“Neither is Jared,” Evie told the room as she uncapped a bottle of water.
Everyone looked at Jared. Another inch and he’d be tying it back too.
Cooper nudged Frog, knocking him off his perch on the arm of the couch. “I told you. Chicks dig guys with long hair.”
“Why the f**k do you think I haven’t had my hair cut for three months?”
Ignoring the chatter around all of us, Travis pushed off against the wall, and watching him stride towards me took my breath away.
“Ordering me about already?” he asked.
I stood up. Tilting my head to meet his eyes and sliding my arms around his neck, I grinned. I couldn’t help it.
“You have a problem with that?”
“No. I like it.” He leaned in and rubbed his nose against mine. “I spoke with Casey today and Coby. Coby has a big house in Coogee he lives in on his own. Said he could rent it to us and he could move into the loft with Casey. At least until we worked out what we wanted to do. We could build a house or buy one and renovate.”
From her nearby vantage point, Evie obviously overhead Travis speaking and shouted, “No! Don’t do it, Quinn. Just buy one all ready to move into. Renovations are more painful than being shot.”
Jared rolled his eyes. “Baby, I’ve been the one doing all the work while you’re the one standing by causing drama because you keep changing your mind.”
Evie raised her eyebrows at me as if to say “see my point?”
Travis smiled down at me. “Well we have plenty of time to make a decision. Still not too soon?”
“No!” I bit my lip, thinking of how it would be to live with Travis. The past two weeks we hadn’t slept apart, but to have our own space? No interruptions, no fights for the bathroom, quiet lazy mornings in bed.
“Oh,” I breathed, “I can have my hands and lips on you in any room in the house, whenever I feel like it. When can we move in?”
Travis slid his hands down my back, gripping my ass firmly, his eyes dropping to my lips. “Tomorrow.”
The door flew open and chatter died off. Seth stood there in dark jeans and a navy collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. There was a hard edge in his eyes that took away from the pretty appeal of his features.
He eyed Travis and growled, “Get your hands off my daughter.”
My mouth fell open and if anything, Travis pulled me tighter against him.
Then Seth curled his lips a little. “Just kidding. Sort of.”
“Alright!” Mac clapped loudly. “Set break over. You lazy assheads get your butts back on that stage.”
“We’ve still got ten minutes,” Cooper protested.
Jake slapped him up the back of his head. “Ouch.”
The room cleared out and with Travis pressing a soft kiss against my lips with sad eyes, he told me to find him by the stage after. Brow furrowed, my eyes followed his retreating back until he was gone too.
The moment of silence was deafening until Seth shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to clear the room.”
“Umm…that’s okay. Have a seat.” I indicated to the couch and then waved at the bucket of ice filled with beer, soft drinks, and water. “Drink?”
“Sure. Beer’s good.”
I plucked out a beer and a soft drink for myself and handed it over.
“So…” I murmured, feeling awkward. Seth was my father, but I didn’t really know him yet. Despite seeing him a few times since the drama, this was the first time I found myself alone with him without people shooting at us.
Seth uncapped his beer and took a sip. “So…this is your job, huh?”
The muffled thump of a beat started pounding through the walls, indicating Jamieson had taken to the stage for their last set.
“It is. I worked for Jettison Records before Mac hired me, but I love this. It’s exciting. Hearing them perform, watching the crowds go nuts. No day is ever the same, and I get to travel for the first time in my life. Well…actually I’ve only been to Melbourne so far and uh, I discovered I’m not a good flyer.”
“I’m not either.”
“Oh.” Remembering the glance Travis shot me before he left the room, I cleared my throat and asked, “So what are you doing here?”
Peeling away at the label on his beer bottle, he offered me a reassuring smile, but it didn’t appear genuine enough to reassure me. “I’m leaving for work. I…can’t tell you where. Can’t tell anyone really.”
“Oh,” I muttered again and forced my own smile. “Well, for how long?”
“I don’t know. Six months… a year maybe.”
“Huh.”
Funny. I’d just found my father and now I was losing him. I thought maybe we were heading towards a new road together. Seth was already looking for the exit. I guess that made me wrong.
Then I looked at his knuckles—they were white, and his face, I could see it on his face. There was no choice.
“I’m sorry. I spoke to your...to Beth. I went and saw her.”
I exhaled shakily and rubbed sweaty palms along my jeans. “I’m not sure I want to hear...” I indicated for him to tell me anyway.
“She’s… it was difficult seeing her like that, knowing that was what you lived with. Not that I knew her all that well, Quinn, but she’s hard and coarse and well, frankly, she’s a bitch.”
