AFTER DINNER, Crew offers to help Mary with the dishes. I almost laugh out loud. He helps with dishes at home but never jumps up and practically sprints to the kitchen to do it. He’s now chattering away with Mary as she rinses plates and glasses and hands them over to him to load into the dishwasher. He is desperate to make her like him.
I’m not sure talking at her like a five-year-old hopped up on candy and Santa’s-coming-tomorrow adrenaline is the way to do it.
I actually feel myself grin, even as I shake my head. I’m sitting at the table with Danielle between me and Michael. There are scrapbooks spread out, and she’s telling us stories about the photos and what seems to be every piece of artwork she created from the time she could hold a crayon or glue stick to the time she left home.
Her parents have clearly doted on her since the day she was born. I’ve never seen this many photos and mementos of one person’s life.
It’s sweet and touching, and clearly she’s enjoying all the memories.
No matter how cool or judgmental they’ve been, I like and respect Kevin and Mary Larkin simply because they created Danielle and have loved her so fucking much.
Have they smothered her a little? Made assumptions about her? Not always listened to her? Sure. But after being in their home for even a couple of hours, there’s no question that they love her.
Michael’s arm is over the back of Danielle’s chair, not really touching her, per her mother’s rules, but his index finger drags back and forth over the back of her neck now that Mary isn’t looking.
I lean in. ‘Where’s your dad?’
Danielle looks up and glances around the kitchen.
‘He’s probably out in the garage. It’s kind of his man cave.”
I nod and start to get up.
‘Where are you going?’ She looks worried.
‘I’m just going to go talk to him for a minute.’
She grabs the sleeve of my shirt. ‘You don’t have to. He’ll be fine.’
I look at her with one eyebrow up. ‘I am going to talk to him, Danielle.” I wasn’t asking her permission. “Trust me.’
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she studies my face, clearly trying to figure out if this is a good idea. I reach up and tug her lip free with my thumb. I haven’t touched her all night. We’ve all been good about that. But it’s difficult. At home, we touch freely. I didn’t even realize how much until I had to keep my hands to myself.
It’s not even sexual energy. I just want to caress her cheek or pull her against my chest for a hug.
I was never a touchy-feely guy before I met Danielle. I was definitely not a hugger.
Now I need a hug as much as she does.
‘It will be fine,’ I tell her. I meet Michael’s eyes. He gives me a little nod, which I interpret to mean that he’ll make sure our girl is fine in here.
I start to straighten again and turn toward the garage door.
Now she catches my back belt loop. ‘Nathan—’
I turn back. Her mother’s back is still to us, so I lean in, grasp Danielle’s chin between my finger and thumb, and say low but firmly, ‘I’m respecting your mother’s rules right now, but the no touching won’t last. Do you really want the first touch from me to be a smack to your ass?’
She sucks in a little breath, and her pupils dilate.
And I know that my dirty girl is thinking that, yes, actually, she would very much like that first touch to be a smack to her pretty little ass.
I smirk, squeeze her chin, then let her go. ‘I’ll be back.’
She doesn’t try to stop me again.
I go to the garage door and open it slowly. ‘Mr. Larkin?’
The overhead lights are all on. The far side of the garage has a pickup parked in it, but the half closest to me has a piece of brown carpet lying on the cement floor along with a recliner, a loveseat, a mini-fridge, and a TV sitting on top of an old dresser. He’s in the recliner, clicking through channels, so I feel better that I’m not interrupting him by coming out here to talk to him.
He looks over. ‘Nathan.’
I step down onto the first step and close the door behind me. ‘May I join you?’
Kevin aims the remote at the TV and turns it off. ‘I have a feeling you’re only asking to be polite. I think you plan on staying no matter what I say.’
I incline my head in agreement. I tuck my hands into my dress slacks. We all lost our jackets an hour ago. My shirtsleeves are rolled up, but while Crew’s tie is God knows where, mine is still around my neck, though loose. I’m used to being dressed up like this all day long.
I’m also used to having difficult conversations and facing people who don’t like me and with whom I’m at odds. But at this moment, I’m uncomfortable. This is Kevin’s turf. And he is not an opponent. He is the father of the woman I love. And dammit, if we’re not going to be friends or even get along, we need to at least have an understanding.
‘I just wanted the chance to tell you a few things,’ I say.
Kevin sighs, then gestures toward the loveseat. ‘I’m sure your office is nicer than this.”
I shake my head. ‘I’m much more focused on the words in meetings than I am on the furnishings.’
‘If someone had ever told me that I’d be sitting down to talk with the billionaire owner of a hockey team in my garage, I would’ve told them they were nuts,’ Kevin says, sitting back in his recliner. ‘If that person had told me that that same man would be banging my daughter, I probably would’ve punched him.’
I take a seat on the loveseat, perching on the edge and resting my forearms on my thighs, linking my fingers. I take a breath and work on keeping my temper in check. ‘I appreciate you getting right to the point. I do want to make a quick, very important correction, though. I am not ‘banging’ your daughter. That would imply that we were having meaningless sex. I am very much in love with her.’
