Side Hustle (Dawson Family 3)

But I can’t.

We get into the Jeep and Wes pulls out of the parking lot. Now’s another good time to come clean.

But I don’t.

“I’m so sorry, Scarlet.”

“Don’t be,” I tell Wes, reaching over and putting my hand on his thigh. I close my eyes, clenching my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. If anything, I’ll blame it on the cold. “It’s not your fault.”

“I feel like it is. I have no idea why she showed up.”

I do. She showed up because she heard me running my mouth about this nanny job I took, thinking I could con money out of my new boss. She showed up because I talked about her soon to be ex-husband and son.

I was careless, thinking it was damn near impossible that someone would overhear me and know exactly who I was talking about. It has to be fucking fate. The universe is finally giving me the middle finger, getting back at me for all the shit I did.

Just a few days ago, she heard me say I was in love with Weston, and now she’s here. Which only means one thing.

She’s here to break us up. She’s here to tell him everything she knows about me.33Scarlet“Wes?” I ask quietly. We’re at a four-way stop and need to turn left to get to his house. There are no other cars around us and we’re still sitting there. I take my hand off his thigh to turn on the heater. The cold has crept through me, going straight to my heart.

I want to shove it back down into the hole it crawled out of. But it’s beating strong inside my chest, making me feel so much. Too much.

I can’t do this.

Not to Weston. Not to Jackson.

My jaw trembles and I think about how far I’ve come, how much I’ve changed. How happy I’ve been. Weston has given me everything without even offering. He showed me love, real, unconditional love.

“Wes,” I start again, voice breaking. I bring my hands into my lap and swallow the lump in my throat. I need to say it. Now. Get it out. One way or the other, Wes deserves to know, doesn’t he? I’m not stupid. These things have a way of coming out when you least expect it, and even if Daisy goes away and never returns, I can’t live with this hiding in the closet.

His phone rings and Logan’s name pops up on the display screen on the dash.

“Daisy just left,” Logan rushes out as soon as Wes connects the call. “And she said something about finding Jackson one way or another. We think she’s headed to Mom and Dad’s. Owen’s on the phone with Mom now. Dean, Quinn, and Archer went after her.”

“You let Quinn—never mind.” Wes grips the steering wheel. “I’m headed there now. Thanks, Logan.”

Wes hangs up and I know I can’t drop a bomb on him now. Though maybe it would be a good time. He’s more distracted with Jackson that what I did might not seem so—God, listen to me? I’m going into self-preservation mode again.

And then it hits me. Hard. Harder than the thought of Daisy telling Wes that I took the nanny job thinking I’d sleep with him and would blackmail him into paying me for my silence or something.

She might try to kidnap Jackson.

“Drive faster,” I say through clenched teeth. Wes doesn’t say anything but steps on the gas, jerking the Jeep forward. We make it a few miles before I speak again. “Should you call this in or something? Get a squad car to go to their house?”

“I can get there faster.”

I’m so tense the rest of the way that my back hurts by the time we peel into the gravel driveway of the Dawsons’ farmhouse. The kitchen light is on, as is one upstairs. Quinn and Archer’s Escalade is parked in front of the garage and they’re just now getting out. Wes really did drive fast.

Wes kills the ignition and rushes out of the Jeep, running to the garage.

“I already disarmed it,” Quinn says, face illuminated by light from her phone. She has to be freaked out almost as much as Weston. I know she loves her nephew fiercely, but Emma is inside too.

Wes pushes the door open and the five of us rush in. Mr. Dawson is in the kitchen, wearing plaid pajama pants and a white T-shirt. He was obviously settled in for the night and is already putting on a pot of coffee.

“He’s upstairs sleeping,” Mr. Dawson assures Wes, knowing he’s going to go up there anyway. “Mom’s in the room with him. Emma just finished a bottle and went back to sleep too.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Quinn says, shrugging off her coat. She sets it down and wraps her arms around herself. “I’m still shivering.”

“It’s from adrenaline and nerves.” Archer steps in, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Wes disappears up the stairs, needing to see Jackson for himself.