No Pink Caddy (ACE Book 1) (33 page)

I swallow. “Sure. I guess.”

“Do you love my dad?”

Wow! She
is
just like her father—she has the same inability to lead up to questions like that one. I set my mug down and contemplate how to answer. She’s an adult, but Jude is still Aaron’s little girl. I don’t know what he’s told her about us. The last thing I want to do is step on anyone’s parenting toes.

I must have taken too long because she says, “It’s okay. I probably shouldn’t have asked. It’s just nice to see him happy. I worry about him all the time. Especially the last couple of years. He was never drunk or high around me, but I’m not an idiot. I knew he was using. I saw the news stories about him being carried out of bars and messing up songs he wrote and had been playing for years.”

Apparently, I have not read enough, because her revelations are news to me. Aaron made rehab seem more like a formality because of the assault charge, not something that he needed to do to save his life.

She continues, “His lawyer was working on the plea deal that included a stint in rehab so I think he decided to party his ass off before he had to get clean.” Pausing, she takes a sip of coffee. “You know, my mom was an addict. I just don’t want to lose another parent.” She says this like teenagers talk about their prom dresses. Sweet Jude. She’s had a rougher life than most girls her age.

Her eyes become glassy, and I flash back to last night and Aaron buying the drugs. He can’t do that to his daughter. I scoot off my stool and give her a hug. She hugs me back, and I realize that yes, she might be an adult, but in some ways she’s still a little girl who loves her daddy and is scared to death for him.

“I adore your dad. He’s a good man with a huge heart. I got to hear him play for the first time last night, and he took my breath away. I just want to make sure you know that I’m in to him for the right reasons.”

She dabs at her eyes. “I know you are. That’s why I told him . . .”

“Jude,” Aaron booms.

She jumps off her stool and runs to him. He grabs her in a huge bear hug and squeezes her so hard I fear for the poor girl’s ribs. His face is lit up like Christmas morning. There’s no doubt how much he loves his little girl. And that familiar ache happens in my own chest.
He’ll be a great dad to our babies.

“What’s with the necklace?” she asks as she touches it.

He winks in my direction. “Someone special gave it to me.”

She grabs his hand and walks him over to where I sit. “MK and I were having a cup of coffee and talking about life.”

He kisses the top of my head. “Were you? I’m sure my name was never brought up.”

She giggles again, and it’s freaking adorable.

“Didn’t know you drank coffee,” he mentions as he wraps his arm around my shoulders.

“When Seamus went grocery shopping, he didn’t purchase any. Apparently, it was too mature.” I cock an eyebrow. “Fortunately, I had a bit left.”

He laughs and kisses me again. “So what do my favorite girls want to do today? Jude, this is your last weekend before the last round of tests and then finals. Should we tear up the town? Get tattoos? Run naked through the streets?”

“I thought you guys were working on the new album today.” She takes a sip of her coffee and offers the mug to Aaron. He makes a face like he’s smelled something rotten.

They both turn and look at me with the exact same expression on their faces. It’s eerie. “Look, guys. Since I’m now the full-time CEO of NoPinkCaddy, I have more to do than I can say grace over. Why don’t you guys hang out, and I’ll go get some work done.” The last thing I want to do is come between Jude and Aaron. I’ve never dated a man with a child before, but I’m no fool. She’ll always come first, and that makes me adore him even more.

“No,” Jude says as she looks at Aaron who is pouring himself a bowl full of rainbow-colored balls. He pauses mid-pour and looks up at her. She turns to me so we’re facing each other. “I will feel so much better going back to school if I get to know you, MK. Let Dad and I help you with your business. You know we are your biggest fans.”

I glance at Aaron; he looks so happy. A genuine smile meets his eyes and is plastered on his face, and his cheeks glow.

I shrug. “Why not? Mind if I go home and get cleaned up? Y’all have lunch and then come on over.”

“Great!” she says as she bounces out of her chair. “I’m going to go get ready.”

Aaron and I both watch her disappear down the hall.

When we’ve heard the door shut, Aaron walks around the island and gives me a surprise full-on make-out kiss. It’s been at least seven hours since our spat. I’ve missed his attention. “Thank you for including her.”

“She’s worried about you,” I reply. Leaning back, I study his face to make sure he’s okay after last night. He looks like Aaron . . . but happier. “She needs to be reassured you’re okay so she can be okay.”

