Page 5 of The Acquisition

"Much better than I would have on a bench in the rain," I replied as I finished making my coffee.

Colter set down the paper and focused the full force of his attention on me. I rolled my shoulders back and straightened my spine until I was at my full height. He patted the chair next to him. "Come and join me."

I couldn't let down my guard. Being defensive was instinctual for me. Instead of complying with his perfectly normal request, I raised my chin and remained standing in the middle of the kitchen.

He exhaled and rose from his seat. Every step he took toward me, I took one back until I'd managed to trap myself between the corner of the kitchen counter and Colter's very large and very hard body. Without saying a word, he took the mug from my hand and set it on the countertop.

Caging me in with his arms, he leaned forward. "I've been very patient with you, brat. You've got two choices. Either tell me what the hell is going on, or I'm going to follow through and take you over my knee."

"It isn't much of a threat if I like it rough is it, daddy?"

He shoved away from me and moved toward the windows on the other side of the living room. Colter turned and gave me his back. When he spoke, his voice was low and pinged around inside me like a swarm of fireflies lighting up my insides.

"You keep playing this game with me. One of these days I'm going to test your resolve. What will you do then, little girl?"

"Maybe you should hear why I was outside in the rain last night and then decide." He might change his mind if he knew I didn't have a penny to my name or a place to live.

He walked back to where he'd been seated when I entered the room and turned the paper toward me. In the business section of the paper was an article about The Easton Corporation and the disastrous launch of Easton Vodka. Business insiders were speculating that a hostile takeover was imminent, and that the CEO, Maxwell Easton, was currently consolidating his assets in an attempt to buy the stock before an anonymous investor purchased a majority of the shares.

"I'm guessing he had you locked out of your apartment, and likely has had all your accounts frozen as well. Am I right?" he asked.

I nodded. "How did you guess all that?"

He finally looked at me, and thankfully I didn't see pity in his gaze. "Let's just say, I have experience with parents like him. I'd hoped to be a different kind of father, when I finally had the chance, but it turned out I missed that chance by twenty-three years."

I couldn't help myself, and I hurried over to him. "Evie still needs you. I don't think you can begin to know how badly she needed to find her father. Just in the last few weeks I've seen an enormous change in her."

He nodded. "It's hard to feel alone in the world. I imagine it's even harder to actually be alone in the world. Now neither of us have to suffer that anymore."

A lump formed in my throat, and this time I was forced to turn away or unveil every emotion I was feeling. Being vulnerable wasn't an emotion I was comfortable with. "Now I guess it's just me," I whispered. I'd intended to speak the words only to myself, but he heard me. He always heard everything whether I wanted him to or not.

Colter seemed to understand me on a level no one ever had before. It was terrifying, and I loved it. He knew when to push and when to back off. It was like I was an instrument and he was a virtuoso. Of course it fit his womanizing persona, because he knew just which strings to pluck to make me vibrate for him.

"I know this is all overwhelming. Beckett told me you quit your job last night. I know it seems like too much, but we need to tackle things in order of importance. The first thing we need to handle is you need a place to stay."

Again, I nodded. He moved closer to me and traced a single finger across my exposed clavicle. "I'm also willing to bet you don't want to ask Evie if you can stay with them."

I shrugged. What could I say? He was absolutely right.

"There's no way you'll stay with Sabrina. I know you've become friends, but she isn't someone you've really allowed into your inner circle yet."

"And she's got some weird thing going on with Malcolm, and I would rather not see him again if I can avoid it."

Colter went rigid, and the telltale muscle in his jaw clenched and released. "She what?" His voice was low, and in someone less urbane I'd describe it as deadly.

"I don't know much. She said they were friends, but they had a weird vibe when she brought us to his club opening a couple months ago."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I was fascinated watching him calm himself. I'd never seen someone exercise so much control over their emotions. A moment ago I would have sworn he was about to fly into a rage, and then he seemed to flip a switch and change back into the affable Colter I was used to.

"All right, her place is out. You know that means you've no choice but to stay here."

I was so occupied trying to study every emotion I saw flit across his face since I'd joined him this morning, I hadn't noticed how expertly he maneuvered me into a different kind of corner. He wasn't wrong though. I didn't have anywhere else to go.

He stepped completely into my personal space and moved my hair out of my face. "I see you trying to come up with an alternate arrangement, but I can also tell you know I'm right. This also gives me a chance to really test you."

A shiver travelled down my spine. Colter bent down, and I felt the barest brush of his lips against mine. They didn't linger though, and his warm breath fanned against my cheek as he whispered, "Not now though, little girl. First, I'm going to start fixing some of your problems."

This was a game I knew how to play, and once again I felt like I was on stable ground. "Whatever you say, daddy," I teased as I moved past him.

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