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“Do you mind?” I asked King and when I got his negative head shake, I stepped up close to them and held my arms out for Zoe. She leapt to me and nestled her head on my shoulder, patting my back lightly.
“Oh, my heart,” Mom crooned.
“It’s getting close to nap time,” I murmured. “Let’s get inside before she melts down.”
King led the way as we all trooped inside his trailer, Mak staying outside with his back to the stairs like always.
Inside, we all sat in the tiny living area, the guys on the club chairs while Mom, Zoe, and I sat on the small sofa.
King smiled at my parents after we all settled—that charming smile he used in interviews where you can practically hear thebingof his sparkle. “Before we get to talking, I need to ask for your NDAs. Have you had a chance to read them over and sign them?”
“Oh, yes. Of course.” Mom fumbled through her purse while I played patty-cake with Zoe and avoided the look my dad sent me.
“Want to go play with your ponies while the grownups talk?” I asked Zoe.
She shook her head and burrowed into my arms. I guess even the toddler could pick up all the crazy undercurrents in the room.
My mom passed a stack of papers to King. “We both signed.”
“And I’m going to need a copy of those,” my dad cut in.
King inclined his head. “Of course. I’ll get my assistant to make copies. Briar can give them to you the next time she sees you.” King quickly thumbed through the stack, pausing at the signature page, before setting them on the table next to him. “I apologize for the formality, but unfortunately I’ve learned that it’s almost impossible to trust people who have access to the parts of my life where I’m the most vulnerable, like my daughter.”
It was my turn to send a look at my dad, that he also avoided because he was too busy glaring at King.
They were locked in this weird Jedi-mindfuck where apparently the first one to look away would lose.
I glanced down at Zoe, but she didn’t seem bothered by the new tension in the room. She was busy plucking at the buttons on my blouse.
Finally, my dad inclined his head. “Understood. I still want a copy of what I signed though.”
“Not a problem.” King smiled, winningly. “So tell me a little about yourselves.”
Dad sat back with a smirk. “Are we seriously going to sit here and play like you don’t already have a background check on me and Cheryl? I’m sure some of it was even covered in Briar’s report before you hired her.”
“You got me.” King raised his eyebrows. “Those reports are pretty dry, and I’ll admit I only skimmed the parts that covered her parents.”
My dad laughed. “I gotta respect a man who tells it like it is. If you didn’t notice, that’s my specialty.”
And just like that, all the tension leached out of the room. King and my dad were apparently done with their little pissing contest.
I swear, I’d never understand men.
After that, it was just general chit chat with a few slightly inappropriate comments tossed in by my mom. She might’ve been fangirling pretty hard, but at least she didn’t bring up him being on her free celebrity hit list.
Not surprising at all was how, by the end of our ten-minute chat, my mom had charmed Zoe onto her lap.
King smiled at the pair of them even as his eyes looked sad. I wanted to ask him about it, but I couldn’t with my parents in the room. They might’ve signed NDAs, but I doubted King would want to showcase all his vulnerabilities with strangers. Heck, he probably wouldn’t even tell me.
But something clearly was bothering him about watching Zoe and my mom together. What was it?
* * *
That night, as I waited for King to get home, the question buzzed in my mind. Was there any way to bring it up that wouldn’t make him shut down? I was at a loss. I had a feeling it was the last thing he’d ever want to talk about.
And it definitely wasn’t any of my business.
But I felt like we were forming a friendship of sorts, and I hated to know that he was still hurting about something I could only presume was from his past. I knew more than most how those moments loved to haunt you at the most inopportune times.