His hand drags through his hair, and the glow fades from his features. “She blames herself. She thinks it’s her fault that I went through such a bad period. She thinks if she hadn’t gone to the barn that evening, I wouldn’t have spiraled out of control. She won’t date. She didn’t go to prom. Her roommate says she turns down every guy who asks her out.”

My fingers trace my star. “Would you mind if I ask my best friend, Bella, to run into us today? I think she might be able to help Jude. She’s also a survivor of sexual assault.”

Aaron shrugs. “I’m willing to try anything. She needs to quit worrying about me and just be a college kid who dates and has fun again.”

Two hours later, I’m showered and dressed. I texted Bella and asked if she would drop by. She said her and Nyall were working on the wedding, but of course, she would find some time to meet my rock star and his daughter.

I sit down at my computer to share a bit of my life with my fans. Our picture is out there. I’m doing them a disservice by not giving them details.

There’s been a bit of gossip about my boy . . . Yes. It’s true. I met Aaron Emerson, AKA Johnny Knite
—
front man for ACE, at a local bar here in New Orleans, not having a clue he was a famous rock star. Before you judge, would you expect to run into someone famous at the local corner Starbucks when you just popped in for a Frappuccino? I think not.

Anyway, I really liked him even before I found out what he did for a living. He’s touched something inside of me, inspiring me to live life bolder than I have been. He was the catalyst for me resigning from my day job and making this site my full-time priority.

You’ve probably seen the photos going around of us eating in a restaurant. I’d like to share this one with you. It was taken at Grandmother’s ball. I think it truly says how we feel about each other.

Grandmother’s photographer had been kind enough to email me the photo a couple of days ago. At the time, Aaron hadn’t contacted me so it sat in my inbox. But when I saw it, I gasped. We look like young lovers. I’m so content with my hand and head on his heart. My fans deserve to see me this happy after listening to all my sadness for so many years.

There’s a knock on the door. It’s not locked, so I yell for whoever it is to come in assuming it’s Aaron.

He enters with a scowl on his face. “Lock your fucking doors, MK. Do you need another speech about safety?”

I hang my head in mock shame and then peek up at him through my lashes. “I’ll never do it again.”

He shakes his head as if he’s disgusted with me. Aaron’s dressed up for the occasion to help with my site—trucker-style baseball hat, worn jeans, and the Def Leppard concert T-shirt I took out of his closet last night.

Jude is dressed in pair of skinny jeans, a green sweater, and boots with such a high heel that she’s almost as tall as Aaron.

“Make yourself comfortable. I need two more seconds.”

Jude says to Aaron, or perhaps more to herself, “This is where she films it all.”

I look up from my computer screen and glance around my apartment. It’s nothing special, in my opinion. It’s just a small kitchen with a large center island made of marble. My wood kitchen cabinets are painted white. My living room is the area in front of the island. It’s nothing more than a velvet blue couch, overstuffed chair, and my marble thrift store find coffee table and sofa table behind the couch. One wall of my place is red brick. The other walls are painted a neutral shade of grey.

“Dad, remember when she taught us how to make crab cakes? This is where she was,” Jude says as she walks around my kitchen island.

That particular video contains one of my original recipes. Not to sound conceited, but my crab cakes are divine.

I finish up and hit
submit
before I say to them, “We have a choice today. The three of us can go downstairs to my garage and work on refinishing a dresser, or we can go thrift shopping?”

Jude squeals. “Your thrift shopping videos are my favorite. Let’s go!”

After the lecture I received about not sharing Jude on my site, I’m not so sure this is a good idea after all. I should have thought before suggesting it. I look at Aaron. “I can have you film just me or she can even play the role of camera operator today.”

“No,” she interjects. Turning to him, she pleads her case. “Dad, I’m about to be nineteen. MK, will not use my name, but please let me be in her thrift shopping video. The girls in the dorm will be so jealous.”

My head snaps in Aaron’s direction. The inside of his cheek is being worked between his teeth. I can only assume he’s waging an internal war. Does he acknowledge Jude is an adult and let her choose to finally make herself public or does he continue to play the part of overprotective Dad and tell her no?

“You confirmed on your site that we’re dating?” He asks in a controlled manner.

