Daddy in Disguise (Crescent Cove 7)

“An unfortunate side effect of childbirth, I’ve heard.”

“I don’t want to keep her from her mother. For fuck’s sake, I’ve worried she doesn’t see her enough. It’s not like I can provide her with that feminine touch thing as she gets older. Even if I’m not thrilled with the life Jessica leads and the environment in Hollyweird, she’s still her mother. She has a period and understands all that female crap.”

“I’ve never thought of understanding a menstrual cycle as a positive quality before.”

“Try being a dude and you would.” I started to remove my hand and he clamped his over mine, instantly warming it. “Don’t close off from me.”

“I’m not.” Surely my voice wasn’t that high-pitched.

“Wanting Jessica in Dani’s life for her sake isn’t the same as me wanting Jessica. I don’t, in any shape or form. I don’t hate her either. That would be just as bad as loving her, because that would mean she still had a hold on me. She’s just someone I once cared about and made a kid with. The best part of my life.” His grip on me tightened. “I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t. You’ll just tell them she’s full of shit. You don’t have a crazy love life—”

“Minus the swarm?”

“The swarm is gone.”

“Minus the news story.”

“That was a one-time thing.”

“Minus the super hot brunette who I keep kissing and who isn’t my girlfriend in any official sense.”

I looked over my shoulder. “Don’t get your panties twisted. I don’t usually wear skinny jeans.”

He still didn’t laugh, and all at once, it hit me squarely in the stomach how badly I wanted him to. He wasn’t one of those guys who had a ready smile, but the rare moments one broke free were all the more appreciated.

Now his eyes were so heavy and dark, the spring green of his irises nearly swallowed by his pupils in the low light. And I wasn’t one for metaphors, but that wasn’t the only part of him getting lost.

“She’s not going to take your daughter from you.” Tentatively, I stroked the back of his hand, still possessively clamped over mine on his arm. “The reason you have custody of her for the bulk of the year is because you’re a damn good father. Even I can tell that and I’ve only seen you with her a few times. Although I think maybe grounding her over that Facebook stunt would’ve been wise. Next time, she might try to enroll you in America’s Got Talent.”

The faintest quiver of his lips eased the constriction in my chest, just a little. “I don’t have any talents appropriate for that show.”

He probably didn’t intend for that to be a sexual innuendo, but tell that to my out of control hormones. “You don’t say.”

“Jessica isn’t entirely wrong. Maybe I’m not giving Dani the best example.” When I started to argue, he shook his head. “I haven’t brought a woman around her in years. I mean, she has her aunt Alicia, but she travels all the time for work, just like our dad. I haven’t had a date in what feels like a lifetime.”

“You’re on one right now, remember?”

“Oh, I do.” His fingers curved under my palm on his arm. Any minute now, my hand would start to sweat and not just from warmth.

This man had an ability to rattle me like none other.

“I need that whole Facebook mess to go away. It would help if I could present a calm, stable home life for my daughter to the judge if it gets that far. A balanced one.”

“You mean like you actually have? Didn’t see any evidence of you having wild swingers’ parties, unless I missed something.”

“No, but it wouldn’t hurt for her to have a female influence. I didn’t want to be the guy who brought strange women in and out of her life, and I still don’t. But she already likes you.”

There was no missing the note of hope he tacked onto the end of that sentence. “Yeah, and?”

“And I like you. And you like me, I think.”

“I wouldn’t run you over with my car, no.”

Now he did grin. The sight of it after waiting so long for a sliver in the dark cloud that had descended over him made me release a long breath. “There’s a sentiment you don’t see on Hallmark cards.”

“I offered to write for them, but I think my application got lost in the mail.”