Page 158 of The Surprise Play
The guy probably wants to slap that thing against my head and tell me to never touch his daughter again.
And I’d let him.
I’ve got a few inches on him and probably a hundred pounds of muscle, too, but he could take me in a second, because I love his daughter and I’d never do anything to hurt him.
“What can I do?” I ask.
He turns to face me, his tone skeptical. “You really want to help?”
“Yes, sir.” I nod, braving a smile.
He gives me a deadpan glare, but then his lips start to twitch and a smile creeps across his face. “You’re impossible not to like, you know that?”
I beam down at him. “Thank you, sir.”
“And stop with thesirs. It’s Tommy.”
“Not sure you wanted me calling you anything after last night.” I cringe.
Rolling his eyes with a huff, he hands me three tomatoes. “Slice those up for me, will ya?”
I place the tomatoes on the chopping board, then move to wash my hands.
He doesn’t say anything, and I get to work, carefully cutting the tomatoes with as much precision as I canwhile also trying not to nip my fingers. This knife is lethally sharp.
“You love my girl?” The question comes out of nowhere, and I nearly slice my nail off when I whip around to face Satch’s dad.
His gaze is piercing, unrelenting, and there’s no space for lies in this moment.
So I nod and rasp, “Yes. I love her.”
“That’s pretty fast.” His eyebrows dip.
“Yeah.” I nod again. “Freaks me out a little, but…” I shrug.
“When you know, you know,” he finishes for me, his smile growing wider. “I fell for Darla after only a week. Had to hold my tongue every time I was around her. Didn’t want to scare her away.”
“Oh yeah? How long did you last?”
He snickers. “Ten days.”
I turn back to face him with a goofy laugh. “And what’d she say?”
Shaking his head, he gets a dopey smile on his face, moving the patties off the grill and turning back to the counter. “She said… ‘What took you so long?’”
He starts to laugh, his shoulders shaking as he obviously relives the moment.
“Oh man.” He wipes a finger under his eyes. “I’d do anything for that woman. She’s had my heart since I was twenty-two.”
Huh. That’s my age.
“We waited a few years before getting married, though.” He gives me a pointed look.
I nod, not exactly sure what he’s expecting me to sayhere. I wasn’t about to drop to one knee. I only told Satch I love her last night.
With a soft swallow, I go back to slicing tomatoes until he grabs my wrist again and gruffly tells me, “Don’t you go breaking her heart. She’s a special one, and she needs a man who’s gonna take care of her. Someone who’s gonna love her just the way she is.”
“I’d never hurt her.” The words are easy to say because they’re true. I’d never intentionally hurt Satch. I don’t know why anyone would. “And I think she’s awesome.”