Once it’s on the Internet, it’s there forever.
“I just uploaded a picture of us from Grandmother’s ball.”

He’s quiet for a bit while Jude seems trying to compel him to say yes by holding her hands in prayer and giving me pleading, puppy dog eyes.

Finally, “Up to her,” he replies with a slight shoulder raise but he looks like he swallowed a bag of rocks.

“Thank you so much,” she claps as she gives Aaron a kiss on his cheek. His shoulders fall just a bit maybe in relief that he’s made her this happy. Whatever the reason, I’ll show him the final edited package before I upload it, giving him and chance to change his mind.

I grab my jacket and video camera bag and we head out the door.

Our first stop is a hidden gem about a block off of Magazine Street. It’s a resale shop which funds a charity organization. Grandmother and all her friends donate to it, and we’re not talking about dropping off old socks. There are some real treasures to be found.

I hand Aaron the camera. “Okay. You’re going to record Jude and I introducing this store. Ready?”

He smirks. “Born ready.”

When the light turns to green, I say, “Hey guys! It’s MK, and I’ve a friend helping me thrift shop here at one of my favorite stores.”

Jude does a little curtsy. “Thrift shopping is one of my favorite things to do. I learned the ropes from MK, and I’m excited to share our finds with you.”

Learned the ropes . . . how cute. I’m sure she’s never needed to second-hand shop in her life. Knowing Aaron, he probably backs up the Brink’s truck and gives his princess whatever she wants.

I take the camera back from Aaron as we enter the store. It’s pretty quiet for a Saturday. Everyone must be getting ready for Thanksgiving.

“Can we start with clothes? I want some new stuff for school,” Jude says.

Aaron rolls his eyes. “You’ve got a credit card. Go buy what you need. You don’t have to purchase used clothing.”

My thoughts exactly.

Her hand goes to her hip. “Tell him, MK. It’s much better if it’s vintage.”

Smiling, I kiss his stubbly cheek. “It’s better if it’s vintage.”

It becomes obvious Aaron has a daughter, mother, and sister, because that man can hold purses and clothes to try on like a champ. He follows us from rack to rack, never seeming to mind or barking at us to hurry up. Finally, we take our loot to the dressing rooms.

I hand him my camera. “Here’s the deal. Film us trying on the clothes. We’ll model for you.” I nod to Jude, who seems to be vibrating with excitement. “I’m going to edit, so record as much as you want.”

There’s no chair, so Aaron drops to the ground with his legs crossed across from the three-way mirror.

Jude and I agree to try on party dresses first. The one she chose is bright magenta pink and sequined. Mine is a deep shade of purple with lots of poofs. We count down. “Three . . . two . . . one . . .”

We both pull back our curtains at the same time and burst into laughter. Jude’s is actually pretty cute. It would be a fun dress to wear to a club. Mine is just hideous.

We walk to the three-way mirror and model for Aaron.

He points to Jude. “Too damn short. Bend over.” He makes her touch her toes. “Dear God, I can see your ass cheeks. No!”

“Please, Daddy,” she begs. “Aunt Gracie says a lady picks things up like this.” She turns her knees to the side and preforms a very polite drop to the floor.

He rolls his eyes. “And you.” He points to me. “You look like someone unwrapped the present and forgot to throw away the paper. Next!”

We giggle and scurry back to the dressing rooms. We try on a bunch of things, most of which Aaron does not approve of, but he does a good job of playing cameraman. Jude finds a wool coat, a pair of designer jeans, and a blue sweater. I get a velvet dress straight out of the 90s and a choker to go with it.

As we’re checking out, I receive a text from Bella. “Hey y’all. Bella and Nyall are in the neighborhood. Want to meet them for an early dinner?”

Aaron and Jude agree. Aaron carries our bags, and I loop arms with Jude while we walk to the wine bar. “So Jude. Let me share a bit about my very best friend in the whole wide world, Bella.”

“Okay,” she says, as Aaron gives me a look I can’t discern. “I’ve just heard her voice on your videos.”

“We met in Catholic school in the third grade. One of the mean girls stole my lunch except for my cup of peaches. I marched over to her and dumped the sugary juice and fruit over her head and the new girl, Bella, stood up and grabbed her chocolate chip cookies and crumbled them in her hair. Bella and I became best friends while we sat outside the head mistress’s office, waiting to hear what our punishments were.”