Those black eyes across the room were on me when he said, “No. You. I want to hear it from you. You have my number, the one I called you from earlier.”
Kieran clearly could not believe he was being passed up in favor of me, but I would not complain. Why would I? I’d gladly talk to this man again. I was officially a girl with a crush, as much as it’d pain the man beside me—and Mike—to know that. Fang? He’d be fine with it.
“Okay,” I said, unable to look away from the man across the room.
Beside me, Kieran slapped his knees and got to his feet, then offered me his hand after putting away his gun. “Well, if we’re done here, I’d like to take my girlfriend home.” There was an edge to his voice, one that reminded me of the masked man he used to be.
My Devil. The one who owned my soul first.
It took Jason a bit, but eventually the man said, “Sure. Take her home. It’s probably best she doesn’t spend too much time here.” When he said that last part, he shot me a look I couldn’tread, but I swore the corners of his mouth quirked upward in a slight smirk.
He had the same smirk as Kieran, dimples and all.
I took Kieran’s hand the same moment he muttered, “Whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean.”
As he pulled me through the house, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. Such a possessive display on Kieran’s part, and it was met with an unimpressed attitude from Jason. Life had turned more complicated, yes, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I waved goodbye to Jason before I was pulled through the front door, and Kieran didn’t let go of my hand until he was opening his passenger side door and helping me in. He probably wanted to get me into his car himself, otherwise he was worried I’d run right back in there to his daddy.
Oh, yeah. Jason was daddy, definitely.
He slammed his driver door when he got in, starting the car all without saying a word. I turned my head to watch as Jason stepped outside of the house. The tattooed man leaned against the door frame of the house, his arms still crossed, that smirk still on his face, as he looked on.
“What’s his deal?” Kieran huffed as we drove away, and it was only when the other man was out of sight that I leaned my head in the other direction and stared at his angry profile instead.
“Can I say something that’s probably going to freak you out and make you insanely jealous?”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel, and he was slow in tossing his black eyes my way, but only for a moment. Jaw grinding, he muttered, “I have the feeling I’m going to regret this, but yeah, hit me with it.”
There were a dozen different ways I could’ve said it, but the one that came from me was the shortest and the simplest: “Your dad is hot.”
Kieran cut the wheel and abruptly pulled us off the side of the road, parking in front of another house. He put the car in park and slowly, deliberately, met my stare. “Now I know how you guys felt when I made all those stupid jokes.” I didn’t say anything to that, which caused him to beg me, “Tell me you’re kidding.”
All I did was shrug.
He ran a hand through his hair. “You—you can’t be serious. Tell me you’re joking. Please. I’m willing to get on my hands and knees if it’ll help. I can live with you banging that silver-fanged freak and Mike, but come on. There are limits, you know. Dads are off-limits. They’re beyond the limits. They’re so far out there it should go without saying—”
He’d started to ramble, the key sign that he was at a loss for words. I know, I know. Being at a loss for words and rambling were antonyms, but that was something he did.
“I’m not saying your dad is going to steal me,” I told him. “You changed my life. Even though the past few months have been… a little weird between us, I love you. I always will.”
“See, you’re saying all that, but it sounds like there’s a bigbutcoming.”
“There’s no but. I love you, and I think Daddy Miller is attractive as hell. Both things can be true.”
“Daddy Miller.” As he repeated the phrase, he started to gag. “Please don’t ever call him that again, at least in front of me. I can handle a lot of things, but not that. That is where I draw the line.” He pulled us back onto the road after that, marginally calmer.
I fiddled with my hands on my lap. “What does Fang always say? Love is infinite—”
“Not that infinite. He’s… he’s like double your age.”
“You’re way older than me, too. So are Fang and Mike.”
“He’s my dad. It’s strange enough we share you, but the idea of my dad… see? I can’t even finish the sentence, that’s how weird it is.” Under his breath, he added, “I’m never going to be able to see or talk to him again without thinking about how you apparently go weak in the knees for him. Thanks for that.”
A chuckle escaped me. “I never said I went weak at the knees. All I said was he’s hot. For a man of his age, he’s… he takes good care of himself. And those tattoos? I can’t imagine how long they took.”
Kieran gagged again. “Stop it. Just stop it. I know you’re imagining things.”