I nodded my agreement. “A douchebag.”
“A poor excuse for a mother,” he added.
“A selfish cow.”
“She’s someone who never deserved you.”
I searched his eyes and found nothing but honesty. “You’re absolutely right.”
Seth cleared his throat. “My career always came first with me. I’m two years shy of forty, and I’ve never been in love or married or had kids of my own. I’ve watched on as my brothers did all that, and I never felt I was missing out because I was the one making a difference. Meeting you made me realise how much I was sacrificing. I know you’re a full grown woman in your own right, but you…you’re my daughter, and I want a chance to learn how to be father. I want you in my life, so I…this job is my last one. I’ve handed in my resignation.” He stood as he spoke, starting to pace the room. “Is that okay? I mean, I realise now that I’ve gone and done it without even thinking about you and what you want. God.” He paused and looked at me. “That’s really selfish, right? I’m sorry. We’re not off to a good start. Not at all.”
He started pacing again and I watched him silently, my heart tripping over itself.
I stood up.
I had a father. One who wanted me. I had friends, a great job, a lazy dog, and a man who loved me, all because one night my best friend dragged me to a bar and I locked eyes with a man who took me home and showed me something beautiful.
I made a mental note to put up with listening to Lucy say “I told you so” a thousand times and to buy her round trip tickets to Paris. Then I caught Seth in a hug. He hesitated before his arms came around me and held on.
“When are you leaving?” My voice was muffled against his shirt.
“Two weeks.”
I pulled away so I could look at him. “What are you going to do when you get back?”
He shrugged casually. “I don’t know.”
“Will I be able to ring you?”
“Probably not.”
“You’ll be safe then, right? I mean, I can’t go rescuing you from all your operations, you know.”
He chuckled. “I’ll be safe.”
The door opened. “Everything okay?” Travis asked, his eyes on me first.
“I should get going,” Seth said.
“You can’t stay?”
He looked from Travis to me. “Maybe next time. I just wanted to see where you worked, but I’ll see you both tomorrow anyway, right? The family’s looking forward to meeting you both.”
I was nervous and excited, but mostly nervous, and maybe a little bit sick. I’d planned a day of baking tomorrow, trying out a new recipe: orange and almond cake. I’d planned to bake extra because I thought it might be something Jared would like. Also, part of my shopping expedition today had been a “finding the right outfit to wear to meet the family you never knew you had and really wanted them to like you.”
“They’re gonna love you,” Seth told me, no doubt seeing fear in my eyes. “Promise.”
With a kiss to my forehead and nod towards Travis, Seth left.
“You knew he was leaving.”
Travis leaned down and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around him and he sank back into the couch.
“I did,” he agreed. “He told me today. He was worried it would upset you.”
“Did he tell you he also quit his job?”
Travis looked at me with some surprise, his brows raising a little, so I told him what Seth told me.
When I finished, Travis said, “Maybe he could come work with us.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Seth said you were a bunch of cowboys which probably means he doesn’t think you’re as all that as I think you are.”
“As long as you think I’m all that, then that’s all that matters.”
I brushed a kiss against his smiling lips.
“Now, back to this morning. Why the tears?” I sighed and he laughed. “You said you loved that I didn’t let shit go. Having a change of heart?”
I pursed my lips. “No.”
“Then…?”
“Because I realised that this was my life now.”
“And that made you cry?”
“Yes.” I knew it would sound stupid, but how do you explain that you were crying because you were happy without it sounding lame when the tears felt anything but. “Somehow, even after everything I’ve been through, I feel like a very lucky person.”
Travis nodded and his eyes crinkled. “Because you have me.”
I held his face in my palms. “Because I have you.”
***
Epilogue
The alarm blared like a f**king freight train, and I rolled over and slammed it with my fist. The noise died a fast and satisfying death. Happy, I rolled back over, dragging Quinn towards me and wrapping my arm around her middle.
I slept nak*d and the best part about that was Quinn did too. Frowning, my hand patted her belly and I realised she was wearing her cotton robe. Not only that, the knot she’d tied was tight enough to make it impenetrable to my searching hands. The closest bit of nak*d skin I could find was the back of her neck. Her pale blonde hair tickled my nose as I leaned in and tasted it with my lips and tongue. I nipped the skin lightly with my teeth, just the way I knew she liked it.
She moaned and rolled towards me, the cotton robe gaping open slightly at her thighs from the movement. Happy, my hands found the smooth, nak*d skin and trekked their way upwards. Still sleeping, she wriggled towards me, and it was all I could do not to growl in pleasure. Even when my arms were wrapped around her as tight as I dared on her slight frame, it never felt close enough.