Page 15 of The Hard Hitter
“That’s very kind of you.” Her gaze goes to mine. “Can I repay you?”
As soon as the words leave her mouth, a groan I have no control over crawls out of my throat. Sam’s cheeks flush, and I have no doubt her thoughts are running in the same directions as mine. But now is not the time to be thinking about my wants, not when Daisy is staring up at me.
“Daddy, are you okay?” Daisy asks. I reach down and scoop her up. “You sound funny.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” I say as she cups my cheeks to give me fish lips. She giggles. “How about some ice cream?” I slowly turn back to Sam. “I could go for a scoop of vanilla.” The pink on Sam’s cheeks darken, and I ask, “Same time next week?”
She nods, and her throat makes a strange sound as she swallows. Nervous fingers fiddle with her top button, and I really fucking wish she’d stop doing that.
“Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate,” Daisy chants as I take her to the car and buckle her in. I catch sight of Sam in my rearview mirror as I swing the vehicle around and head to Sweets, our favorite ice cream shop.
A couple hours later, after settling Daisy in with Celeste, I shower, change and jump in my car to head to Carlo’s. I squeeze my vehicle between two trucks and music reaches my ears as I head inside. My eyes adjust to the dark, and I glance around the place in search of Jonah. I find him and Quinn at the pool table.
Dammit, I thought it was just going to be the guys tonight.
Quinn sees me and waves me over. I push through the crowd and gesture to the server for three beer, which seems to be what my sister and best friend are drinking tonight.
“Hey sis,” I say and give Quinn a hug.
“About time you got out of the house. I was beginning to think you’d turned into a hermit,” she says.
I roll one shoulder. “Daisy keeps me pretty busy. But you know all about that.”
“She is a busy girl, but a very happy one.”
My heart warms at that. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have Quinn giving Daisy the motherly support. She needs female influences in her life, otherwise she’ll end up a tomboy who swore like a sailor.
Quinn hands me her pool cue, and I put chalk on the end. “We needed a break tonight too,” she says. “Scotty is with his grandparents.”
I smile. It’s so nice that Quinn and Jonah found each other and have the support of his family. After Dad died a couple years ago, Quinn and I are the only two left. Well, of course, our mother could be out there somewhere, but I have no idea where and no interest in seeing her. My mother abandoned her kids, and Daisy’s mother abandoned her. No wonder I’m too afraid to bring someone into my child’s life. Hurt me, fine; but hurt my daughter and there will be hell to pay.
The waitress brings by the beer and hands them out. I clink mine with Jonah’s before taking a long pull, but the toast sends my mind back to last week, when Sam and I made eye contact during out toast…and to what we did afterward.
“I heard from Sam today,” Quinn begins as she racks the balls.
At the sound of Sam’s name, my entire body stiffens. “Oh, yeah?” I say, trying to pull off casual and not ask if they talked about me. Fuck, how pathetic would that sound?
“She said Daisy is doing wonderful, and that she thinks she’s making progress already.”
Goddammit, I hadn’t even asked after the last session.
Quinn touches her head. “She’s a smart little girl. Like her aunty.”
I laugh at that, and some of the tension drains from my body.
“Yeah, she’s gets her brains from you.”
“And her looks too. Don’t forget that.”
“Oh, I won’t.” I run my knuckles over her head, the way she hates, and she pinches my gut. “You won’t let me.”
She pushes me away. “Anyway, Sam said she brought you a cherry pie.”
I eye my sister. “Yeah, she did, to thank me for fixing her door. Apparently, that was your idea.”
She shrugs. “She wanted to do something nice for you.”
Oh, she definitely did something nice, but you don’t need to know about that.