Page 80 of Rescued by the Single Dad

Even though he felt like he really knew this woman—at least the parts that mattered like her integrity, morals, soul and goodness—he still had so much to learn. She was a mystery, and it seemed like she was content staying like that.

Even though he liked mysteries, he didn’t want to be in a relationship with one. He wanted to know the person he was with. Inside and out. Know their quirks, their secrets and how they liked their coffee in the morning. He wanted to know it all.

You’re not IN a relationship with her, though. It’s temporary, remember?

He ignored his conscience. Yeah, maybe they weren’t in a conventional relationship, but they were in a sexual one. A sexual one with feelings and chemistry.

He’d never been the type of person to not know who he was sleeping with. Whether it was for just one night or longer. And he wanted to know Brooke.

Would he ever know it all with her, though? Or would she keep him at an arm’s length forever?

It’s only day three. Give the woman some time.

She’d also been through a pretty traumatic ordeal and was still dealing with the aftermath of it both physically and mentally. She was letting him in as much as she could, and he needed to calm the fuck down. She said she trusted him, and he needed to show her that she wasn’t wrong in doing that.

He made his way to the arrivals section of the airport and waited. Brooke had located Rocco’s Instagram profile on Clint’s phone and showed him enough pictures that he’d be able to pick the guy out of a crowd pretty easily. He was essentially the male version of Brooke. Blond, green eyes, tall.

With every surge of new arrivals, Clint’s nerves grew more and more frayed, distracting him from his palpable fear of crowds.

What if Rocco got detained? What if he didn’t get on his flight? What if he was actually the mastermind behind Brooke’s attempted murder and here they were bringing him in to finish the job?

He was studying Rocco’s face on one of his Instagram pictures when another wave of arrivals funneled through. Clint lifted his head and spotted Rocco immediately. A nervous, but also hopeful look creased the young man’s face. He clued into Clint’s eyes on him and gave a squint and head tilt to ask the question.

“Rocco?” Clint asked, holding out his hand, since he already had his answer.

Rocco’s mouth split into a big smile. “Clint?”

Clint nodded, and the two shook hands.

“How is she?” Rocco asked, jumping right to the point.

“Alive. Anxious to see you and going stir-crazy being stuck in my house.”

“Why is she stuck?” Rocco asked, angling his head to the side so they could go wait for his luggage on the carousel.

“She cut up her feet pretty badly on the rocks and barnacles. So she can’t really walk anywhere. I think she’s mostly healed now. But the first day, she said fuck my injured feet and went traipsing up a hillside with my daughter and her cousins.”

Rocco snorted. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”

“She also can’t be out in public, though. She wants the world to still think she’s dead until we figure out who pushed her off the boat.” He made sure to bring his voice down so only Rocco could hear him. Brooke Barker was an A-list celebrity, and her disappearance was all over the news. The likelihood of a passerby understanding who they were talking about was high and something he wanted to avoid. “She wanted you to call her as soon as you landed.”

Rocco accepted Clint’s phone, which Clint had already dialed for him.

The moment Brooke answered, tears erupted into Rocco’s eyes and relief streaked across his face.

“So good to hear your voice,” Rocco choked out. “I just ... I can’t even ... I know. I know. I don’t know what I would have done if ... yeah, I know.”

Clint wished that he could hear what they were talking about, but he didn’t want to pry. This was a private moment between sister and brother. But Brooke seemed to be speaking quickly because Rocco could barely get a word in.

“I know that,” Rocco went on. “I already know. Yep. Not super confident, but you know, it’d look weird if I didn’t, right?” He listened for a moment, nodding and going, “Mhmm.” Then he glanced at Clint and pointed to a red suitcase that was coming toward them on the carousel. “That’s mine, do you mind?”

Clint nodded and stepped between the crowd to grab Rocco’s bag. By the time he returned, Rocco was no longer on the phone and handed it back to Clint.

“She okay?” Clint asked.

Rocco nodded. “You know, as well as anybody can be when they’ve gone through what she has.”

Clint grunted, and they made their way to the front doors.

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