Walk the Line (Man of the Month 12)

And he wasn't at all surprised when Reece said, "Your dad would never have approved of them."

He turned to his friend, knowing full well that Reece was really talking about him and Elena. "No," he said. "He wouldn't. But I never agreed with the old man much anyway."

"True that, and I'm glad to hear it. Would be a shame to let a stupid prejudice get in the way of something that could be good." He turned to face Brent. "More to the point, it would be a shame if a stupid fear got in the way, too."

"You've been talking to Jenna," Brent said.

Reece lifted a shoulder, the tattooed sleeves on his arm seeming to dance with the motion. "Well, she's my wife. We talk sometimes." They'd been married in a small ceremony a few weeks ago with a justice of the peace, and they'd kept that news mostly to themselves, intending to have a bigger ceremony with a reception after the baby was born.

"Landon doesn't have a kid," Brent said. "If Taylor pulls an Olivia, the only one she's hurting is him."

Reece nodded slowly. "That's true. But how long are you going to hide behind what ifs?"

And then, before Brent could respond, Reece stepped away and slipped among the children, leaving Brent behind, still tasting those words.

Chapter Eight

The week before, Brent had hired one new guy for his security team. And although he couldn't fully shift back to a managerial role until he had both new men in place, the addition of Owen meant that he could at least go home early on a few nights.

And Sunday, thank goodness, was one of them.

He'd told Elena, of course. And although he would miss seeing her asleep on the couch when he arrived home after three, he couldn't deny the anticipation he felt at knowing she'd be awake when he walked in the door.

What he hadn't expected was to find her in the kitchen surrounded by an explosion of flour, and his little girl wide-awake and bouncing gleefully on her countertop perch.

"Daddy!" Faith shrieked.

"I am so sorry," Elena said at the same time, wiping her nose and leaving a white streak across her skin. "Faith forgot to mention that her class is having a party for her birthday on Monday, so I'm making her cupcakes to take. And when I mentioned that my birthday is tomorrow, she insisted on helping with the cupcakes so that I could take one home as a birthday treat."

"Happy birthday," he said, amused. "I assume that Hurricane Faith was the cause of all this." He indicated the room.

"We had planned to get it all clean before you got home, didn't we?"

Faith nodded. "We made a mess."

"And it's past your bedtime." She looked up at Brent. "I'll still clean it. Just let me get her to bed first."

"It's really okay."

"No." She sounded both flustered and determined. "I've got it. You just, um, have some coffee." She poured him a cup and shoved it toward him. "Enjoy."

"Right. Got it. Will do." He felt his lips twitch with amusement, and looked down before she noticed. "Give me a hug," he said, then set his coffee down so he could catch the little girl who threw herself into his arms. He squeezed her tight, then kissed her forehead. "Night, sweetie. Go with Miss Elena."

"Okay, Daddy," she said, then disappeared down the hall with her flour-smudged babysitter.

The coffee was fine, but he thought the evening called for wine, and he grabbed a bottle from the small wine fridge he had tucked in the corner. A nice red, which he poured for both himself and Elena. He was halfway through his glass when she returned.

"I think she's finally asleep," Elena said. "About all of this--"

"It's nothing," he said, interrupting what was sure to be another apology. "Here. We'll toast your birthday."

She grinned. "Yeah?"

He'd never seen her look frazzled before. Now her short hair was mussed and her makeup smudged. He'd thought she was beautiful before, but now she looked vulnerable, too. And he wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"I'm really sorry she wasn't asleep when you got home," she added. "I know how late it is. But she wanted to watch another cartoon, and we picked The Incredibles, and I think it just got her all worked up. I had no idea she'd get out of bed to start building a fort for her stuffed animals while I was making the cupcakes. And then when we were taking it apart, I mentioned about my birthday tomorrow, and that's when all hell broke loose in the kitchen."

She glanced around the room, frowning. "I think there are one or two spots where we managed to not get any flour."