The Single Dad (The Dalton Brothers 3)

Eleven

Ford

“One drink,” I said to my brothers, who were sitting across from me at the corner table at the bar. “One,” I emphasized, holding up my finger in case their goddamn ears were clogged.

They needed the reminder because on the rare opportunities that they dragged me out after work, like tonight, one almost always turned into ten.

And this evening wasn’t going to be a bender.

Not with Sydney at the house, who had agreed to watch Everly after the twelve hours she already spent with my daughter today. She’d only been employed for two weeks. I certainly didn’t want to push it at this point.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jenner groaned. “We get it. We’ve only got you for …”

“One drink,” they both repeated.

“Just so you know, when my baby girl, Eve, is eighteen and off to college, you won’t be able to use the kid excuse anymore,” Dominick said, clinking his glass against mine.

“Maybe not,” I replied. “But by that point, the two of you will have so many little ones running around, you’ll be too busy to go out.” I felt a vibration in my pocket and pulled out my phone, making sure the message wasn’t from Sydney. Once I saw that it wasn’t, I put my phone away.

“Which is why you need yourself a woman,” Jenner said. “So you won’t get lonely when Dom and I have a million fucking kids.”

That was enough to make me drink more.

I raised my glass to my lips and chugged. “Was this your plan tonight? To give me the woman talk? Hold some type of single-dude intervention?”

They looked at each other.

And then Dominick said, “No. But since you brought it up, yes.”

“Jesus—”

“Don’t Jesus us, Ford,” Jenner barked. “You gave us plenty of shit during our bachelor days, encouraging us when we needed it, giving us a firm spanking when we needed that too. Did you honestly think your situation would be any different?”

I laughed.

Because every word that had come out of that bastard’s mouth was fucking hilarious.

“What situation, Jenner?” I adjusted my position to get a better look at him. “I’m not in a relationship. I don’t have any prospects. It’s me and my daughter—that’s it.”

“Did our brother wake up this morning with amnesia?” Dominick asked Jenner. “Or is the motherfucker suffering from a concussion from getting hit over the head with a two-by-four?” Dominick’s stare left Jenner, and he looked at me. “In case you need the reminder, her name is Sydney. You know, your goddamn nanny.”

I laughed again. “That’s exactly it. She’s my nanny. Nothing more.”

Jenner leaned his elbows on the table to get closer to me. “Really? That’s all she is—your nanny?”

“Yes, my nanny. Who the fuck do you think is watching my kid right now?” I checked my phone, making sure there was nothing from Sydney. I wasn’t sure why I had this nagging anticipation that she was going to text a question or a picture out of the blue, but every few minutes, I found myself reaching inside my pocket. “So, yes, guys, that’s all she is. Someone to take care of Eve, not me.”

“No reason she can’t be there for you as well.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “We’re not going there again.”

Dominick called over the waitress and ordered another round, ignoring my only request.

I wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“How are things going with her and Eve anyway?” Jenner asked. “Everyone happy?”

They couldn’t be any more obvious.

They were forgetting they’d asked me the same question almost every day since Sydney had started. I could see right through their constant inquiries. Even though they were protective over Everly, I knew this had nothing to do with that.

They wanted more.

And they weren’t going to get it.

“Things are no different than when you asked yesterday or the day before or even the day before that.” I rolled my goddamn eyes. “But in case you need to hear it again, Everly loves her. She couldn’t be in a better place.”

“And you, dickhead?” Dominick asked. “Are you happy?”

I pointed at my chest. “I’m the dick here? Because I’m tired of answering the same question over and over?” I shook my head. “I don’t think so. The two of you have a motive, and I see right through it.”

“I’m genuinely curious how things are going between her and my niece and what it’s like, having her around all the time,” Jenner said. “There’s no motive here.”

“You’re a riot.” As I held the glass, I turned it around in a circle, the ice banging against the sides. “But since you asked so nicely”—I huffed out some air, the sarcasm dripping from my mouth—“I’ll say that things couldn’t be better. They’re perfect in fact.”

And they were.

Everly woke up every morning, asking for Sydney—when she was coming, what they were going to do that day. Sydney would arrive while Everly was eating breakfast, and she would go over their schedule. She provided structure. Goals. In the short time Sydney had been with us, I had seen a difference. Everly’s vocabulary was expanding, her knowledge growing.

Hannah was a babysitter.

Sydney was an educator.

“In what way?” Dominick asked.

They weren’t going to give up. That much was apparent.

“In every way,” I replied. “You guys haven’t seen Eve since I hired Sydney. Just wait. You’ll notice the change in her. You’ll see it. Hear it.”

“Don’t even tell me we’re getting close to her not being my little girl anymore,” Dominick said. “I won’t be able to handle it.”

“Not yet, but we’re not far away,” I told him. “She’s getting old, man. I fucking hate it. I want to keep her this age forever, where she still needs me and isn’t fighting me on every goddamn thing, like her curfew, boys—fuck that.”

“What about you and Sydney?” Jenner asked.