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Grappling to switch gears from lover to father, Gabe scrubbed both hands down his face before rising on surprisingly unsteady feet. Attempting to inconspicuously readjust himself in his pants was another hurdle.
Christ. Perfect timing.
“Hey, sweetie,” he said, moving toward his daughter. Ruby, who looked sleepy and adorably tousled, melting his heart on sight.
She’d been asleep on the couch in his office because his babysitter had bailed for the third time this week, and he couldn’t get anyone short notice to watch her while he was working that night. He’d disappeared every five minutes over the evening to go check on her, and last he’d checked, she’d been tucked in with her pillow and blanket sound asleep and had been since eight o’clock.
He kicked himself for not even considering that Ruby might wake up. But why would he have? His girl slept like a log once she was out. Not even the thumping sounds from the bar caused her to twitch. She slept so soundly he could normally carry her up to the apartment and tuck her into bed without so much as a flutter of an eyelash. So having her interrupt him now felt like the universe playing a cruel joke.
Or trying to tell him something.
Whatever the case, his baby girl was slowly walking into the empty space now, holding her favorite stuffed bunny in one hand and rubbing her eyes sleepily with the other. To his relief, it did not appear as though she had caught him almost kiss a beautiful woman in his bar.
Meeting her in the middle, he scooped her up and held her against his chest, her legs dangling from his waist. She was getting so big. He nuzzled her soft pillowy cheek with his, and she responded by burrowing her face into his neck. He cuddled her for a moment, soaking up the sheer unbelievability that this beautiful little human belonged to him. He absolutely did not deserve her.
“I had a bad dream.” Ruby spoke in a muffled murmur. “Can we go home now?”
“Of course, sweetie.” Gabe said, rubbing her small back.
He turned to find Hope standing in the spot where a moment ago they’d almost had their tongues down each other’s throats. She seemed completely bewildered, and it dawned on him she must not have known he’d had a daughter.
Not totally unsurprising since he kept Ruby the most precious and tightly guarded part of his life. He wasn’t really open to sharing Ruby with many people. But standing there in the middle of his bar with his daughter in his arms, the only thing that settled over his heart watching Hope watch them was an unfamiliar sense of peace.
Not that Hope looked peaceful. She looked surprised and shocked as hell. Reminding Gabe how little she really knew about him. And how much he really did want her to know him… and Ruby.
Which was exactly why tangling with her in any way was a bad idea.
CHAPTERSIX
He had a child. A daughter.
How had she missed this fact? She hadn’t seen any evidence of a child. Had she been so absorbed in her own tumultuous world that she’d never noticed an adorable little girl living across the hall? Probably. Crap. Someone should have told her! Why had Ivy never mentioned there wasa child?
A horrifying thought suddenly entered Hope’s mind. If there was a daughter, could there be a wife? A girlfriend? A partner, lurking in the shadows?
Hope quickly surveyed the room, as if a wife might suddenly jump out from behind the bar, swinging a bottle of vodka at her head.
If that had happened, she wouldn’t blame her. After all, she’d just spent the better half of the evening lusting after this man who was standing in front of her now, looking ridiculously hot as he cuddled his daughter close to him. Not to mention the fact that a minute ago she was about T-minus ten seconds from tearing every piece of clothing off his body.
In less than a day, Hope had allowed herself to feel something for Gabe that she hadn’t in a very, very long time. Attraction. It didn’t make sense. She couldn’t explain it. But the second he wrapped his coat around her shoulders, and she’d inhaled his scent, she had begun a losing battle against this insane pull toward him.
Then, she spent the evening working beside him and those feelings amplified. As soon as he’d given her the okay to work the bar, he’d shown total faith in her. He didn’t make a point of checking in on her every two minutes or second guess her ability as a bartender. Once he decided to give her a chance, he left her to it. He’d trusted her.
His faith in her had been a bigger turn on than his irresistible smell or watching him move as he worked his end of the bar, sexy forearms and biceps straining in all the right places as he maneuvered bottles, poured drinks, and lifted heavy trays of glasses.
By the end of the evening, she’d had half a dozen fantasies about him. One of which had been seconds away from playing out.
But now he was standing in front of her holding a child, possibly in a relationship with someone else. Guilt slammed into her chest like a cold, hard fist. Guilt and apprehension.
He must have picked up on her distress because he slowly came toward her and brought his free hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. The same way he had this afternoon in the hallway.
The small smile he gave her caused a fluttering sensation to erupt in her heart. And then she knew. No other woman lurked nearby. He wasn’t that guy.
“You look exhausted, too.” Gabe said to her. “Why don’t we all call it a night?”
The little girl who’d tucked herself into her father’s side lifted her head and, with eyes the exact same shade of green as her father’s, stared down at Hope.
“Who are you?” came a sleepy voice, and Hope couldn’t help but smile into the sweet face as her heart melted a tiny bit more.
