I started to argue that there was no situation, but then I suddenly remembered that Justice’s wife had only been eighteen when he’d married her, and they’d had their first baby. Still, it wasn’t the same. I doubted he would truly be able to relate to my situation. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to get his opinion on the situation. Despite my knee-jerk reaction, I trusted Justice implicitly, and I knew he wouldn’t pass judgment on me.
We hit the locker room and got changed, then made our way to an empty racquetball court. Once inside the soundproof room, Justice waved me over to the bench where we dropped our towels and extra gear.
Before I could move toward the play area, Justice put a hand on my shoulder. “Wait.” I turned back around, and he folded his arms over his chest, his eyes once again examining me astutely. “How much do you know about the beginning of my relationship with Blaire?”
I thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “Just that she was eighteen when you married her.”
Justice cocked his head to the side, his gaze becoming no less intense. “That’s true. But what you don’t know is that I’d known her most of her life. She lived on my floor of my apartment building growing up, and I decided to marry her when she was barely sixteen.” My eyebrows shot up so high, they probably got lost in my hairline. He nodded. “Like I said, I understand better than you think.”
“Fuck, man.” I scrubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I feel like I’m losing my damn mind. The second I met her, it was like every dirty fantasy I’d ever had, and a whole bunch of new ones, suddenly bombarded me, and she was starring in them all. But shit, I’m twenty-two years older than her.”
Justice shrugged. “And I’m almost twenty years older than Blaire. Age is just a number”—he paused and held up both hands, palms out—“after she turns eighteen. Then it’s just a number.”
“I feel like I should have guilt over lusting after a teenager,” I admitted, my lips forming a deep frown. “But I don’t. I’m too focused on the hell the next four months are going to be and dreaming about when I finally get to make her mine. Officially.”
“Fuck what anyone else thinks, or how you think things should be,” Justice growled. “If she’s yours, then wait until she’s legal and just take her. Don’t let anything, or anyone, stand in your way. I spent two years planning and waiting, and Blaire was worth every fucking minute of it.”
I groaned and dropped down onto the bench, putting my head into my hands. “I only have four months. How the fuck did you handle two years?”
Justice chuckled, and I lifted my head to glare at him. “Fantasies. Lots of filthy fantasies.”
Memories from my nap the day before flooded my mind. “Okay, I get that. But how did you deal with being around her? I feel like if I spend any more time with her, I’ll break and do something stupid. Especially when I see her with Tucker. The first time I watched her hold him, I knew she was his mother, and it was the moment I knew I wouldn’t be able to let her go.”
“My physical time with Blaire was limited.” Justice stopped talking, and I studied his expression. I was surprised to see it was a little bit wary.
One part of what he’d said stood out. “Physical?”
He watched me closely for another long minute, then dropped down beside me and dug in his bag until he pulled out his phone. He fiddled with it, then handed it to me. “I wasn’t physically with her, but I was almost always watching.”
I raised a brow and took the proffered phone. On the screen was a view of a room, and after a second, I realized it was the daycare. Justice tapped a button on the bottom, and the screen split into four sections, each of a different room. My eyes zeroed in on a red-headed beauty cooing to my baby boy in her arms.
“Obviously, those are the security cameras,” Justice stated. “However, I also have access to the tadpole app on her phone.” I looked at him questioningly, and he quickly explained what they were. Then he clicked another button, and the cameras switched to what were clearly rooms in a house. “Nanny cams,” he elucidated. I nodded. I had one in Tucker’s room, but I’d been meaning to have them installed throughout the house. One more click and the screen displayed the back interior of a car.
“Your Town Car?” I guessed as I handed over the phone.
“Anywhere I could get eyes on her.” He switched back to the first set of cameras and stared at them for a moment, then he fiddled with it before turning off the phone and stowing it back in his bag. “I needed to know she was safe, since I couldn’t be there to protect her. It was the only way for me to have any peace of mind.” He looked at me with a cocky smile. “And my fantasies were so much better when I could actually see her.”
“Did she know?”
“Not until after we’d been married for a few years. By then, she was used to me being an ‘overprotective caveman stalker’—her words. She knows now and sometimes”—he grinned—“that definitely has its advantages.” He lifted his chin toward my bag and clapped his hand on my back. “I emailed you the login information and password to the daycare camera. The rest is up to you.”
“Thank you. I owe you.” I told him with a relieved exhalation.
“Big time.”
I punched his arm hard, and he laughed, then stood. I followed him onto the court and spent the next hour trying to expel all the energy buzzing around inside me.
Chapter 5
Jonah
“Jonah?”
The sweet sound of Penelope’s voice startled me, and I patted Tucker’s back to apologize for disturbing him. I was lying on the couch with my diaper-clad son sprawled on my naked chest, both of us dozing. I’d sent a text to Penelope after we got home, letting her know that I was leaving a key with her sister’s housekeeper and to just come in when she was ready.
I whispered to Tucker, soothing him back to sleep as I sat up. Glancing over the back of the couch, I smiled and softly greeted Penelope. “Hey, angel.”
Her eyes widened as I stood, and I suppressed a smile at her reaction to my bare chest. There was a bassinet a few feet away, and I padded over to it and gently laid Tucker down. A fuzzy blue blanket was draped over the side, and I spread it over his body before tucking it around him at the sides.
Pivoting around, I watched Penelope as she hesitantly entered the room. I almost groaned out loud when I saw what she was wearing. She had on a bright pink tank top with tiny spaghetti straps, baring too much skin for my liking. Especially the V at the top that allowed tantalizing flashes of her cleavage when she moved. It hung to just above the waistband of a fitted, jean skirt which stopped mid-thigh. It was so short, it would be damn easy to slide it up to her waist, pull her panties aside, and fuck her against the nearest wall. Unless she wasn’t wearing any underwear. That thought had a scowl forming on my face, but I tried to soften it when I saw Penelope’s worried expression. It was hard because I felt building rage knowing that if I was thinking these things, then so was every other man who laid eyes on my angel.