Betting the Bad Boy

by Sugar Jamison

  And he knew that if they couldn’t figure out how not to be angry with each other, how to make things work, he was going to end up spending his life miserable and alone. Because there was no one else.

  Grace and Ryder were his family.

  He put his hand on her shoulder, not wanting her to disappear from his space. “If you go up the stairs I’m coming after you.”

  “You are always going to resent me. Even if you had known about him you would have resented me because I stopped you from going after your dreams.”

  “That would have been my choice. Nothing to do with you.”

  “I don’t believe you. I know you wish sometimes that I had stayed the hell away from you.”

  “That’s not true.” She had taught him what it was like to feel love and love something more than you loved yourself.

  He inched closer to her, setting his lips on the back of her neck. “Why hasn’t there been anyone else since me?”

  “You know why.”

  He didn’t. It had to be more than love. She had to have been lonely. She had to have needed support. “What’s going on with us, Grace?” He knew this was a conversation that they needed to have that he kept avoiding.

  “You tell me.”

  “I asked you first.”

  “I don’t know, but I would like it if you made love to me now.”

  “I can do that.” He turned her toward him, pulling her nightgown off over her head.

  “Go slow tonight,” she said as she kissed him. “Make it last all night long.”

  Chapter 16

  “You’re really going to eat the steel-cut oats?” Grace asked Duke the next morning as she stood over the stove.

  He was looking gorgeous that morning, with his over-long hair rumpled, his tattoos on display in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. She wanted to go over and kiss him, but she settled for just looking at him as she stirred their breakfast.

  “I said I was, Gracie.” He got up and came to stand behind her, standing so close that the heat of his chest warmed her, but he didn’t touch her. It was just heat and his scent and his closeness, and that turned her on and made her want to press her body against his even though they had spent the entire night together. She woke up in his bed. She woke up feeling happy for the first time in a long time. Cautiously happy because even after everything they’d talked about last night she still didn’t know what was going to happen between them. “As long as you put a little butter and sugar on it, I’ll eat it.”

  “I feel like I need to eat celery and plain oats to make up for all that food I ate at the diner yesterday.” She turned to face him. “But damn it was good.”

  He grinned down at her. “You should have seen the look on Ryder’s face when you cleaned your plate. I thought he was going to have a coronary.”

  “I’m craving beef. It’s rare that I do. I must be lacking iron or something.”

  Duke wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer. “I don’t know why,” he said, dropping his voice to a whisper, “but hearing you say that you’re craving beef just turned me on.”

  “Duke.” She shut her eyes and squeezed him. “I’ve missed you.”

  They stayed like that for a long time. Even though she knew she should be watching her oats, she couldn’t pull herself away from him.

  “Why didn’t anyone wake me up for school?” Ryder asked them.

  Grace’s eyes popped open and she attempted to step away from Duke, but he wouldn’t let her back away. “You’re not going today,” he said, as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. “The professor was called away.”

  “Oh.” Ryder didn’t seem too affected by their embrace. He only looked mildly curious. “I told Mike I was going to school today. We were going to ride to the park afterward.”

  “You can still do that. You know where your bike is,” Duke answered.

  “No, he can’t!” Grace pulled away from him and cupped her son’s face in her hands. “My baby will not be riding five miles to the park on his bike. Are you crazy?”

  “Oh come on. Colt and I used to ride all over the place when we were his age.”

  “It’s a miracle you’re still alive.” She shot him a look before she kissed Ryder’s cheeks.

  “Mom,” he groaned.

  “You’re babying him,” Duke said.

  “Shut up both of you,” she retorted. “I have to go to your grandfather’s house today. Come with me and Mommy will buy you cupcakes and ice cream.”

  Ryder looked up at his father. “Can I stay with you today? Maybe we can work on the car.” Grace’s feelings were stung. She tried to not let them be. She knew that Ryder needed to bond with his father. She knew that she owed it to them to spend as much time together as they could, but still it hurt a little.

  “We’ll work on the car.” Duke nodded. “But after we go to your grandfather’s house.”

  “We?” both Grace and Ryder asked at the same time.

  “Yes.” He sighed heavily. “We’re all going to see the miserable bastard.”

  *

  Duke pulled up in front of the judge’s house, his mood dropping as he saw the house he’d never been allowed inside when he was dating Grace all those years ago. He was driving Grace’s new SUV—which he didn’t like, but he’d agreed to do it since Grace was uncomfortable with Ryder riding in a car that had no seat belts in the back.

  He hadn’t driven a car that hadn’t been customized in … ever. He was going to have to call down to Vegas and have one of his safer cars sent to him. That or he was going to have to paint at least some flames on this one.

  “Don’t worry, Duke.” Grace set her hand on his knee. “Nobody is going to think less of you if they see you driving around in a regular old unadorned car.”

  “The least you could do is let me chrome this one out and paint it electric blue.”

  “No, thank you. I prefer the not-special color it has on it now.”

