I did that too, but it wasn’t the same. No, that’s not what I’m trying to say.”
Fuck. This wasn’t going well. Chief looked at me with a mildly bewildered—or maybe it was horrified—expression on his face.
“Let me try this again.” I pressed my lips together for a second and took a deep breath. “I’m in love with your daughter.”
Now he really looked surprised. “What?”
“I’m in love with Skylar. She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. She’s smart, and talented, and beautiful, and sweet, and I could keep going, but you already know her. I’ve never been in love before, and maybe you’re wondering how I know I’m in love with her if it’s my first time, but trust me, I know. I’m crazy about her, Chief. I’m done, I surrender.”
He gazed at me for a long moment, like he didn’t know what to say. “Does she know all this?”
I winced. “Kind of? Not really. I tried to tell her the other day, but I was still freaked out by the accident and I did a supremely shitty job of it.”
He nodded slowly. “I see.”
“Look, I haven’t done things right when it comes to her, and I know that. And there’s a good chance she’s going to shoot me down anyway and none of this will matter. But before I go any further, I need to clear the air with you. You’ve been the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father and I meant no disrespect. And I’m probably not the kind of guy you’d want her to be with, but if I can fix things with her, I swear to you, I’ll be good to her. I’ll be good for her. You have my word.”
His brow creased. “What makes you think I wouldn’t want you to be with her?”
I glanced away. Damn, what was it with me and hard conversations lately? “You probably want her to be with someone more stable and mature. It’s okay, I understand.”
“Gav, I want her to be with someone who makes her happy. Someone who challenges her, cares for her, and protects her like she’s the most important thing in his world.”
I met his eyes. “I can do that, Chief.”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “I know you can.”
A rush of emotion hit me so hard it almost knocked the breath from my lungs. I rubbed the back of my neck, waiting for it to pass. “So you’re saying you’d be cool with me dating your daughter? Assuming she wants to date me, and I know that’s debatable right now.”
“If it’s what you both want, of course I’m okay with it.”
“Since we’re having this conversation, what if I want to do more than date her? Because I’m just going to be up front with you, Chief, I plan on marrying her. If I can convince her to marry me. But I think I can do it, I can be really convincing.”
His eyebrows lifted, and he stared at me for a few seconds. “You want to marry my daughter?”
“Oh yeah. I’d marry her tomorrow if she’d let me.”
He stood, and for a split second, I thought he might hit me. In that same split second, I knew I’d take it if he did.
But he didn’t. Instead, he walked around his desk and hugged me.
He clapped me on the back, then stepped away and gave me a short nod.
I had no idea what to say.
Apparently he didn’t either because he went back to his seat without saying anything.
“Thanks, Chief,” I said, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough. But I also knew that Chief understood. I turned to leave, but paused and glanced back at him. “My parents would have thought this was pretty cool, wouldn’t they? Their kid falling for your kid.”
“They would have been ecstatic.” He scratched his chin. “Actually, I’m realizing that I just lost a twenty-some-odd year-old bet.”
I grinned at him. “You should have known not to bet against me.”
“Isn’t that the truth. Your dad would be proud of you, son. You’re every bit the man he would have wanted you to be.”
I had to glance away again, but not because I didn’t want to hear it. For the first time, the mention of my parents wasn’t too painful to take. It was bittersweet—the familiar hurt still there—but it wasn’t all bad. There was a little bit of happiness too. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
He opened his mouth to say something else—probably to tell me to get back to work—when