There were probably some people who could hear their dad ratchet his shotgun and stand firm, secure in the knowledge that their own father wasn’t going to shoot them.

Joe was under no such illusions. If his dad felt like shooting, he would most definitely shoot. Joe had long ago taken away all of the bullets in the house, but there was no betting against the old man. He was wily as they came.

And skilled.

“Seriously?” Joe called out to him. “I’m only a few minutes late.”

There was no response and it was like being fifteen and stupid all over again. There’d been many, many nights when he’d had to sleep on the porch without so much as a blanket to keep warm because his dad had locked him out of the house for being late.

Late being anytime after dark.

His dad didn’t do the dark and hadn’t since he’d come home from the Gulf War a different man from the one he’d been before he’d left. Because he couldn’t keep a job for any length of time, Joe had stepped up to help provide from a young age, although not all his methods had fit into the niceties of society. But letting his dad and sister go hungry hadn’t been an option.

Thankfully those days were long behind him now and Archer paid him more than well enough to cover what they needed. He set the bags of groceries he’d brought with him on the stoop, pulled out a small tool, and . . . took his life in his hands by breaking in. When he got the locks opened, he nudged the door. “Don’t shoot me.”

“Why not?” came the gruff reply.

“Because then you won’t get dinner.” But Joe wasn’t stupid, so he stepped to the side of the door and out of direct sight range until his dad responded.

“Fine, but it’d better be good.”

Joe grabbed the bags of food and headed in, still cautious. One never knew with his dad. He relocked the door and then, to soothe the man he knew damn well was watching his every move, he checked the locks four times, paused, and then checked one more time. OCD was a bitch. He turned and found his dad indeed watching him his wheelchair in the doorway between the living room and kitchen, a rifle across his legs, wearing only his underwear.

“Where are your pants?”

“I don’t like pants.”

“Well no one does,” Joe said, passing him to head into the kitchen. “But we still have to wear them.”

His dad wheeled along after him, looking pale and surly at the same time.

“You doing your stretching exercises like you’re supposed to?” Joe asked. “To reduce your pain?”

“Fucking doctors. They don’t know shit.”

“It wasn’t the doctor who taught you those stretches. It was your PT. You like her, remember?”

“No, I don’t.”

“You told me she smells nice,” Joe said.

“And she does.”

Joe drew a deep breath, feeling his already thin patience waning. He loved his dad, loved him a whole hell of a lot, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to strangle him sometimes. He put water on to boil for spaghetti and began to brown some sweet Italian sausage for the sauce. “I don’t understand what the problem is.”

“She’s not your mom.”

Joe stilled and then turned from the stove. “Dad, no one is. But . . . Mom’s gone.”

“Fucking cancer. Fucking doctors.”

She’d been gone for twenty years now but there was no arguing with the man.

“Where’s Molly?” his dad asked. “Thought she was coming tonight.”

“She’ll be by tomorrow. Said to tell you she’ll bring you pizza if you want.”

“Yeah, I want. She’s nicer than you. She brings me cigars, too.”

Joe stopped stirring the meat and stared at his dad. “She’s not supposed to be doing that.”

His dad patted his wheelchair side pocket smugly.

Joe shook his head but didn’t get dragged into a fight. He knew damn well there were no matches or lighters anywhere in the house. He and Molly had PTSD-proofed the house years ago and they kept a clean ship. So his dad could hold on to those cigars all he wanted if they made him feel better. And seeing him defiant and pleased with himself was far better than the depression and anxiety he usually displayed. “You need to get out more.”

His dad shrugged.

“What about Janice?” Joe asked. “The nice lady who lives down the street who makes you brownies. She offered to take you to the movies.”

“She’s old.”

“She’s forty-five,” Joe said dryly. “Seven years younger than you, by the way.”

His dad looked up in surprise. And guilt.

Well, shit. “Dad, what did you do?”

Silence.

“Tell me you weren’t . . . yourself with her,” Joe said.

“That’s all I know how to be.”

“What did you say exactly?”

His dad shifted in his chair, his only concession to feeling bad about whatever he’d done. “She wanted me to join some Bunko club. And learn to line dance with her.”

“And?”

His dad stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “Bunko is a stupid chick game and hello, I’m in a chair. I can’t dance.”

“Men play Bunko,” Joe said and hoped that was true. He actually wasn’t sure what Bunko was. “And you’re in a chair that has wheels. Good ones.” He’d seen to it himself. “But I’m begging you—put on pants first. And then, if a woman likes you enough to want to share her life with you, don’t be stupid about it. You share her life.”

“How about I’ll take that advice when you do the same?”

“No problem,” Joe said. “But no one’s asked me to play Bunko or line dance.”

“You know what I mean. You’re just as much a loner as I am.”

“Yeah, well.” Joe blew out a breath. “Maybe it’s time a couple of old dogs learn some new tricks.”

