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“How’s the filming going, Kingston?”
“Mister Grier! Over here! Let’s see those guns. Can you flex for us?”
“How’s the new nanny working out? She getting the job done?”
Zoe whimpered and burrowed into my body as they peppered us with their questions. The photogs’ flashes had me seeing spots, and Briar stumbled.
“Back! Get back! He’s got his kid in his arms. Give them some space!” Mak bellowed as he came around the front of the car. In the distance, I could see studio security scrambling to reach us, but they were too far away to do anything for us now. Briar’s bodyguard got between us and the photographers, giving us valuable space to dive into the car.
I held the door for Briar, ushering her in front of us. We scrambled into the car, and I closed the door behind me. The photogs had their lenses pressed against the windows, lighting up the inside with the flashes. Grumbling under my breath, I gently set Zoe in her rear facing carseat. She whimpered slightly, and I felt it deep in my bones. This was because of me. All her turmoil was because of me and my choices.
Briar’s hands shook as she struggled to strap Zoe into the carseat.
“I got this. Buckle yourself in.” I brushed her hands aside and clicked the buckles into place.
Briar gave Zoe a watery smile, then she maneuvered around me to sit on the far side of the bench. The second I heard her seatbelt click, I yelled at Mak, “Get us out of here!”
Mak honked once in warning then floored it. Since I wasn’t buckled in yet, I slid across the bench seat into Briar’s space. She braced me with a hand. I tossed her a quick, forced smile, buckled myself into the fun middle hump seat, then bent over Zoe and murmured reassuringly to her.
“Here.” Briar passed me a sippy cup that I quickly gave to Zoe.
Zoe gripped it in her tiny hands, and in minutes her eyelashes fanned against her cheek. She gave a contented sigh as the sippy cup fell away from her face in a small stream of drool. How someone could look so cute while drooling was beyond me, but Zoe did. I kept a hand on her tummy and just watched her face as she slept.
I had to do better. I had to figure shit out for my little girl. We couldn’t keep going through all this bullshit. She deserved better. Strangers yelling questions and taking her pictures shouldn’t be her life.
I really didn’t want to play happy families with my mom right now.
Briar sighed deeply next me as we idled in the rush hour traffic, reminding me of her presence.
“I’m sorry today has been such a shitshow,” I murmured to her, cognizant of Mak’s looming presence up front. “But I really didn’t want Zo around my mom before I could get a feel for how she’ll act.”
“Do you think she’d be abusive or something?” Briar’s brow wrinkled.
“No, I just don’t trust her. She sold me out to the media—I wouldn’t hold it past her to do the same with my daughter. Zoe has so few people who put her interests first. Even my ex-in-laws want to exploit their relationship with her. I can’t trust anyone anymore.”
“I hope you know that that’s not true.” Briar’s soft hand rested on my thigh. “I hope I’ve proven to you that you can trust me.”
I winced as I clasped her hand. “I do. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine, King. I know trust doesn’t come easy to you. I just want you to know that I will always put Zoe’s needs first. And you can trust me to mediate with your mom. I won’t leave Zoe alone with her until you’re ready for that. No matter what she says.”
I closed my eyes as an overwhelming feeling swept over me. She got it. She gotme. I couldn’t remember a time when I felt so understood by the woman in my life.
It was everything.
And for the second time today, I struggled to put what I was feeling into words. I wasn’t ready to feel it, let alone say it out loud. And I really wasn’t sure what Briar would think. If I wasn’t ready to feel it, I knew for a fact she definitely wasn’t ready to hear it. She was an amazing, beautiful, smart, and giving woman, but she was also so damn guarded. Any sudden move could spook her.
Still, it meant everything to me that she got me.
I roughly cleared my throat. “Thank you, Briar. That, uh, that means a lot. I appreciate you.”
The light in her eyes dimmed, and Mak made a scoffing sound he tried to cover with a cough. I glared at the back of his head. I sure as shit didn’t appreciate that.
“You’re welcome. I think.”
I had to laugh at Briar’s reply. Her droll tone said it all.
“Hey, I’m just a pretty face.” I shrugged. “Writers think up all the witty shit I say in movies.”
