Page 123 of The Heartbreaker

“That makes two of us.” I pointed again. “Sit.”

As soon as her ass hit the cushion, she said, “I’m guessing Addison was going to be the topic we discussed at dinner tomorrow night.”

“You guessed right.” I took my first drink. “Jana, why did you come here tonight?”

She leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. “My client called and changed my departure to five tomorrow morning.”

“So, you brought Daisy to my house …”

“Obviously.”

I huffed. “And did you call to tell me?”

“I called you about ten times. You never answered or responded to my texts, so I just assumed you were sleeping.”

“We got back from dinner, and I didn’t check my phone, and then we went in the hot tub?—”

“I know what happened from there.”

“But you came to my house, Jana, without knowing if I was home, and you let yourself in. When it comes to Daisy, we allow leeway, we walk into each other’s homes when we know the other person is coming over, but what happened here is not the same situation. This is different.”

Her back straightened, and she held the edge of the couch. “I know you’re not turning this around like I’m the one in the wrong here.”

“But I’m not in the wrong either. I was in my home. I was with a woman. You can’t find fault in that.”

Her top lip flared. “I can when your daughter sees it.”

“She wouldn’t have seen it if you hadn’t crossed a boundary and brought her in without my knowledge.” I took another sip.

“Ridge, I couldn’t get in touch with you, and I need to fly out at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. What else was I supposed to do?”

“You’re her mother, Jana. You figure it out. The same way I figure it out when you’re traveling and I’m here alone, making decisions for our daughter. I call my mother. I call your mother. I call a sibling. What I wouldn’t do is take her to where you are—wherever you are—and expect you to take care of her without letting you know I was coming.”

Her mouth opened and closed and then quickly opened again. “I’m doing everything in my power not to scream at you right now.”

“You can be upset all you want that Addison is who I was with, but you can’t deny that the way you handled this was wrong.”

“You’re her father, Ridge. If I can’t bring her to you, then what the fuck?—”

“I didn’t say you can’t bring her to me. I said you need to speak with me first.” I switched the glass to my other hand and wiped the condensation on the leg of my sweatpants. “What if I was away for the night on a work trip? What if I was still out to dinner? What if I was having a ten-person orgy in my living room? What would you have done then?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“That’s something you should have thought of. You know you can always count on me, but don’t assume anything before you walk through my front door.” Even though my words had been direct during this entire conversation, I kept my tone even. If anything, it dipped on the softer side.

“We’re drifting from the point of all this?—”

“There are many points to this. The way you handled tonight was one. The woman I was with is two. Let’s talk about her.”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and she chewed her thumbnail, her gaze intensifying as she stared at me. “Addison Lark.” Her chest rose as she filled it. “Out of all people, you picked our daughter’s teacher?—”

“I’m going to stop you right there.”

“Please don’t.” Her hand fell onto her lap. “I have boatloads to say on this topic.”

“You can say all you want once you understand how things happened with her and what brought us to this moment.”

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m not sure I want to even hear those details?—”