Mya turns her head at the exact moment I pass, and for a split second our gazes collide. Hers darts away immediately, but mine lingers.
I shouldn’t want to affect her. But hell if I’m not glad I do.
At least I’m not the only one who feels the pull.
I’ve had more women than I can count, but something about Mya… She’s not like anyone I’ve entertained before. There’s a grit beneath her nerves, something bright that makes her hard to ignore.
Not that it matters. Nothing can ever happen between us.
Even though my cock begs otherwise.
At three o’clock,my phone vibrates in my pocket. I fish it out, glance at the caller ID, and answer on the second ring.
“Hey, Piglet.”
“Hi, Dad. I just got home.”
“Great. Is Maggie on her way?” I lean back in my chair, tugging at the knot of my tie, loosening it just enough to breathe.
“Yup! She’s bringing dinner from home this time.”
“Alright. Don’t forget to do your homework, Squirt.”
Brianna stifles a laugh. “Why do you call me ridiculous names?”
“Because why not?”
I can practically hear her eyes roll through the phone, and it makes the corner of my mouth twitch despite the stress knotted between my shoulders. Still, a thought nags at me. The fear that the more my daughter grows, the more she’ll slip away. Ever since she “became a woman” last week, I realized there are parts of her life I won’t be able to reach. Parts I can’t help with. That distance scares the hell out of me. Maggie does what she can—and I’m grateful—but it doesn’t fill the hole her mother left behind.
My hand drags down my face, my jaw tightening.
“I’m almost fourteen, Dad. Nicknames are for kids,” Brianna argues, exasperated.
“Youarea kid, and you’ll always be my little girl. You could be married with children and I’d still call you Piglet.”
She groans, but I can hear the smile she’s trying to hide. “I don’t think my future husband would understand that.”
The thought of Brianna with a husband—or worse, some hormonal boy sniffing around her—twists my gut. “Well, fuck him. Stay single forever and live with me.”
Her loud laugh bursts through the speaker, and I swear it’s the best sound in the world. “Dad! First of all, language. Second, that sounds crazy. What ifyoufind someone?”
“I won’t, kiddo. It’s just you and me.”
11
WORTH
The floor is dead. It’s past seven and everyone is gone.
A supplier changed delivery dates this afternoon and blew up the schedule, so I’m here fixing plans for a meeting at eight a.m tomorrow morning with our partners. If I don’t clean this up tonight, we will lose weeks. I’m halfway through the terrace sheet when my phone lights up with an unknown number.
I answer. “Worth Miller.”
A voice I haven’t heard in months echoes through the phone. “Worth.”
Cold slides under my skin. “Vanessa.”
“I didn’t expect you to pick up.”