she might come to the clubhouse. She never showed, so I left at first light.”
“I tried to go see you the next morning. I was too late,” I said.
“The two of you are clearly together now. This isn’t a temporary thing, is it?” my dad asked.
“No, sir. She’s here to stay,” Hawk said.
My dad looked like he might take a swing at Hawk.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not a ‘sir’ to you. You don’t look that much younger than me. Exactly how old are you, Hawk?” he asked.
Oh hell. This wasn’t going to go over well. Not even a little.
“I’m forty. Before you say anything, I know I’m a lot older than Hayley, but it doesn’t matter to me. I care about her. She’s beautiful, kind, and absolutely amazing. And our daughter is perfect,” Hawk said. “The raccoon is even growing on me.”
“I’m fifty-three,” my dad said. “I guess you can call me sir if you insist.”
“Dad, you know you can’t say anything about the age difference between me and Hawk. You and Mom aren’t exactly the same age. The two of you have a happy marriage. There’s no reason Hawk and I can’t be happy together. You always said age was just a number.”
“It is,” my dad said. “But I have the right to change my mind when it comes to my daughter seeing someone a lot older than her.”
I tapped my chin. “What’s that called again? Oh yeah, it makes you a hypocrite!”
“Keep sassing me. I can still put you over my knee,” my dad groused.
“Nope. That would be my job now,” Hawk said.
My cheeks burned and I took Freya, rushing from the room. I wasn’t about to sit around and discuss Hawk giving me a spanking. Not in front of my dad of all people. What the hell was wrong with the two of them?
Cuddles climbed my dad, begging to be held. Nothing melted my heart quite as much as seeing my tough father holding my raccoon. Even when Cuddles had been small, my dad would walk around the house, cradling him like a baby. He’d never let anyone see that side of him outside our house, so I cherished those memories. The fact he was letting Hawk see him like this told me he’d accepted our relationship, no matter how much huffing and puffing he was doing.
The rest of the night went relatively smoothly. We ate, laughed over something stupid my brother had done, and my dad left for the guest house close to midnight. After such a long day, I wanted a shower before bed. While Hawk showed my dad where he’d be staying, I stripped out of my clothes and stepped under the hot spray.
I washed my hair and soaped my body, letting the water pound my neck and shoulders. I’d been so tense lately. The hot bath Hawk had fixed for me that first night had helped a lot, but today had been too stressful by far.
I’d enjoyed the conversations I’d had with Hawk the last several days. We had completely different taste in music and movies. For every action flick he’d asked me to watch, he’d willingly sat through a musical or romantic comedy. I’d discovered we both liked to read, even though we didn’t like the same books. There were times I wasn’t sure how things would work between us. I’d always heard opposites attracted, and that seemed to be the case with us. I hoped we weren’t heading for a big disaster down the road. Then he’d say or do something that made me laugh or feel all warm inside, and I’d know that we were going to be just fine.
I heard the shower door open. Hawk’s scent teased my nose and I smiled as he placed his hands on my waist. He kissed my shoulder, then the side of my neck. Every nerve ending lit up. My nipples pebbled and I knew I wanted his hands on me. The way he’d teased me at the baby store, I’d almost begged him to make me come in the car.
“Couldn’t resist. Is this okay?” he asked.
The tension I’d felt slowly ebbed. When he touched me, it was like the world fell away. Even if he only held my hand, it always made me feel better. It was like magic. Or maybe it was something more. Like love. I’d read plenty of books about love at first sight. Until Hawk, I hadn’t believed in fairy tales. When he’d come to bring