Page 111 of King of Temptation

Movement by the door caught Goldie’s attention and she instinctively turned, plastering a welcoming smile on her face to cover the exhaustion dragging at her. But the smile froze in place when she saw who it was coming through the door.

“Dad?”

“Hi.” Standing in front of Goldie’s table, Sergeant Quinn glanced around, his gaze roaming over the mostly empty stands on either side of the table, as well as the dozens of people still milling about with copies of Goldie’s latest book tucked in the crooks of their arms like prized possessions. “I, ah, heard about the signing and figured I’d stop by and see you.”

Behind her, she sensed both Brody and Zoe moving closer, and never in her life had she been more grateful for their presence. “I’m glad you came by. We’re just about to wrap up.”

“Yeah, I see that.” Shoving his hands into his pockets, her father rocked back on his heels, still looking pretty much anywhere but at Goldie. “Did you… do well?”

“She did fucking fantastic.” Brody’s hand came to rest on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “The owners said it’s the best event they’ve ever hosted and they can’t wait to have her back.”

Well, that was news to her, and judging by the surprise on her father’s face, it wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting to hear.

“That’s good.” His gaze darted up over her shoulder, toward Brody, then back again. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

“Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Brody and Zoe.”

Even with the anxiety crawling up and down her spine, it was actually kind of amusing to watch her father’s face distort with discomfort. But to his credit, he didn’t push back or argue in any way, he simply took a deep breath as if bracing himself for something unpleasant.

“I just wanted to come by and tell you I’m really fucking proud of you.”

Holy shit. There was no way she’d heard him correctly.

Had she?

Another gentle squeeze of her shoulder snapped her out of her shocked stupor. “Ah, thank you, dad. That means a lot to me.”

It would have meant a lot more if you’d said it sooner.

Looking more uncomfortable than she could ever remember, her father rubbed a hand at the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “I know things have been weird between us lately, but I just want you to know I love you. If I was an asshole, it’s only because I love you and I want you to be safe.” His gaze flicked upward again. “I, ah, sat down and really looked at your books and they’re… incredible. You’re really good at what you do. Like, really fucking good. And I’m sorry I never took your work seriously, the way you deserve.”

Where the actual hell was this all coming from? There was a very large part of her that wanted to brush off what he was saying, to tell him everything was fine and they were good.

But years of old hurts, of thousands of little cuts slicing away at her self-confidence wouldn’t be healed by pretending they didn’t exist. “You said you were an asshole because you were worried about me getting hurt. But you hurt me, dad. You hurt me every single time you called my work my ‘little hobby’ or rolled your eyes at my success.”

He winced, and she was left with the distinct impression that if a sinkhole had opened up right beside him, he would have jumped straight into it. “I’m sorry, baby. More sorry than I can ever say. But I’d really like a chance to make it right. To be in your life, the way I should have all this time.”

“Being in my life means accepting Brody too. We’re a package deal.”

“Jesus.” Closing his eyes, her dad scrubbed a hand over his face. “All right. Why don’t you two come over for dinner next weekend?”

“We’d love to,” Brody answered before she had a chance to even look up at him. “Thank you, Sergeant Quinn.”

In yet another shocking move, her father held out a hand toward Brody. “Call me Joe.”

“Thank you, Joe. Just tell us the time and place, and we’ll be there.”

The men shook hands, and she rose to give her father what might have been the most awkward hug of her life. But something inside her felt… brighter, by the time he left.

When he was gone, she turned to face Brody, narrowing her eyes at the slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Did you have something to do with that?”

One ruddy brow rose. “With what?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Brody O’Rourke.”

From the corner of her eye, she watched Zoe lift a hand to cover her mouth, but there was no hiding the glitter of amusement in her eyes.

“Zoe and I should probably start packing things up, menace.” Snagging her half-finished bottle of water from the table, he handed it to her and pointed toward the chair she’d just vacated. “You sit, we’ll take care of the heavy lifting. And I expect that bottle to be empty by the time we’re ready to leave.”