Daddy in Disguise (Crescent Cove 7)

“Nothing has ever been easy between us, Macy. But it sure as shit hasn’t been an act. Now that I’ve had a taste, you really think I can turn this off?”

My fingers twisted into his soft shirt. “You never pulled the trigger before. What stopped you?”

“Always with the hard questions.”

I lifted my chin. “Always with the avoidance.” Because God, if that wasn’t the truth. And I was tired of the dance. I wasn’t fucking good at it. “What do you want?”

“You.”

I drew in a breath.

“Go out with me.”

I frowned. That question did not compute. In fact, it was more of a statement than anything else. “I’m sorry?”

His lips quirked under the fullness of his beard. “I know we’ve been doing this crap all backwards, but maybe it was the shakeup we needed.”

I tried to wiggle free. Things with Gideon had always been more of a nebulous maybe and I rather liked it there. Like a celebrity crush—no basis in reality. He was the hot blue collar guy with big working man hands. A little rough around the edges with a banked fire that made a woman wonder what would be unleashed.

I could say with absolute accuracy that he might normally stay on simmer, but there was a fuckton of heat waiting to bubble over.

But I wasn’t sure I was ready to be brave. And that chafed more than I wanted to admit, even to myself.

“So much going on in that head.” Gideon lowered his face to mine, but instead of a kiss this time, he just brushed his nose along mine. “Give us a try. Give me a try.”

“You’re still not actually asking me,” I said in the rapidly dwindling space between our lips. His breath was warm and minty and I had the ridiculous urge to slip the pads of my fingers over his bearded cheek and pull him closer. There was something about his beard that drove me a little crazy.

“Macy Devereaux, will you go out with me?”

I didn’t even think. I just blurted out an affirmative. He nipped at my lower lip quickly than stood up straight. “Great, I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“What?”

“Seven o’clock.” His lips twitched with amusement, then his attention diverted to his daughter. “You all right, squirt?”

I blinked out of the fog he’d dropped me into. What the hell? “Wait.”

“Nope, you said yes.” He slid his fingers into the back pocket of my jeans for a quick squeeze before stepping away from me.

Who the hell was this man? Talk about a change of situation between us.

“Dani?”

She spun around with a skull in her hand. “Yeah, this place is so sick. You don’t ever have to pick me up.”

“I’m sure Macy would disagree, but please behave for her. I’ll be right next door if you need me.”

Dani waved him off. “I’ll be fine. I’m going to help her decorate.”

He glanced at me. “Well, that’s that.”

“Evidently.” I crossed my arms since I didn’t quite know what to do with them. Especially since leaning into Gideon was becoming more and more of an inclination. I scooped my flyaway hair out of my face. “Is she allergic to anything? Would you hate it if I plied her with chocolate and espresso?”

His jaw dropped, then his eyebrow quirked. “I know you’re not exactly used to kids, but I’m hoping you’re kidding. Sometimes I can’t tell.”

I lifted a shoulder. And the joke was on him, since I knew far more about children than he could even fathom. The old wound throbbed and I pushed it back where it belonged—in the past.

“She’s not allergic to anything,” he said into the silence.