Page 2 of Daddy’s Little Charmer (Daddy #36)

Christian’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t belong in a place like this. “Isn’t there any other place you could work?”

Harmony’s eyes widened at the anger that sharpened his voice.

She shook her head. “Why would I do that?” she asked, clearly confused.

“You’re not made for this type of environment, Baby.”

Harmony turned to face him, put a hand on her hip, and tilted her chin up. “Of course I am.”

Christian’s lips twitched at her show of strength. She was about as tough as a puppy. “No, you’re not.” He couldn’t believe how much this little woman reminded him of Larkin, a friend’s little, a woman who gave everything to her man she called Daddy.

Harmony glared at him and straightened her shoulders. “Listen, Mister. You don’t know me at all, so you can’t say where I fit.”

Christian couldn’t hold back the grin. There were only a few people who tried to argue with him. Because, like Roberto said, even if he didn’t mean to, he intimidated most people.

“I think I do,” Christian commented.

Harmony growled a bit. “I’m sorry, but I don’t care if you’re a friend of Uncle Roberto’s, you can’t go around making assumptions about people you don’t know.”

“Sure, I can,” Christian said and grinned when she stomped her foot in frustration.

Harmony slapped her hand down on the top of the bar. Roberto interrupted her before she could open her mouth.

“What do you need, Honey?”

Harmony pulled her attention toward Roberto and gave him the drink order. She turned, so her back faced Christian, and ignored him. She drummed her fingers on the bar as she waited impatiently for her drinks.

“You can’t ignore me, Baby.”

Harmony sniffed. “Wanna bet?”

Christian threw his head back and laughed loud enough to get a lot of people’s attention.

“Here you go,” Roberto said as he looked back and forth between the two in confusion.

Christian knew the other man probably had never seen him laugh that hard, and he doubted the man had ever seen Harmony this angry.

“Everything okay?” Roberto asked.

Harmony mumbled something under her breath.

“I’m sorry, Baby, I didn’t hear that,” Christian said and smiled broadly at the disgruntled look on her face.

“That’s probably for the best,” she said, turned abruptly, and walked off.

Roberto chuckled. “What did you do to make her mad?”

“I just told her she was too sweet to work in a place like this.”

Roberto chuckled. “She doesn’t like to be told she’s a nice girl.”

Christian looked astounded. “Why the fuck not?”

Roberto chuckled. “She wants people to see her as a strong, mature woman.”

“How old is she?”

“Twenty-three, but will turn twenty-four next month,” Roberto told him.

Shit, Christian thought. Next month, he will turn thirty-eight. That would make him fourteen years older than her. He watched Roberto walk off again. He smiled when Harmony was back and tried to ignore him again.

“Where do you live?”

Her head swung toward him, and her mouth dropped open. “Now, why would I tell you where I lived?”

Christian shrugged. He knew, at that moment, she didn’t know who he was. It would be so easy to get her information from her application.

“Because I asked.”

“Well, woo-hoo for you,” she said sarcastically.

Christian snorted. “Baby, if you were mine, you’d be over my knee with that attitude.”

Harmony sniffed in disdain. “Well, lucky for me, I’m not yours.”

“Do you live with your uncle?”

Harmony narrowed her eyes. “No, I live with Danny.”

Christian felt a flash of jealousy hit him so unexpectedly that it shocked him. “Who the fuck is Danny?”

Harmony’s eyes widened at the anger in Christian’s face. “It’s none of your business, but I’ll tell you he’s a special friend of mine.”

He was interrupted by Roberto to get her order. He watched as she walked off, saying she’d be back.

“Who the hell is Danny?”

Roberto’s head snapped up. “She told you about Danny? I hate the place she lives in and the people that live in the same building.”

“One, who’s Danny, and why doesn’t she live with you?”

Roberto chuckled. “Danny is the name she calls the mouse that lives in her kitchen. That thing scares the hell out of me. I hate mice, but she feeds the thing and talks to it.” Roberto shivered.

“As far as getting her to move in, I’ve tried several times, but that woman can be as stubborn as a mule. ”

“Jesus,” Christian bit out. “Where the fuck does she live?”

“South of Center Street.”

Christian’s eyes widened. Everything on that side of the city was either industrial, abandoned, or slums. There was no way he was going to let her stay there.

“Hey, Roberto, here are a few more drinks I need,” Harmony said as she came up to the bar again. She gave the list to the bartender and then stood silently.

“You can’t ignore me forever,” Christian warned her.

****

Harmony rolled her eyes and then smirked when he growled.

She didn’t understand why she enjoyed irritating the man so much, maybe because he seemed so cocky and self-assured.

She felt his eyes on her, but stayed silent.

Her shoulders relaxed as Roberto placed the drinks on her tray.

She started to walk off with her loaded tray without acknowledging him.

“How much for a lap dance?”

Harmony froze in place, and her eyes widened. She gasped as she jerked her head his way. “Are you kidding me? I’m a waitress, not a stripper.”

“I want you to dance for me.”

“Absolutely not. I don’t dance.”

“What about for a thousand dollars?”

She paused in shock. That much money could buy a few classes at her college, but there was no way she would ever be able to dance for a man. “No, I’m sorry.”

Christian was shocked. Anyone else would have jumped at the chance. “Do you want more?”

Harmony could feel her face heat with anger and embarrassment. “Listen, Mister. I will absolutely not dance for you, so stop asking.”

“Roberto said you were going to college. Wouldn’t that money make a difference?”

Harmony shrugged. “Probably, but I don’t mind working hard.”

“It’s only dancing?”

“And I have to look at myself in the mirror every morning.”

He hid his grin. She was a prickly little thing. “Think about it.”

Harmony could feel the way his eyes followed her as she walked away, but she ignored him, or at least tried to. Even though he was obnoxious, the man made her girly parts tingle.

****

“What do you need?” Roberto asked when he came back to stand in front of him.

“I’m going to talk to Candy, but then I want to talk to Harmony privately in the back office.”

Roberto stiffened. “Christian, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. She really is a good girl.”

Christian nodded. He understood how protective Roberto was, because after just meeting her, he felt murderous at the thought of another man touching her or her in pain.

“Roberto, I can promise you, I will never hurt that woman. I’m actually going to do what I can to make her life easier.”

Roberto placed both of his beefy hands on the bar and leaned toward Christian with a confused look in his eyes. “Why would you do that?”

Christian took a quick moment to put his feelings for her into words, and couldn’t come up with one strong enough at that moment.

“Because I like her,” Christian said simply.

****

Roberto studied his boss for a long time and then nodded.

The emotions he caught in Christian’s gaze made his body relax.

Harmony had a way of attracting people of all kinds, so he wasn’t surprised that Christian wanted her, but the strength of Christian’s emotions took Roberto a bit off guard.

He liked the thought of the two together.

Christian was a person who usually got what he wanted and would be able to take care of her in a way Roberto couldn’t.

As long as he’d known Christian, if the man was determined about something, he got it.

Christian didn’t know what it meant to back down or give up.

“I’ll send her back in a few minutes.”

“Thank you. Don’t worry. I just need to take care of her.”

“I hope so. I would hate to have to quit the job, but I would if you hurt her in any way.”

Christian grasped Roberto’s arm. “Well, it won’t happen.”