“Like I said, you first.”

Joe’s mind went immediately to Kylie, and he had to admit, he hoped she didn’t play Bunko or line dance.

They ate in contemplative silence, and afterward Joe quickly cleaned up and got his dad through his nighttime routine. Shower, pills, bed.

“What’s the bum rush for?” his dad asked, pulling up his blankets.

“No rush,” Joe said, putting a glass of water on the nightstand.

“Can’t bullshit a bullshitter, son. The other night we watched a whole season of Pretty Little Liars. Tonight, though, your ass is on fire to get out of here, which I suppose means I don’t have to feel bad that I watched the first episode of the next season with Molly.”

“Wow,” Joe said. “Your TV etiquette sucks. And I’m leaving because I have work.” It was true. Sort of. He was meeting Kylie at seven at her place to check out another apprentice. Eric Hansen, who by lucky coincidence was having a showing at a nearby gallery tonight. It’d be a perfect way to get in close. He’d called Kylie earlier to let her know, and predictably, she’d insisted on going.

And that was the thing about Kylie. She wasn’t looking for a hero. Guys like Joe were used to women looking for them to solve all their problems, but Kylie wasn’t like that. She was out there doing the work, trying to solve it herself. And hell if that didn’t draw him in.

As did their explosive chemistry.

It made no sense. She was a huge contrast to the rest of his life. She created beauty with her hands and assumed the best about people. He’d been torn between annoyance over that and something that was just about the opposite of annoyance . . .

“It’s a girl, right?” his dad said. “Christ, tell me it’s a girl. Ted’s son left his wife for some guy that wears eyeliner and nail polish. Don’t know what the fuck this world is coming to.”

Ed had been in his dad’s unit. He was in a long-term care facility and had been since they’d both gotten back to stateside, but they kept in touch via texts. “There’s nothing wrong with Kelly coming out as gay,” Joe said.

“Well, Ed, asked for it, giving his boy a sissy name like Kelly.”

Joe checked the lock on the window just for something to do rather than react to his dad’s words. The doctor had told Joe on numerous occasions that his dad was angry at everyone equally, which meant he was an equal opportunity bigot. Not that this made it any easier to take. “Things are different now, Dad. Gender and orientation are fluid.”

“So you wouldn’t care if I started wearing makeup? Or got a boyfriend?”

“Not in the least,” Joe said. “Mostly because I’m assuming you’d have to get way nicer to catch a man in the first place.”

His dad surprised him by laughing. He was still laughing when he turned over in bed and gave Joe his back.

Joe left and drove through the city to Kylie’s building. He knocked on her door and felt her looking at him through the peephole. He expected her to still be pissed at how he’d left her after Gib had showed up, so he was surprised when she spoke first.

“You over yourself?” she asked through the door.

He lifted a shoulder. “Pretty much.”

“Good.” She opened the door and that was that. No passive-aggressive retorts, no pouting, no nothing.

He’d never met a woman like her.

Ever.

He took in her appearance and went brows up. She was wearing a blond wig tonight, huge dark sunglasses, and a trench coat.

“Tell me you’re butt-ass naked beneath that trench coat,” he said. “It’d really turn my day around.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m in costume!”

“I can see that,” he said. “Slutty nurse? Oh please God, be the slutty nurse.”

“Are you serious right now? I’m dressed in disguise so I can go to Eric Hansen’s show and not be recognized.”

Joe couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. And he couldn’t stop either.

She narrowed her eyes at him and he tried to get it together. “Ah, shit,” he said, swiping his eyes. “I needed this after the fubar day I’ve had.”

“I’m not trying to amuse you,” she said in her pissy voice. “I’m going into the gallery as a secret shopper.”

“Kylie,” he said, doing his best not to laugh again. He wasn’t sure she wouldn’t slug him. “I’m going in as a normal person.”

“But you’re not normal.”

“Okay, smartass,” he said. “I just want to look around and if I can talk to Eric.”

“Fine. Then what’s my part?”

“Part?” he asked.

“My motivation. Actors need motivation.”

He looked her over from head to toe and had to shake his head to clear the heat. “Your motivation is going to be keeping me from getting into that coat to see what you’re wearing beneath.”

Her mouth went a little slack, as if maybe she was imaging the ways he might coax her out of that coat. Yeah, he thought. Go there, Kylie. Think about it. Picture it. It just might put them in the same boat.

But as fast as it’d come, her dazed expression cleared. She tightened the coat around her. “Is your mind always in the gutter?”

“Always,” he said, and steered her to his truck. “You might want to remember that.”

Thirty minutes later, they had a new problem. They were stymied by the fact that the showing was a ticketed event, sold out, and no amount of cajoling at the front entrance could get them inside. Joe was prepared to sneak them in through the back, but one look at the fancy-ass party being thrown inside told him they weren’t dressed to sneak in. Plus he hated champagne and fancy froufrou food.

