Page 84 of Ugly Duckling
“Like, what kind of fuckin’ head trauma did they get to think that you’d ever say yes to that?” He shook his head, his curls bouncing with the movement. “I mean, my god.”
“I know,” I admitted, pulling my eyes away from his sexy body to focus on my lunch. “She said that they would see me in court. I can’t wait.”
“You can borrow my lawyer, she’s a shark,” he teased.
“I guess I’ll reach out to her,” I grumbled around a nugget smothered in ranch. “Fuckers. All of them.”
“Wouldn’t mind meeting that ex of yours in a dark alley, that’s for sure.”
“Who’s her ex?”
Yates.
I turned to see him at the doorway, looking hesitant.
“Some guy that I’d rather not talk about right now,” I said, wanting to change the subject.
“Got it,” Yates nodded. “Hey, boss. I have to head out early. Something came up.”
Gunner’s eyes met mine, and I somehow knew that was his last straw.
He said. “Sure, let me walk you out, though. I have to talk to you about something.”
When he got back, I had the rest of our lunch picked up, and Gunner’s eyes were an angry blue.
He caught my eye and said, “Well, that’s done.”
I smiled and was about to reply with “good” when the little hurricane that was Lottie interrupted us.
“Daddy braids!”
I grinned. “Yeah, Daddy. Do you want braids?”
The way I batted my eyes at him had that growl that I loved so much slipping from his lips.
He tugged at his hair, which was surprisingly longer than you’d expect when you looked at it. “Um, I don’t think it’s long enough.”
“Daddy braids!”
“I could probably put some in,” I admitted. “They’d be more like corn rows, though.”
“Fine,” he sat on the chair next to his girl. “Let’s do this.”
Twenty-One
If you have baby fever, take a nap. If you enjoyed that nap, don’t have kids.
—Gunner to Jasper
GUNNER
Life went on.
It was three weeks to the day after I’d fired Yates when I got a call from a school district in Austin asking if I would mind coming down to give them a security assessment.
That security assessment would take me two full days to do, and they wanted it done fast.
So, during my morning run—luckily a short one this time—I brought up leaving Lottie behind with Sutton.
