Monroe hit me with the sexy look she pulled out when she wanted something. I’d just walked in the door after a long day out on club business. I hadn’t even had a chance to put my feet up yet, and I knew she was gonna blast me with requests to do shit around the house. I knew this because it had been going on for almost two weeks while she renovated parts of our house.

I rested my shoulder against the doorjamb and crossed my arms over my chest. “What?”

Her lips twitched as she fought a smile. She fucking knew what she was doing. She also fucking knew I’d cave to her demands. I always did.

She came to me and rubbed her body against mine while looping her arms around my neck, making real sure to get that sweet pussy of hers against my dick. “It’s not so much a what as it is a my-parents-are-coming-for-dinner.”

“Fuck, sugar, I was looking forward to a little couch time and then a whole lot of time between your legs.” Charlie was away on school camp until tomorrow, so I wanted to make the most of the night. Fuck knew, with all the club shit that had gone down recently, we could do with a night together, just the two of us.

She pulled a face. “Ah, well that was never gonna happen. Charlie came home a day early. She’s in her bedroom.”

My brows pulled together as I pushed off the doorjamb and straightened, ready to go find her. “She okay?”

Monroe gripped my shirt. “Steady, tiger, she’s fine. Two of the teachers fell sick, so the trip ended a day early.”

Thank fuck she was okay.

I ran my hand over her hair. “She called you when she got back?”

Monroe’s face lit up with a smile. “Yeah,” she said softly.

I fucking loved the shit out of the way Monroe and Charlie had bonded. The day we received the paternity test results that confirmed I was her father, Monroe celebrated by throwing a party. She made a big fucking deal about Charlie in an effort to make her feel special. Hell, the kid deserved it after everything she’d been through. Once we’d moved all of Charlie’s stuff in, they’d decorated our house together and spent hours with each other doing the kind of shit females loved to do.

Bending to kiss her, I murmured, “Our kids are gonna be the luckiest kids on the planet, red. Having you for a mother.” I knew she thought of Charlie like a daughter, but I also understood that she wanted her own babies. And I was gonna give them to her when she was ready.

“Oh,” she said, remembering something, “Tenille called just before. She’ll be here just after lunch tomorrow.”

We were navigating shared parenting with Tenille while she and Charlie smoothed out their relationship. Craig had moved to Perth and hadn’t kept in touch with either of them. Charlie was disappointed, but I did everything I could to be the father she needed.

“She better not be hours later again. I can’t sit and watch Charlie get upset all over again.”

She smiled up at me. “I can’t wait to see you with a baby. I think it might just melt my heart once and for all.”

I smacked her ass. I fucking loved that ass. “You let me know when you’re ready to get started on that. But for now, I’m gonna take a shower and get ready to face your dad.”

She bit her lip. “Ah, yeah, no.”

“No?”

She glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. The large-as-fuck teal clock that took up half the fucking wall. I’d asked her if she was blind when she asked me to put it up, because surely we didn’t need a clock that size in the kitchen. She’d just laughed at me and carried on. I’d put the fucking clock up for her, figuring that at least we’d still be able to read the time when we hit ninety.

Pointing at it, she said, “They’ll be here in like two minutes, maybe one. There’s no time for you to do anything except get the barbeque ready.”

I scrubbed my face. “So let me get this straight. I’ve been working all day, I’m exhausted, with no pussy in sight, I’ve no time for a shower or a minute to myself, I have to be nice to your father all night, and I’m the sucker who has to fucking cook dinner, too?”

She smiled like the world was running exactly how it should be. “Yes.” And then she added, “Because you love me.”

She was fucking right about that.

I backed her up against the wall and dropped my lips to hers. After I had kissed her, I said, “I love you like nothing fucking else, woman. But there’s gonna be some serious time dedicated to my dick later tonight. Just so you’re aware.”

“You say that like it’s you getting the better end of the deal. I would have thought you’d know by now that if I could dedicate every second of the day to your dick, I would. Especially since you got that piercing.”

Another thing I’d caved on for her. My prince albert was never far from her mind. Or her pussy.

