Off limits daddy slade b.., p.10
Off Limits Daddy (Slade Brothers Book 2), page 10
He hangs his head. “How many times do I have to watch him grab ahold of you without doing something about it?”
“It’s fine. He didn’t hurt me.”
“It’s not fine.” He stands up and turns his body toward mine. “I don’t ever want to see another man’s hands on you.” He steps closer, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “My hands are the only hands that are allowed to touch you. And I promise it won’t ever be in anger.” His head dips forward and he softly presses his lips to mine. For a split second, I forget where we are. I can’t think of anything but his words and the soft kiss we’re sharing. But it feels like everyone is looking at us, staring at us.
I break the kiss and take his hand in mine. “He didn’t hurt me,” I assure him.
He stares into my eyes, but the ride comes to a stop. He turns and walks inside the gate to get Milly.
It still feels like I’m being stared at. I wrap my arms around myself, needing to be shielded from prying eyes. I glance around but don’t see anyone even looking my way. I chalk it up to running into Nate and the anger rolling off of Colton.
The sun is starting to set, and Milly is overstimulated and getting cranky, so we head back to the truck in the parking lot. We walk across the grassy field, Milly in my arms and falling asleep on my shoulder. I’m not paying attention to anything but her, trying not to jostle her awake as I walk across the uneven grass.
“What the fuck?” Colton says, rushing ahead of me.
My eyes quickly move in his direction. His truck has been vandalized. On the side, spray-painted in white on his black truck are the two words, Nanny Fucker.
15
Colton
RAGE floods my body when I catch sight of my truck. I’m going to kill that motherfucker. The worst part, I have to keep my cool. I don’t want to scare Milly or Brennan. I tighten my fists at my side, hoping I run into him soon. Instead of screaming, cussing, or hitting something, I push my anger down and open the passenger side door and then the back door. She hands me Milly and climbs in. I buckle Milly up and close both their doors.
On the ride home, I don’t talk. I can’t. I don’t trust myself not to say something I’ll regret later. I know Brennan can sense how pissed I am, but she doesn’t try to make it better. She accepts it and leaves it alone. When we get to the house, I walk them both in. Brennan takes Milly to bed and she’s back a few minutes later.
“I know it’s your night off, but would you care to sit here while I take my truck to the shop and get that shit off? I really don’t want the whole town seeing it if it can be avoided.”
She nods. “Of course. Take as long as you need. I’ll be here.”
I quickly lean in and give her a quick kiss before turning and leaving. As I drive through town, I’m thankful it’s dark. It’s a small town and many people aren’t out after dark. Tonight, they all just happen to be at the carnival. I manage to get to the shop without running into anyone on the street. I hit the garage door opener and the door moves upward. When it’s up completely, I drive inside and close the door.
I’m lucky in this situation because I’m a car guy and own a fucking garage. This dumbass thought I was going to be stuck with this shit on my truck for days until I could get it in somewhere. Being a mechanic and an auto body shop, I have exactly what I’ll need to remove it on hand. This is a pretty typical situation, and I’ve done it many times over the years.
Thanks to carnauba wax, it doesn’t take long before the side of my black truck is cleared of all the white spray paint. I’m still too angry to go home and face Brennan though. I head back to my office and sit at my desk. Pulling open the bottom drawer, I find my bottle of whiskey. I uncap it and take a long drink from the bottle. The liquid burns going down, but it helps to cool the red hot anger boiling in my blood.
As I drink, I can’t do anything but picture myself beating the brains out of this guy. I should’ve done it that night at the bar—the first time I saw him put his hands on her. I don’t know who the fuck he thinks he is, but he’s got another thing coming if he thinks he can touch what’s mine.
I spend too much time at the shop. I drink entirely too much. By the time I’m getting home, it’s going on midnight and I’m drunk as shit, thankfully I can walk home just fine. I stumble through the dark house, stripping my clothes off as I go. By the time I reach my bed, I’m only in my boxers. I crawl beneath the blankets and curl up with Brennan. I slide my right arm under her pillow and put my left arm around her stomach, pulling her back to my chest. I breathe her scent in deeply.
