Page 23 of Daddy's Little Liar
“It won’t work,” Kace said bluntly.
“No, I know,” she agreed. “It’s okay, Kace. I’m not completely useless. I’ll figure it out.”
There it was—a hint of the old Iris he used to know, peeking through the bleak facade.
“She won’t be out of touch forever, just long enough for me to put you up in the hopes we’ll...” He stopped. In the hopes, they’d what, remember how good it felt when they’d been together? That was probably what Margo was hoping.
“I don’t expect that,” Iris said flatly.
“It won’t work,” he reminded, shooting her a look. He wasn’t completely heartless and wasn’t about to leave her and the baby to sleep the night in her car. “You can have my bedroom. I’ll sleep on the couch. I’ll bet dollars to donuts, your mom resurfaces tomorrow, delighted at how well her plan worked. We can talk to her then.”
When Iris didn’t say anything, he glanced up. She wasn’t looking at him but at something behind him, her face paler than the napkin she held clutched in her suddenly too-tight hand.
Swiveling around in the booth, Kace was in time to see a dirty red pickup skid to a stop just behind her car, blocking it from leaving. A sandy-haired man in work jeans, a t-shirt, and an open flannel shirt jumped out, slamming the door before he stalked toward the restaurant.
Brian.
“Stay here,” he ordered, already heading for the door in angry, long-legged strides that mirrored the other man’s. He was out the first set of doors and in the entryway when Brian spotted him. Recognition widened his eyes, and he almost fell, snapping around so fast.
Kace broke into a run, bursting out of the restaurant and chasing Brian back to his truck. He’d have ripped the man out of it had he not hit the automatic locks.
Kace smacked the window three times with the heel of his palm. If he’d broken it, he’d have cut his hand to ribbons but would have pulled Brian through the shattered glass and wiped the parking lot with him. Shit like this got a man sent to jail for a time, but he was so far beyond caring.
The truck rumbled to life.
“You like beating women?” Kace snapped, hitting the window again.
The tires sprayed gravel as Brian took off.
“Breathe in her fucking direction again,” Kace yelled after him. “I fucking dare you!”
Kace stood in the parking lot until he couldn’t see the truck anymore. He struggled to get his breathing back under control, his heart to slow down, and his fists to unclench. Situation dealt with, he went back into the restaurant. What few patrons there were at this time of day stared after him, but he didn’t care. He made his way back to Iris and slid back into the booth across from her.
Iris had the baby in her lap, and her eyes were huge. “Did you hurt your hand?”
“Nope.” Picking up his fork, he started eating. “This is good.” The silence was growing heavy again, and he needed something to help him get back to normal.
Stammering a little, Iris finally said, “Thank you, Daddy.”
It was an old honorific. One she’d had no right to use in a very long time, and they both knew it, but he didn’t bother to correct her. He just pointed to her plate.
“I’d like to see you finish at least half of that before we leave. You need to eat.”
That’s who he was, and whether either of them had any right to claim that kind of relationship between them, he couldn’t stop being the man he was at his core any more than he could turn back the clock and make himself fall in love with her. Certain things just had to stay in the past, and as Georgia had obviously done, he needed to move forward.
He was tired of living alone.
