Show Me the Way (Fight for Me 1)

Sitting there, people had to think he’d stumbled to the wrong table. There I was, looking like I belonged with the guys he was just referring to while he was all sharp angles and crisp lines, clean-shaven, his blond hair slicked back, and his button-up and pants perfectly pressed.

“Take it you’re not on call this weekend?”

He rocked back with a big, satisfied sigh. “Nope. I’ve got the whole weekend off. Don’t have to be back until Sunday night. It’s like a goddamned Christmas miracle right smack dab in the middle of summer.” He hefted a shoulder. “Besides, figured Ollie might need me, too, so I asked for it off. Somehow it was approved.”

I nodded, understanding, trying not to let myself get dragged right back into the somber mood from back in the office, knowing neither Ollie nor Kale needed that shit. Dwelling wasn’t going to change a goddamned thing.

“So, how’s my Frankie-girl?” Kale asked, quick to change the subject.

The smile on my face was instant. “Good. Started taking ballet. Cutest damned thing I’ve ever seen.”

“No shit?” He shook his head. “She’s getting so big. Time flies, doesn’t it? Seems like only yesterday she was learning to walk.”

I roughed a hand through my hair. “Yeah. Goes by too damned fast. Blows my mind she only has another year before she starts kindergarten.”

He pointed at me with the same hand wrapped around his rocks glass, laughter falling out around his words. “School . . . dude . . . you are so fucked. If I think you’re overprotective now . . .”

I wiped the sweat that was suddenly beading on my brow. Honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to handle that. Someone else being responsible for her care. The fact that I might not know exactly where she was at all times and who she was with.

I stomped down those thoughts, refusing to give them voice, and started to tell him about her bitch of an instructor, figuring he’d get a kick out of it.

That was right when I felt the air thicken.

I rubbed at the back of my neck, fighting it.

The shock of awareness that sliced through the darkened bar.

Tense and tight and hot.

It was a bitch knowing its origin and not being able to do a goddamned thing about it.

I barely cut my gaze to the side and peered through the dimmed lights. A smoky glow hugged the room, and my eyes climbed right back to the spot they shouldn’t. I was nothing but a glutton for punishment, because there I was, desperate for a glimpse.

Still, I was unprepared. Unprepared for the way my skin itched when I caught her stealing a glance at me at the same time I was stealing one of her.

Quick and furtive.

Like she’d just realized I was there.

“Kid really is so damned adorable, don’t know how you stand it.” Kale was rambling, musing about the sweetness of my daughter and how my life had turned out totally different from what I’d ever expected it to. I sat there, shifting uneasily in my seat like a fool, letting myself feel something that had no reason to be there.

Lust for a woman I didn’t even know.

Kale was bringing his glass to his lips when he suddenly let it drop a fraction, studying me from over the top. “What the hell is going on with you, man?”

“Nothin’.”

“You seem . . . anxious.” One quirk of a knowing brow. That was the pitfalls of having friends for life. Sometimes they knew you better than you wanted them to.

Because this was obviously not about the anniversary.

Still, I shrugged. “Nothing at all.”

Doubt billowed through his expression, and another rush of disquiet had me shifting again. His eyes flicked off to my side before he looked back at me like he’d hit a bull’s-eye. “Nothing, huh? Then why do you keep glaring at Lillith and Nikki like they’ve all of a sudden grown horns? I mean, it’s no secret you’ve up and decided women are the devil, but those two you at least seem to tolerate. What happened?”

I pasted what I hoped appeared to be a look of indifference on my face. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing happened.”

His brow drew tight, and he peered in their direction again, studying what had changed. Then he was cocking his head to the side with a knowing grin. “Who’s the hot new chic? Doesn’t look like she’s from around here.”

Another shrug. “Dunno.”

Apparently, that shrug was the indicator of a lie, because Kale laughed. Far too loud and at my expense. “Oh, I see what’s happening here. Seems someone actually is still in the possession of his dick.”

“Don’t.” The warning came out hard. Nothing playful about it.

He knew better.

He shook his head. “That bitch sure as hell did a number on you, didn’t she? You think it’s a good thing for Frankie to grow up with you hating every woman who crosses your path? That shit’s not healthy, man. You need to figure out your issues before you mess up your daughter’s head with that chip you love to wear on your shoulder.”