“I thought you had a rule that I couldn’t look at anyone you considered a friend, no matter their age?”
“Dad.” He could practically hear her eyes roll. “Tay is different, and …” His daughter trailed off.
“And what?”
If he knew his daughter, he could hear that she had a lot to say.
“And, well, she deserves … nothing, Dad. Just don’t be like my uncles, okay?”
Two things jumped out at him. One, his daughter was holding back, and two, as much as he tried to keep the club activities from touching his daughter, he’d failed.
“What do you mean, like your uncles? They’re good men. You know that. Just a little rough around the edges sometimes.”
He had zero doubt about how much she loved them, and they loved her, but did she really know way more than he’d believed? Was he being that naïve?
“I know that, Dad. They’re great in fact, including you, but they go through girlfriends like I do clean socks.”
Prowler dropped his head into his hand. Fuck, he was that naïve to think that he could hide his lifestyle from his ridiculously smart daughter.
Another thought crept in … if she knew more about the club than he’d expected, did she also know more about them? More specifically, a certain side of them?
On her last visit, Cass had mentioned living more of the time with him than with Allie. Since then, he had been considering it, mulling over the best way to make that happen but keep his life, specifically shifter and club issues, from touching her. Lord knew he’d have her twenty-four seven if he could.
Maybe it was time to sit down and have a serious talk with his daughter, since she was now playing pint-sized matchmaker. If she figured it out on her own, it could be dangerous, especially if she told someone else.
“What do you say we drive out to the lake tomorrow and rent a boat? Just you and me. Father-daughter time.”
Her squealed, “Yes,” had him pulling the phone away from his ear. “I’d love that, Dad. There are some things I’ve been wanting to talk to you about,” she added in a nervous tone.
Ditto, kid, ditto, he thought.
The rest of his day flew by with that weight lifted off him. He made a run by the brothel and bar just to check on operationsand spent an hour in the table room. Then took a courtesy call from a club passing through for the weekend.
Even though he kept busy, his mind wandered back to Taylor. After Cass went to sleep, he planned on getting her underneath him. Fuck the guy on her porch. Fuck the wolf and a chosen mate. And fuck ending what they had going. Why not go for it? If he was going to have an ol’ lady, it would be his sexy neighbor or no one at all.
Parking in his garage, he pulled the bundle of wildflowers from his saddlebag before stepping into what smelled like the wrong house.
He loved his daughter, but he wasn’t on board with her vegan lifestyle, except when she was around. He would do anything for her, including giving up steak around her, but the house didn’t smell like tofu at the moment. Nope, it smelled like good old-fashioned grade A beef.
“Dad.” Cass was first to spot him. With her greeting, Taylor turned away from the stove where it looked like she was plating asparagus.
“Hi, Prowler,” she said with a blush. One that made him wonder if she was thinking the same thing he was. About their last encounter, when he’d hauled her over his shoulder to the garage and fucked her bent over the tank of his bike as they both straddled the seat.
Hell, he got hard every time he threw his leg over it picturing her there before him. Glistening pink pussy as he pummeled in and out of her.
“Look, Tay, Dad brought you flowers.”
Taylor turned, wiping her hands and hefting the plate, heading toward the table.
“I think those are for you, Cass,” she said with certainty, like he’d never in a million years bring her flowers.
If they stood any chance of taking this beyond fucking, he needed to alter her perception.
“Actually.” He separated the two distinct bouquets. “You’re both right.” He handed the smaller one that was dip-dyed in bright colors to Cass, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “These are for my favorite girl in the world.”
He approached Taylor, who was looking more like she was expecting to be handed a live rattlesnake instead of flowers. “And these.” He handed her the larger collection of daisies and black-eyed Susans before looking back to see that Cass was turned away. He leaned in, trailing a finger down her bare bicep, and pitched his voice low. “Are for my favorite woman in the world.”
Taylor jerked back to stare at him. Her face was not the happy reaction he’d expected, but instead a narrow-eyed suspicious one.
