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Doc walked over to the counter and leaned against it. “Among other qualities I find irresistible.”
“So, what’re your intentions with our best friend?”
“Niall!” Isa and Orla said simultaneously.
“What?” He shrugged and eyed Doc from head to toe. “I’m not about to let one of my oldest friends get hurt.”
Isa shot Niall a glare and then an apologetic glance to Doc. He held up his hand.
“I got this, don’t worry,” he whispered, then replied to Niall. “I want to be the first person she sees when she wakes up and the last person she sees before she goes to sleep for the rest of her life.”
“Aw.” Orla placed her left hand across her chest.
“But that’s not all.” He met Isa’s gaze. “I will do everything in my power to make her the happiest woman alive because that’s what she does to me.”
“She makes you the happiest woman alive?” Niall asked with a smirk.
A red tint covered Doc’s face, and he shook his head. “No.”
“Niall, I swear you’ll be on diaper duty for a year if you—”
“It’s okay,” Doc interrupted Orla’s scorning. “I fancy myself a lady’s man, but since I met Isa, I don’t want anyone else. Ever.”
He walked behind the counter and locked Isa in place with his hands. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief and adoration. “My intentions aren’t pure, but they’re lifelong.”
“Oh. My. Bloody. Hell.”
Isa held in a giggle at Orla placing both hands over her chest this time. Lifting her right hand, she ran her fingers through Doc’s wind-tousled blond hair. He wasn’t an ordinary man. She could search the world and never find anyone like Doc T O’Brien.
“That’s good enough for me,” a new voice chimed in from the doorway. The bell clanged loudly, spoiling the moment.
Isa looked behind her and caught sight of her father. “Da.” He looked older than when she left Ireland. His beard was a shade whiter, new frown lines on his face.
“Isadora, you’re safe.” Phantom closed the distance between them, his black leather squeaking from the recent rainfall.
Moving toward him, she paused before he could embrace her. Other than their reunion three months prior, she barely knew the man who sired her. But her time in Colorado altered her opinion on him. Doc also had something to do with her change of heart.
Phantom reached out his hand, then pulled it back awkwardly. Neither knew how to react. Out of the corner of her eye, Isa noticed Orla and Niall busy themselves restocking the shelves with Doc close by.One of his more endearing protective qualities.
“You look so much like your mum.” His voice cracked, and he let out a shaky breath. His gray eyes watered, reminding her of her parentage. She may have been her mother’s replica, but the eyes were all her father.
“I miss her.”
He nodded. “So do I, lass. More than you know.”
“You didn’t want her to leave, did you?”
He forced a smile. “No. I never did, but it was for your safety.” He timidly touched the top of her head, his calloused hands running along her long locks. “Macha wasn’t safe back then. By the time it was, it was too late. You were grown, and your mum, well, she’d lost hope. Years apart will do that to a relationship no matter how strong.”
Isa looked over her shoulder and met Doc’s eyes. She couldn’t imagine a time when that would happen for them. “Well, I won’t lose you again, Da. That much I can promise you.” She closed the minimal distance, wrapping him in a tight hug.
Phantom gradually returned the embrace, and Isa felt his tears against her hair. Reconnecting with her father was never in her plans. Then again, neither was falling in love with a Macha biker.
42
Isa
Isa spentthe rest of the day sharing stories with her father, Orla, and Niall. Doc looked on and added some tidbits about their Colorado adventure but mainly stayed quiet. His silence was abnormal, but here he was the outsider. In Colorado, he’s always chatting up the other members and I’m the one listening.
