She tried out a smile, hoping she still remembered how. “Sure, I’d love to come.”
* * * * *
“Cat, it’s just a cookout. It’s not a date.”
Cat’s sigh sounded so much like her mother’s Kyle almost checked behind him to make sure Margie hadn’t appeared.
“Gee, Dad. Do you even know what that word means anymore?” Her sarcasm rang through, loud and clear. “Just wear the clothes I picked out for you. And hurry up. She’ll be here soon.”
Cat turned from the door of his bedroom and headed toward the kitchen, where she started banging bowls around and gathering ingredients out of the fridge, leaving Kyle to finish dressing.
He had to admit he’d been stewing about what to wear as he took a shower. Which just pissed him off. This wasn’t a fricking date.
Yeah, so why are you acting like a teenager going to a dance?
Because he was an idiot, that’s why.
Grabbing the T-shirt off the bed, he pulled it over his head. Plain black but not as loose as he normally wore. He turned toward the mirror and realized the tight fit emphasized his shoulders, chest and arms. Tinia’s teat, he looked like a hard-ass with the tattooed runes on his left arm and the muscles bulging.
He’d probably scare the girl away.
Except, the shorts kind of balanced it out, made him look a little more normal.
Yeah, like the friendly neighborhood ex-con about to do his lawn.
“And they have a pocket for your knife,” Cat had noted when she’d set them out. “So you can still be armed even while being fashionable.”
Damn, he loved his kid. But he fucking hated that she knew he needed to carry a concealed weapon.
“Dad, honestly. You’re worse than a girl,” Cat called from the kitchen. “I can hear you sighing all the way out here. Just put the clothes on and come help me. Geez.”
Yep, he should just take his balls and hang ’em in the damn closet.
Since his combat boots didn’t exactly go with the ensemble and Cat hadn’t bothered to put any shoes out for him, he went barefoot, which he preferred anyway.
From his bedroom, he stepped into the main room. He’d built the one-story house in the traditional Etruscan style, one long, straight rectangle with a living room in the front of the house, dining room in the middle and kitchen at the back, no walls breaking up the space. Only the two bedrooms and bath flanking the dining room and kitchen were enclosed with doors.
The open floor plan allowed him to see everything except the bedrooms and bathroom. Cat needed some privacy.
Since he’d left the decorating to Margie and his sisters, he couldn’t take credit for the laid-back style of the rooms. The weathered gold walls, leather furniture and dark wood kitchen hinted at old-world elegance, which he loved. Left to his own devices, he’d have bought a couch, a recliner and a TV and been done with it.
“Thought you had everything ready, Kitty Cat?”
He’d taken care of marinating the steaks and shrimp and the baked potatoes already sat on the hot grill. As soon as Tam showed up, he’d throw on the meat. Cat had said she’d take care of everything else and, luckily for him, his girl was a damn good cook. And she enjoyed it.
She’d made a tomato-mozzarella salad, the scent of fresh basil hanging in the warm air. Fruit salad chilled in the fridge and a strawberry pie cooled on the island.
Cat looked up as he approached, her wide grin making him smile in return.
“Whoa, Dad, you clean up pretty good. Maybe we need to sign you up for one of those calendar deals. We could call it Bad Boys of Etruscan Magic.”
He snorted as he fished a beer out of the fridge. “Sweetheart, I think the sun’s getting to you. Hey, did you talk to your mom today? I saw her number on Caller ID.”
“Yeah, just checking in. I told her about your date tonight.”
Fuck. “Cat. You didn’t.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “Of course not. Lighten up, Dad. And don’t frown at Tam like that. You’ll scare her away.”
And maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing. She’d been in his head all morning. He’d tried to work on the car, Cat’s gift for her upcoming sixteenth birthday, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d told him last night. He’d finally abandoned the car for the computer.
