“No matter, we’re here now,” Emily said primly.
“We did say nine,” Jordan said, rolling her eyes. Gloria felt her lip curl. Emily must be Jordan’s mother. They had different hair colors and styles of dress, but the two women resembled each other.
Asher put his hand on the boy’s chest and rubbed. “Hey, kiddo. This is Gloria. Can you say hi?”
“Mama,” the boy whined, reaching for Jordan.
“Just put him down,” Jordan spat.
“Jordan—”
“Mama!” At Hawk’s exasperated cry, Asher lowered him to the ground. Hawk ran not to Jordan, but to Emily, hugging her leg.
“He’s tired this morning.” Something about the older woman was downright hard. As much as Gloria wanted to be Team Asher, she kind of couldn’t blame Emily. Her daughter had been knocked up by a rock star who hadn’t appeared in his son’s life for a while. Granted, Jordan waited to tell Asher about his son, so that was her fault. Gloria wondered if Emily knew the whole truth. She glanced over to see Jordan standing off to the side, texting like a teenager instead of behaving like an adult with a child to rear. Glo guessed she was around twenty-eight, twenty-nine, tops, and she further guessed that Jordan’s mother had done much of the heavy lifting in Hawk’s life thus far.
Gloria took a step back, planning on making her getaway as quickly and cleanly as possible. Asher didn’t let her.
“Emily.” He put his hand on Gloria’s back and brought her closer to him. “This is my book agent, Gloria Shields. Gloria, Emily Trudeau.”
Trudeau. Her name sounded as wealthy as she looked. Gloria nodded her greeting. “Nice to meet you.”
“You’ve met Jordan,” Asher said, his voice dipping slightly.
Jordan tucked her phone into the pocket of her shorts and gave Gloria a curt nod. Yeah, this wasn’t the most comfortable reunion. Emily’s eyebrows lifted as she watched the exchange.
“Did you bring your swim trunks, Hawk?” Asher asked, folding in half to lower to his son’s level. “We’re going to go on a boat and maybe swim later. Sound good?”
Hawk’s eyes widened in a combination of curiosity and fear at the suggestion, or maybe he sensed he was about to be left alone with his father. Clearly, the two of them hadn’t spent a lot of time together yet, given the boy’s shyness. It broke Gloria’s heart to see Asher have to work so hard to earn his son’s trust. She’d had parents who hadn’t tried at all. Hawk was lucky.
“A boat?” Emily bleated.
Asher’s smile slipped the slightest bit as he stood. “I have life jackets.”
“Well, who’s going to watch him when you drive the boat?” She tilted her head.
“I am,” Asher answered, frowning. “It’s not a speedboat, Em. It’s a pontoon. Like a floating living room.”
“You didn’t say anything about a boat,” Jordan said. “If you’re planning on going on that thing alone with him, we’ll just take him back home.”
“Gloria’s going, too.” Asher shot her a glance. “Aren’t you, Sarge?”
Gloria felt her eyes go wide. Going? Out with Hawk and Asher? For a change, she was tongue-tied. She wound the leash in her hand, utterly speechless. Jordan’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“She and I have to talk about a few book things,” Ash continued, clearly unaware—or not caring—that Gloria was about to have an anxiety attack.
Jordan continued glowering, her pretty features turning harsh. “Hawk doesn’t know her.”
“He doesn’t know me either,” Asher bit out, and as much as Glo didn’t want to spend family time with a family that wasn’t hers, she also kind of wanted to high-five him.
Emily pressed her lips together.
Wow. What a sour bunch.
“Would it be okay if Gloria came with us?” Asher turned his attention to Hawk. “She’s fun.”
Gloria, aware that Hawk was looking up at her like she was a giant scary monster, decided to stop looking like one. Apparently, she was going on a boat trip, and as much as she resented Asher dragging her into this situation, she’d much rather agree and piss off Emily and Jordan. Who did they think they were mandating how Asher could spend time with his son?
Gloria pulled her lips into a pretty smile and lowered to the boy’s height, balancing on her heels. “I’m super fun,” she told Hawk.
He smiled at her and a dimple appeared in his cheek. Oh goodness, he was so cute. Tank ran to her side and licked Hawk’s hand.
“Doggie!” Hawk giggled.
“Yep, and the doggie is coming, too,” Gloria said.
Asher lowered to his heels next to Gloria and her chest grew warm. She sneaked him a glance and he smiled, clearly grateful.
“Doggie swims?” Hawk patted Tank’s back and Tank barked. Hawk giggled, exposing that dimple again.
Ahh-dorable.