, but back then, it was Zach sitting across from me.

My hunger temporarily overrides my curiosity for a few bites, then I put my fork down and stare at Jameson. He's mostly concentrating on his coffee. His gaze, the silver-blue one that always looked otherworldly to me, fixes first on my lips and then my face. "Question on your mind, Jones?"

"Oh no, not at all." I lean forward. "You're a dad? How the hell did that happen?"

He laughs. "Shit, I take back the brainy nerd comment. Would you like me to draw a chart like the ones they used to put up in health class?"

"You are still such an asshole." I grumble and stab my next bite of pancake.

"I met Rio's mom right after high school. Nicole was hitchhiking through town and got a job at the diner. Then—I refer you back to the health class charts for the next portion of the story. She left town, pregnant, without telling me until three years ago. Then I get the surprise call of a lifetime. She's through being a single mom. She wants to find herself and all that shit. Next thing I know, I'm a dad. And frankly, it's the best fucking thing that's happened in my life."

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