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“Have a seat, Madi. You should get to know our neighbor. I like him.”
She slinks around the chair, clutching her hands in her lap.
“I like you too, Roarke. All that stuff you told me a few minutes ago about how you’re proud of her standing up for herself makes me think I should get to know the real Madison, not the version my son failed to appreciate. I don’t think he has any idea how badly he messed up.”
My dad leans toward Jayce and smirks. “Or maybe he got out just in time. Gotta watch out for women who are willing to throw punches, you know what I mean?”
My eyes are laser-focused on Madi. “Better that she’ll stick up for herself than let a guy disrespect her. A man would only have to be worried if he didn’t intend to treat his woman like the gift she is.”
Madison looks like she’s not breathing. It’s too soon to rush over and give her mouth to mouth.
“I suppose.” Roarke leans back.
“Your daughter is smart, beautiful, and strong. A pretty desirable package, if you ask me.” I’m straddling the line. It’s not easy to make sure Roarke hears one thing while his daughter hears another.
Roarke side-eyes me and furrows his brow. “Nobody asked.”
Might have gone too far. “Just pointing out that my son must be an idiot for hurting her. And I’m sorry for whatever parenting failure I made that led to that.”
“Ha! We can’t be responsible for everything our kids do.” Back on track, Roarke is playing into my hand. It won’t be easy for him to accept that I’m going to make his daughter mine, but I’ll get him as ready as possible.
I nod at him. “Good point. It’s hard to let them do things we don’t approve of. Thanks for the reminder that we have to respect them as the adults they’ve become. Let them make their own mistakes, right? I bet you made a few.”
Madison catches my eye, pleads with me to stop. I wink. Based on the slight drop of her jaw, she gasped. I bet her panties are getting wet too. I still can’t get over how lucky I am that my son got a taste of her and let go.
Her dad laughs it off. “Mistakes were made. But if I’d listened to my parents, I wouldn’t have Madi. I’ve earned the bad dad award plenty of times, but my life is so much better because of her. Balancing a career and a kid, as a single dad, is pretty damn hard. Sorry for learning to parent on your watch, kiddo.”
Madison looks shocked. Is this the first time he’s told her that? There might be a message in this for me with Brett. I’ll sort that out later.
“What about you, Madison, do you want to have kids?”
That might be one of the least smooth segues ever, so I regroup. “I mean from a career standpoint. Have you thought about how all of it will work out?”
“Sure, I love kids.” The innocence in her voice thickens my need to give her everything she wants.
My lips curve into a smile despite my attempt not to show excitement. I’d give her a baby tonight if I could.
She continues, “My job is most important right now, while I’m single, but I want a family, a normal life.”
“Hmm…I think you need something a little different than normal. There’s a fire in you. Something that won't settle for a normal guy.”
She purses her lips and nods. Does she know that guy is me? Is that why she’s teased me? How the hell does Elijah factor in? The three of us have something special.
“Don’t get her started on how much she loves kids. It made teaching an easy choice for Madi.”
“Really?” I look at Madison who’s staring at me with a deer in the headlights expression, but her dad keeps rambling.
“She needs to establish her career first. If things go wrong in a relationship, she can’t count on guys like us being willing to raise their own kids.” Roarke is forking over valuable information.
I hope she understands what I’m doing. “I agree that she needs to be in charge of her own life, her own decisions. It’s important she thinks about her choices, and makes them carefully. Some are harder to go back from than others.”
Determination settles over her. “Everything I’m doing right now is intentional. I don’t intend to go back on anything.”
Roarke is the only thing stopping me from scooping her into my arms, carrying her to her bedroom, and telling her I want to ride her bare.
He shakes his head. “It’s easy to say when you’re young, but you haven’t lived. Juggling a career and a family is hard work.”
“Guess hindsight’s twenty-twenty when you’re divorced,” she sasses.
