Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“I always knew Daisy’s boobs would save the world at some point.” Devi gave her a watery smile.
She’d put herself right in the line of fire. “You are never doing that again.”
Her hands were on her hips, and she faced off with him. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Nathan Carter.”
“I bloody well do since I’m the man who loves you. I’m the man who’s going to marry you, and this right here? Hard limit, Dais. Hard fucking limit.” He’d been calm, but now he realized how close she’d come to getting hurt.
“Well, I’m the woman who loves you and is going to marry you, and this is not the sixteenth century where you own me,” she shot back. “So we should agree to disagree and then go inside and take out all of this adrenaline on each other before the cops get here.”
“You honestly believe we’re going to have sex now?” She was going to drive him mad. Utterly bonkers.
Her lips curled up. “Yep. See you inside, Nate.”
“Hey, are we doing something with these bodies?” Big Tag stood looking down at them. “Also, Boomer says all the sniping made him hungry. My kitchen is not equipped for him tonight.”
Nope. He had something else to attend to.
“I think we’re letting the authorities handle this one,” his father said, joining Big Tag.
Nate followed his future wife. His job wasn’t done.
* * * *
“Did you have to do that?”
Daisy slid onto the barstool beside her father, feeling infinitely better. Well, mostly. Her backside was a wee bit sore because Nate had some things to work through. But oh, the orgasm after had been one hundred percent worth it. “I had to save Devi. O’Donnells get the job done. No matter what they have to do.”
Her da raised a hand toward the man working Sanctum’s bar this evening. “We need two. Make ’em doubles.”
She was kind of glad Nate had taken his anxieties out on her backside because she needed to be loose for this talk. Despite the fact her da had told her he loved her, she was still nervous. “Da, I thought we should talk.”
He shook his head. “Not until we’re properly lubricated.” He nodded as the bartender slid two glasses in front of them. He raised his toward her.
She picked hers up and they clinked glasses as they said sláinte in chorus and she tipped back for her first drink.
She sighed at the taste and realized her da had made the same sound.
Her mom was right. She was her father in feminine form. The question was could he accept her.
“Now, we should talk,” her father said with a sigh. “I suppose this conversation is a long time coming.”
She was confused, but then she was often confused. “Long time? I thought you just figured out I’m not some saint. You know I’m not evil either. I’m pretty normal for a woman.”
“Normal? Ain’t nothing normal about you.” He snorted. “My darlin’, did you honestly think I didn’t see you all these years? Did you think I missed all the times you said you were going to Bri’s or Devi’s and you snuck out with some gangly boy who couldn’t grow facial hair?”
There hadn’t been too many times. “Why didn’t you stop me?”
He took another drink. “Because I know what my relationship was like with my mum when she brought her foot down. Right on me neck. My mother put the raising of my brother on me and ignored us most of the time. She had other priorities. But when I did what most young men would do, like have any kind of a social life, she would ground me. I hated my mother a lot. Dreamed about being anywhere except her house. I couldn’t stand the thought of you hating me, Daisy.”
Her heart clenched. “I could never hate you, Da.”
He seemed to let the words sink in. “I followed you most of the time. To make sure you were safe.”
“A lot of those times Aidan came with us, or Cooper or the twins.”
“Yes, I made sure of it,” he confessed. “You weren’t doing anything that’s not natural for a young woman your age. But I always worried you would end up… I worried you would end up finding a man like me one night.”
“What?” Her father was the best.
“Like I used to be,” he said with a sigh. “Not now. Falling in love with your mum set me straight, but I wasn’t the same man before.”
“Momma says you went through women like they were chicken wings.” She and her mother had several long, painful conversations about her da’s past.
“I really liked chicken wings.” A wicked smile hit her da’s face.
She could see his call. “I really liked bartenders.”
Her da’s head shook, but he laughed. “Oh, Daisy, you’re my sweetest miracle and my worst nightmare.” He reached out, cupping her cheek as he stared at her. “I was ready for Aidan. I’d practically raised my brother. I knew how to handle a boy. My brother went bad, but I figured your mum would offset anything nasty in my DNA.”