“Mm-hmm.” She batted her long lashes skeptically and smiled at the kid, blotting at his mouth. “It's nothing new, Jackson. Really. It's just been Alex and me for the last three years. Alone.”
“You weren't stalked by fuckers who'd slit your throat at the first fuckin' chance,” I growled, stopping myself at the last second from slamming my fist on the table. Didn't want to startle my son. “Put him down for a nap. We need to talk. Looks like there's some shit I've still gotta drill into your head, Summertime, because right now you're pretty damned clueless.”
Bingo perked up in the corner, laying his ears flat against his head. Damned dog had a sixth sense for bad voodoo in the air.
“He usually doesn't lay down for another hour. I still have to give him a bath.” She looked at me defiantly, her pupils expanding in the deep, green seas around them. “But since I got him a new play pen while I was out, I'll listen. Put him down early, just this once.”
Without another word, she rose, walking into the bedroom. I heard her humming softly to the kid before she shut the door gently behind her, and walked back out with her arms folded.
“Seriously, Joker, why do you have to be such an ass?”
I wanted to lay the fuck into her. Shut her up with my lips on hers, press her so hard into the fuckin' wall I put a Summer-shaped silhouette through the damned drywall.
“Same reason you're wandering around, pretending like you ain't fucked when the Deads come around. Christ, Summer, even if you don't give a shit about getting yourself killed – you won't drag my kid into it!”
I stepped up, grabbed her, let her twist around in my arms 'til our faces were only inches apart. “Let me go!”
“Not 'til you shut up and listen. I'm trying to do right by you. I fucked up bad this morning, swigging all that booze. I'm man enough to admit it, and it's time to move the fuck on.”
“You're a fucking idiot,” she spat, slowly surrendering.
She knew I was too strong, and my grip told her I wouldn't let go. Not 'til I was good and ready.
“You think this shit's a game, don't you?” I growled, fighting to keep my eyes off her evil little lips.
“Jesus, no. I don't think that. Believe me, I know how much danger we're in, ever since that fucking asshole kicked down the door to the place I'll never see again, and forced me to deal with you again. If it wasn't for the monsters, I'd have made certain you never got your hands on me or Alex!”
Fuck. That was a long, barbed spear rammed straight through my fuckin' chest.
My hand swept up her back, grabbed her hair, and pulled so hard her face jerked up. I held her just like that when my lips went down on hers.
Kissing her was the safe choice, the only other option I had. It was either kiss her, or slap her across the face, and I wasn't a big enough bastard to slap girls unless they were naked and begging for it.
Goddamn, Summer tasted good. Even when I fuckin' hated her, every miserable word pouring outta her mouth, her kiss burned like napalm on my lips.
She fought me for at least a solid minute, digging her teeth into my bottom lip.
This kiss had everything.
Pain. Lust. Heartbreak. All rolled together in a bitter dance of mouths.
I tasted blood before she stopped resisting, opening for my tongue. I slipped in, taking what was mine. What always fuckin' would be, love her or hate her.
Twined it so damned hard and intense with hers that she lost it a hot second later.
My fingers tore at her hair as she jerked away, her lungs sucking precious air. My other arm around her waist only tightened, holding her to my chest, a short thrust away from making her feel the hard-on straining in my jeans.
“Fuck you, Joker. Fuck you,” she snarled, wiping my taste off her lips. “We are not having a repeat of last night. Not when you've spent the whole day drunk. Ain't letting you fool me again.”
“That the only reason?”
A hateful laugh escaped her lips. “You're joking, right? I really can't tell anymore.”
“I'm not. No more bullshit, babe. I already fuckin' apologized for this mornin'.”
“Really?” she quirked an eyebrow. “You call that an apology?”
“Nah,” I growled, snatching her hand with mine, holding her fingers damned tight. “I'm sorry, Summertime. Sorry I walked the fuck out without knowing you were knocked up. Sorry for kicking you to the curb when you were under the gun. Sorry for being so fuckin' oblivious to everything. The boozing this morning? That shit's minor, stacked against all this.”