Her brows knit. “Yeah, I guess. Why?”
I bite the inside of my cheek, hesitant to have her judge me.
Say it, asshole. What’s she gonna think that everyone else hasn’t already said anyway?
“I have a son.”
“A son? You?”
Shock. That’s the main emotion her expression shows. But there’s also a glimpse of something else.
I shrug. “Yeah. Caden. He’s ten months old.”
“Wow. I—I mean, that’s great. Congratulations.” She smiles, but it only lasts a moment, then it slips away and is replaced with a grimace. “Wait. What about his mom? Why are you hitting on—kissing me—when you’ve got a baby momma out there, probably waiting for you to call?”
My frown answers hers. “No. She’s not, I assure you. She and I are—well, we haven’t been together since before Caden was born. She’s got some serious issues.”
“Issues?” The question hangs in the air until Jo shakes her head. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”
I tighten my hand over her waist again. “Not yet, but it might be, if you’ll hear me out before you dash out the door when I tell you why I wanted to talk to you.”
Her teeth clamp down on her bottom lip.
I wait for her to protest, but no words come.
“Caden’s mother, Jessica, has a drug problem among other things. I’m seeking full custody of him.”
She nods. “Good for you.”
“My attorney says there are some complications with my bid for custody though.”
“Such as?”
I give her a rundown of almost everything Marcus said. The situation with my history with the judge and his dislike of me, the need for proof of paternity, and Jessica’s sister wanting to take custody of Caden.
When I finish, she stares into my eyes, working her bottom lip between her teeth.
“What’s any of that got to do with me?”
“You’re looking for a job, right?”
She lifts one shoulder. “Well, yeah—if I want to eat. More than that, I have to pay my half of the rent.”
“Come work for me. Take care of my house and, once I get custody, you’ll take care of my kid. You won’t need to pay for a thing, not food, not rent, not even clothing. Nothing. On top of that, I’ll compensate you extremely well.”
JoJo pulls away and studies me for a few moments.
“So, you want me to be your live-in housekeeper-slash-nanny?”
“Not exactly.” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Then what, exactly?”
I never imagined I’d say this to any woman, much less did it ever cross my mind that I’d utter these words to Jo Jordan.
I clear my throat. “I want you to be my wife.”
FOUR
I’d fall over if I weren’t already lying on my side.
Wife.
Marry him.
Marry Ty?
Wife of Tyson Masters.
My hand covers my gaping mouth as his words play on speed-loop through my mind.
It takes a couple of minutes to get control of my ricocheting thoughts, but I finally manage to form syllables. “Why wife?”
He heaves a sigh. “Because that’s what Marcus, my attorney, says it will likely take to convince the court that I’m stable and past all of my—well, my youthful indiscretions.”
“Indiscretions?”
“All of my fucking around and the stupid stunts that landed my ass in jail on more than one occasion.”
Guilt pangs my gut.
One of those times was completely on me. Ty had nothing to do with it. Yet, his record wears the black mark. Not mine.
“Okay, so your attorney says getting married will fix that—but why me?”
“Because you need the money, and I don’t want a real marriage. You hardly seem to even like me. Never have really. It’s the perfect solution for both of us.”
Never liked him? Is that what he really thinks?
No. Surely not. All he’s doing is trying to get his way.
“You called me out the other day on that crush I had on you. Now you’re saying I never liked you?”
“That doesn’t count.”
I sit up. “It doesn’t?”
“It was just a school-girl crush that you snuffed out before sophomore year even got started.”
I must be a better actress than I thought.
That crush lasted well past the last time I saw Tyson. He stood in the rear of the auditorium while I gave my Valedictorian speech. I recited the words I’d slaved over, and the entire time, my heart ached, knowing he should’ve been walking across the stage with the rest of our class, but couldn’t. All because he took on my guilt, saving my college acceptance…saving me.
He took my punishment, and, to this day, I don’t know why.