Her father stared at Reese with hatred, his hands tightly fisted at his side, and his jaw clenched tight.
“I want her.”
“And that means what?” her father said between clenched teeth. “You want to take advantage of her, be the older man that has the younger woman on his side, at his beck and call?”
“It isn’t like that, Dad. He didn’t take advantage of me—”
“No, Lake.” Her father held up his hand, stopping her as he stared at Reese.
“Calvin, please. We don’t need to go all street brawl in the foyer,” Ginny said, grabbing Calvin’s hand and trying to stop him when he moved a step closer to Reese.
“I let you in my home, let you be around my daughter.”
“Calvin, it isn’t how you see it. Just let me explain.”
Her father shook his head after Reese spoke. “There isn’t anything to explain now, after the fact.”
“I’ve seen what a special woman Lake is, and I’ve felt this emotion for her before I even fully understood what it all meant. She’s beautiful, smart, and strong. I want her not because she is younger, or because I am newly divorced, but because she is an incredible person that makes me happy even when she isn’t trying.” Reese looked at her for a second. “I mean all of that, Lake, I do, and I’m sorry that I didn’t give you time to process that before...” He stopped talking, clenched his jaw, and it was clear he realized what he was just about to say.
Her father breathed out roughly. The anger that came from him was tangible, and although she didn’t want anyone to be upset over this, she also knew that it wasn’t fair to Ginny or her father, especially how they’d been found out.
Her father continued to pierce Reese with an icy stare. “How far has it gone?” her father said in a low, menacing voice, but she could hear that he already knew from what Reese had been about to say.
“God, Reese...” Ginny said, and she covered her mouth.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss that here or now, not when Lake is an adult.”
Her father let out this deadly sound, one that she had never heard from him before. Calvin had always been controlled and never let his anger out. But right now he looked ready to kill Reese.
“You did this behind our backs, and although Lake may be an adult, she is still my daughter, you are still Ginny’s brother, and this is my fucking house.”
Whoa. She’d never heard her father this upset before. “Dad, please calm down because even I am not sure what’s going on here.”
Oh, she knew Reese wanted her, knew she wanted him, but this situation was escalating far too quickly, and there was no way to stop it, it seemed.
“How long has this been going on?” her father asked through his teeth.
He looked at Reese, and this rage moving out of him and slamming around them like a hurricane.
“Nothing happened until last night,” Reese responded, and the low sound that came from her father had shivers working up Lake’s spine.
“He didn’t take advantage of me. What happened was my doing as well,” Lake said, not about to let Reese take the fall for this alone.
Her dad ran a hand over his head and cursed low, seemingly all at the same time.
“I want her as mine, Calvin, and no matter what happened with Brittany and me, the divorce, or any of the other bullshit like that, I know what I’m doing here.”
Her dad held his hand out, his finger pointed at Reese, his jaw clenched. “Don’t fucking talk to me about any of that. You went behind our backs and thought having sex with my daughter under my roof while we were gone, was okay.” He took a step closer. “I don’t care what you say, you took advantage of my little girl. My anger is justified.”
“He didn’t take advantage of me, Dad.”
Her father glanced at her, the chilled expression on his face now directed at her. “Lake, no offense, because I know you’re a smart girl, but he did take advantage of you. He is not much younger than me, and you’re only twenty.” He turned and looked at Reese again. “I trusted you, not because you were Ginny’s brother, not because you were in the service, but because I thought you were a good man and a friend.”
“I’m a good man and a friend, but obviously made poor choices when it came to not speaking to you two beforehand.” Reese grabbed her hand, pulled her closer to him, and she felt the heat of his body spear into hers.
“I trusted you to treat her like family, too.”
“Calvin, I think we have to back away and really think about the situation,” Ginny said. She started worrying her bottom lip, obviously trying to calm the situation down, but Lake knew it was already far past that line.