And battled an impotent rage when he’d googled Tamra Johnson. It’d taken him a little while to dig up the stories, because her real name was Tamra McMillan. But once he had, he should’ve called her to cancel their not-a-date right then.
He was worried that when she came into his house tonight with her shadowed eyes, he might go caveman on her. Wrap his body around hers, lock the bedroom door behind them and convince her to move in with him and let him take care of her. He’d make sure nothing and no one ever hurt her again.
Which would never happen because his bed was the last place Tam needed to be right now.
Cat’s sigh ripped him out his thoughts. “You’re hopeless, you know that. I mean, I get why you’re all, like, ‘grr,’” she held up her hands like claws, “but she’s almost here—”
The doorbell rang, cutting off whatever insight Cat was about to impart. Probably something he didn’t really want to hear.
Cat gave him a look and pointed at him, her expression making it clear she was going to keep a close eye on him. He let his lips curl in a smile. His baby wasn’t much of a baby anymore. And the young woman she was becoming made him so damn proud, sometimes he thought he’d burst.
He reached out to tug her hair but she sidestepped, throwing another warning glance over her shoulder as she headed for the door.
As she opened it, Kyle’s entire body stiffened as he caught Tam’s light clean scent on the warm, September air.
His muscles tightened, desire beginning a slow boil through his system.
Gods be damned, why the fuck is this happening now?
Wrong damn time. Wrong damn girl.
She was too young, too damaged and too fucking eteri. Only the faintest trace of an old power lingered in her blood, so diluted it was almost impossible to detect. She had no magic. Hell, she’d run screaming if he told her what he was, what Cat was.
But while his brain said no, his body burned for her.
As a child, he’d been raised to believe he would mate another lucani, keep the blood lines pure, the magic strong.
As an adult, he’d decided the whole life partner thing wasn’t for him. He hadn’t met anyone who made him want to give up that much control of himself. Never wanted another person to control his pelt…
Of course, he’d never planned to have a child either but the Great Goddess Uni had seen fit to screw that up.
Then again, he’d never known how much joy a child would bring, how much light Cat brought to his otherwise dark world so maybe the gods did know what they were doing, after all.
From several feet away, Kyle watched Tam take a deep breath as she stepped into his house. As if she had to force herself to do it. Her smile was tentative but seemed genuine. And the shadows in her wide eyes made him want to howl.
Cat ran at the mouth as she reached for Tam’s arm and practically pulled her into the house. Cat ignored Tam’s flinch, smiling at the other girl as if she were a long-lost friend, as if Cat had been deprived of female companionship for years.
Vaffanculo, he was a clueless bastard. Of course Cat missed other females. Stuck out here with no one to talk but him, getting grease under her fingernails and falling into bed by nine-thirty because she was so damn tired.
When Cat stayed with him, miles from the lucani den and even farther from her home with Margie and Dan at the boschetta, she didn’t have another female around to talk to. It was just the two of them. Working on the car. Going for runs. Working on her hand-to-hand.
Back at the boschetta, she was surrounded by women. Her powerful arus, the magic inherent in all those of Etruscan descent, made her an integral part of the community.
Here, he still tr
eated her like she was ten. And as much as he wanted to pretend otherwise, she was almost sixteen. And mature for her age.
He had no clue why she still agreed to spend these weeks with him but he was damn grateful she did. Why would he want to deny her the chance to interact with another female?
Even if he wanted that woman with a completely irrational need.
Besides, Cat would be good for Tam. His daughter had already coaxed a smile out of the girl, who looked like she was relearning how to do it.
Damn it. He wanted to hit something. Preferably the man who’d made her so damn afraid.
Shoving the rage back, he focused instead on her pretty face, which made his chest ache and his balls tighten.
As Cat fawned over her, complimenting her clothes and her hair, her pale skin flushed, as if embarrassed by the exuberant welcome. An inch or two shorter than Cat, and thin as a rail, she had small breasts and no hips at all. He knew from the news articles that she was twenty-three. Not as young as he’d first thought but still too damn young for him.
