They were supposed to be halfway done with Midnight Storm’s comeback tour by now, not just getting started, but ever since Beckett’s knee injury had brought things to a sudden halt back in January—after only two cities, no less—the label had gotten twitchy. And if his partners knew the full story, they’d pull the plug altogether. NostalgiCon had to go well if Derek had any hope of convincing them the band was ready to pick up where they left off.
And that meant no scandals.
“Everything alright?”
He turned to find Jo leaning in the doorway to the living room, concern crinkling her forehead. At some point she’d reapplied her makeup, wiped away the smudges beneath her eyes and done something to make her cheekbones look sharper. His tired eyes skimmed over her curves, the dip of her waist and the swell of her hips, the jut of her collarbone, the soft brush of her hair over the top of her shoulder. He wanted to press his lips to that spot, to wrap her in his arms and feel her nails along his back, just until the pounding in his head stopped.
“Keep looking at me like that, and I might get the wrong idea,” she said softly, arching an eyebrow at him.
He pressed his thumb and forefinger into his closed eyelids. “Sorry.”
Her laughter was light, husky, and it took everything in him not to drink the sound directly from her lips. “Don’t apologize to me, daddy fox. You’re the one who made the rules.”
He could think of a thousand rules he’d like to break with her, most of which ended with them both too tired to move. But that wasn’t what they were doing here. This was a business arrangement, one that could seriously hurt his daughter if he wasn’t careful. And Derek Owens was always careful. There were too many people who depended on him for him not to be.
“Poison time?” Annie asked as she skipped into the room, catching Jo’s hand and swinging it back and forth. “I want Jo to sit next to me.”
Derek’s heart squeezed. In only a matter of hours, Anniehad already gotten attached to Jo. It would be hard for her to say goodbye when they left California in a few days, and he was determined not to make it any more difficult.
Three more days and then they’d go their separate ways.
He could control himself for three days.
Chapter 6
This was going to be the longest three days of Derek’s life.
He led the way from the restaurant back to their cottage through the lush, manicured gardens, Jo and Annie’s laughter behind him twisting his insides with every step.
“I wish I had pink hair,” Annie said, pointing at a star high above them.
“I wish I hadbluehair,” Jo said.
“I thought you were only supposed to wish on the first star you see,” Derek said.
Annie blew a raspberry. “I want to make wishes on all the stars.”
“That’s a lot of stars,” Jo said.
“I have a lot of wishes.”
He wasn’t sure how he felt about Jo fitting into his daughter’s life so quickly. Dinner had been easy, far easier thandinner at a new restaurant would have been without Jo. Annie only complained about the texture of her chicken nuggets once and her disappointment that there wasn’t any actual poison on the menu had been assuaged by Jo’s suggestion that they split a ‘death by chocolate’ brownie.
His own self-control, on the other hand, strained under the weight of Jo’s pleased moan when her lips wrapped around the first spoonful of the decadent dessert.
But he didn’t have time to sort out the complicated combination of affection, lust, and frustration coiling in his gut. Not when Logan had sent up an SOS mere hours into their first night at the storied hotel.
He unlocked the cottage door and held it open for Jo and Annie, who practically skipped inside. “I have to go take care of a few things,” he said, regretting the words as the joy fell from his daughter’s face.
“But it’s story time,” Annie said.
“I know, peanut. I’m sorry.”
“I’d love to read a story with you,” Jo said, turning her full attention to the disappointed little girl beside her.
“Is it Nico? Is he okay?” Annie asked as she leaned against Jo’s side.
“Nico’s fine,” he assured her.