Page 30 of A Winter's Night with Tempest

“We can talk every day.” He taps in her number, and her phone bloops from where it’s charging on her nightstand. “If you want to.”

Peace bites her lip. “My dad might not like us talking.”

Bo cocks his head. “Why would he care?”

“I think maybe he’s afraid.”

My shoulders go back at that.I’m not afraid of anything.

“No way.” Bo shakes his head. “Your dad isn’t afraid of anything.”

Smart kid.My lips curl.

“You’re wrong.” Peace’s expression turns reflective, and I can practically hear the gears inside her head grinding. “He’s tough on the outside. He had to be tough to survive in Southside, but he’s kind underneath. I’ll bet yours is too.”

“Maybe.” Bo doesn’t appear convinced.

“My dad didn’t have anyone taking care of him growing up. He had to look after himself. I think he still believes he has to.”

“My grandma loves him.”

Bryan’s mom is the best.

“I’m not sure he realizes,” Peace says. “Like the boxcar kids, he thinks all he has is himself to rely on. And he has my mom, me, and my sister to look after too.”

Fucking hell.Peace is super smart. She gets that from her mother.

“Now that he has us, I think he worries about losing us. He checks on my mom every day when she’s on location, and Harmony and me every night before he can go to sleep.” She lifts her head and looks straight at me.

I wonder how long she knew I was there.

Bo obviously didn’t have a clue. Snagging his phone, he scrambles off her bed and stands, looking nervous as fuck. “Mr. Jinkins.” He jerks up his chin as I come into the room.

“Bo.” I narrow my gaze, stopping in front of him. “Do you have permission to be in my daughter’s room?”

“No, sir.” He shakes his head. “But—”

“Get out,” I bark. “Now.”

“Okay.” He doesn’t jump like I expect him to. He frowns at me, then glances at Peace. His eyes soften. “Goodnight, PJ.”

“Night, Bo,” she says.

He heads toward the door but stops halfway and aims his gaze at me. “Don’t be mad at Peace. It was my idea for us to talk here in her room, not hers.”

I don’t believe him for a single minute. But I like it a hell of a lot that he’s willing to take the blame for her.

“Go,” I say sternly and point.

“All right.”

Bo starts moving but stops in the doorway and glances at Peace. Their gazes lock. One is sweet and shy, the other bold and not sweet at all. Yet, the connection between them is obvious.

“Move it, Bo.” I nudge him out of the room and firmly close the door behind him.

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”

When I turn back around, Peace has shrunken in on herself. With Bo gone, she’s all shy again.

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