‘But you’re sleeping with her.’
Kevin is in his early sixties. He’s roughly twenty years my senior. We’re about the same number of years apart as Crew and me. And as Danielle and me.
And Kevin is going to have to get over that. Like I did.
‘Yes, your daughter sleeps in my bed most nights.’
‘I don’t need details,’ Kevin says, holding up a hand.
‘Nor was I going to give you any more.’
Kevin shifts in his chair. He won’t make eye contact. ‘You have to understand that this is an awkward position for a father.’
‘Actually, Kevin, with all due respect, you’re only feeling awkward because you’re focusing on one aspect of our relationship. And I feel it’s very important that you understand the big picture.’
He meets my gaze now.
“Your daughter is an amazing woman. You’ve known her for twenty-four years. I find it hard to believe that you’re surprised that other people realize how incredible she is. And I am a very intelligent man. As is Dr. Hughes. As is, as much as it sometimes pains me to admit it, Crew McNeill. There is no way that any of us could have met and spent even five minutes with your daughter and not fallen completely in love with her.’
Kevin frowns. But he doesn’t argue with me about how wonderful Danielle is. That’s a point in his favor.
‘Most people don’t fall in love with three people,” he mutters.
‘That might be true,” I acknowledge. “Or our society says it’s strange and not acceptable to do that, so they resist and repress their feelings. Fortunately, I met an amazing woman and two remarkable men who changed my mind about that.’
Kevin’s frown deepens, but I continue. ‘I can be a real bastard, Mr. Larkin. I have spent a lot of time with men who can be real bastards. I can be cold, unyielding, and unconcerned about other people’s feelings and problems. But Danielle didn’t care about any of that. Her light and love came into my life, regardless of all that.”
I take a breath. “And Michael and Crew have been nothing but patient, and open, and accepting. They are two of the best men I’ve ever met, and they’re the best friends I’ve ever had. I was helpless to resist being involved with any of them. As someone who has had very little family and love in my life, I can’t believe they put up with me, to be honest. I’m the lucky one to be included. And even though it hasn’t been very long, I am smart enough to understand what I have, and there is nothing—” I meet his gaze directly, making sure he’s paying attention “—nothing that will keep me from being with them.’
Kevin finally takes a deep breath and blows it out. “I…respect that.”
“Do you?”
He nods. “Even if I don’t completely understand it, and it might take some time to get used to this whole idea, I…” He clears his throat. “I have to admit that Danielle seems very happy.”
I nod. “She is. Very happy. And I can promise you that she always will be.”
“You better.”
“And I respect that,” I tell him sincerely. I lean in. “But I’m going to be honest and tell you that there will be times I’ll mess up. I’ll fall short of being the man Danielle truly deserves.”
Kevin frowns but doesn’t say anything.
“But when that happens,” I continue. “Michael and Crew will be there to call me out and make me step up again. Just like when they fall short, I’ll be there. Danielle will never want for anything. She’ll never be alone. She’ll never be unprotected.” I take a breath. “Mr. Larkin, I would burn the world down for your daughter. Then Crew would pick her up and carry her across the ashes, and Michael would rebuild it to be everything she ever wanted.”
He’s watching me now with a mix of surprise and confusion and what I can only call hope. He wants this to be true.
“Thank you, Nathan,” he finally says. “Danielle has always been our…treasure. We’ve definitely had our ideas about how we thought her life would go, but, at the end of the day, we want her to be happy and…loved.”
“She is absolutely, most definitely that,” I say.
“Then…fine.”
I nod. But then I add, “And I need to be clear about one more thing.”
“All right.”
“We will protect her from everything, and everyone, that could possibly hurt her.” I pause, to be sure my point lands. “And that includes you and Mary.”
He frowns again, but he doesn’t say anything.
“If coming here, or seeing you, is painful for her, upsets her, or makes her sad, you won’t see her.”
Kevin is looking at me, and I know he understands that I’m serious.
“We want her to be happy too, Nathan,” he finally says. “We love her very much too.”
“Then this will be great,” I say, giving him a nod. I stand from the loveseat and extend my hand. “I want you to feel free to call me any time you have any questions or concerns.”
He leans forward and takes it. “I appreciate that. But…I don’t know that I’ll have any concerns.”
That’s a great answer. “And I look forward to…the next holiday.” I say it with just enough uncertainty that he chuckles.
“Easter. We usually have the family over for Easter dinner.”
Easter. Well, that gives me a few months off from all the family togetherness.
Except, freaking Crew’s birthday is in February, and I have a feeling the guy thinks his birthday should be a big deal, with a lot of people fawning all over him. As if that doesn’t happen pretty much every third day as it is.
But as I head back into the house, I find I’m not dreading that.
I bet Lori McNeill makes a hell of a birthday cake.
And who knows, maybe by then we’ll invite Kevin and Mary to join the party.
