“No one else better, tesoro.” He lifted his gaze and looked into mine. “He’ll do a good job. I have no doubt.”
I smiled at him. “That still must have been hard for you.”
“Not really, actually. He’s not the kind of man who will allow someone to take advantage of him. He’ll protect everything I built with my bare hands.”
“But he’ll also scare away your customers with that scowl…”
He chuckled. “People respect him for it. I respect him.”
My father had been wrong when he treated Griffin so coldly, but he more than made up for it. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for him. He has somewhere he belongs…and I know that means a lot to him, even if he doesn’t say it in those words.”
He nodded. “I know he does. I told him I love him like a son…because I do.”
“And I think he loves you like a father.”
“If he doesn’t, maybe he will someday.” He gripped the edge of my desk. “We’ve got plenty of time. Look how far we’ve come in a single year.”
It was hard to believe I’d loved Bones for almost an entire year. It seemed like he’d been in my life forever…not just a short time.
“So, any plans for the wedding?”
“Uh, we haven’t talked about it much.” We haven’t talked at all, actually. Ever since he put that ring on my finger, he’d been hunting me down around the house and making love to me on every single piece of furniture we owned. His possession increased tenfold. That dark look he gave me with those piercing eyes became far more intense than it’d ever been before. And when I took off my ring to shower, he looked at me like he might slap my ass so hard I wouldn’t be able to walk again.
My father didn’t say any more about it. “He asked me in my office at the end of the day. I knew the moment was coming, but I wasn’t ready for it. I’ve been dreading this day since you were born, and it was a relief when I gave him my blessing and really meant it. There’s no doubt in my mind that man loves you…loves you the way I love your mother.”
I knew this was hard for my father, and he was doing such a good job handling it. “I know he does.” I gave him a slight smile, feeling the emotion bubble up inside my chest. “He’ll be a good husband. He’ll be a good father. And he’ll be a good son to you.”
“He already is. We’ve come a long way. When I look back on the past, it’s hard to believe that stuff ever happened.”
“Me too.” I’d been through so much heartbreak, but it’d all been worth it to end up here.
My father’s eyes darted to the window as someone walked inside. “Looks like we’re about to find out what Griffin did with his personal day.”
I turned around and saw Griffin enter my gallery, his thick arms stretching the gray color of his t-shirt. His nice arms were covered with black ink, and with his short hair and intense stare, he looked like the most terrifying man on the planet.
I guess I had a thing for scary men.
He looked at me, those bright blue eyes the only soft feature about him. As if my father wasn’t standing right there, he turned his possessive gaze on me, glancing at my ring to make sure I was wearing it. “Baby.” He bent his neck and gave me a short kiss on the mouth, but judging by the way he gripped my waist so tightly, he had to restrain himself from kissing me as hard as he really wanted.
“Griffin. Care to give me an explanation of where you’ve been all day?”
He cocked an eyebrow, shooting me a flash of annoyance. “If I asked you that same question, I’d get slapped.”
But you love getting slapped. “What happened to your hand?” I noticed the white gauze wrapped around the ring finger on his left hand. There wasn’t a sign of blood, but it seemed like he had a bad injury.
Griffin didn’t glance at it. “If I’m not working today and you aren’t either, what does that mean?” He turned to my father and ignored my question.
Father shrugged. “Cane is busting his ass—for once.”
Griffin gave a slight smile. “Good.”
I looked at his hand again. “What happened?”
He pulled his hand to his chest and carefully pulled the gauze off his finger. He tossed it into the garbage can by my desk and held up his left hand, showing the black ink that wrapped around his finger and formed a thick wedding band. It contrasted against his fair skin, being just as obvious as the diamonds I wore.
It took me a second to process what I was looking at. “You want a tattoo as a ring…”