The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,40

out. “I ran into your sister and she told me more about the party, though you had mentioned it on Monday.”

Bianca turned and gave me a sheepish smile. “I wasn’t totally sure he’d follow through, so I didn’t say anything.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” I smiled at Jace. “But you really didn’t have to.”

He just shrugged. “I know, but Hayden’s worth it.”

It took all my strength not to kiss his face off right here in front of my parents.

My mother tittered around the kitchen and talked to Jace while I headed upstairs to help Hayden get ready for the day.

Hayden buzzed with energy. “Mommy, when can we go see my panda?”

I laughed and silently cursed Jace for telling her that part. Going on an exciting outing was the sort of thing to save for right before it happened. Or hold over the kid's head to achieve good behavior, but Hayden was an especially well-behaved child. I didn’t usually have to do that.

“I promise, we’ll go soon, but right now we have to get ready for your party.”

Her face lit up. Her attention had been distracted by the panda, but now she remembered she had a whole day of fun coming. Hayden was floating on air as I fixed her dark, curly hair. “I’m glad Jace is our friend.”

My heart swelled, but I had to make sure she wasn’t just happy about the gifts. “He won’t be buying you gifts every week,” I cautioned.

She craned her head to look up at me. “Duh. This is special because of my birthday. But he’s nice and makes you smile. You don’t smile very often.”

My heart somehow broke and swelled again, happy that she liked Jace so much and hurt that she’d noticed how down I’d been for the last few years.

Jace was serious about spending the day with us. Hayden and five of her friends had a mini spa day scheduled at the salon. Manis and pedis, snacks, and juice pouches poured into little plastic champagne glasses. They had their little robes, and it was absolutely adorable.

The moms stared at Jace because he was the only man there, but he didn’t seem the least bit bothered by catering to Hayden’s every need.

One of the moms who I didn’t know very well asked me if Jace was Hayden’s dad.

I was new in town, so I wasn’t familiar with all the moms yet. Hayden was biracial so if she and Jace were seen out together, it might be assumed that Jace was her dad.

Lisa, sitting beside the mom, Georgia, shook her head. “Jace isn’t Hayden’s dad but I’m thinking he might wanna be.” Lisa and Georgia giggled and looked at Jace, who was admiring Hayden’s nails.

“Stop,” I hissed at Lisa. “I don’t want to gossip.” I widened my eyes at her comically to try to show her I wasn’t mad, but there was something akin to envy on her face. That was surprising, since she’d been such a good friend to me. I made a note to keep an eye on it. Hopefully, it wasn’t anything but her wishing she could meet a guy too.

After the salon, the party continued to the pizza place where Damon had confronted us.

I presented the girls with a big bucket of tokens. I wasn’t smart about it. I should’ve waited until after the food to give them the tokens, so we had to wait while they ran around like wild turkeys and played games.

I wasn’t surprised to find Jace helping Hayden, to get her the highest score possible on her games so she got a shit-ton of tickets.

Lisa walked up next to me as I watched Jace spoil Hayden even more. “He’s a natural,” she commented. “What spell did you put on him to tame him?” Her tone was light but something else simmered under the surface.

I laughed and shook my head. “If I knew, I’d bottle it and sell it to single women everywhere.”

Lisa didn’t look too convinced. “Well, be careful. He’s known as a player.” I gave her a sharp look, but she just shrugged. “He gets around. He probably isn’t the type to settle down. Have you considered maybe he’s just putting on a show to get in your pants?”

Damn. I turned and looked at the Bitter Betty. “I doubt Jace has any trouble getting ass, or that he’d go through all of this trouble just to tap mine when there are women who are salivating for him to just look at them.” I raised my