Page 58 of All Along The Watchtower

Peyton bounced inside, stopping short with a look between us. “Oh, hey Bree! I didn’t know you were here.”

Could she see my heart thundering in my chest? “I was just leaving.” My voice came out half an octave higher than normal. I couldn’t look at Ford. Couldn’t process what had just happened. “I’ve got to get back to the Brewhouse.”

I bolted for the door, calling for Keeley and ignoring Peyton’s confused “But I thought Monty was covering tonight?”

The cool evening air hit my flushed face as I practically ran across the yard to my house. What the hell had I been thinking? I couldn’t do this. Not with Ford. Not again.

I slammed my door behind me and sagged against it, trying to catch my breath. But all I could think about was the heat of Ford’s mouth and how badly I wanted to go back for more.

CHAPTER 27

FORD

As Peyton frowned at the door Bree had just run through like a bat out of hell, I snatched up the nearest thing I could use to hide my erection—the stew pot I hadn’t yet found a proper home for. Mortification crawled up my neck as I struggled to get blood flow back into my brain. I could still taste Bree on my lips, still feel her wrapped around me. God, it was everything I’d dreamed of for the past ten years and nothing I expected to have again. We were still combustible, as evidenced by exactly where that little interlude would’ve been headed had my kid not had the worst possible timing.

Said kid glanced back at me and arched a brow. “Are you okay? You’re all red in the face.”

Christ, this was worse than being caught by my moms. “Sure, I’m fine.”Redirect. Redirect. “How did things go with Ed?”

Peyton bounced on her toes, seemingly oblivious to the fog of sexual tension still hanging in the air. “So Ed says some of the locations on this map are new to him. Like, they might’ve just been artistic license, butsomeof them might’ve been pulled from the old stories instead of the accepted history.”

My pulse gradually began to slow. “Oh, yeah?” I loved that she was getting so excited about a tourist map. I could definitely appreciate a sense of adventure.

“We’re going to compare it to some of his old maps. He thinks there’s a possibility there could be actual pirate caches that nobody’s found yet because they’ve been looking in the wrong places.” Her eyes lit up. “Can we go treasure hunting?”

I doubted there was treasure to be found, but the excitement radiating off her made me smile. After everything she’d been through, seeing her act like a regular kid felt like a gift—like maybe I wasn’t completely screwing this whole dad thing up. “Sure. Sounds fun. Did you pick which pirate you’re doing your paper on?”

“Jack Rackham, I think.” She fidgeted with the edge of the map that had been her constant companion the past few days, clearly bursting to share more.

“Good ol’ Calico Jack. Why him?” I leaned forward, genuinely curious about what had caught her interest. These glimpses into her personality felt precious, like pieces of a puzzle I was slowly putting together.

Peyton grinned, and the expression transformed her whole face. “Pirate romance, duh. After he dumped Blackbeard on Ocracoke, he hooked up with Anne Bonny. Nowshe’swho I’m really interested in, but since she wasn’t from around here, she’s not on the list.” Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she talked about the female pirate.

I grinned back, loving this glimpse of teenage sass. “Down with the patriarchy?”

“Heck, yeah.” She sat up straighter, looking proud of herself, and for a moment I could see exactly who she’d be in a few years—fierce and unstoppable, exactly as a woman should be.

She finally seemed to register the stew pot in my hands. “What’s for dinner?”

“Uh, haven’t figured that out yet. Spaghetti maybe.” I had no idea if we had pasta or meatballs or even a jar of sauce, but it was the first thing to pop into my head. Saved from mortal embarrassment, I set the pot on the stove.

“School go okay, today?” I’d picked her up myself at the end of the day, but she hadn’t been in a talking mood as I’d ferried her to the Brewhouse to meet with Ed, and I’d been too focused on watching everyone we passed and wondering if they were somehow out to harm my daughter.

“It was fine.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Peyton hopped up on one of the barstools, and I began rummaging through cabinets to assess our spaghetti situation.

“So Madison totally likes Trevor, but Trevor’s best friend Jake likes Madison’s best friend Sarah, who actually has a crush on Trevor.” She paused for breath. “And now Madison’s mad at Sarah because she thinks Sarah’s trying to steal Trevor, even though Sarah would never do that to her best friend.”

Bowtie pasta. I had no idea where it had come from, but I could work with that. I set the box on the counter. “That’s... complicated.”

“Iknow. And the worst part is, Trevor doesn’t even know Madison exists like that. He’s too busy mooning over Kaylee, who’s dating some high school freshman.” She propped her chin on her hands. “But Madison and Trevor would be perfect together. They both love anime, and they both volunteer at the animal shelter.”

I found a jar of sauce that I also didn’t remember buying and some frozen meatballs. I suspected one of my moms had come by and hidden groceries when I wasn’t looking. “Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Well, yeah. Madison’s my friend. I want her to be happy.”

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