Hell, she looked even more like a teenager than Cat, who’d filled out in the past year, more than any father would ever be comfortable with.
And yet…
Tam’s eyes held an old soul.
She looked at him at that moment, catching and holding his gaze as Cat led her through the living and dining areas to the kitchen. He tried to look as non-threatening as possible but he’d lost that battle with the first tattoos twenty-five years ago.
Protective runes ran down the length of his left arm, the bold black figures menacing and alien. The other tattoos had come later—the stylized wolf paw, the symbol of his unit, on his right shoulder and the Etruscan moon symbol on his right pec with its uneven number of small round marks. His kills. He hadn’t had time to add the last two.
Another set of protective runes marked the outside of his left thigh, now covered by his shorts.
As Tam came closer, he watched her gaze slip down his arm and keep going, dropping to his feet before starting their way back up. She paused for one heart-stopping second at his groin before slowly raising her gaze back to his.
He stood as still as he could, afraid to startle or scare her in any way. She’d looked ready to bolt when she’d walked through the door.
Now, those pale blue eyes caught and held his. Heat boiled up from his gut and through his body. Good thing she wasn’t looking at his crotch now because she’d have noticed the throb his cock made before he got himself under control.
“So I hope you’re hungry, Tam.” Cat’s voice broke through the tension filling the air around them. “We’ve got so much food. And Dad’s gonna throw the steaks on now, aren’t you, Dad?”
The command in his daughter’s tone made him smile and he gave her a military salute, right fist to his opposite shoulder. “As you wish, Princess.”
And there went Cat’s eyes. “My dad thinks he’s a comedian.”
“Yeah, but I know my place.” He glanced back at Tam then couldn’t look away. Her expression had softened, lost some of the hesitation she’d walked in with. Her ice-blue eyes warmed and her lips curved into a small smile.
For one, way-too-long second, he felt like he was free-falling. The loss of control didn’t feel as awful as he thought it would.
Forcing himself to move, he walked forward, holding out his hand. This time he thought he was ready for the jolt when he touched her.
He was ready. Maybe a little too ready. His hand swallowed her smaller one, her skin soft and warm against his. He resisted the urge to pull her against his body but he held on a little too long. She didn’t seem to mind.
She kept smiling at him until finally he had to pull back or kiss her. And he didn’t think she’d appreciate that. At least, not in front of Cat.
“Guess that’s my cue to get moving.” He tried to hold his smile to a friendly grin. “Hello again. Thanks for coming.”
Tam nodded, her lips curving up even more. “I appreciate the offer. I…haven’t gotten out much lately.”
“Well, we’re glad to have you.”
And I’ll be happier when I have you in my bed.
As if she’d read his mind, her smile got the tiniest bit warmer.
* * * * *
“So, you actually saw The Wonder Years?” Cat asked after she finally put her fork down. “How cool was that concert?”
“They were great.” Tam’s tone held real enthusiasm, her tone lighter than Kyle had heard it all evening. “They performed at a college close to mine.”
For the past hour, they’d sat at the table, eating, talking.
Kyle hadn’t said much, hadn’t wanted to get in Cat’s way. His daughter had a gift for drawing people out, getting them to talk. If they could get a word in edgewise. Cat had inherited her mother’s gift for gab as well as her Goddess Gift.
“What college do you go to?”
“Drexel.” Tam paused. “I still have a semester to finish but…I don’t know when I’m going back.” Her gaze dipped for a second before she took a deep breath. He could practically see the effort it took for her to look up again. “So where do you go to school?”
“Oh, I’m homeschooled. I live with my mom and my other dad most of the time so my mom and some of the other women in the village I live in take care of teaching me and the other kids.”
Kyle stilled. Cat knew better than to expose too much of their civilization to outsiders but his daughter had a huge soft spot for this wounded young woman. Who knew what she might reveal?
“Are you studying anything specific?”
