He stalls for a second. “I am when a creep I barely know is about to visit my daughter.”
I blow out a laugh, genuinely entertained by the nerve of this asshole. “I’d say he just left, wouldn’t you?”
When Tucker narrows his eyes at me, I let him see a side to my personality that rarely comes out to play. Over my thirty-five years, I’ve learned that getting mad is never as productive as getting even. But Tucker Price is the type of person who works in simple terms.
When I step forward, the bill of my baseball crap presses into his forehead as I drop my gaze to his.
“What the fuck did you say to Billie up there?”
His satisfied expression corroborates my initial assumptions—he’s a cocky prick who thinks way too much of himself.
“I told her to come back to Austin with me so we can make a go of things. Just the three of us.”
Panic shoots through me, although I do a good job of hiding it, steely eyes never faltering. “Given that you’re leaving alone, I’m assuming that didn’t go over too well.”
He lifts a shoulder, casually checking out his surroundings. “She’s thinking about it for sure. I mean, who would want to live in a hole like this?” He fakes an apologetic wince. “Shit. Sorry, man. I guess you must live around here too.”
Just as I suspected earlier, Tucker has no idea who I am.
Scrubbing a hand over my jaw, I know that the best thing to do would be to head upstairs and be with my girl.
And that’s exactly what I’ll do, right after I annihilate this son of a bitch.
“You’re right,” I say, nodding my head at the silver DB5 I bought in England last year. I paid over five-hundred thousand pounds for it, and even though I know Tucker’s only interest ishimself, money comes a close second in the race for his heart. “I live around a twenty-minute drive from here.”
Tucker stares open-mouthed at my car.
I hate making any kind of financial flex, but I’ll be damned if he thinks Billie and Blake would ever have to worry about money in his absence.
“Are there any more inaccurate observations you’d like to make, or are we done here?” I speak again, pulling his attention back to me.
He shakes his head, eyes wide, like he’s seen a ghost. “No. I think we’re done here.”
Alpha pride fills my chest—an emotion that only seems to surface when Billie and Blake are concerned.
Getting right in his face, I drop my voice to a growl. “Oh, best believe we’re fucking done here, Tucker. And you should be grateful about that too …” I edge even closer until he can feel, as well as hear, every word I’m about to say. “Because if I had my way and you weren’t Blake’s biological father, then you wouldn’t have eyes to appreciate my Aston Martin or the way I’m going to make your incredible ex-girlfriend fall in love with me.”
Attempting to intimidate me, Tucker grinds his molars.
Aww, cute.
“I don’t know how to break this to you, but Billie just referred to you as a friend when I asked her if you two were dating.”
I shrug, unsurprised by her response since, right now, that’s the truth. “And? I’m taking it slow with her since she just got out of a toxic relationship with an asshole. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
He hates my response, and I love that he does.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Reaching up, I pull on the bill of my Blades cap. “Tell me you don’t watch hockey without telling me you don’t watch hockey.”
He bursts out laughing. “Now the money and flashy car all make sense. Billie must think that all her gold-digger dreams have come true.”
My hand wraps around his throat, lifting him from the ground with ease. If anyone catches sight of this, I’ll likely be put on waivers by the team. Not that I care.
“The only person who struck gold was you when you bagged a stunning girl who was way out of your league.”
Tucker tries to pry my fingers from his throat, but they aren’t going anywhere, not until I’m done with him.
