Page 6

Dagger

“D ad, look, it’s Miss Bronson!” Dani took off into the park towards the woman who had dominated my thoughts ever since I walked out of her office two days ago.

I bit back a groan, suddenly wishing my little girl was like other nine-year-olds and was easily distracted by sweet treats and pretty dresses.

“Dani, hold up.” This was what I got for even listening to Sinclair.

I decided Dani and I needed to spend more time together, which meant actually spending time together.

She stopped and let out a sharp breath before turning to me. “I just want to say hi, Dad.” She didn’t have to roll her eyes for me to hear it.

“I know, but this is her time off work,” I began. I doubted Sinclair was the kind of teacher to ignore students or brush them off when she encountered them in the wild, but that didn’t change the fact that she wasn’t working.

“She said anytime I wanted to talk to her, I could.” Dani’s voice was loaded with authority, and she’d already turned away from me, making a determined beeline for the pretty brunette. “Miss Bronson, hey!”

I froze at the sound of Dani’s voice, soft and quiet but also comfortable. Who was this version of her and where had she been hiding?

Sinclair looked up and her smile was just as wide and just as bright as my daughter’s. “Dani, hey!” She set her book aside and her face lit up with joy. “What are you doing out here?”

Did she have to sound so damn happy to see my daughter? What was her deal, anyway? Nobody was that selfless, that willing to help.

Dani shrugged. “I’m just out, hanging with my dad.” She leaned in close and said something I couldn’t hear.

Sinclair smiled and risked a glance at me over her shoulder, something like amusement dancing in her eyes. “Well, that’s good. Are you having fun?”

Again, Dani shrugged. “We haven’t done a whole lot yet.” She looked down at the blanket and the food and sighed heavily. “Are you meeting somebody for a picnic?”

Sinclair’s face flushed. “Ah, no. I’m just enjoying the nice weather and a good book. The food is just because a girl’s gotta eat.”

Dani giggled and nodded as if she understood perfectly.

“Want some?” she asked, holding up a container filled with grapes and peach slices.

Dani looked to me for permission, and I reluctantly gave her a nod of approval while I stood, looming over them.

I’d had time to think about what Sinclair had said to me at the appointment.

While I didn’t dismiss her outright, I wasn’t so sure that therapy was the way forward.

I’d seen what that had done to her mother…

they’d ended up putting her on meds that turned her into a fucking zombie.

But spending more time together, and giving Dani a sense of stability? That was something I could do.

I hoped.

“Feel free to have a seat, Mr. Kane.” She offered a shaky smile that I wasn’t quite sure she felt, but the woman was nothing if not polite.

“We’re not staying long,” I grunted in response.

“Dad, you’re being rude.” Dani rolled her eyes. “He didn’t mean that, Miss Bronson. He’s sorry.”

She laughed. “It’s okay. I’m sure he was looking forward to some one-on-one time with you.”

Dammit, how could I have such uncharitable thoughts about her when she was helping me?

Because I’m an asshole.

“Well, I can’t in good conscience eat all your food, so how about I go get us some more?”

“Sounds good,” Dani said too quickly. “Do you like sandwiches, Miss Bronson?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t?”

“Sandwiches comin’ right up. You ladies okay to wait here?

” I ambled back the way I came, heading to a sandwich shop just a block away from the park.

The deli was crowded, but it took less than fifteen minutes to load up on deli meat, olives, peppers, and cheese.

I took my time because I wasn’t ready to see her again.

Today she was wearing black leggings with a t-shirt that—of course—she covered with a long-sleeve sweater that tried to conceal her curves.

But those leggings weren’t doing a great job of hiding her peachy ass, and I knew without a doubt that the longer I spent in her company the more I’d be imagining pulling off those leggings and feasting on her pussy.

From the other side of the park I spotted Sinclair and Dani, so wrapped up in each other that they were completely oblivious to everything around them.

Including a man who couldn’t take his eyes off the older of the two females.

I knew that look in his eyes, that singular focus.

I recognized the intensity of his gaze as he ate up every single detail from the high ponytail she never wore during the week, to the gentle smile that seemed to be her constant when she was around kids.

Yeah, I knew that look, that obsession well, because I had it too.

Though now I’d actually spoken to Sinclair, I was gonna get to know her like a regular man and not like some fucking creeper.

But this new development unsettled me. I made a mental note of him and decided that even though my days of watching Sinclair from the shadows were over, I might have to watch her watcher.

The closer I got, the more I realized he wasn’t looking at her with longing. No, there was something darker in his gaze. It was something else, something that sent a sliver of worry down my spine.

Shit, he wasn’t caught up by her beauty, he looked pissed off. I took note of his details—disheveled blond hair, about six feet tall, dressed like a shitty middle manager—as I made my way back to the laughing duo. “I hope you girls are hungry.”

Sinclair’s eyes widened as Dani unpacked the bag. “Are there more people coming?” she asked around a laugh.

“Not that I’m aware of. I didn’t know what you liked or what Dani was in the mood for.”