Cat nodded. “Yeah. Horticulture, mainly.”
“Really? That sounds cool.”
“It is. So what were you studying at college?”
Tam paused and Kyle forced his expression to stay calm. He scented her hesitation, her anger and her pain over what she’d been forced to give up. Then he practically felt her force herself to relax.
“Nursing. I plan to go back and finish. Someday. I want a career that means something, that makes a difference.” She stopped and shrugged, as if embarrassed by her declaration. “I just don’t want to make money. When I was young, I wanted to be a writer but you can’t exactly make a living as a writer.”
“What did you want to write?” Cat asked.
Tam’s soft laugh was at odds with her expression of equal parts yearning and embarrassment.
“Romance. I love a story with a happy ending. Too bad real life isn’t more like that.”
Tam couldn’t believe she’d revealed her most secret desire to two people she’d only just met.
But Cat was so easy to talk to. She had a way of making Tam feel safe enough to reveal at least a bit of herself.
And Kyle… Kyle made her feel alive.
As Cat and Kyle began to talk about books, Tam let herself look at the man. Really look. She’d caught herself staring at him several times throughout dinner. And every time she’d had to tear her gaze away before he caught her.
Her first impression of him as a hard-ass still held true. With the tattoos on his arms, the long dark hair and the hard features, he looked like a man a smart girl wouldn’t want to meet alone in a dark alley.
Obviously, she wasn’t very smart because she wanted him in whatever dark corner she could find.
Some of it had to do with the way he treated his daughter. When he looked at Cat, Tam saw his love for her in his eyes. Every word out of Cat’s mouth made him smile. He was proud of her. And he should be. The girl was amazing, able to hold an adult conversation without acting like a snot. And she was smart as hell.
Tam wanted to spend all night just sitting here, listening to them discuss everything from books and music to global warming. She joined in when she had something to say and they never made her feel like an outsider.
She felt safe here. With them.
Until Kyle looked at her. And he did. A lot. But not in any way that made her uncomfortable.
No, he made her hot.
She wanted him.
Which was just so freaking amazing. And confusing. And—
“So Tam, do you want coffee with dessert?”
Tam blinked up at Cat, who had started to clear the dishes from the table. Damn, she’d gotten caught this time, but the girl didn’t show any sign that she’d noticed Tam staring at her dad like she wanted to jump him.
“Oh, sure. Just let me help you clear—”
“No, no.” The girl waved her back into her seat. “You sit and talk to Dad for a few minutes. I’m just gonna throw these in the dishwasher.”
Tam looked across the table at Kyle, who watched his daughter disappear back into the house with a rueful grin. He looked almost…nervous.
No, that couldn’t be right. Why would he be nervous?
And then their gazes met and held. And she realized he wasn’t nervous.
Just for a second, she’d caught the heat in his eyes.
He wants you.
But then he blinked and it was gone and she couldn’t believe she’d seen it. As much as she wished she had.
Talk, stupid. Don’t just stare at him.
“She’s great, you know. Cat. She’s so mature for her age.”
His smile now was pure proud daddy. And it still made her thighs clench. “Yeah, I think she’s pretty amazing.”
“You get along well.”
He nodded. “Also amazing because I can be a real pain in the ass.”
Was he warning her away? Had she been so transparent? With a wince, she had to admit she probably had been. She hadn’t dealt with anyone on a social level for months. And she’d never really been all that good at it anyway.
Tonight had been…different. She’d felt comfortable here within the first few minutes, despite the fact that she’d only met Kyle and Cat this morning. Lately, she’d become afraid of her own shadow.
So what was it about this man that made her feel so safe despite his rough appearance?
“It doesn’t seem to have hurt your relationship with her.”
He finally broke their gaze to look through the patio doors into the kitchen. “And for that I am eternally grateful. Of course, she might not like me much the first time she brings a boy home.”
Kiss of Moonlight (Lucani Lovers Book 1) Page 3