Page 35 of Dagger

Katey grinned. “No, you just need someone to check on you every few hours to make sure you don’t lose consciousness, check on things like confusion, dizziness, or nausea. Do you have someone who can do this?”

“No,” she answered quickly and confidently.

“I’ll do it. It’s no problem.” I kept my gaze on Sinclair until she met mine head on.

“You don’t have to do that. You need to be there when Dani wakes up.”

“She’ll understand. I’m doing it.”

Instead of responding, she turned to Katey. “How much do I owe you?”

Katey laughed. “Let’s consider it on the house, just try not to bite Dagger’s head off too much. He clearly wants to help.”

“I’ll do my best. Thank you, Katey.” She stood and looked at me. “Happy?”

“No.” I wouldn’t be happy until we identified this asshole and I beat the ever loving fuck out of him. Until we figured out who the fuck he was and what he wanted with Sinclair—or the MC—I had to keep her close. “I’m not happy about this at all.”

“Yeah, well, join the club,” she mumbled.

I had twenty-four hours, at most, to figure out how to get her to agree to the crazy plan that was forming in my head.

Chapter 19

Sinclair

“What are you doing?” I sat up in bed when Dagger strolled into my bedroom with that loose-legged swagger like he was an old timey cowboy. I tried to hang on to my annoyance at having him in my home when I was so vulnerable, but I couldn’t, not when he was walking around in nothing but a pair of dark gray boxer briefs that did delicious things to his thighs and terrible things to my peace of mind.

He stopped and frowned. “I’m staying here. With you. Concussion watch, remember?” Dagger stepped forward and bent down until we were face to face. He waved his hand in front of my face with a frown. “Are you confused right now?”

I gave his chest—warm and firm—a shove. “Funny.” I groaned and rolled my eyes, mostly to take a break from the sight of his well-muscled, heavily tattooed body. Since when did single dads look likethat? “Why are you naked?” I waved my hands in his general direction, looking away as the memories of our intimate encounter came flooding back. I didn’t have a good look at him then, but now I saw every tattooed, sculpted inch of him and it was pure torture.

“Not naked, just in my underwear.” He stood tall and folded his arms, bulging biceps momentarily scrambling my brain.

“Why?” Yeah, that was the important question. Why was he in nothing but underwear that sculpted his thighs and molded to his impressive cock, even when it wasn’t erect.

“Because I needed to wash my clothes and because I don’t sleep fully dressed.” He rounded the bed and stretched his big body on top of the comforter right beside me. “I made a full load because Dani is always going on and on about saving water. Not that I get why, but I listen.”

I didn’t reply because he wasn’t just sexy, he was sweet, and that was a problem for me. I turned over and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t, because how could I? I hadn’t slept beside a man in too many years to count, and this one was too hot and my memory of our time together far too recent. Too vibrant. “I can set the alarm to wake me up,” I finally said, desperate to put some physical and emotional distance between us.

Dagger snorted a laugh beside me. “And if you don’t wake up because you’re unconscious instead of asleep?”

Ugh, why was he being so rational right now? “Then I’ll be dead,” I shot back. “And you can go home to Dani.”

“Do you have a death wish or something, Sinclair?” His voice was tight, and his face twisted into a frown.

“No death wish,” I assured him. “But I’m not going to worry about something I have no control over.”

“But you do have control over this,” he growled. “You have me, and I volunteered to be here to wake you up and make sure you don’t have a concussion.” His words were laced with a sincerity that I wanted to believe.

But I couldn’t. “It’s more important that you’re there for Dani. That she sees you in the morning before she goes to school.”

He said nothing and I continued. “My dad wasn’t what you’d call dad of the year. He never met a bet he could walk away from, which meant I woke up alone most days. I got myself ready, made my own breakfast, and got myself to the bus stop, or to school when I was running late and missed the bus. It just…” I hesitated. “It just really sucked waking up alone most mornings.”

“I’ll do better tomorrow. I promise.” He let the silence settle between us. “Is that the only reason you don’t want me around?”

I knew that question was coming, and I still didn’t have an answer. Okay, that was a lie. I knew why, I just didn’t have an alternative answer to give him. “You lied to me,” I blurted out.

“I know and I’m sorry,” he said, his voice laced with sincere sorrow.

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