Page 66 of Saving Summer
“I know what it means.” He’d kept the volume down, but the gruffness of his voice hurt.
Silly. She didn’t know this man. He meant nothing to her. Less than nothing. On a scale of one to ten, pleasing him ranked at less than zero. Yeah, negative ten. Maybe fifteen. More like twenty.
She would have kept dropping the numbers on how little she wanted his approval, but his heavy sigh drew her attention. “I’m sorry,” he said, slow-blinking like being near her hurt his head. “I’m still processing…stuff.” He swung his gaze to the image of his ex-wife captured in a frame on the dresser. “I like the picture of Ko. It’s a nice touch. Did you do that?”
“Yes.” She’d asked for a photograph early on. It was natural for children to be curious about their birth parents, and she thought it would be important for Halia to know her mother. Who Kosamina was and what she looked like would someday matter to the little girl.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Jamie.” She lifted her head to look him in the eyes. “But Halia and I are here now. And we’re staying.”
“Is that right?” He looked down at her, his expression unreadable.
“Yes.”
“How old are you, Summer?”
“What does it matter? I have plenty of experience with babies, and I—”
“Answer the question,” he ordered, and she bristled at the command in his tone.
“I’m twenty-four,” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Christ, you’re a fucking baby.” His eyes slamming shut, he shook his head. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into here.”
Angered by his dismissiveness, she shot back, “I’m not a baby, and I know enough to decide for myself if I should stay or go. And too bad for you, I’ve already made my decision. For as long as Halia remains with the JTT, I do too. We belong here, and we’re staying.”
He opened his eyes, and the fierceness in his expression as he met her gaze made her knees tremble. “And your decision is final?”
“Yes.”
“Then that makes me responsible for your safety, buttercup.” Leaning on his crutches, he bent at the waist, and cutting into her space, he brought his face closer to hers. If she stood on her tiptoes, she still couldn’t kiss his lips. Not that she wanted to. Not at all. “And when it comes to safety, you’ll do what I say when I say it. Those are the terms. You in agreement?”
“Heck, no!”
“Heck, yes, Ms. Summers. And first things first, I want you sleeping in my bed.”
“I’m not sharing a bed with you!”
His frown turned into a sexy grin, and the urge to do damage to his face flared again. “No one said anything about sharing, baby girl. I’ll crash somewhere else.”
“You can’t.” Hands on her hips, she went into full nanny mode. “Halia needs to bond with her father. You need to be close by and paying attention for that to happen.”
“I’m not her father.”
“Maybe not biologically.” She pointed to the crib. “But she has your last name, and you’re here claiming responsibility. If you’re going to get all bossy about hersafety, then you’re going to do the right thing.”
“Am I?”
“You are. So first things first, you’ll move your stuff into your room—today. I’ll sleep in here with Halia. We’ll share the closet and the bathroom.”
He cocked a brow and glanced around. “There’s no bed in here.”
“Zander’s gone into town to pick one up for me. He’ll be back soon.”
Jamie’s icy glare landed on her. “You move fast.”
“I do.”
“Did you consider the risk to Z, to Jay, to the rest of the JTT before sending him off on your little bed-buying mission?”
