"Are you telling me I'm wrong?"
When it came to Nikki, he needed to be honest every step of the way, because there wouldn't be another chance with her. J.T. wasn't the type to bandy the info around the squadron anyway. "You're not wrong. I wouldn't deny the problem if someone asked, but it's also not something I choose to advertise. I've been working at this for a couple of years, been completely dry and in a program for seven months."
Had he sealed his fate with Nikki's father? No hope for approval, ever? Entirely possible and totally more important than he'd expected.
J.T. sagged onto his elbows alongside Carson. "Thank you for being so open. I know that wasn't easy and it tells me you do care about my daughter."
Carson relaxed—for five whole seconds before he realized there was a but at the end of J.T.'s sentence. "And?"
"I respect like hell that you've fought this and seem to be holding your head above water. But you have to know this isn't something a father would wish for any child of his to live with."
"I agree." He had the same fears but staying away from Nikki had just about torn them apart. They needed to work through this insanity one way or another. "I've tried my damnedest to keep my distance."
'Tried." J.T.'s hands fisted before he continued, "Past tense?"
"Again, I'll say that I respect your daughter too much to discuss this further." The guy couldn't possibly want a blow-by-blow discussion. "Nikki's an adult. She deserves to be present so she can speak for herself."
"That earned you a couple more points."
Of course the conversation would have been a surprise for her if she had been here. "Nikki doesn't know about the drinking and I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything until I have a chance to tell her."
A slow growl echoed from the burly loadmaster's chest. "You've been seeing my daughter and you didn't tell her? I can't promise to keep quiet about that, and I'm actually reconsidering that ass kicking."
Well deserved. No denying. "I don't mean for you to stay quiet forever. Just until tomorrow to give me a chance to tell her first. We're going sailing."
"Twenty-four hours?" J.T.'s fists unfurled against his legs. "That, I can do, but the clock starts ticking now."
Wind rustled through the trees, shaking a few more pine needles loose in a tap, tap, tap shower that filled the semi-comfortable silence. "Still want to hit me?"
"Yeah." A hint of a smile twitched the corner of his mouth. "But I always want to hit anyone who looks at my daughter."
They shared a laugh and Carson started to hope that maybe...
J.T.'s smile faded altogether. "Hurt her, though, and I will make you hurt back."
Carson stifled a wince over the inescapable reality that J.T.'s warning had come a few months too late.
"Hope it's not too late for me to be here."
Her eyes full of hot and brooding Carson, Nikki stepped out to join him on the small landing connected to the garage apartment. "I couldn't sleep."
She'd given up at midnight, digging her way into a pint of ice cream to eat away the disappointment when he left without speaking to her after his conversation with her father. Five spoonfuls into her double-fudge chocolate, she'd moved from disappointed to peeved. How could he leave her hanging like that?
Except here he was before morning and her anger eased.
"How did things go with my father? I hope he didn't give you a hard time."
Her father had scooped her mom up and off to bed, their need to be alone so transparent she'd slipped away without speaking to him. He was due his reunion, but it pissed her off that her dad had still found time to speak with Carson.
Hello? Last time she'd checked, twenty-three was a legal adult age.
"Your dad was rightfully concerned and surprisingly understanding. I didn't get my ass kicked, so I guess it's all good."
"Sounds too easy, but I'm not going to complain." Nikki rubbed her bare arms in the running tank, her thin cotton sleep pants not providing much of a barrier against the chilly breeze. And also not the sexiest lingerie, complete with flip-flops instead of the fantasy heels.
"I'd planned to wait until tomorrow's sailing trip to talk to you, but I had to see you." His hand pressed to the white wood slats behind her, his body shielding out the world. "I've been dying to touch you all day.">Carson had backed away, his sexy proposition still echoing in her mind and pulsing heat through her veins. They'd returned to the gathering as if nothing happened—except that her dad had stuck to her side like glue until they drove home.
She tucked the Bob the Builder sheets around her little brother in his new race car toddler bed. He already snoozed away on his stomach, diapered butt up in the air under the quilted spread.