“Okay,” I said, moving away from her. “You got the meat ready for the barbie?” Fuck knew I needed a moment alone to get my dick under control. Throwing the fucking front door open to her father, sporting a raging hard-on was not on my list of priorities.

She reached for my shirt. “Just one other thing, baby.”

I hung my head. She only pulled the baby word out when she really wanted something. Looking back up at her, I said, “What?”

“I need another room built in the shop. A little bigger than the waxing room you built. I wanna bring a beautician in, too.”

I would give Monroe the fucking world if I could. She’d sure as shit given it to me. “How many more rooms you reckon you could use in the shop?”

She frowned. “Why?”

“I figure I’ll build them all at once. That way they’re done, and you won’t ask to cut in on pussy time again.”

The doorbell sounded as she pressed a kiss to my lips and said, “You speak my language, Mr. McVeigh.” She turned towards the front of the house. “Will you let them in while I stir the sauce on the stove?”

“You’re fucking kidding me, red. My dick is hard for you right now. I don’t need to give your father a reason to bust my balls today.” If Colin Lee had been any man other than Monroe’s father, I wouldn’t have given two shits what he thought of me. But he was, so I did.

She pushed me away. “Okay, go take care of that. I’ll hold the fort until you get back.”

I grabbed the meat out of the fridge and headed outside to the barbeque. Ten minutes passed, in which time I got myself under control and the meat cooking.

Charlie brought out a plate of chopped onions. As she passed it to me, I took in the expression on her face. It was the one she wore when she had to bring up a conversation she really didn’t want to have.

“Spit it out,” I said.

“Ugh.”

I would never understand teen talk. “Ugh, what?”

She shifted nervously on her feet before finally saying, “Okay, so you know this fishing trip we have planned?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think I can go.”

“Don’t think or can’t?”

She pulled a pained expression. “Don’t think, but technically can’t.”

“So you’re telling me you could go, but you’re choosing not to? What’s the reason?”

“Well there’s this guy at school who I really like. I mean, really. And he asked me out on a date, but it’s for the Saturday night we would have been away. We could do fishing another weekend.”

“That little shit from Melbourne is out of the picture finally?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“Thank fuck for that.” It had amazed me that relationship had lasted as long as it did once she’d moved to Sydney.

“So are you cool with changing the weekend for the trip?”

“Yeah, but I’m gonna need something out of it.” I’d learnt her negotiating trick and had started using it.

She rolled her eyes again. I fucking hated this eye rolling shit, but Monroe kept telling me it was a phase that all girls went through and that she’d grow out of it. Couldn’t fucking happen fast enough as far as I was concerned.

“What do you want?”

“This new kid is gonna have to come for dinner here before your date so that Monroe and I can meet him. I wanna know all the details of where he’s taking you for the date. And I want you home by ten on the night of the date. Plus a guarantee that you’ll answer your phone should I call you.”

“Oh God, you’re killing me here. Okay, how about he just comes for like ten minutes before the date so you can meet him? I’ll tell you the main place we’re going. I mean, I won’t know everywhere because there has to be some spontaneity. Home by ten thirty. And no phone call.” This was our new style of negotiating—I asked for the world and she tried to bargain me down.

I met her gaze. “Sorry, baby, but on this, there’s no negotiating. Those are my terms. Take them or leave them.” This was her first real life date since she’d moved in with me. If I could go on it with her, I fucking would.

Her eyes widened. “I thought we had this negotiating thing down pat? Why you gotta go break it?”

“Take it or leave it.”

She scowled at me for a moment. “Ugh. You used to be kinda cool when I first came, but now you are turning into such a dad.”

I watched her as she stormed off. This wasn’t anything unusual for us these days. She’d cool down quickly and be back to try to renegotiate terms. On this one, though, she had Buckley’s. We’d be meeting that kid before I allowed him any alone time with my daughter.

She passed Monroe’s father on her way inside. My chest tightened when I heard her say, “Maybe you could talk to Dad for me. He’s being difficult about me dating.”

Dad.

It was the first time she’d called me that. I’d do anything to hear it again.