They’d just have to wait until the thing was over. To waste some time, he went through a drive-thru for Kylie, whose stomach he could hear rumbling in protest of the lack of food, and then he parked in back, where he eyed Eric’s vehicle.

“What are we doing back here?” Kylie asked, inhaling her French fries.

“Stakeout.”

She nodded. “How long do we wait?”

“Long as it takes,” he said distractedly because she was sucking the salt off her thumb.

Then she sucked on the straw to her soda and he nearly had a brain aneurism.

“What’s the longest you’ve had to wait?” she asked.

He met her gaze with some difficulty. The woman had the most gorgeous mouth he’d ever seen.

“Well?” she demanded, cracking through the lust and making him smile. She was impatient as hell. What is the longest I’ve had to wait? Well, let’s see . . . he’d waited an entire year before getting his mouth on hers, but he was pretty sure that was way too revealing, not to mention not what she’d meant. “It won’t be much longer.”

“What if we miss him back here?”

“We won’t. That’s his car,” he said, pointing to the Tesla Roadster on the corner. “He’s not going anywhere without us knowing about it.”

She slid him a look. “And as a bonus, by waiting back here you don’t have to put on a suit.”

He went brows up.

“Molly told me you hate to wear suits. That your idea of dressing up is tucking in your T-shirt.” She smiled. “Molly’s pretty funny.”

“Molly has a big mouth,” he said.

“Molly’s amazing.”

True story. Molly was amazing. Didn’t mean he wanted his baby sister giving away his secrets. “What else did she say about me?” he asked.

“That heroes don’t wear capes, they wear dog tags and camo, and that you and your dad are her heroes.”

Ah, hell. “I’m no one’s hero, Kylie.”

Their gazes met and then hers dropped to his mouth. Great minds, he thought as she shifted closer in that sexy blond wig and the trench coat that was still fucking with his mind. He had his arm along the back of her seat and let his fingers stroke the soft skin at the nape of her neck.

She shivered and her eyes darkened, and that was all the invite he needed. He lowered his head to hers and—

She jumped back like she’d been stung by a bee. “Oh!” she said. “I almost forgot.” She dove into her huge purse and came up with two penknives.

“I’m already armed,” he said.

“What?” She blinked. “No, I’m going to teach you how to carve.” She paused. “Wait. You’re armed?”

“Yes.”

“Are you always armed?”

“On the job, yeah.”

She looked him over, her gaze slowing in certain spots that had him getting a little heated. “Where?”

“Kylie—”

She shook her head a little. “Never mind. Don’t tell me. Carve. We’re going to carve.”

“Why?”

“So you can understand why I want my grandpa’s penguin back.” She then proceeded to pull two small blocks of wood from her bag.

“How much shit does that bag hold?” he asked in marvel.

“A lot, and that’s the point of it.” She also came up with a bag of chocolate kisses, grinning in triumph. “Dessert!”

He wasn’t much of a dessert guy but she looked so pleased with herself. The chocolate went down sweet and so did the way she so carefully showed him how to hold the wood and how to carve. He opened his mouth to tell her he didn’t have the patience for art but she bent over him, her brow furrowed in cute, bossy teacher mode. The long blond wig strands swept across his forearms and he forgot what he was going to say. He followed her instructions and they carved.

It was nearly impossible to make anything except notches in the wood but he did his best. After a few minutes, Kylie lifted her face to his, their mouths only an inch apart, hers smiling. “Wow,” she said. “You’re really bad at this.”

No doubt. And something else he was—hard and getting harder by the moment. It was unbelievable to him just how uncontrolled he was around her. He had no excuse for it, but he was damned tired of fighting it. So he hauled her into his lap so that she straddled him, cupped her sweet ass in his hands, and kissed her until it was him letting out a groan for more, him sweating because he wanted her more than he could remember ever wanting anything, him actually losing his ability to keep vigilant and aware of his surroundings.

He stopped only when she put a hand on his chest and pulled back.

“Don’t you need to keep a lookout?” she asked, as if she hadn’t just completely rocked his world into next week.

They could have been surrounded by gangbangers and he wouldn’t have even noticed. He had it bad and worse, he didn’t care. He still had a hand gripping a cheek, the other fisted in her hair to hold her head. “Yeah.” Jesus. He shook the lust off with shocking difficulty, even as a small part of him recognized this wasn’t just sheer animal magnetism. But that problem would have to get in line.

“So . . .” She smiled. “Back to carving?”

“Sure.” He was glad his voice sounded so normal because he didn’t feel normal. He felt like howling at the moon. But though she was flushed from the kiss, she looked equally happy to teach him to carve.

Talk about humbling. So when she climbed off him and back into her seat, he pretended to give a shit about using a knife for something other than threatening someone and told himself to just enjoy having her hands on his.

Even though what he really wanted was to have his hands back on her.