Her Marine Next Door - Aliyah Burke Page 0,60
what they thought of her? It wasn’t as if Parker and she were a real couple. “So, why not tell them?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to tell them yet. I have to figure out what I’m going to do about Gemma.”
“Yeah, suppose you should. Then again, maybe that will be what you need—her there while you’re deployed.”
“I have another week and a half before I see if I can go back.” A shit ton of anger and fear there.
…
Anger raged through her like a hurricane. Tipping her head back, she roared in fury. Two days of peace before shit happened again.
“Skylar?” Parker ran into the garage. “What’s wrong?”
“Your bitch is ruining my things. She’s been doing it since she got here, but look at this!” She stabbed her finger in the direction of the old dresser she’d been working on with painstaking care to get it back to the beauty it would have been during the Victorian age.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your baby momma. You can’t stand here and tell me you don’t see the big gouges in the side of the dresser.” Her heart ached, and blood pounded in her ears.
“Of course I see them, and I’m fucking sorry, but you don’t know that she did it.”
She gasped, uncertain she’d just heard him correctly. “So it was you? Or Cullen?”
He frowned. “No. I never would, and I’m sure even if Cullen had, it wouldn’t have been intentional.”
“Are you seriously standing before me, giving that bitch a pass, but stating perhaps it could be your son? Who, I might point out, spends a great deal of time out here with me. You told me before that I didn’t lie to you. Why has that changed now?”
“Exactly. He does.” He crossed his arms. “It hasn’t. You don’t lie to me.”
She was going to stab him with a chisel. Right in the head. “Your son knows how important all this is. He would never do anything like this.”
“He’s a little boy.”
“And his momma is a royal bitch with a vindictive side you and your family seem fucking content to ignore.”
“You have to get along with her.”
She gave a bark of laughter. “No, actually I don’t. I’m not even touching the fact that you’re content to go back on your word and believe she’s innocent. All you do is defend her, not asking me why I think she did it. This is done, Parker. We had agreed to this until you figured out the truth about Cullen’s parentage, and now we know. You’re his father. It’s done. We’re done. No more seeing where this goes between us, no more you staying here. You’re siding with her. You may as well do it from over in your house.”
He stepped closer to her, eyes narrowing. “Skylar. Don’t be like this.”
“Like this? Like this?” Her voice rose at least another octave. “Demanding to have my life back, to stop the interruptions and the drama that come with pretending to be your fiancée? Hell, it’s not like your parents will lose any sleep over this. Maybe they’ll throw you a fucking party.”
He took two more steps, and she shook her head. “I’m done. I mean it. Either you pack your shit or I will. Either way, get out of my garage.”
She needed him out before she crumbled.
“I’ll talk to her.”
She sneered. “Of course you will. I know how that will turn out. She’ll bat those big blue eyes that have you snowed, and you’ll believe the shit she spouts.”
He held out his hands, almost beseeching in manner. “I don’t want her to take Cullen from me. I have to be careful how I deal with her.”
She straightened. “I hope you two can work it out, because no woman worth her salt will put up with the shit she pulls. I shouldn’t have, but I wasn’t a real fiancée. In case you wanted to know why I said it was her, I have video proof.” She walked out of the open garage. “Be gone when I come back.” Opening the truck door, she whistled for Alpin, then helped the old dog into the back seat and drove away, lowering the garage door behind her.
They’d get some ice cream, and she’d give him time to get his shit out. Or she’d do as she’d said. Do it for him.
…
“So you’re moving home. What does this mean for you and Gemma?” His father’s scowl had smoothed out.
“Nothing.” Parker’s tone was low and unyielding. “We’re not a couple.”
And he’d been