Page 26 of Delinquent Daddy (Banks/Kincaid Family 2)

by Linda Kage

"Ah..." He cleared his throat, not sure how to answer. He didn't want to look pompous and brag about how well off he was, but—

"Are you married?" she broke in, obviously thinking he'd taken too long to answer. "Do I have any brothers or sisters?"

"No," he said, glancing quickly at Ellie and hoping she didn't think it was because of her he'd remained single. "I'm not married, and you don't have any brothers or sisters."

"Where do you live?" Cassie went on, not even taking the time to digest his answers.

Feeling as if he were in an interview, Boston wiped his damp palms on his pant leg. "I live in Kansas City. Er, actually Overland Park."

"Kansas City?" She gaped, her eyes widening. "That place is enormous. Mom took me there once to see some Christmas lights in this really long mall."

He grinned.

"Do you have a Nintendo Wii?"

The unexpected and abrupt change of subject made him blink. "Ah, no. No Nintendo Wii." He hoped that wasn't the wrong answer, because, hell, if it made this little angel happy, he'd buy six of them.

But his daughter didn't seem to care one way or another.

"My friend Keller has one," she said conversationally. "When his mom bought it, he gave me his old Xbox."

"I don't have an Xbox either," he murmured.

Cassie's eyes went huge with disbelief. "Really?"

He managed a smile. "Back in my day, there was only a regular PlayStation. And the basic Nintendo."

70

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"Wow, you're really old then, aren't you?" Cassie grabbed his hand. "Hey, want to play on my Xbox? I just got this totally awesome Pokemon game. It's sweet."

Boston lifted his eyebrows. Sweet? Man, he must be old.

Whatever happened to awesome, and cool, and far out?

When he realized Cassie was waiting for a response, he panicked. His daughter expected him to play a video game with her. He hadn't played one of those things in years. He'd probably be so rusty, he'd die on the first level...if they even had levels anymore.

"How about I watch you play instead?" he suggested.

"You don't want to play with me?" she asked, her eyes going large with disappointment.

Boston's heart turned over. The mere thought of letting her down made his breathing catch. "You'll have to show me how," he started. "I don't know—"

"Okay," Cassie said cheerfully. She grabbed his hand and led him down the hall toward her room. He followed willingly, glancing back once to check how Ellie was dealing with this.

She watched her daughter with a slight smile. Then she lifted a hand to her eye but dropped it quickly when she caught Boston's gaze.

He turned back to Cassie.

"It's real easy," she was saying as they entered a lavender room edged with a pastel-flowered border. Out of his element, he faltered. But Cassidy looked right at home as she flopped onto a beanbag chair in front of an ancient television and turned on the power, all the while constantly explaining the game.

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