Crush shot me a look before sliding across the bench to sit in front of me instead. “You got any ink?”
“Nope.”
He eased back with a sly grin. “That’s my girl.”
“She doesn’t need any,” Christian replied coolly. “She has a million-dollar necklace around her neck.”
“I didn’t ask you, peckerhead.”
“You don’t think my face would look good on her arse?”
I slammed my hand on the table. “Will you two shut the hell up so we can have a nice dinner?”
Christian’s lips twitched.
And so did my father’s.
I gripped Crush’s hand. “Go easy, you old bulldog. I know Christian isn’t what you had in mind for me, but he’s saved my ass more than once. He loves me as much as you do.”
Crush shook his head adamantly. “I’ll never leave you. Can he say that? He obviously left Ireland. Or did they kick him out?”
Not even attempting to hide his apathetic look, Christian folded his arms on the table.
Betty hustled back with our drinks. “A milkshake for the lady and an orange Crush for the handsome father.” She gave him a wink before making herself scarce.
Crush peered over his shoulder at her. “Older women have always had a thing for me.”
“She’s not that much older,” Christian quipped.
Crush gave him an indignant look as he pulled the straw out of his glass. “I’m fifty-eight.”
My father had lived a hard life, and he looked all of his fifty-eight years and then some. I had forgotten his exact age until that moment. I thought about how many of those years he’d wasted alone. But he was so hard-core devoted to my deceased mother that he’d never settle for anyone else.
Before they really got into it, I decided to bring up something else that had been on my mind. “This wasn’t just an ambush. I also wanted to invite you here to thank you for everything you did.”
Crush furrowed his brow. “I don’t follow.”
“The whole mess with guarding the mansion and Hunter.”
Crush laced his fingers together. “That’s what good fathers do.”
“Switch shouldn’t have called you. And you definitely shouldn’t have been on the front lines storming into that Mage’s apartment. You could have gotten yourself killed.”
He grinned like a foolhardy boy. “Took me back to my days in the service. Made me feel young again.”
I sipped my vanilla shake and grimaced when my throat froze. “You’re supposed to be retired from all that.”
“A good Marine never retires. You’ll figure that out one day, little girl.” After another drink, he leaned in tight. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a wolf hanging out on my property, now would you?”
I thought back to the deal I’d made with his friend, Wizard. It hadn’t felt right leaving Crush completely alone, so Wizard volunteered to place a wolf on his property to keep an eye on him. After the loan shark fiasco ended, I’d just assumed Wizard had pulled back his men. Apparently not.
I drank more of my shake.
“I don’t need a damn watchdog.”
I shoved my glass toward Christian. “What if something happens and you can’t get to a phone? You live by yourself and don’t have neighbors within earshot. I can’t call you every day, especially if I’m on a mission. What if you slip in the tub?”
“I’m not dying in the damn bathtub.”