“Good luck with the dating thing,” Colin said, joining me at the barbeque.

I eyed him. “Yeah. Charlie’s not gonna like how it all goes down.”

“She’ll thank you one day. Parenthood is a long game. Some strategies you try don’t pay off for decades.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

We turned silent for a little while. The only thing Colin and I had in common was Monroe, so conversation with him was difficult.

“Looks like you need a new barbeque,” he finally said.

I checked my irritation at that statement. “Had this one for seven years, Col. She doesn’t need replacing yet.”

“Doesn’t hurt to upgrade every now and then.”

“I don’t upgrade old faithfuls.”

He pointed at the wooden trolley. “That wood’s seen better days.”

“Nothing I can’t fix.”

He was quiet for a moment. “You always this argumentative, Aiden?” I’d given him my name in the first round of twenty-questions after I’d moved Monroe in. He’d refused to call me by anything else since then.

“Only when people don’t listen to what I’m saying.”

“Mmm.”

We stood in silence while I finished cooking the meat. I threw the mushrooms and onions on the barbie that Monroe had chopped.

“So you’ve been going to AA?” he said.

I inhaled a long breath. This wasn’t a secret, but I didn’t love discussing the fact I struggled with alcohol. “Yeah.”

Silence again for a long few minutes.

And then—“How long until you decide to marry my daughter?”

I turned to face him. Hadn’t seen that question coming. “I’ve already decided, Col.” I was just waiting for my divorce from Tenille to go through.

“I figured as much. But I need to know when it’ll happen so I can start getting the cash ready to pay for it.”

Hadn’t seen that coming either. “There’s no need. I’ll pay for it.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “You and I are going to have a problem if you argue with me over that.”

“What? Different to the problem we have over me being with your daughter?”

“I have no problem with that anymore. You’ve proven yourself.”

“Jesus, you have a fucking funny way of showing it, then.”

Before he could respond to that, Monroe and Charlie interrupted us. I narrowed my eyes at Charlie. She appeared happier than when she’d stomped away from me. I wouldn’t have put it past her to try to con Monroe into agreeing to this date. The two of them often played sides against me. What neither of my girls understood was that there were some things I was happy to let them have, but others were a hard no. This was a fucking hell no.

“You finished with the meat?” Monroe asked.

“Yeah. Just about done with the mushrooms and onions, too.”

Col passed her the tray of cooked meat and then said to Charlie, “I’ve got something for you, Charlie.”

She smiled at him. Charlie liked Col, and I didn’t think it was just because she liked watching him give me a hard time. I had to give the guy credit for taking the time to get to know her. It was still early days, but he was shaping up to be the grandparent she’d never had.

He pulled a photo out of his wallet and passed it to her. I couldn’t see what it was, but the way her face broke out into a wide smile told me it was something she loved.

She looked at him hopefully. “Is this what I think it is?

He nodded. “Yes. Don’t get too excited. She’s an old car, but I figure you and I’ll have plenty of time to work on her before you get your licence.”

“You bought a car?” Monroe asked, full of surprise.

Col looked at his daughter with the kind of look I watched Charlie with. The one that revealed the unconditional love we felt for our child. “Yes.” He glanced at Charlie. “Angela has more photos on her phone if you want to see them.”

“Cool,” Charlie said, her face full of more excitement than I’d ever seen on her.

They left us to go and look at car photos, and I pulled Monroe close, settling my hand on her ass. “We’re getting married, sugar.”

She pulled her head back so she could look up at me. “Oh, really? Are we? You just decided that, did you?”

I tightened my hold on her. “No, not just now. I decided that a long fucking time ago, but your father has just given his blessing.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“Really.” I dipped my face to hers so I could catch her lips in a kiss. When I’d had my fill, I said, “I love you, and I respect your father, but just so you know, no one would have kept me from marrying you. You’re the woman who showed me there’s good out there when all I fucking saw was bad. I can’t do this life without you.”

She hit me with a smile that reached every corner of my dark soul. “I can’t do it without you, either. I love you, Aiden McVeigh, even if you are the bossiest damn man I have ever met.”