Page 101 of Deacon

“Okay,” I said once I trusted my voice. “I think it’s time for you to go. I’ve gotta call my dad before he storms back over here. I do not need another showdown between you, him and Matty.”

A smirk tugged at his mouth. “I could take ’em.”

The idiot had been shot, punched, and nearly killed, yet confidence remained untouched. “You have bullet holes in you. Or did you forget?”

He leaned close enough for his breath to warm my ear. “Baby,” he murmured, “when I’m around you, I forget just about everything other than the feel of your body under my hands.”

Heat rushed through me before outrage could catch it. “Jacks. Our daughter is in the other room.”

His chuckle held enough wickedness to make seventeen years vanish from my body’s memory. “Tell me, baby, how do families get to havin’ multiple kids?”

“Out.” I planted both hands against his chest, mindful of his injuries despite wanting to launch him through the door. “Time for you to go.”

He laughed and let me herd him toward the exit. “You can push me out tonight,” he said, still grinning, “but I’m comin’ back tomorrow.”

“I already told you I won’t stop you from seeing your daughter.”

The look he gave me had very little to do with fatherhood.

“If you think it’s just my daughter I’m comin’ here for, woman,” he said, “you’ve got another thing comin’.”

Before I could answer, he cupped the back of my neck and kissed me.

Hard. Certain. Familiar enough to turn my anger useless for one dangerous moment. My hands caught in his shirt before my brain remembered every reason they shouldn’t be there. When he drew back, my pulse was everywhere.

“Night, Princess,” he said, rough amusement threaded through his voice. “Dream of me, like I always dream of you. And make sure you lock this door behind me.”

Then he walked away as if he hadn’t just blown another hole through the emotional wreckage of my day.

A muffled giggle came from the hallway.

Jade stood there with one hand over her mouth and absolutely no shame in her sparkling eyes.

I narrowed mine. “What exactly are you laughing at?”

She lowered her hand, innocence failing before she even attempted it. “Oh, nothing,” she said. “Just that you are in so much trouble.”

I stared at her.

Her grin widened. “That man is absolutely going to be a problem for you, and honestly? I’m kind of here for it.”

“Jade.”

She was enjoying this far too much. “And Guncle Evan,” she added, pointing down the hall like she was announcing a prophecy, “is one hundred percent going to bring popcorn.”

I let my head fall back against the wall. “Dear God.”

Her laughter filled the apartment, warm and alive after an afternoon that had given her far too many reasons to cry. For that sound alone, I could survive the rest of this mess.

I pushed away from the wall. “I have to make a phone call before your grandfather sends in the cavalry.”

Jade’s delight followed me toward the kitchen. “You should probably also prepare for Guncle Evan to enjoy this way too much, because I’m making a call of my own,” she sang out.

“Not helping,” I called back.

“Very much helping,” she said.

Judging by the joy in her voice, Evan probably already had the popcorn ready.