“I know what you’re like,” he said.“And I know exactly how you look at women.”
Nolan let out a dramatic sigh.
“You make me sound like a monster.”
“You’re a problem,” Jasper corrected coldly.“And problems aren’t something my daughter needs in her life.”
He gave Nolan a stare that would’ve shut up any sane man.
But Nolan Cross was not most men. His smile only grew more insolent.
“Calm down,” he said lazily.“I’m not here for that.”
“Then keep your eyes on your charts, not my daughter.”
Jasper’s glare could’ve cut steel. Nolan didn’t even blink.
“I heard you the first time,” he said with a shrug.“You really think I’d go after your daughter?”
Jasper didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. His silence said everything.
Nolan raised his hands, still grinning.
“I’m reckless, not suicidal. Hitting on your kid? Come on. She’s too young. Too… straight-laced. Not my type.”
Jasper exhaled through his nose.
“Good.”
“But,” Nolan added, folding his arms,“you might want to brace yourself. Your little girl isn’t little anymore. Pretty, smart, confident… guys will line up. And not all of them will be decent.”
Jasper’s jaw tightened again.
He knew that. He knew it better than anyone. And he hated it.
CHAPTER 24
Jasper sat in his office, staring at nothing, slowly tracing the edge of his desk with his fingertips. He had fifteen minutes until his next appointment, yet his thoughts kept dragging him back to places he’d spent years refusing to revisit.
Nina.
Goddamn her.
He hadn’t thought about her in years.
Correction—he’dtrained himself not to. Locked those memories in the darkest corner of his mind and thrown away the key.
But the second he’d seen her again… everything he’d buried clawed its way back up like something rotten under the floorboards.
That night, looking at her, seeing the shock in her eyes, the fear, the anger—he didn’t see the woman she’d become.
He saw that girl.
The one he’d once—
Jasper pushed away from the desk so abruptly his chair rolled back and hit the wall. He paced behind the exam table, irritation coiling tighter with each step.
Twenty-two years ago he’d been a fool.
