Page 39 of Always Been Yours

“Yeah, he’s the worst.” I don’t mention anything specific but I’m sure that Selena has filled him in on some of Harper’s horrible traits.

“Does that happen often?” His voice is so low that I shouldn’t be able to hear it over the music and conversations. Yet, I can hear him as clearly as if he were whisperingin my ear.

“What?”

He wags his finger between me and the space next to us. “What just happened with Harper, Genevieve.”

The use of my full name and his husky timber send a chill down my spine. I’d rather go on a date with Derek Harper than let Grady Miller know how much he affects me though.

I stand a little taller and lean an elbow on the bar. “He thinks he can bully me, and he can’t.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

I roll my eyes at him. “It happens pretty much anytime he can corner me alone. He doesn’t takenofor an answer. I’m not the only teacher he bothers—some of them are even married. Do you think Harper cares? Nope, it doesn’t deter him for even a second.”

“And from what I understand about Mrs. Gable…” Grady starts.

“She turns a blind eye in favor of the football department and her inappropriate crush on him,” I frown, finishing his thought. “Thanks for stepping in. I can usually handle these situations,” I quickly add, not wanting Grady to see any weakness in me, “but he can be pretty relentless. He doesn’t respect women or our right to sayno.Usually my brothers or Knox step in.”

I peer around him, seeing everyone at the table deep in conversations. I don’t believe for even a second that they’re all ignorant of the fact that Grady and I are missing at the same time. I shake my head at the thought.

“I changed my mind about the drink.” Grady shrugs and slips his hands in his pockets.

“Mm, okay.” I play along. It isn’t that I expected Grady to outright admit that he came over here on a proverbial white horse, but the deflection is disappointing anyway.

Don’t be ridiculous and don’t expect anything from him.

Grady

I slide into the stool next to her, and let my arm fall on the counter behind her.

“You don’t have to act like this.” She takes a small step back and waves her hand between us. “Least of all with me. There are plenty of girls here to flirt with. Maybe even one to take home.”

I flinch back at her assumptions. I mean, sure, while single I’ve always been a naturally flirty person but by no means would I describe myself as a man who goes out prowling for women. Even the few one night stands I’ve had were random and coincidental, never a plan for the evening.

“Considering my two daughters are expecting me to pick them up bright and early, I’m not interested in that tonight.” She opens her mouth to speak up, looking slightly guilty, but I cut her off. “And not that it’s anyone’s business but there hasn’t been anyone since my ex-wife. There’s been no time or privacy. Even if there was, I’m not looking to confuse my daughters by introducing them to someone that I have no intention of knowing a week from now.”

A look of wary realization washes over her, and it isn’t lost on me that I willingly introduced my daughters to her family. Yes, they stumbled into Vivi’s classroom, but I was always planning on going to dinner at my parents’ house knowing full well who all would be there. But my worries weren’t that I wouldn’t want them in Stella and Daisy’s lives, but that Vivi and her siblings wouldn’t want to be a part of the girls’ lives.

“Thanks for the clarification,” Vivi says before turning to flag down the bartender.

“Another shot?” I ask.

“No, just a margarita.” She orders from the bartender, James, apparently. The way she’s leaning forward on the bar pushes herbackside out toward me. When she catches me staring, a scowl pulls across her face but is undermined by the tiny smirk she can’t hide. “What do you want to drink?”

I lean around her and say to James, “Two waters, please.”

“Water?” she asks in disgust. “It’s your one night out in forever, or so it would seem.”

“I drove. And even if they don’t know the difference, I don’t like to be drunk or hungover around the little ladies when I can avoid it.”

“Ooh, so responsible.” The admiration in her eyes is a contrast to her teasing tone.

As most single fathers would probably tell you, there’s a majority of straight women that swoon at the sight of you with a child. I think even for the women who don’t want children of their own, it shows a promise of maturity.

I typically wouldn’t use my daughters to win me brownie points with a woman, for many of the reasons already stated tonight, but I know that Genevieve cares about them already. In this case, is it so bad if I use my parenting skills to sway her a bit? Maybe… but with this one woman, I don’t really feel guilty about it.

“I don’t think it surprises anyone what a great father you are.” The comment and the sincerity catch me off guard. It’s the first real compliment that Vivi’s given me in years and it’s the one that means the most to me.

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