Mark’s heated eyes turned frigid. “I’m not leaving my daughter any time soon, I assure you.”
“But danger is danger.” She smiled coolly. “What if something happens on the job?”
He smiled just as coldly. “What if a meteor falls out of the sky?”
“Unlikely,” she retorted. “Where’s your daughter now, while you’re out having dinner? Who is watching her? Do you have a nanny in your employ? Or is she tucked in bed, home alone, when you go out and enjoy a beer?”
Mark’s frown became a look of complete and utter anger. “I believe that’s none of your damn business, Ms. O’Rourke.”
Too far. She’d taken it too far.
Craaaaapppppp.
She could feel three sets of eyes on her, each more shocked than the last. But talking to Mark, being in his presence again, had thrown her off. He threw her off.
But that wasn’t any excuse for her behavior.
“I’m—” she started, until an elbow jammed into her ribs.
Lauren’s elbow, to be exact. She hissed, “Daisy.”
“I know.” She held her hands out innocently. “I’m—”
“It must be the cop in you,” said Mark, “needing to interrogate men you don’t know about their parenting habits.” He pressed his tongue against the inside of his mouth, doing his best to seem causal, but she could tell it was all an act. He looked seconds from killing her, telling her to go to hell, or kissing her. Maybe all three. “So I’ll humor you. My daughter is with my mother, if you must know. I’ve been working crazy hours, so we’ve been staying with her at her place all week long. That way I don’t have to wake her and drag her out of bed in the middle of the night, but I can still be with her. Speaking of beds—before you ask, yes, she has her own room there, with a princess canopy bed and a bunch of stuffed animals—including a duplicate of Mr. Bunny, her favorite animal, which she can’t sleep without. I promise you she’s well cared for when I’m gone, despite her lack of a mother. I do my damn best to make sure of that.”
Daisy didn’t say anything at first.
Just looked away, shame filling her.
Going through her own crap that she didn’t truly understand didn’t give her an excuse to rudely attack him like that. It was uncalled for. And… and… “I’m sure she is.”
“I take good care of my daughter,” Mark continued, his voice low as he stepped closer to her. Lauren and Steven stepped back, eyes wide, giving them privacy. “I put her needs above my own, always, denying myself something I want very much, and I will continue to do so until the day I die. She comes first. She always comes first. You, of all people, should know that.” His phone buzzed, and he glanced down. “Speaking of which, that’s a FaceTime from her now. I have to take this. If you’ll excuse me?”
Steven and Lauren nodded.
Daisy stood rooted to the spot, choking on her own guilt.
As she watched, he lifted the phone and said hello in a soft, fatherly voice. She caught a brief glimpse of his daughter’s face as he showed her the restaurant he was in, then he told her he was going outside so he could tell her a story in the quiet, and he was gone.
God, could he be any more perfect?
Daisy swallowed hard and glanced at her friends, who looked at her with disapproval. And she didn’t blame them one little bit. “I’m…I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
Steven shrugged. “We’re not the ones you should apologize to.”
“I know.” She grabbed her purse. “I’ll go wait for him to get off the phone, then apologize privately. I don’t know what came over me.”
Without waiting for them to reply, she walked off, following him outside. She pushed through the doors and heard him say, “And then they lived happily ever after.”
Swallowing hard, she hugged her purse to her chest and waited. He spotted her as he hung up, and shoved his phone into his pocket. His strides were angry as he made his away over, stopping directly in front of her. “What the hell was that?”
“I have no excuse. My dad was left in charge of me when my mom died, and he wasn’t… I just…” She swallowed hard. “It doesn’t matter what he did, or who he was. The truth of the matter is…I miss you. And seeing you like that threw me off. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
The line of his angry, hard jaw softened. “I miss you, too.”
“Don’t.” She darted a quick glance at Lauren and Steven, who watched them through the glass way too closely. “We don’t work. We both know it. So just…don’t.”
“I know,” Mark said gently, all traces of anger gone. “So. Dinner?”