Page 16 of Could Be Worse

“We don’t have to discuss the whys. I’m sure you’re still processing. But I know you quit the show.”

I spun around aghast that he had somehow found out. “How do you know that?”

“I had Grizzly hack into the system the second you arrived at the compound.”

“Seriously, Dad?” I shouted in his face. “Invading my personal business is not okay. I’m your daughter, for Christ’s sake!”

“Calm down, peanut. I needed to know.” He slipped his thumbs into his jean pockets. For almost fifty, he hadn’t aged much. The laugh lines near his eyes were deeper, but he was still handsome as always, and he didn’t look a day over thirty-five.

“I would’ve told you when I was good and ready.”

“And are you good and ready?”

“No! Not anymore!”

“Sadie, I know you better than you think. You had no intention on telling me the truth, did you?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”

“I still don’t know why. You wouldn’t just quit a show you’ve been dreaming of since you were a little girl.” He tugged me into his embrace and gave me a tight squeeze. “Did you mess up real bad? Did the choreographer embarrass you? Was it something else?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” My voice was full of emotion, a tear slipped down my face. “Can we please not do this now?”

“Okay, peanut. Let’s discuss this building.”

I groaned and buried my face in his chest. He smelled as I remembered, the fabric softener my mom used mixed with the cologne he wore when he’d first entered my life. I was barely four when he’d helped my mom and me at the airport. He’d taken us to McDonald’s and got us a hotel room when my mom’s friend had mysteriously died.

The rest was kind of a blur, but Zander Quinn, a.k.a. Lynx in the club, had changed our lives forever, and for the better. He and my mom fell in love and he adopted me, so I’d have his last name and belong to him.

“I know someone who can fix it up any way you want… if you’re sticking around.” His voice pulled me out of my head.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, Dad. I just got home last night. Give me a second to breathe.”

He chuckled. “I’ve always been a fast mover. How else would I have gotten your mom?”

“Stop. Fate brought you together the day you got her text by mistake.”

“Maybe. But she’s so gorgeous and sexy, another dude could’ve swept her off her feet before me.”

“Never. When it’s right, it’s right.”

“Would you be okay if I called Bryce to give me a bid?”

“How can he give you a bid when I don’t know what I want?”

“Well, the place needs a good cleaning before any work can be done. At least let me check if he can meet with us next week.”

He would not stop, stubborn mule. He wasn’t growly and bossy like Uncle Storm, but he was a persistent bugger.

“Whatever. But if this place is really mine, nothing can be done to it without my consent. And I don’t have any money.” No money. No way to hire a contractor. Problem solved, right?

“You have an investor.”

Wait. What? “Who?” I cocked my head.

“Me.” He flashed one of his charming smiles. “I have more than enough money to turn this place into a state-of-the-art dance school. Just imagine how many kids in town would be thrilled to attend.”

Oh heavens, he was laying it on thick. He had never wanted me to leave Minnesota. Now I feared he would do everything and anything to keep me here.

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