I refused to admit that I didn’t know what my daughter’s favorite sandwich was.

“Ham is always an excellent choice.” She smiled as she plucked a slice and shoved it between her lips. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Why did she have to smile like Italian deli meat was a big damn deal?

“You have to try it like this, Dani,” she said, and wrapped the serrano ham around a peach slice. “It’s so good, I swear.”

Dani eagerly tried it out and let out a delighted moan. “Dad, you have to try this,” she said, making another one and holding it out to me expectantly.

I opened my mouth, and she popped it in, watching as I chewed, taking note of my reaction.

“Good, right?”

I nodded. “It’s really good.” It was good as fuck, and the juicy quality of the peach had my gaze snaking over to Sinclair, who watched the interaction with my daughter carefully.

She noted the heat in my gaze and quickly turned away, but not before I saw her cheeks turn a bright shade of red.

We both kept quiet as Dani tested out different deli meat and fruit combos until she was satisfied she’d tried all of them. “I like peach and ham best, how about you, Miss Bronson?”

“I’m partial to anything with the peaches. I’m easy like that.” Her eyes sparkled and then rounded when she realized what she said. “When it comes to food,” she clarified as her cheeks turned a damn near fluorescent shade of pink.

“Good to know.” I bit back a smile and stabbed at a cube of Gouda along with a Spanish olive.

The afternoon passed in a blur of laughter, fresh air, and whatever voodoo magic Sinclair had woven around me and my daughter. It was nice, really fucking nice, and I didn’t know what to do with that.

***

Dani couldn’t stop talking, not during lunch and not on the drive home. She was completely enamored by the woman. She ate up the feminine attention, shined bright with every question Sinclair asked. It was eye-opening, showing me just how much Dani needed women in her life.

It was just too bad I had no plans on providing a more permanent solution for her.

“She’s always reading, just like me,” Dani said as she bounced in the passenger seat. “She told me that she gets anxious too. Like starting a new job in a new place where she didn’t know anyone.”

My hand tightened around the steering wheel and my jaw clenched. “I’m sure that wasn’t easy.” Of course she shared her own struggles with Dani, because that’s the type of person she was. I knew that after only knowing her for a short time.

“She said it was okay to be anxious, that everybody is sometimes.” Dani turned to me. “Are you?”

Damn it, Sinclair. “Yeah, sometimes, I am.”

“What do you do?”

I weighed my options. I could lie to her, but that would probably make her feel like shit. The truth, well, that wasn’t something I wanted to deal with right now. Or ever. “I’m older and wiser now, so I push through it when I can. But when I was younger, I would act out or respond with anger.”

“Who were you angry with?” she asked in a small voice.

I laughed. “More like who wasn’t I angry with.” I was a little shit when I was a kid, mostly because I was raised on a steady diet of anger and violence. “Over the years, I learned ways to channel it.”

She nodded sagely. “That’s what Miss Bronson said. She said there was nothing wrong with me and I would figure it out.”

“She’s right,” I admitted reluctantly as we pulled up to the house and I parked the car.

Dani unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face me. “Thanks for today, Dad. It was nice.”

“I had a good time too, kiddo. We should do it again.”

“Okay.” She slipped from the car quickly. “Bye, Dad.”

“See you later, Dani.”

I had things to do. The man in the park had unsettled me, so my first port of call was to return there and see if he was still hanging around.

He might have been your regular-ass park creeper.

However, there was no sign of him, which made me think that my original assessment of the situation was correct. He’d been watching Sinclair.

Night had fallen by the time I swung around to Sinclair’s cozy cottage and found her curled up on her sofa with her attention fixed on the TV.

Whatever she was watching held her full attention because unlike most nights, she was completely oblivious to her surroundings.

She didn’t jump at the sound of a car door slamming in the distance.

She didn’t look towards the window when an engine revved up her block.

Despite my promises to myself that I was going to stop watching her from the shadows, somehow, I felt responsible for her. After the incident in the park I needed to see if she was okay.

For her safety. Her protection.

Tonight, it was a damn good thing I showed up, because there was a man in her yard, watching her. It was too dark to tell if it was the same asshole from the park, but it had to be, unless she had a horde of stalkers.

There was only one way to find out.

I pushed away from the tree where I kept myself hidden and closed the distance between us without spooking him.

I moved closer and closer, taking in the way he pushed up on his toes and pressed his face against the window, he was so focused on her that he didn’t see me coming until I was just a few feet away.

“Hey, asshole,” I whispered to avoid alerting Sinclair.

The guy fell backwards and scrambled to his feet before taking off through the backyard. He jumped a fence and disappeared into the night. I tried to make chase but lost him. He seemed to know the neighborhood well, which only made me more unsettled. It was clear he’d been watching her for a while.

Fuck. Now that I knew there was someone else watching her, I had to find a way to get closer to keep her safe.

I’d already decided I wanted to get to know Sinclair better. Maybe this would be the perfect one stone, two birds situation?