Page 50 of Sexy Bad Daddy

“Besides, you’re living the fantasy you’ve had for pretty much your entire adult life, right?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh come off it, Erin. This is Danny-boy, the one person who knows you better than you know yourself. And I know that your little fantasy is to be the other half in a household like Garrett’s. You want the readymade family. The loving husband who’s already a doting father. The package deal.” He taps his temple. “It’s all up here for you. You hated yourself that first time, with what’s his name, because there was a wife in the picture and that made you feel like shit for ruining their marriage. But now there’s no wife. Just a daddy and his daughter. You get to love them both. And you get to be naughty with the sexy bad daddy. It’s your fantasy come to life.”

Goddamn it, I hate that he’s so perceptive. And right. “You do know me better than I know myself. And crap, I’m so screwed.”

“Literally, yes; daily, I’m sure. But figuratively, why do you say that?”

I flap my hands as we make our way toward where Abby is trying to teach Spot how to play fetch. Except the goat doesn’t seem to get the concept of returning the stick back to Abby. Rather, she thinks she’s supposed to eat it.

“Because it is all for show. Garrett doesn’t actually want me. Okay, maybe he does. But he sure as hell doesn’t love me. Hell, he’s probably not even capable of loving another person.”

“He fell in love with Abby.”

“Yeah, but she’s … well, she’s his kid. He doesn’t really have a choice. But with me, he has plenty of choices.”

“I think you’re underestimating your sexy daddy, although I do think you all are going about the process of figuring this out in an incredibly fucked up manner.”

This conversation is giving me a headache. “Come on, let’s drag Abby away from her favorite goat. We need to stop at the grocery store and I need to get dinner started before Garrett gets home.”

***

Danny’s still here when Garrett walks through the door, mostly, I’m sure, because he’s hoping for a free meal, since if he were at his own place, he’d probably be eating ramen noodles. Again. The man’s going to have hypertension issues before he turns thirty. Most people quit ramen when they graduate from college and get a real job. Of course, therein lies the problem with Danny.

“Where are my gorgeous ladies?” Garrett calls out as he steps into the kitchen, a giant grin on his face while Abby bounces in her chair and lifts her arms, ready for her hello hug and kiss.

“I saw Spot today, Daddy,” she says. “And—”

“No, you can’t have a goat.” He ruffles her hair and skirts around the island, heading my way. “Hey, Red,” he murmurs, sweeping me into his arms.

I sink into his embrace like I do every night. He’s so solid, so warm … dammit, Danny, get out of my head. You can’t be right. Garrett presses kisses to my neck, along my cheek, and now his soft lips take mine so tenderly. He’s such an amazing actor, because this feels so real.

But it isn’t.

“Come to steal more condoms?” he asks Danny.

“Nah, I’m good,” Danny replies. “I’m not getting it on quite as frequently as you apparently are.”

“Too bad for you.” Garrett heads to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of beer. “Want one?” he asks me, deliberately ignoring Danny.

“Sure, I’ll take one,” Danny says anyway.

Garrett shoves one into Danny’s chest while his gaze drops below the belt. “I’m kinda surprised they worked for you. Wouldn’t have pegged you for a magnum kind of guy.”

Danny smirks. “You know, you’re fast losing steam as my favorite golf pro. I may have to start throwing my support behind Greg Hanstrom.”

“That’s not a bad idea. You’d make him so fucking nuts maybe he’d start screwing up his game.”

“Little ears,” I remind him, nodding at Abby, who’s sitting at the table, scribbling in a coloring book. “So how was your day?” I return to adding the finishing touches to the chicken piccata I’m making for dinner.

He leans against the counter next to me, and I try not to let it affect me, the way he seems to like to be close to me whenever we’re in the same room.

“Good. Shot one of my best games and found out that if I fit two more tournaments into my schedule and manage to win them, I can still make the top five going into the FedEx Cup.”

“Damn,” Danny says, sounding impressed. Garrett ignores him.

“That’s great,” I say. “But make sure you don’t schedule anything over the week of July Fourth.”

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