He visibly stiffened, and even though she couldn’t see it, an invisible wall came crashing down around him.
He grunted. “Okay.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
He nodded. “Three younger brothers.”
“And your parents?”
His jaw twitched. “Dad died when I was twelve. Mum lives across town.”
Her heart clenched inside her chest. Mickey had mentioned Brock’s dad was gone. Didn’t mention when he’d died though. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
He grunted and lifted one shoulder.
“Did you mother ever remarry?”
He shook his head.
She let out an exasperated huff. It was like pulling teeth to get the man to open up. “Look, if you want me to consider moving in with you, you’re going to have to give me more. I’d prefer to get my information from the source. But I’ll do a background check on you at work if I have to.”
The man looked like he was going to vomit, but he shut his eyes for a moment before starting. “My mother never remarried, so when my dad died, I took on the role as father-figure to my brothers. All four of us have done a stint in the Naval Reserves. Like our dad. Dad became a cop, though, after.”
“Are any of your brothers cops?”
He shook his head again. “No. We were recruited by Joint Task Force 2, and then ran special ops.”
Krista’s eyes went wide. Was he still doing that now?
He must have read her expression. “I retired.”
She sat there in quiet contemplation for a moment. Sure, he was a bossy ass, but he didn’t seem like abadguy. She put away bad guys. And she wasn’t getting that kind of a vibe from Brock. Pushy? Yes. Alpha? Yes. Bad? No. He was definitely one of the good guys.
She lifted her eyes to his from where she’d been staring at her plate. “So, if I move in with you, then what?”
“Then I take care of you and our baby. I’m responsible for that child.”
“Are you always responsible?”
He didn’t even blink. “Yes.”
Did the man know how to have fun? Or had he abandoned all whimsy the day his father died, becoming the man of the house?
She studied him for a moment, all sexy and broody. Those walls of his were up, but from the way the left side of his jaw ticked, she wondered if there was perhaps a hairline crack in his fortress. Was he worried she was going to say no?
He said he wanted to take care of her and their baby. She really didn’t want to do this alone. She could and she would if she had to, but she didn’t want to.
She dragged her teeth over her bottom lip, suddenly wishing it wasn’t so damn hot in the restaurant. “All right, let’s justsayI move in with you. We’re going to need to set up some ground rules first.”
Rule #1: We get to have sex again.
Rule #2: We get to have lots of sex.
Rule #3: Sex! Sex! Sex!
But instead, she took a deep breath and started, “Rule number one, you arenotthe boss of me. This alpha male, bravado thing needs to stop. I’m nobody’spet.”
He didn’t say anything. The man didn’t say much. Instead, he was all devastatingly sexy smiles as he chewed his burger triumphantly. And boy did that smile make her not only want to move in with him, but also jump his bones, wear his ring and give him as many kids as he wanted.
