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“Keep an eye on Ethan. He might try something while I’m gone, and our daughter is too stubborn to be forthright with you.”
“Proud,” I said. “She’s tooproudto be forthright. And you know she gets that from you, right?”
“She gets everything from me.”
“Now you know what I’ve put up with since the moment we met.”
A subtle smirk moved on to his handsome face. “And we both know why you put up with it.”
I gave him a playful smack in the shoulder. “Pig.”
He pulled me close again and forced a kiss onto my lips.
I pretended to fight it, but I never wanted to fight anything from this man.
“We made a deal—and you better honor it going forward.”
“What deal is this?”
He propped himself on his elbow and gave me a cold stare. “Ethan.”
“It’s not my fault he asked to speak to you.”
“I told you I didn’t want to deal with it.” He sat up and left me behind, sitting in the corner of the couch with his foot propped on the coffee table. “You told me all I needed to do was respect her as an adult and stay out of her business. I did that—but I still had to deal with the bullshit.” He looked at the fireplace once again, all moody.
I sat up and grabbed the clothing that had fallen in our heat. “Huntley.” I pulled everything on, covering my naked body while he remained nude on the couch, not looking at me. “It’s called being a father. You don’t get to choose when being a father is most convenient for you.”
His eyes remained on the fire, his jawline hard.
“She was just as uncomfortable as you were, so I’m sure she’ll do everything she can to avoid that in the future. If Ethan hadn’t pursued his own agenda, the circumstance wouldn’t have happened in the first place, so it’s not her fault.”
“I never said it was.”
“And I think you handled it well.”
His eyes flicked back to mine, still hard but also surprised. “I wanted to cut his head off—”
“But you didn’t.”
“I almost exiled him from Delacroix—”
“But you didn’t.”
His eyes narrowed in annoyance. “You have no idea how hard that was for me—”
“I do. And I think you did a wonderful job. Let’s move on.”
He looked at the fireplace again, his stare cold once more. “I’ll try…”
8
HARLOW
I sat on the couch in my bedroom and read my book. I left the windows open so the summer breeze could move through my hair and bring the scent of jasmine to my nose. Sometimes, there was a gust of wind so strong it turned the pages in my book, but most of the time, it was gentle, relaxing.
I was supposed to go into town that evening to visit…what was his name? I realized I didn’t even know it, that the man who had given me the best sex of my life didn’t even have a name. I’d always been a sucker for the cocky bad boy, but I was also stubborn and refused to listen to orders, so I decided to blow him off.
Maybe he was the best sex of my life, but he didn’t have any power over me. I was certain he was used to women bending over backward just for a moment of his attention, but I wasn’t one of those girls. Never had been—and never would be.
