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Chapter 3
"What?" Teagan's mouth dropped open. That was not what she was expecting him to say. There was no denying the chemistry between them, and Teagan had thought about how a one-night stand with Luca might be, but she had shrugged it off, not wanting to complicate things between her brother-in-law and his best friend. She remembered the hot tub and Luca helping her get redressed, but she didn't remember the conversation. Perhaps intentionally, if she had said all of that.
"I've had more than enough time to observe you, Teagan, and to get to know you. While it may have only been in group settings, I still think I have gotten to know you very well. For instance, you stopped correcting me when I call you darlin'."
"It wasn't stopping you," Teagan shrugged.
"I think it grew on you," Luca said confidently. Maybe it had. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of confirmation. They sat for a few minutes in silence, eating their lunches. Teagan might not be saying anything, but she was thinking a lot of things.
"Are you ready for me to put in those to-go orders now?" The waitress came back to the table.
"What time is it?" Luca looked at his watch. "Yes, please. I need to get back to work soon."
"I do, too," Teagan said, pulling out her wallet as she watched the waitress walk away.
"What are you doing?" Luca looked pointedly at her wallet.
"Paying for my lunch."
"Absolutely not," Luca said. "You don't pay when we're together."
"This isn't a date, Luca," Teagan growled.
"No? It sure felt like one to me, even if Ro took away my ability to ask you."
"Lorenzo, I can pay for my own lunch."
"Pulling out the full names, are we, Teagan Anne? I'm sure you can pay for your own lunch, but you won't."
"Or what?"
"It won't be a simple 'boop' that you will be experiencing for the first time."
"God. This is exactly why I don't want a spank happy man. First, you have no right to threaten to spank me. I'm not yours. Second, if I want to pay for my own fucking lunch, I will." Teagan slammed her wallet down on the table, staring Luca down. Butterflies dipped into her stomach when she noticed the prominent tic appear in his jaw and his scrunched eyebrows.
"Little girl, don't poke the fire unless you want to be burned. You know how I said that Jason is the easiest going of all of us?" All Teagan could do was nod as Luca leaned across the table until he was just an inch from her face. "I'm the strictest. I'm the type of Daddy who is going to push you to be the best possible person you can, but I don't put up with anything. What you are doing right now is testing me. You want to see what my reaction is going to be. Teagan Anne, do you want to know what would have happened if you were mine?"
"Yes?" Teagan asked. Her heart had dropped into her stomach, goosebumps rising on her arms.
"I would have taken your wallet from you, paid the bill, and quickly escorted you outside to my truck. I would have taken you straight to my house or to S.E.A.L, and we would have had a date with a bar of soap in your mouth. Once your mouth was nice and clean, I would have had a discussion with you about disrespect and defying me that would have ended up with you in the corner, your hot, red butt on display. But my little girl would never have pulled out her wallet in the first place, let alone cursed at her Daddy."
Teagan had no words. She said she didn't want a spank happy man. She swore up and down she didn't. Yet, maybe a small part of her did. Maybe, just maybe, she was curious about giving up control to someone else. Her entire adult life, she was in control. She was almost OCD about it. She also didn't allow anyone in. Her walls were built tall to protect herself. She had been incredibly vulnerable letting her sisters in. She wasn't sure if she could allow someone else in, too.
"Your silence is telling, darlin'," Luca drawled.
"Oh?"
"When are you going to let down those walls and let me in?"
"When are you going to stop reading my mind?"
"If I recall, my reading your mind is what caused us to win Taboo at Thanksgiving." Teagan was grateful that Luca changed the topic to something lighter.
"Yes, I know Ro matched us up on purpose."
"I'm sure she did; her matchmaking has no bounds."
"You needed a win. You were terrible at Yahtzee."
