With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men #4)(147)

Mr. Wilder nodded. He drew in a deep breath and glanced away. “Well…I’d tell you to call me if you every needed anything, but I understand if you never want any more contact with me.” He turned his attention to me and rasped, “Take care of my little girl,” before he spun away and hurried from the room.

“Wow,” Zoey said, her voice hoarse and eyes more watery than ever. “That was my dad. My real dad.” She glanced up at me, and I knew she’d contact Mr. Wilder again. She wanted a relationship with her real father. “I think he might actually love me.”

I leaned down and pressed my forehead to hers. “Of course he does. You’re impossible not to love.”

“Oh, you’re just saying that because...because…” She frowned, trying to think up a reason.

I smiled. “Because I had a million and one reason not to fall for you, but I did anyway?”

“You did, didn’t you?” She gazed at me with appreciation before closing her eyes. “Merry Christmas Eve, Quinn. I don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out, but knowing I’ll be sharing it all with you makes me eager to start it.”

“Amen,” I murmured. “With you in my life, I’m looking forward to everything.”





UP NEXT




Ten’s Story

Let your hair down, Caroline, they said.

It’ll be fun, they said.

I know I’ve closed myself off in a major way in the past year, ever since “the incident” where I messed up my life completely. It’s past time I try to live again or just give up completely. But this is quite possibly the craziest thing I’ve ever done. In a last ditch effort to invigorate myself, I’m standing outside Oren Tenning’s bedroom, I just peeled off the sexiest pair of underwear I own, and my hand is already raised to knock. My brother would disown me for doing anything with his best friend, and he’d probably kill Oren. But if I play my cards right, no one will ever know about this. Not even Ten.

Maybe after tonight, I’ll finally get over this stupid, irrational crush I hate having on the biggest jerk I’ve ever met. Or maybe I’ll just end up falling for him even harder. Maybe I’ll discover there’s so much more to my crude, carefree hunk than meets the eye.