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“You are a shit liar.”
“You can have mine,” she pushed her glass to Max.
Max shook his head in disbelief.
Jake smirked but wisely kept his wine opinions to himself. Angelina sat on the stool beside him, waiting for dinner to be served.
“You almost lost the cheese,” he whispered.
“How can something so expensive be so awful?”
Jake shrugged as they watched Max plate the food. When he was finished, he took the stool on the other side of Angelina. Jake and Angelina posed for pictures that she quickly posted online. After one more shot of the three of them, just for them, they settled in to eat the pasta Max made.
“There,” she smiled. “Does that make up for me being a bad girlfriend and ignoring you both the last two weeks?”
“Bad girlfriend?” A voice behind them boomed. “What in the hell is going on here?”
Chapter 4
“Dad.” Angelina leaped off her stool and ran into his open arms.
“Baby girl,” Quinn murmured as he squeezed her tight.
“I didn’t think you would be here for a few more days.”
“I can see that.”
Her father was a large man. The majority of the population was bigger than she was, but Quinn Davis was larger than most. He was a six-foot-four wall of muscled bulk that intimidated. There were no other words for it. Women drooled over him, and men his age wanted to be him. Men of any age wanted to be him. At fifty-five, his curly hair was the same color as hers, with only a few streaks of silver scattered throughout.
“Angelina.”
She shrunk. He was using the dad voice. The tone he reserved for when he wanted answers now. It didn’t matter that she was thirty-six; it made her feel more like three.
“It isn’t what you think,” she told him, quickly stepping back. Only then did she notice the cast on his right leg. “Oh my God. What happened to your leg? Why aren’t you using crutches?”
“Answer me.”
“You answer me,” she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Baby girl, you can try as much as you want, but your old man will always be more stubborn than you. Where do you think you got it from?”
“Dad.”
“Angelina.”
“You do realize how old I am, right?”
“I don’t give a damn if you are a hundred and ten. You are my baby girl. Until I am dead and in the ground, I want to know what you are doing. Why didn’t you tell me you had a man in your life?”
“Uh, well, funny story,” Angelina hedged. With a look over her shoulder, she saw Jake and Max gawking.
“Sir, where do you want your bag?”
Angelina peered around her father. In the doorway stood Army Ken, only supersized. He was every bit as tall and broad as her father. His body tensed as he scanned the room. When his blue eyes settled on her, they widened and then narrowed. His light blond hair was almost white. It had grown out from the traditional buzz cut. His hair was long enough to run her fingers through it. Her hands tingled to do just that.
There was a faded green Army tee stretched across his chest. Angelina’s mouth went dry. If they needed to recruit women, this guy should be on every poster they printed. Women would be lined up around the block. Uncle Sam couldn’t compete with this guy.
A pair of faded jeans were molded to his thick thighs. She had never wanted to sit on a stranger’s lap more than she did right now. Angelina’s heart beat faster as sweat beaded on her forehead. She needed to check the thermostat. Was it warmer all of a sudden?
