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“You just got divorced and haven’t even had a relationship with Lake as more than Ginny’s brother.”
Reese nodded. “I know, but what I feel is real. My marriage wasn’t a happy one and didn’t mean what I’d hoped having a wife would mean. I’ve lived a hard life out in the battlefield and know what death is. I also know what it feels to have something good and perfect, and that’s what I feel with your daughter.” He said it matter-of-factly.
Reese looked down at the ground for a few seconds, and when he looked at Calvin again there was honesty on the man’s face. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone, not even Brittany. Lake makes me see that not everything in this world needs to be put in its place, or that it has to be a certain way. I feel like a better man with her, and I know how crazy this sounds given the quickness of it all, but it’s the truth.” The silence stretched out between them. “I deserved everything you gave me. But I want you to understand that what I feel for your daughter is real.”
Calvin understood what he said and was trying to understand and come to terms with it all.
“I know you need time to process all of this. I can give you that time, but I won’t leave Lake. I can’t, not unless she doesn’t want me, Calvin.” They stared at each other for a moment, and then Calvin nodded once.
“I’ve spoken to Lake, and I know she cares about you. I may not understand why a man your age, with your history, wants someone so young, so innocent.” Calvin cleared his throat, thinking about his sweet daughter, about what she’d been through in her life, how she was so strong. “She’s smart, strong, and knows what she wants.”
Reese nodded.
“I can also see you’re genuine. I know you’re a good man, Reese, but if we were in the other’s shoes, I know you’d have gone off the deep end, too.”
“I would have, without a doubt,” Reese said.
“I can’t tell Lake what to do in her life, and she’s smart enough to know what she wants. But if you ever hurt her I’ll make sure you feel her pain as if it were your own. Understand?”
Reese nodded. “I wouldn’t expect any less, but I won’t hurt her.” He stood.
“Be good to her and treat her like the queen she is.”
“Always,” Reese said. They nodded once more to each other, and then Reese left the office.
Calvin would have no problem delivering on his promise to hurt Reese if he hurt Lake, but he knew in his heart that Reese was the right man for his daughter.
He would just need time to fully accept that his little girl was not so little anymore.
17
Several months later
Reese watched Lake as she moved around his kitchen, insistent on making him dinner. He sat at his dining room table, the boxes he’d had stacked against the wall for the last few months finally out of the way as he’d gotten around to storing them.
She looked over her shoulder, smiled at him, and for the millionth time since they’d been together he realized this woman was it for him. He loved her. Fucking hell, did he love her.
He grinned, picked up his bottle of beer, and drank it slowly as he continued to watch her. The truth was he could stare at her all day every day and never get enough. When he’d invited her over it had been to take her out, maybe even get a little dirty before going on a date, but she’d shown up with a bag of groceries and insisted on cooking for him.
He wanted to be in this relationship, wanted her to be a part of his life.
He stood and walked over to her but stopped and leaned against the frame of the entryway. Reese watched her washing the dishes she’d just cooked with and heard her humming softly.
He walked up to her, stopping just inches from her, and placed his hands on her hips, holding Lake. “I just realized we’ve never danced.” He pressed the play button in the iPod dock on the counter, and Bach started playing. He turned her around to face him.
Reese dipped his head low, ran the tip of his nose along the arch of her throat, and heard her breath falter. She smelled good, like vanilla and warmed sugar.
“Are you sure dancing is what’s on your mind?” she asked, obviously feeling his erection. The fact that his cock was right on her belly, moving back and forth as he swayed with her, was probably a dead giveaway.
He wanted her, always seemed to in fact, but the truth was he just wanted to hold her. And Reese did just that, continuing to move back and forth. Her scent enveloped him, and the fact that this woman made him feel things he’d never thought would made him love her even more.
