He shook his head and managed to look amused and angry at the same time as he cupped my face in his hand. I jerked my head away, but he gripped my jaw in one big hand, all amusement gone now. “Look at me, Blaire. That table is set for me and you. Beau said you were getting home at eight, so I planned a relaxing evening for you since you’d been working so hard. You can call and ask your brother, because I know you sure as hell won’t believe a fucking word I say.” He turned and took a few steps away from me, his shoulders flexing with every heavy, angry breath he took. His voice held so much pain, and a sliver of doubt leaked into my mind.

What if he was telling the truth?

“Why did you act so guilty when you opened the door? You were trying to keep me from seeing inside.”

“Because I didn’t want you to see the table yet. I wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to be at your house when you got home then bring you back here. I thought you deserved a little pampering.”

Oh. Something else was nagging at the edge of my brain. “But why did you take that woman shoe shopping with you and Carrie if she’s just your decorator?”

“I didn’t really take her with us. I didn’t know where to start looking for a place to buy little girl shoes, and I knew Reagan had a daughter, so I called her. She told me about a store across the street from her office, and then she walked over to see if I needed help. Also, she wanted to meet Carrie since I talk about her all the time. The project Reagan’s working on is for her, so…”

“She’s working on something for Carrie?” I asked, confused.

He walked back to stand between my legs and grinned proudly. “Yep. I wanted her to have her own room when she comes here. I want her to start staying the night with me on Mondays since I have Tuesdays off, if that’s okay.”

“You do?” I asked, my mind whirling as he nodded. He wanted to spend his only day off with Carrie, and that made my heart sing with joy. I took his face in my hands and said, “I’m sure she would love that, baby. I’m sorry, Ax. I acted like an idiot. I walked in and saw another woman here and felt…”

“Probably the same way I felt when I saw you walk into Beau’s with Bode’s arm around you,” he finished. Damn. Was this how it had been for him? No wonder he went all caveman and shit.