I know I shouldn’t get used to this, but it’s hard not to. She’s so fucking perfect in every sense of the word. Being with her is easy. She makes my life better. I haven’t been this happy in years, maybe ever. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy with Ashley, but this isn’t the life we had. We didn’t have Milly yet. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer during her pregnancy. We were lucky she was able to carry Milly to term. The plan was to fight the cancer after the birth. However, the cancer had other plans. It seemed as though the pregnancy encouraged the cancer to grow at a faster rate. By the time Milly was born, it was too late.
This is the first time that I have my daughter and a woman I love at the same time. A woman I love? Where did that come from? I can’t love Brennan yet. It’s too soon. We’ve only just gotten together. That part doesn’t matter. I fell in love with her the second my eyes landed on hers. Spending more time together has only intensified that feeling.
Without being able to think about anything else, I let sleep take me and pull me under into a black abyss.
I wake with Brennan shaking me. “Wake up, Colton. I have to get home. It’s my dad’s birthday.” I’ve already told her she can take the day off.
I open my eyes and roll over onto my back. My eyes lock on hers as she stands over me. I offer up a smile as I take in her beauty. I grab her hand and pull her down to the bed. Once she’s in my arms, I roll until she’s beneath me.
“Good morning,” I say, moving in for a kiss.
She kisses me softly for a moment. “Good morning, but I have to go.” She pushes against my chest until I move off of her with a groan.
“Milly has already been fed breakfast. She’s in the living room playing.” She pulls her purse onto her shoulder.
“Alright,” I mumble, forcing myself to sit up.
She quickly rushes over and presses her lips to mine. “I’ll call you later.” Without another word, she rushes out the door. I use the bathroom quickly and pull on some sweatpants before moving out into the living room to find Milly playing in the corner, Mickey Mouse on the TV.
“Morning, Mills,” I say, flopping down onto the couch, a little tired and hungover.
She looks up at me with a smile. “Dada.” She comes running over. She climbs up onto the couch, her little feet dangling over the edge. She kicks them up and down and points at the TV. “Mickey.”
I laugh. “I know. You love Mickey, don’t ya?”
Her smile only grows as she nods her head.
“What do you want to do today?”
“Cest, Dake!”
I laugh at her names for them. “Alright, I’ll give them a call in a little while.”
I finally manage to pull myself off the couch and get dressed, and we make our way to Drake’s. He’s in the drive, unloading a horse from a trailer.
“You finally did it, huh?” I ask, walking over with Milly in my arms.
He smiles and nods. “Yeah, Celeste wants horses. She hasn’t stopped talking about Brennan’s.”
“Horsey,” Milly says, reaching out and running her tiny hand across the horse’s back.
Celeste steps out and joins us. “What do you think, Milly?” she asks, petting the horses face.
“Yay!” Milly cheers. “What’s his name?”
“His name is Jasper,” Drake answers. “Apparently, he used to belong to a teenage girl that was a huge Twilight fan.” He rolls his eyes, causing me to laugh.
“Come on, Milly. Let’s go get a snack and let these guys put Jasper into the barn.” Celeste holds out her hands and Milly leaps into them.
I help Drake into the barn with the horse. As he puts the horse in his stall and works to get him fed, I sit on the bench.
“So, how are things going with Brennan?” he asks as he carries a hay bale.
“Great. Things between us couldn’t be better. It’s other things that are the problem.”
“What do you mean?” He comes to stand in front of me, leaning against the horse stall.
“She has this ex from college. She broke things off with him when she came back home, but he decided to follow her back. Her dad loves the guy, so he hired him to work the farm, and he’s letting him stay in the loft in their barn.”
Drake nods. “This guy causing problems?”
I tell him about the few times I’ve met him, including running into him at the carnival and how I found my truck.