  “Fine.” He stepped out of the car and glanced at Ryder, who was sitting in the backseat looking bored with his headphones in his ears. He didn’t want to be here and Duke sure as hell didn’t blame him. He would have let him stay home with him, but he hated seeing the hurt look on Grace’s face—and rationally Duke knew that he couldn’t keep Ryder away from his only living grandparent forever.

  “Come on, boy.” Duke opened the door and yanked his son out. “We’re King men.” He wrapped his arm around his son’s shoulders. “We can handle anything.”

  “Can we change my last name?”

  Duke looked over to Grace to see what her response would be. “Of course,” she said. “You should have your father’s name.”

  You should have my last name, too, he thought, and it surprised him although he wasn’t sure why.

  She should be his wife. She should be taken care of, and there was nobody else for him. She would forever be the standard to which he held all others.

  But …

  He wasn’t sure if he could keep her happy. He wasn’t sure if there was too much between them, too much pain from the past to make it work. In every other aspect of his life he had just charged ahead and made it work, consequences be damned, but in this he doubted himself. This was too important to fuck up, and he wasn’t sure that Grace really wanted to be married to him anyway.

  She’d stayed away for so long. It had to be more than just being afraid to face him, not wanting him to think she was after his money. Maybe she didn’t think he would make a good husband. She might have been right; he wasn’t sure he could be a good one, either.

  The front door creaked open and the judge stood there looking much older and wearier than Duke had expected.

  “You came to see me, did you?”

  He was looking directly at Duke, but Grace answered. “I’ve been a little worried. I saw Mr. Sanchez in the diner yesterday. He said that you didn’t come to his house for your weekly card game. You haven’t missed that game in twenty years.”

  “That damn
Hector has a big damn mouth.”

  “Two damns in one sentence, Daddy. You must be feeling quite put out today.” She left Duke and Ryder and went to kiss him on the cheek. “Say hello to Duke.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do, girl. I’m not a child.”

  “I know. You only act like one. Be nice to Duke. Please. He’s not going anywhere.”

  “You bought her a new car?” he asked instead of greeting him.

  “I did.”

  “And I hear you’re fixing up the old ugly house of hers?”

  “I am.”

  “Good. You should have bought her a new one in this neighborhood. But I know my girl was probably too stubborn to let you. She wouldn’t take money from me and she wouldn’t go to you after we found out you were richer than God. She should have, but she didn’t want you to think she was going after your money. I say if there’s any perk of being knocked up by a King boy, it’s the massive child support check every month. You are planning on paying child support, I hope? Grace shouldn’t have to work two jobs anymore.”

  “She won’t. And I always take care of what’s mine,” Duke said through clenched teeth, trying to keep his temper in check.

  The old man nodded. “Well, what are you standing out there for? It’s hot as hell. Hello, boy. I guess I should be happy to be honored with your presence today.”

  Duke saw Ryder’s nostrils flare and knew how he felt. He ruffled his son’s hair, a silent message that they were going to get through this. Ryder looked up at him in that way sullen teenagers looked at their parents, and in that moment Duke got angry with his own father all over again.

  He was just getting to know his son, but he couldn’t see disappearing from his life. It was more than just mentally knowing that he was a father; he felt it bone-deep. He couldn’t walk away from this boy. He couldn’t leave him to fend for himself. He couldn’t think about going back to life without him. It would feel unnatural not to be there for him.

  He gently nudged Ryder’s chin with his knuckles. “Come on, son.”

  He looked up to see the judge’s eyes on them. The man stared for a long moment before he turned away and walked inside. He walked with a pronounced limp. Duke wondered if that was just a sign of his advancing age, but when he saw the concern cross Grace’s face he knew it wasn’t.

  “Daddy, why are you limping?”

  “It’s nothing.” He continued into the house and they all followed. Immediately Duke was taken aback by the inside. It wasn’t what he expected. It was dark and cluttered in there. Kind of faded, like it had once been grand, but with time had turned to shit.

  “It’s not nothing.” Grace was right behind him as he hobbled into the kitchen. As soon he sat down, Grace crouched before him and lifted his pant leg. “Your ankle!”

  It was swollen and dark purple. It must have hurt. Duke thought he might have taken pleasure in seeing the old man in pain, but he didn’t. He almost felt bad for him. The judge had changed so drastically from the man Duke had known and hated as a teenager. He seemed kind of sad now.

  “I tripped over that old television in the den. It’s just a sprain.”

  Grace gingerly examined her father’s foot, transforming from a concerned daughter to a medical professional.

  She was supposed to have become a doctor. Ivy League college, medical school. She said she would have thrown it all away for him. She thought he resented her or would have if they ended up together, but he thought it might be the other way around. Looking at her now, he knew she would have been a good doctor. And he knew she could have never gotten there with him.

  “I think it is just a sprain, but I’d feel better if it was x-rayed.”

  “I’m going to the doctor tomorrow,” the old man said, but Duke knew he was lying smoothly. The bastard wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

  “Well, you shouldn’t be up and walking on it. You know better. We’re going to ice and wrap it.” She stood up and went to his freezer, which was bare, except for an empty ice tray. “There’s nothing here.” She opened the refrigerator, which was nearly as bare. Some condiments and a few eggs. “Daddy … When is the last time you ate?”

