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He pressed the fob into my hand. “I’ll worry less if you drive mine instead.”
It was silly of me to protest when he put it that way, so I tucked the fob into my purse. “I have to admit, I was surprised when we loaded the girls into it yesterday. A small Mazda SUV didn’t seem flashy enough for a professional football player.”
“I didn’t buy the CX-30 for flash.” His gaze softened as he looked down at Cassidy and Daisy. “I got it shortly after the girls came because it’s the safest SUV in its size class on the market.”
Holy heck, but the man packed a punch when he was in protective daddy mode. His allure was dangerous—it had me already wishing my feeling that we were an instant family yesterday was real. That I could just stay here with the three of them instead of heading out for my interview. Unfortunately, my fantasy wasn’t my reality…yet. If Roan had really meant what he’d said in the heat of the moment about me becoming his, then maybe it would be sometime in the future. But for now, I needed to focus on the girls and take the first step toward ensuring I’d be able to stick close to them.
“And you’re sure it’s okay for me to take it? I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone and don’t want to leave you guys stranded.”
“We don’t have any big plans today, but if we need to go somewhere, I have other cars in the garage we can use. The girls have car seats in the Rolls too, so we’ll be fine.”
“A Rolls Royce, huh? Sounds flashy,” I teased.
“Flashy is an apt description for the Phantom.”
“Thanks for letting me use your super-safe dad car. I appreciate it.” I brushed kisses against the tops of the girls’ heads before heading toward the door. Roan looked as though he was going to stop me—and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he wanted a kiss too after how we’d gotten hot and heavy last night—but then Cassidy drew his attention away from me.
With a final, lingering glance at the three of them, I headed out. They stayed on my mind all the way downtown, and Roan’s tattoo flashed into my head as the hostess pointed out where the owner’s office was when I arrived at the nightclub. My lips curved as I thought about how appropriate the words inked onto his chest were. “Believe. Achieve.”
My little pep talk gave me a burst of confidence as I headed into my interview, and they paid off because I thought it went great. I was pretty sure he was going to offer me a job, but it was going to be a couple more days before I knew for sure. That didn’t stop me from splurging on a few pizzas—cheese for Cassidy, meat lovers for Roan, and veggie for me—before I made the drive back to Long Island.
I wasn’t expecting to find Roan waiting on the front porch when I pulled up in front of his house. After I climbed out of the SUV, I beamed him a grin. “Were you worried I put a dent in your baby?”
“Nope, I don’t give a damn about the car,” he growled, uncrossing his arms to press his clenched fists against his hips. “You didn’t mention that your interview was at The End Zone.”
“I didn’t? Sorry, I thought I did.” My brows drew together as something dawned on me. “How did you know that’s where I was if I didn’t tell you?
“I know the owner. Axton played football with our quarterback in high school and college, so he’s kind of an unofficial member of the Nighthawks. He called me because he recognized the address you put down on the application you filled out when you got there.”
“Um, yeah. I figured if I used mine, it would just make him wonder if I was able to start soon. I hope that was okay.” His eyes burned into mine, and I started to get nervous that I had overstepped and pissed him off. Especially since we were having this talk outside. “Where are the girls?”
“Naomi has been hounding me to let her spend some time with them so I dropped them off with her and Prentice. She’s got this plan for Ben and Daisy to be best friends since they’re so close in age and we’re practically neighbors.”
“Oh.” Roan had told me about how a bunch of his teammates had houses nearby, including his quarterback and his wife. But he hadn’t mentioned the girls had plans before I left, so I’d rushed back because I had been looking forward to spending more time with them. “I’m sure they’ll have lots of fun while they’re over there.”
“They’d better.”
My brows drew together. “That sounds…ominous. Is this the first time you left the girls somewhere without you?”
“Except for when my sisters are with them here, it is,” he confirmed. “But I know they’re fine.”
“Okay, but…are you going to be fine, too?”
“I’m going to be fucking fantastic.” He stalked toward me with a determined gleam in his eyes. “Because you’re not going to take that job with Axton.”
“I’m not?” I echoed softly, taking an instinctive step back. I didn’t get far before he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and yanked me against his chest.
“The End Zone is a fantastic club, and I’ll be more than happy to take you there for a night out if you want.” His other hand glided down my back, coming to a stop just above the curve of my ass. “But there’s no fucking way I’ll ever be okay with you working in a meat market like that. You wouldn’t be able to serve a drink without getting hit on left and right.”
Whoa.I’d thought he was jealous when that guy at the zoo tried to pick me up, but his reaction then was nothing compared to this.
Something must’ve been very wrong with me because I couldn’t help but poke the beast. “The tips would be fantastic, though.”
“Remember what I told you last night about being mine?”
“Uh-huh,” I breathed, the air catching in my lungs.
“I hope you’re ready because my ability to give you more time disintegrated when Axton called to make sure I was cool with you working at his club.”
