Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“My wife is very fond of you.”
“She is?” I asked, slightly surprised.
He nodded. “My boys like you too.”
I had the Hamilton seal of approval. “You seem like the type of people who like everyone—”
“We’re not.” He took a drink. “At least, not when it comes to Daisy.”
I was hit with the cold reminder that this was his daughter. At the end of the day, she would always be his daughter.
“I think you give her what she needs in a man. And I think she gives you what you need too.”
“Honestly, she doesn’t need much. She’s self-sufficient and independent. She speaks her mind unapologetically, so she never gets taken advantage of—and not to mention, she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met…present company not included.”
“And that’s exactly what she needs in a man.”
“Sir, I really appreciate—”
“Come on, it’s Deacon. We’re colleagues, Atlas. I’m not going to sit here and call you Dr. Beaumont every time I address you.”
“Well, you’re Dr. Hamilton. The Dr. Hamilton.”
He rolled his eyes and took a drink. “What were you saying?”
“I just appreciate that you think so highly of me, but I’m still not convinced that I’ve earned it.”
“Then let me ask you this.” He set down the glass. “What more could you do?”
I didn’t understand the question.
“What are your flaws?”
Put on the spot, I didn’t know what to say. “Well, I’ve already been married—”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“I don’t have a family.” I had nothing to bring to the table in a marriage. She would never inherit a mother-in-law or a father-in-law, no brothers or sisters. I was entirely on my own.
“That’s why you make a family, Atlas.”
I immediately dropped my gaze at the touchy subject being brought up.
He drank from his glass again. “I’m still close with my mom and brother, but at different phases of your life, different people become important to you. My mom is really close with the women in her retirement home. Those are the people she’s closest to now. My brother has his own kids and grandkids. I have my children and grandchildren. Not having those things isn’t a shortcoming.”
Once this subject was broached, I was deeply uncomfortable. He probably had no idea what he’d just brushed up against, but this was something that tormented me every single day of my life. It was always a problem, a problem that wouldn’t be resolved until I was older and the discussion was no longer on the table.
“Besides…you always have me.”
My eyes moved back to him.
“Not as a potential father-in-law, but as a friend…a father figure.”
He said it was fine that I had nothing to bring to the table, but she brought everything that I could ever want. She was the woman of my dreams, and her father was the man I aspired to be.
And I had nothing to reciprocate.
2
Daisy
The music was loud in the bar, and the only reason I knew my phone was ringing was because it vibrated in my clutch. I pulled it out and saw Atlas’s name on the screen. “Look who it is, bitches. My man.”
“Tell him to come!” Meredith yelled across the table.
I took the call. “Hey, what are you doing right now?”
“Uh, just got home. Sounds like you’re out?”
“Uh, yeah. It’s a Friday. Of course I’m out. You should come down and meet my friends.”
Meredith yelled again. “Tell him to bring hot dudes!”
I turned back to the phone. “And bring some good dick.”
“My dick comes with me everywhere I go, so we’re good on that front.”
“No, I meant for my girls. Bring some boys.”
“Oh, gotcha.”
“But yeah, bring him too. We can pop into an alleyway.”
He was quiet for a second, like he wasn’t sure if I was kidding or not. “Text me the details. See you soon.”
“Woo-hoo! He’s coming!”
The girls yelled too.
“This is going to be a crazy night, isn’t it?”
When he walked inside with his guys, he spotted me quickly, probably because I was in a skintight bright-blue dress with cutouts everywhere, showing my bare skin. He looked me up and down, displaying that intensity he showed in the bedroom and sometimes at work when I said something particularly feisty.
I was standing at the table with Meredith while the other girls were dancing. I lifted my hands and motioned an upside-down triangle shape because he looked sexy as hell in his t-shirt and jeans, his jawline having that evening shadow that I liked.
His grin lit up the club.
He motioned to his two guys to follow him to the table.
I came around the table and circled my arms around his neck, kissing him for everyone to see, pressing my body into his so I could feel his hardness through his jeans. I purposely ran my hand over the front of his jeans so I could feel his outline before I pulled away.
“Did you just grab my dick in a public place?”