Drake shakes his head. “What are you going to do about him?”
I take a deep breath. “He better hope I don’t run into him, that’s for sure.”
“Well, not trying to add to your stress, but Celeste has been doing some digging on our mystery brother.”
“Yeah, she find anything?”
“She tracked down his birth certificate. Dad’s name isn’t on it. Only the woman he had the affair with.”
“So does that mean that he has no claim to the brewery?”
He shakes his head. “Celeste says he can take a DNA test to prove that he’s related. From there, it’s up to us. We can either divide up our shares to give him his part, or we can refuse. If we refuse, he can take us to court.”
I rub the scruff of my jaw. “Why do you think he’s doing this? I mean, do you think he actually wants to help run the brewery, or do you think he’s just wanting something for nothing?”
Drake shrugs. “I don’t know. I mean, if it’s the money, we could just buy him out of his share. But honestly, family is getting scarce around here. I’d like to meet him, get to know him. Wouldn’t you?”
“I guess it would just depend on what his intentions are.”
“Oh, Celeste is wanting to try and have a cookout soon. Get the whole family here. You’re still the only one she’s met. How hard do you think it would be to get the others here?”
“I haven’t talked to any of them in a while. Who knows where Wyatt is. I haven’t heard from him in months. Last I heard, he was in Canada.”
Drake snorts. “What the hell is he doing there?”
I shrug. “Fucking around like usual,” I reply. “But let me know when. I’m down.”
Drake and I hang out in the barn a little while longer, talking and tinkering with random shit. After a while, we go inside and find Celeste and Milly in the middle of dress up.
“No boys,” Milly says, pushing me by the legs toward the door.
I turn to Drake. “Looks like we’re being kicked out of your house.”
He laughs. “Fine by me. Want to go fishing?”
“That okay with you, Celeste?” I ask, not trying to stick her with babysitting.
“That’s fine. Go.” She waves us on.
Drake and I head back out and start gathering the gear before loading it all up on the ATVs and hitting the trail that leads to the pond.
16
Brennan
AS I drive back home, I can’t help but to think of Colton’s truck. I know Nate did it—I mean, it had to be him. Nobody knows about us; Nate didn’t know about us either though. Maybe he just put two and two together. I mean, I have been spending more time over there and, up until yesterday, I never left the house with Milly and Colton. Or maybe I felt like someone was watching me because someone was watching me. Maybe he saw the kiss we shared when Milly was riding the cars. Regardless, he knows. Now, I’m wondering what he plans on doing with this information.
Maybe it’s all he’ll need to see to realize that I’m not interested in getting back together with him. Maybe he’ll leave and go back home. Or maybe he’s pissed and is planning on making my life a living hell. If he’s got a brain at all, he won’t try fucking with Colton again. I’ve never seen someone look as angry as Colton did last night. And the fact that he was deathly silent only made it worse. I would’ve understood him yelling, cussing, going after Nate, but he did none of that. He just silently stewed.
I pull into the drive and park my car under the big tree out front. I kill the engine and climb out. Nate is just walking into the barn. He glances my way but doesn’t stop. The look he gives is one I’ve seen before but never toward me. I want to chew him out for causing a scene last night. I want to tell him I know that it was him that painted Colton’s truck. I want to yell and let out some steam on Colton’s behalf. I follow him into the barn and up the stairs. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, hands holding a bottle of Jack.
There goes his sobriety. A drunk Nate is bad, but a whiskey drunk Nate is worse. There’s no point in even starting something. He will only overreact, and he won’t even remember it when he sobers up. I shake my head and turn to leave.
“Finally home from fucking your boss?” he spits out, causing me to freeze.
Fuck it. I know this won’t do any good, but it will make me feel better. I spin back around to face him. He stands up and sets the bottle on the bedside table.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I argue. “And I know it was you who spray painted Colton’s truck. You better hope he doesn’t find you. If I were you, I’d pack my stuff and hit the road. This town is too small for the two of you.”