  “Last night. I’m not hungry today. I was planning on going to the store tomorrow.”

  “You’re only going to the doctor tomorrow and that’s it.” She looked at Duke. “I have to go to the store for him.”

  He nodded, knowing that she had to care for the old man. “Can you two please move the old television?”

  “I don’t need help, damn it.”

  “I will have no arguments from you.” She shot her father an angry look, but Duke could see the worry all over her face.

  “We will.”

  She stepped forward, close enough to speak into his ear. “There are some things around here that need some attending. Could you…”

  She didn’t have to ask. He noticed. He saw all the things that could potentially harm an elderly person. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll take care of it.” He took the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. “Go to the store. We’ll be here when you get back.”

  “Thank you.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. It wasn’t a deliberate thing. She did it like it was natural. Like she had spent a lifetime kissing him good-bye like that. But she had done it in front of her father and son, and Duke knew they both were wondering what exactly was going on between them.

  “Help your father, sweetheart.” She kissed Ryder’s cheek and was off, leaving them alone.

  “I can believe she actually left me alone with you. She must really trust you,” the judge harrumphed.

  “And you don’t?” Duke raised an eyebrow.

  “I figured you might want to kill me.”

  “Not in front of my boy.” He took the eggs out of the refrigerator and found half a loaf of bread on the counter. “Make your grandfather an egg sandwich.”

  “Ha!” The judge laughed bitterly. “He’d probably be your damn alibi. He’s so much like you. He’ll probably put ground glass in it.”

  “You keep ground glass in here?” Ryder asked.

  “Ryder,” Duke chided, but the judge just laughed.

  “Such a smart-ass.” He shook his head. “TV is on the floor in the den. You can put it in the garage. Can’t leave it out for the trash men to pick up. They won’t take it. And don’t steal anything while you’re back there, criminal. I know what I have.”

  “Don’t call my dad a criminal,” Ryder said. “Or you can make your own damn food.”

  “You’ve got to respect your elders, son,” Duke warned, but he kissed Ryder’s hair, feeling the need to parent even though he was secretly pleased his son was sticking up for him. “Even when you want to shove a sock down their throats you’ve got to respect them. Besides, I am an ex-con.”

  “He sent you to jail, didn’t he?” Ryder nostrils flared again.

  Duke was going to deny it, but the judge spoke up, “Look at him. Would you want your only daughter running off with a thief whose father was a drunk that permanently disfigured a man due to his foolishness?”

  “My dad is not a thief.”

  “No. I’m not, but I did steal. I took food from the supermarket after my dad skipped town because we didn’t have any money. It was the last time I ever took anything. But I can’t say I wouldn’t have done it again. My baby brother was eight. He needed to eat. But I’m rich now, Judge. I could probably buy you if I wanted to.”

  “You just take care of your boy and never mind about me. He needs a man in his life, and it looks like you’re going to have to do.”

  “Yeah. You never wanted anything to do with me,” Ryder said under his breath as he grabbed a pot from a cabinet and turned on the stove.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No. Not nothing. Who said I never wanted anything to do with you?”

  “You didn’t have to say it. You hated my dad. We lived on the other side of the country and you never tried to
see us. I didn’t even know you until Mom moved us back here when Grandma was sick. You just look at me like you don’t like me.”

  “I look at you that way because you look like him and sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing with Grace. It’s not because I don’t like you. You don’t like me. That was clear from the day we met.”

  “What didn’t you do right?” Ryder studied the old man.

  “So many damn things. None of it matters now.”

  “Maybe it does matter. Maybe I want to know.”

  “Your father proved me wrong. I never thought he would be anything but a criminal, but he proved me wrong and now it seems he’s here to do right by you. But I still wonder if he would have tried so hard if I hadn’t tried to keep your mother away from him.”

  Duke wondered the same thing himself. He didn’t know how he would have acted if things had been easy with Grace. He didn’t know if he would have fallen so hard if she were just like any other girl from Destiny.

  “I’m not my father.”

  “No,” the judge agreed. “Just make sure you are a better one than yours and a better one than I was. Now are you going to move the television? Or do I have to hire someone to do it?”

  *

  Grace returned about an hour later. She had tried to rush back, but she wanted to make sure her father had enough food to last him the week that wouldn’t take too long to prepare. It wasn’t until she had loaded the groceries in the car that she realized that for the first time in years she didn’t have to worry about money at all. She didn’t have to fret over the unexpected purchases blowing her monthly budget.

  It was an odd feeling. One that she hadn’t had since she lived with her parents and the only problem she had was what she would wear to homecoming. She tried to shake it off as she drove up to her father’s house again. But then she remembered she had left Duke and her father alone.

  She grabbed a few bags of groceries and tried not to rush into the house. She hadn’t thought twice about leaving them alone because she had been so concerned about her father, but then she remembered how her father was.

  He could drive a saint to commit a felony.