Keeping Time (Steelwolf #2) - Stephanie Kay Page 0,6

have a good night,” I said. And I quickly walked to the door and out into the stuffy early evening air without looking back. I pushed a strand of hair out of my face and headed home, wondering when I would see him again.

No. That would only turn into a mess. I was already tied to the band in a way that Tristan didn’t know.

But I was getting ahead of myself. Maybe I wouldn’t run into him again. Maybe it would be years before James was interested in his father. Maybe I should stop thinking about maybes. They get you nowhere.

Though maybe I needed a therapist.

“There you are,” my mother said when she opened the door for me ten minutes later. “James was getting antsy.”

“Pizza time,” he shouted around my mother.

“You look flushed,” she said.

“What? Oh, it’s just warm tonight.” I set the pizza on the table, and pushed aside all thoughts of a certain long-haired bass player, as I strapped my son into his booster seat.

James immediately tried to climb out of his seat to reach the pizza. That kid would be on the table in two seconds flat if we let him. Since day one, he’d been a bit of a daredevil, where I’d always been typically cautious. It made me wonder how much he’d gotten from Jamie.

And that made me think about Tristan and Cassie and Steelwolf.

What would it be like if he met his father’s family? Would they ever forgive me for keeping him a secret for three years? Would they think I was making it up because Jamie was dead and couldn’t refute it?

And would Tristan look at me the way he did that morning outside of my office? Or in the elevator? I hadn’t missed the banked heat in his eyes, and I was fairly sure mine had matched.

This was ridiculous. I had my one night with a rock star. It wasn’t going to happen again.

“Evie? You okay?” my mom asked, her head tilted in question.

Nope. Not even close.

“Yep. Let’s dig in,” I said, flipping open the top and grabbing a slice. I focused on cutting it up in pieces for James and gave him all of my attention as he chattered about his day with my mom. I loved these end of day moments. Just the three of us sitting around having dinner. We had everything we could ever need, but in the back of my mind, there was the band. Running into Tristan not once, but twice, made me question if I should tell them about James.

Was that best for me? For my son?

“Mommy, Mommy,” James’ voice cut through my thoughts and I gave him my full attention.

“What, bug?” I asked, before he launched into another story about the day.

I could dwell on everything else later.

TRISTAN

Who the hell was James? Her boyfriend? Husband?

I shouldn’t have been focused on that while I waited for my order, but ever since the guy manning the pizza oven had said that name and she’d laughed, I’d wanted to know the answer.

Though I wasn’t sure why it mattered since I still didn’t even know my mystery woman’s name. Not that she was mine in any way. But from what I’d gathered, she was funny, stunning, and a little awkward. And adorable as hell. And I wanted to get to know her.

That hadn’t happened in longer than I could remember. But I didn’t have time for something more right now. We were only in town for a few months and then back on the road again.

Maybe I should hit up a club with Jax and get laid.

“Here you go,” the man said—I think she’d called him Antonio. “Veggie with meatball, pepperoni, and bacon, Mr. Sinclair.”

I didn’t miss how he raised a brow at me when he repeated my order. I had no clue why I’d ordered that combination. Fuck. Of course I knew. She’d ordered it.

I shook my head. What the fuck was up with me?

“Thanks,” I said, also not missing how he whispered my name.

I wasn’t trying to hide out in Brooklyn, but I also wasn’t promoting the fact that I was living in a brownstone with zero security—until this afternoon. Josh had sent a team over today to install a shit ton of locks and cameras. Had to protect his assets, he’d reminded me.

“Big fan, by the way. Hope you enjoy the pizza,” Antonio said, and I nodded before walking out of the restaurant.

I slipped on my sunglasses and thought about my mystery woman and James