He lets out a laugh. “You think I’m running from his old ass?” He rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe that we dated for almost a year and I got nothing. But him, you work for him for what, a month, and already you’re sucking his dick?” He shakes his head, grin in place. “I guess he must pay pretty good, huh?”
I take a deep breath. He’s angry and only trying to hurt me. “He doesn’t pay me to sleep with him, you jerk! And yeah, it only took him a month because he’s actually a man, not some little boy that doesn’t know what he’s doing, like you.” My anger carries me forward. “I mean, how many times do I have to turn you down before you get the fucking point, Nate? I don’t want to be with you.” I take another step. “You’re nothing to me but a constant annoyance.” Another step closer puts me right in front of him. “You’re as bad as a dog in heat that’s always trying to hump my leg,” I spit out. I’ve never in my life felt more anger than I do in this moment.
My rage has me seeing red, and that’s the reason I don’t realize how pissed he’s getting until it’s too late. He twists his upper body and grabs the bottle of Jack, throwing it against the wall. It shatters and breaks on impact, causing the brown liquid to roll down the wooden wall. I jump from the force.
With my eyes on the broken bottle, I don’t see him coming at me until it’s too late. He grabs me by my biceps and spins me around, throwing me down on the bed. During the fall, the back of my head smacks the wall. My vision blurs and has me seeing stars.
“You think you’re so smart?” he yells, hovering over me. “Let’s see what your dad has to say about his little girl riding some old man’s dick. I bet that’ll make him real proud.” He spins around, heading for the stairs.
I jump up and steady myself before I race after him. “Nate, no!” I grab ahold of his arm, trying to stop him, but he turns and swings. His palm smacks across my face and I fall to the floor.
He turns around and sees me on the floor, my hand cupping my cheek. For a moment, he’s worried. It was clearly a reaction to me grabbing him since we’re both so angry, but then the worry is wiped away and the hate and anger is back. His brows wrinkle and his jaw is cocked. Instead of helping me up, he just turns and walks down the stairs.
Tears fill my eyes. Tears of anger, rage, and worry. I know my dad and his traditional ways. Hearing that I’m carrying on a relationship with a man that’s almost twice my age won’t sit well. Especially not with Colton Slade. While Celeste has done a good job at getting the town to let go of the past, many people, like my dad, still feel that they are no good. My dad will have a fit, possibly even disown me.
I get myself off the floor and run from the barn. I don’t go to the house though. I’m not ready to deal with the consequences. Instead, I run for my car. I climb behind the wheel and drive away as quickly as possible without looking like I’ve robbed a bank. I know throwing dust and rocks will only draw attention to myself. I hate that I’m bailing on my dad’s birthday but I’m no state to celebrate.
I have no idea where I’m going. I can’t go home. I drive and drive until I finally give in and go to him. The driveway is empty when I pull in, but I have a key and I let myself in. The house is quiet without Milly here. I walk back to his room, kick off my shoes, and climb into bed. I curl up into a ball and pull the blankets up over me. Tears fill my eyes at the possibility of what could happen. My dad could demand I break things off with Colton. No way could I be here, watching Milly and unable to touch him. I bet my dad would demand I quit this job altogether. He wouldn’t trust me to be here anymore.
Or I could move out and get my own place. I have the money to now. But if I did that and kept doing what I’m doing with Colton, I know my father would want nothing to do with me. My family is all that I have. Worry and fear consume me and before I know it, I’ve cried myself into a deep sleep.
Colton wakes me a little while later and crawls into bed next to me. He nuzzles his chin into the crook of my neck. “What are you doing here, beautiful?”
I roll over to face him. The moment he sees me, anger mars his features. “What’s wrong? You’ve been crying.”
I take a deep breath. “I confronted Nate,” I confess.
He lets out a deep breath. “Why would you do that? You know I don’t want you around him.” His hand moves up to cup my cheek. His eyes narrow on my mouth, and his thumb rubs under my eye, back and forth.
