Page 29 of Mine to Dominate

He chuckled. “I want to see if you can find them.”

For the next ten minutes, she looked everywhere in the living room and kitchen and found nothing. She threw up her hands.

Darrell chuckled. “The guy is very good. The FBI has tried to get him to work with them, but he won’t. He wants to just work on his own business.”

“Which is what?” she asked.

“He owns his own private investigating business, and he’s been very successful.”

“Do I know him?” she asked.

“No, he’s over in Madison County, and he moved there five or so years ago. His name is Simon Crawford. He started Crawford Investigations. Daniel, the sheriff over in Madison, uses him a lot.”

“How’d you meet him?” she asked.

“When I was the sheriff, I used him a few times. He’s a great guy, but he tends to be abrupt and growl a lot.” Darrell chuckled. “He scares most people, but he doesn’t care. I think sometimes he even enjoys it.”

Kayla snorted. “Will I ever meet him?”

“Probably. I’m surprised you haven’t already.”

“I’m going to make spaghetti,” she said, and started pulling pots and ingredients out of the cupboard and refrigerator.

“Hot damn. It’s been a while since I ate your pasta,” Darrell said.

Kayla glanced at him over her shoulder. “You’re still going to live in town, aren’t you?”

Darrell sat down in one of the chairs. “Yes. This will be my base, but I’ve got things I want to do, so I’ll be gone a lot. But never think I’ll ever be out of your life. You and your brother are the kids I’ve always dreamed of.”

“You couldn’t have been a better father. I thank God foryou so many times.”

She saw the emotion on the older man’s face and could feel her eyes mist over.

She turned back to the dinner she was making. She was glad to know he’d be around sometimes. He’d been a father to her, and she didn’t want to lose him.

It didn’t take long for the pasta to cook, and they sat at the table eating. Halfway through, Darrell’s phone rang.

“Hello.”

She could just make out who it was and most of what he was saying. She wished she could see Zeke but heard he wouldn’t be over. Darrell agreed. They didn’t want to take any chances of him being seen.

Darrell held the phone out to her. “He wants to talk to you.”

She grabbed it and walked into her bedroom.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi, yourself. I have to tell you, Little Sub, it’s harder than I thought it would be.”

Her grip on the phone tightened. “What is?”

“Not being able to talk to you or touch you,” he growled.

She relaxed. “It’s hard for me, too.” She paused. “I have an idea.”

He groaned.

She rolled her eyes. “Hear me out. What if we started acting like we liked each other? I thought if he saw we were miserable, he’d leave us alone because he was getting what he wanted, but if he saw us together, he’d make a move.”

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