Boy did I ever learn.
“What the hell does that mean? They hurt you?” He asked with a bite to his words as if he were going to jump up from this table, hunt down my family and beat the ever-loving daylights out of them. Was it twisted that I found I really liked that notion? That it made me like him more and even admire him just for thinking it?
I gazed over the water watching it sparkle in the sunlight. This was one of my favorite places to be. Austyn and Ryker even had a playset put in off to the side for Remy because we loved it here so much and spent a ton of time here. It was like going to the park but minus the bad parts like germs.
“It wasn’t a nice place sometimes Micah. But what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” And it did in the end.
“I would’ve never guessed you came from that type of family the night we met.”
That would be the truth. I ditched my neck to ankle coverings and exposed a lot of skin that night we were together. No one would know where I came from. It was a way to be someone else. To think about what my life could’ve been if I hadn’t been born to this family.
“That was the point. It was a chance to go out and just have fun. Just so happens I met a hot guy and well…” I trailed off. At his shoulder bump I giggled. “Yeah. Things happen and we just have to make the most of them.”
“You’ve done remarkably well for yourself.”
I shrugged loving the compliment, but my pride wouldn’t let me acknowledge that. “If it weren’t for Ryker and the entire Ravage MC, I don’t know where we’d be right now. We left with a garbage bag and nothing else. Ryker was a lifeline helping us change our names and disappearing into a puff of smoke. Never once did he say we were a pain in his ass or that he was tired of doing this or that. He just put on a smile and acted his crazy self never skipping a beat and we needed that at the time. There was too much heavy going on and Ryker lightening the load helped tons.”
“It took guts to leave everything you know and not have a clue what the next steps were all to protect Remy. What did your parents say they were going to do when they found out you were pregnant?”
I’d purposely avoided this when talking earlier because I hated even the thought of it. “They were going to take me to the clinic to kill her.”
His hand darted out resting on my knee as if this news rocked him down to his foundation. “So fuckin’ happy you got out of there. By the way, that’s a kickass name.”
This warmed me straight to my core. “Thanks. Katie and I were searching, and it popped up. As soon as I saw it, I knew. Knew this little girl would be Remy. Its origin comes from the French and it’s intended to be a boy’s name. Me, it was my girl.”
He smiled bright. “You know you’re not alone in this anymore, Ensley. I’m here. I want to be a part of Remy’s life. I’ll work with you on how that happens, but I want to help you in any way I can whether it be monetary or my time. I’ll take what you let me have.”
This should scare me like it did the other night, but sitting here talking to him, it didn’t. He had a way of putting me at ease and talking to him came natural. He wasn’t going to take away my little girl. He just wanted to help and get to know her. That meant the world to me. It would also take a lot of getting used to as well.
“I want you to know her too. She’s a bundle of energy.” I reached in my back pocket and pulled out my phone pulling up a picture of her and handing it to Micah. “This is her.” I probably looked like the crazy mom who just wanted to shove pictures in everyone’s face, but I was proud of my little girl.
He took the phone from my hands and stared at the screen for a moment not saying anything. He just touched the screen reverently like he was memorizing the photo. I’d thought I had lost him there for a moment until he spoke. “She’s beautiful. A little blonde baby. Who would’ve thought that one? With us both being dark haired. She has my eyes.”
I swore I saw him swipe the corner of his eye. This was really getting to him and I respected that.
“She does have your eyes and they are beautiful. But…she has this horrible habit of sucking her thumb quite a bit and I’ve given up trying to break her of it. It’s not worth the fight.”
He chuckled. “Learning to pick your battles. Totally get that one.” He paused. “Gotta tell you I admire you and what you’ve done to protect Remy and yourself. Not a lot of women would go to such lengths. And she’s the most precious thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe I helped make her.”
This made me chuckle and it also had those warm feeling flowing through me once again. I liked the thought. “Yeah. You did, but she must have your wild streak because no way she got that from me.” I couldn’t even keep a straight face saying it. The way we met kind of blew that out of the water. She and I were rebels. I could live with that.
“Never.” He smiled and it was gorgeous. The kind that should be on a magazine cover. It lit up his face turning his defined features a bit softer and way too hot. Pull yourself together woman!
“So you were in the Marines.” I tried changing the subject hoping that he’d let me. There was so much heavy again.
Luckily, he did. “Yeah. Been all over.”
“What did you do there?” I had zero clue about what Marines did at any place or time. No one around me growing up was in the service. Hell we didn’t even learn about it. But since being out on my own, I’d watched enough television to know bullets flew and it was a huge risk of one’s life.
“Computers and tech. I was on the ground in the field a lot.”
“Did you like it?”
“Yep. I’d done computer stuff before going in and the Marines knew I had skills there and used them to their advantage. They did. When it was time to leave, they asked me to stay on another four years, but I bowed out.”
That was interesting. Could one actually bow out of the military? “Really?”
“Yeah. It was time to come home.”
“They just let you leave?”
He aimed his sexy smile my way causing flutters in my stomach. “Yeah. I’d finished my contract with them. It was my choice to stay or go. I chose to go.”
That was a good thing. I liked he was home now. “What do you do now then? For a job I mean.”
“Computers still. I have clients that I work with some that were from before I left, others new from reference.”
This sounded seriously intriguing and I wanted to know more. “Doing what?”
He smirked. “Can’t get into all that Ensley. There are some things that are better that you don’t know. With my clients there is a strict confidentiality and both ends must follow it. Same with when I was inside. I can’t tell you about those missions because they were and are classified.”
This shocked me as something hit me. “Are you doing illegal stuff?”
His head shook. “Just stuff that’s confidential.”
Somehow, I didn’t think he was telling me the whole truth, but I understood confidential stuff. It didn’t mean I had to like it. I liked knowing everything around me as much as possible. This would be one of those things up in the air that I hoped didn’t fall and hit me in the damn head. “Okay.”