West couldn't arrest my dad for secretly meeting a strange woman behind the bakery. People were allowed to have conversations in public. And Grams' heart would break if her son was arrested in Sawyers Bend.
I sipped my tea in the dark and tried to convince myself to forget I'd seen a thing.
I'd keep an eye on my dad, but I was going to do that anyway. For just a second, I thought about telling him to forget the money, to just go and leave us all in peace.
Even if I were willing to forget the money, telling him to go would be a waste of time. Whatever my dad was involved in, it sounded like exactly his kind of trouble.
Darren Hutchins had never walked away from trouble that I could remember. I couldn't imagine him starting now.
Chapter Twenty-One
royal
I didn't think I'd be nervous. This wasn't my first rodeo. I'd picked up plenty of women for dates and usually, my concerns centered around whether I'd be bored and if I'd get laid at the end. I wasn't surprised to discover that, like all things with Daisy, this was different.
Daisy worried about being too complicated, but I wasn't sure she knew what she was getting into with me. My life had never been simple. Since my father died it had only grown more complex.
I thought having Daisy to a family dinner would be like ripping off a bandage. We'd get all the crazy out of the way at once and hopefully, she'd still want me when it was over. At the time, it had seemed like the perfect plan.
Now that I was standing in front of her door, a bouquet of daisies clutched in my sweaty fist, I was absolutely questioning my sanity.
Sawyers Bend had no shortage of romantic restaurants. Why wasn't I taking her to one of them? Or I could have driven her into Asheville and taken her someplace really nice, could have arranged to stay in a hotel overnight… Fuck. What the hell had I been thinking?
Her door opened and my gut dove straight to my toes. A man stood there, about the same height as me, with dark hair, broad shoulders, and a lean, rangy build that could have used a few pounds of muscle.
It wasn't his body that was striking, it was his face.
I couldn't quite pin down the mix of ethnicities there. Almond eyes, smooth brown skin a few shades lighter than Daisy's, and dark hair that had a wave to it. His eyes were a startling green framed by thick, black lashes, and his cheekbones could have cut stone. He would have fit right in on a runway.
He could be none other than the famous J.T.
I hadn't been nervous when I ran into Daisy's grandmother, but meeting J.T. had me shaking in my shoes. I bit the bullet and stuck out my hand.
“I'm Royal Sawyer. You must be J.T. It's great to meet you.”
J.T.'s fingers closed around mine, his grip strong, but he didn't try to crush my fingers or overpower the handshake. He swung the door wide and stepped back, inviting me in.
“Daze is still getting dressed, but she'll be out in a minute. Taking her to family dinner?” He shook his head, an amused grin on his too-handsome face. “You like to jump right into the deep end, don't you?”
I gave a rueful smile. “I'm starting to wonder what I was thinking. But I guess if she doesn't run screaming, that's a good sign.”
The door across the living room opened. Daisy walked out, and all thought fled my mind.
Daisy was always beautiful to me. She had a spark inside her, an inner glow that shone through no matter what. Even after a long day, when she was exhausted, and sweaty, and her hair was all over the place, I still thought she was gorgeous.
I didn't know what gorgeous was.
I'd never seen her like this. She wore a creamy sheath dress that set off her warm skin, curving around her hips and dipping in front enough to show the tiniest hint of cleavage. She'd done something different with her hair, the wild curls strikingly defined, framing her face in shades of auburn, red, and hot pink.
I didn't think she wore much makeup usually, but tonight her eyes were deeper, her lashes longer and her lips pink. Instead of her sneakers, she wore cream spike heels that looked a mile high and made her legs even more unbelievable than they'd been in the first place.
“I don't think I want to share you with my family. You're usually gorgeous, but this is… Wow. All I can say is wow.” I shoved the bouquet at her, mouth a little dry. All my smooth compliments had deserted me. All I had was wow.
Daisy reached up to tuck a curl behind her ear and J.T. was there, smacking her hand away. “Stop touching your hair, or you'll turn it into a frizz bomb,” he ordered.