Meagan turned to look at me as Joshua chuckled. “This is Christy, my girlfriend.”
I quickly looked the girl over and gave her a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you. If you’ll excuse us, we’re late; nice seeing you again, Mr. Black.”
“Joshua, call me Joshua.”
I nodded my head and led Meagan to another movie. “Gray, what’s going on? Why didn’t you let me talk?”
Guiding her into the movie, I led us up toward the top row.
“I don’t trust that guy. Neither does Derrick. Something about him is off, plus we found out he’s been snooping around asking questions about a murder case.”
“Oh, what does he do for a living?”
“He works for his father’s law firm.”
“Lawyer?”
“Yeah. Derrick checked him out. Something isn’t right though. He never brings any of his cases to trial. They’re all settled.”
Meagan made a face like she was intrigued as I said, “Let’s grab a bite to eat instead of a movie.”
“Are you sure? I thought you wanted to see a movie.”
“Nah, not anymore.”
A few minutes later we were sitting in a café drinking coffee and waiting for our dinner. “So, have you talked to your parents yet?”
The coffee cup froze at Meagan’s lips. “Um . . . well I did tell them about you. Of course they already know you, but I broke the news that we had been dating.”
Ouch. Broke the news. I had to admit that felt like a knife in my chest. I wasn’t sure why Meagan was so afraid to tell her parents we were dating. I’d met Brad and Amanda plenty of times, and every time they were super nice.
Maybe it was my past she was afraid would come out. I could see how they wouldn’t want their little girl dating an ex stripper.
“You make that sound like it’s a bad thing.”
Meagan jerked her head back. “No. Not at all. It’s just, my parents aren’t used to me dating.”
“Their reaction?”
“My mom acted as if she already knew. She said she noticed the way we always looked at each other. She figured something was going on. My father on the other hand, he went on about dating a cop and the stress that would add to my already stressful career. All that kind of stuff.”
“Damn, does your father ever let up on you?”
Meagan shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not as bad as it used to be. Now that Taylor is going to be graduating college, my father will ease up on both of us. At least I hope he will.”
“I heard he was always a little harder on you though.”
With a lift of her eyebrow, Meagan flashed me a smile. “So how much did Grace tell you about me before we started officially dating?”
Leaning back in the chair, I flashed her my crooked smile that I knew she loved. “She told me you were bullied in college and that your father rode your ass pretty hard. Compared you to Taylor all the time and wanted you to be the perfect example for her.”
Meagan’s head tossed back with her laugh as I reached for my drink and took a sip. She exhaled a breath and nodded. “Ahh yes, all of that is very true. Although, he did let up for a little while when he realized I was moving to Colorado. I think he might have thought he pushed me away.”
“Did he?”
Meagan sat up a little taller as if she was still trying to prove something to her father. “I really did fall in love with it here when we came for our girls’ trip, and maybe I was running away from something I didn’t want to face.”
My elbows rested on the table as I looked into her eyes. “Isn’t that what you council kids to do . . . not run away from things. Face them head on?”
Her lips parted open as if she was going to argue with me. She didn’t though. My words must have been swirling around in that beautiful mind of hers because she was soon lost in her own thoughts.
Reaching for her hands, I rubbed my thumbs gently across her delicate skin. “Hey, look at me, Meg.”
Her eyes slowly looked up into mine. “You’re not that girl anymore, Meg. You’re a smart, beautiful, confident, amazing, woman and I’m so damn proud to be a part of your life.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “My dad is coming to visit me and I guess I’m so afraid he is going to judge every single thing I’ve done and then he’ll judge you and I don’t want him to scare you off . . . and oh my God. Why is this bothering me so much?”
The waitress walked over and set our plates down as I pulled my hands back. “Is everything okay, sweetheart?”
Meagan quickly wiped her eyes and nodded. “My gosh, I don’t cry. Ever. Yes, yes, everything is perfect. Just emotional today.”
Giving Meagan a wink, the waitress glanced at me and asked, “Can I get anything else for you?”
With a polite smile, I shook my head. “No thank you.”
“Let’s eat and head back to your place. We can snuggle up and watch a movie.”
“When is your dad coming, Meg?”
Without so much as looking up at me, she softly said, “In a week. He’s staying for four days.”
So much for getting rid of her apartment.