“I won’t have my daughter hooking up with anyone old enough to be their father,” I growl, like I need to drive it home.
Her eyes dance with curiosity as she looks at me, unsure what to say.
Yeah, I don’t know either.
I grab the chocolate bar and snap off a square, stuffing it into my mouth.
“Didn’t know you were a fan of the dark stuff.” I’m pleasantly surprised.
“Yeah. You appreciate the sweetness more when there’s a little bitterness to balance it out. Besides, it’s loaded with good stuff, health wise. This teacher I had for yoga in Portland once never shut up about it. Miss Sage. I think she’s actually Ethan’s mother-in-law now. Small world!”
I close my eyes and shove a bigger chocolate chunk into my mouth.
Fuck everything about that image.
Nile, twisting and twerking her way through a yoga session.
“So we agree. No dating Jasper Fairfax. He’s already jerking you around.”
“We’ll see.” She smiles. “I thought we moved on from that? You’re still trying to tell me to avoid the older guys?”
“Yes,” I snap, exasperated. “Nothing but trouble. They’re loaded with baggage and all they’ll do is weigh down a young lady. Do better, Nile.”
Too harsh?
Her cheeks flare, turning coral pink.
I shake my head, willing myself back together.
It’s not just the absurd thought of her dating the art dealer that has me fuming.
I still don’t trust him as far as I can throw him and this silence isn’t helping his case.
There’s something shady about Fairfax I can’t quit pin down. Blood in the air. A faint smell I can sense, even if I can’t follow the trail.
She wants me to lay off it with no proof, and that’s fair. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to celebrate him for playing this waiting game, not even checking in as a courtesy.
Her gaze slides to the last of the chocolate.
“Huh. I’m a little surprised you eat chocolate at all. You used to be such a health freak.” Her eyes slide over me. “I mean, not that it hasn’t paid off.”
“I had pizza with you last night,” I point out, ignoring her comment on my looks.
“We’re in New York. You had to. That would be like having Christmas without presents. You left me to polish off all that wine.”
“I had a glass.”
“A glass.” She pouts at me again.
“You make a lot of assumptions about me, Nile.”
She’s not entirely wrong about my health focus. If I have to snack, I’ll pick some dried jerky, a protein bar, dark chocolate, and cashews.
Looking after your body reigns supreme in my line of work—and it still hasn’t saved me from the genetic time bomb waiting in my joints.
So much of life is random to a disgusting degree.
Effort only gets you so far, whether that’s trying to save your estranged girlfriend’s life at the eleventh hour or just maintaining basic fitness to do your job.
