walk to the park.”
“I don’t want her walking to the park by herself,” he said, but despite his dark expression, the hard line of his mouth, his tone remained quiet and calm.
Shades of the past. He never raised his voice or showed his anger, showed any of what he was feeling. She used to think if she could get him to open up, to share with her whatever emotions and pain lay beneath that hard, stoic exterior, she could save him. Make him love her as much as she’d loved him.
No, he hadn’t changed. But she had. No more fixer-upper men for her, only houses. They were less work.
“What are you doing?” she asked when he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “You’d better not be calling some sitter service.”
“I’m calling Geraldine.” He held the phone to his ear. “She’ll take Bree to practice.”
“Put that away.” She’d make a grab for it but the chances of her snatching a phone from one of the NHL’s quickest, most agile athletes were zero to none. “Your mom is not going to come into town every morning to drive Bree two blocks down the road.”
The house he’d bought for his parents—a monstrous McMansion of mixed architectural styles, like some hybrid house gone mad—was too big, had too many windows and zero warmth or charm. It was also on thirty prime acres of real estate ten miles outside of town.
“She won’t mind,” he insisted, but he ended the call before speaking with Gerry—who would only be more than happy to do anything he asked. “I’d feel better if Bree had a ride.”
“Do you really think I’d let Bree do something if it wasn’t safe?”
“No,” he said, his quick answer doing little to appease her. “But I don’t think you’re seeing the big picture here. Everyone knows Bree is my daughter.”
She snorted softly. Yeah, everyone but him. He only remembered when it suited him and didn’t interfere with his lifestyle, his schedule, his goals. “What does that have to do with anything?”
He had the balls to look at her as if that was the dumbest question he’d ever heard. She wanted to kick him in the shin.
“Bree’s a target,” he explained slowly, as if she was one of his airheaded bimbos, the desperate, obvious women who hung around the ice rink in their short skirts and tight shirts hoping to get his attention. “Someone could kidnap her or use her to get to me.”
Maddie’s jaw dropped, and for a brief moment in time, she found herself speechless—an unusual occurrence, one her three older brothers would all surely be sorry they missed.
“Is that what this is about?” she finally managed to ask. “Your money?”
“It’s about keeping Bree safe.”
He seemed so sincere, so completely honest, she almost believed him.
But she’d learned the hard way that what Neil said and what he meant were often two very different things.
Noticing she still had her gloves on, she yanked them off and tossed them onto the floor instead of whipping them at his head. “I have news for you and that enormous ego you’ve dragged in here. Not everyone in Shady Grove knows, or cares, who you are. Bree has lived here her entire life and never had any problems.”
He crossed his arms, his biceps stretching the sleeves of his shirt. Looked down on her, all big and solid and imposing, as if he could intimidate her. The man must have forgotten who he was dealing with. “I don’t want her walking to the park by herself.”
“Too bad.” She jabbed a finger at his chest, stopping short of making contact and puncturing his lung. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can dictate how I raise my daughter—”
Maddie’s words died in her throat when his hand whipped out and grabbed her wrist. Damn him, he’d always been fast. “Bree’s my daughter, too.”
The feel of his fingers against her skin, so strong, so warm, was familiar yet new, too. Being close to him, inhaling the spicy scent of his cologne—some fragrance she didn’t recognize—and seeing the ring of darker blue in his eyes made it all too easy to forget the past twelve years. Reminded her of a time when all she’d wanted was to have him hold her hand, to be next to him. Always.
How she would have done anything, been anyone, to stay with him.
“Seems to me, she’s only your daughter when it suits your purposes.” Which was Maddie’s own fault. Her punishment. One she deserved, but their