Page 121 of Smith

This was suspect. Thus I felt the need to ask if it was going to make me mad.

“Fifty-fifty chance,” Smith told me.

“Those are not favorable odds, Sailor.”

“Best I got, baby.”

I could see my dad’s profile, therefore I could see his huge smile.

“Glad you find this amusing, Dad.”

“Listening to my girl is always amusing. But listening to her bicker with her man is way more entertaining than I thought it would be.”

“He won’t be my man much longer if he doesn’t stop treating me like an invalid and let me make dinner.”

Smith caught my eye in the rearview mirror. He too was smiling. His was smug.

“Now who’s making wild threats?”

My cheeks heated and for the first time since my father showed up I wished he wasn’t there so I could give Smith the comeback that deserved. But I didn’t think my father wouldappreciate a sex joke coming from his daughter. Not to mention, as it stood my father not only approved of Smith but made his approval known by asking me—in front of Smith—if we’d hold off on a wedding until he was stateside. I reckoned me reminding Smith he’d yet to fulfill his threat to spank me if I didn’t stop jerking around in bed with broken ribs wouldn’t go over well.

Whatever.

“Fine, spoil me rotten. Do all the cooking and cleaning and dote on me all you like. But you’re setting precedence so prepare to be held to the current standard for eternity.

“That’s the plan.”

I’d had this version of Smith for twenty-five days. The openly sweet version that I wouldn’t’ve thought possible because I fell in love with the brooding, closed-off Smith. But it was true nonetheless that I loved and adored sweet, openly loving Smith. That wasn’t to say the first few days after the attack he hadn’t shut down, but he hadn’t shut me out. My injuries were a horrible reminder of his past, made worse because they were mine. He never hid how helpless he felt that he couldn’t take away my pain.

Ten minutes later, I knew where they were taking me.

The Grasonville house.

I sat quietly, searching my feelings. It didn’t take long for me to come to the conclusion I didn’t have any strong emotions either way. Now,myhome, I had strong feelings going back there. Thankfully, neither Smith nor my dad pushed me to go back there. Though Smith did tell me, Zane had a remediation crew go in and clean my house. And Philip had repaired my broken window under Jonas’s watchful eye.

I still didn’t want to go back to that house.

When I felt well enough to come up with an actual plan, I needed to sort the house, and put it on the market.

But for now I wasn’t worried about it.

But my flip, that needed to be dealt with. There was a shitton of work I needed to get done.

“Does this mean Big Boss and Bigger Boss are allowing me to get back to work?” I asked as Smith took the turn onto Cemetery Road.

“That depends,” my dad answered.

“On which one of us you’re calling Bigger Boss, and which one is Big Boss.”

Before I could filter my response I blurted, “Well, I was gonna go with Big Boss and Big Daddy but I thought that might traumatize you. So I settled on Big and Bigger Boss.”

“Why—”

“Aria,” Smith warned.

“It’s like you don’t know me,” I muttered and smiled out the window.

“Jesus,” my dad complained.

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