Every one of Danny’s protective instincts kicked in as he handed her the soda. “Here you go…”

“Ashley. My name’s Ashley. And thank you. I have money to pay for the meal, so this isn’t like…a handout or anything.” Her brows pulled together as if she was rethinking her decision. “I don’t need any handouts. In fact, I don’t need anything from anyone.” She made a move to grab the bag she’d placed on the bar.

“Spicy little thing, aren’tcha? Ashley, didn’t your parents ever teach you there’s no such thing as a free lunch?” He thought his joke was funny, but from the way her pale skin turned ashen, he’d thought wrong.

“No, our parents didn’t teach us shit until it was too late.” She chomped on the inside of her lip. “Sorry, that was probably too much information. No, sir, never heard that one. But I do have money for lunch.”

“I’ll be happy to take your money, Ashley. In fact, I can charge you double if you want.” That got Ashley to smile, which made Danny chuckle.

Danny pulled up the bar phone and called the back office. “Hey, Jules, can you come up front please? Someone I want you to meet. Thanks, honey.” He needed his wife by his side. Julie would take one look at the young woman and help him assess the situation. Julie was astute, smart as a whip, and just as comfortable sitting in a corner as she was front and center, which made her invaluable in just about every situation.

After a few minutes, Julie came out wearing her ever-ready smile and carrying Ashley’s cheeseburger and fries. “I guess this is for you?”

“Umm, yeah. Thank you.”

Danny took in the way Ashley checked out his wife. The younger woman’s eyes traveled from Julie’s shoulder-length sun-berry hair to her black, worn-in Converse sneakers and the fit body in between. Julie may be closer to the young woman’s mother’s age, but his woman was a knock-out for any age. Whatever Ashley saw, she must have approved, because her face softened and her shoulders once again relaxed.

“I’m Ashley. Thanks for bringing me my food.”

“My pleasure, sweetie. I’m Julie, that guy’s wife.” She smiled warmly.

Danny slipped his wife the we-need-to-figure-this-shit-outlook. Julie’s nod would have been too subtle for anyone else to notice, but he caught it. The questions started.

“So, Ashley, where’s home?” Julie asked, sipping on a freshly poured club soda.

“Nowhere.” Ashley took a bite of the burger and moaned. “This is amazing.”

“Thanks, the recipe’s a secret. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” Danny grinned, Ashley snorted, and Julie rolled her eyes. “Where you from?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ashley slowly said, enunciating each word, “because I’m never going back.” Another large bite.

A chill ran up Danny’s spine. What in the hell?

“Sweet girl,” Julie spoke softly, “is there anyone you need to call? Maybe someone who needs to know where you are?”

“Yeah, there’s someone. But he’s dead now. So he won’t be answering that call.” She popped the last bite of burger in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed before reaching for her drink.

If Danny lived to be one hundred years old, the look in Ashley’s eyes when she answered that question would be burned in his retinas forever. He watched his wife bite her lip, doing her best to hold back the same gasp he felt.

“Wow, that was the best burger I’ve ever had. For real.”

“There’s more where that came from. You should stick around a day or two and try the chili—Julie’s recipe…it’s amazing.” Danny wasn’t a rambler, but he didn’t think this girl had anywhere to go and didn’t want her to leave. He wasn’t sure how to say that without sounding like some sort of sicko.

“With all due respect, I’m eighteen. I never needed a babysitter, and I don’t need one now.” Ashley’s hazel eyes flashed with golden specks of fire.

An adult by legal standards, but still a child in so many ways. “Respect much appreciated.” Danny’s brow arched. “But I’m a shit-ton older than eighteen, and I know damn well when someone could use another cherry cola. So have mercy on an old man and give me your time. Yeah?”

Ashley’s eyes narrowed as she glared from Danny to Julie and back, then shrugged.

“Spicy little thing we got here, Jules,” he muttered as he mixed the drink.

***

“I SEE MYSELF in her,” Julie whispered in the dark, her leg draped over Danny’s, her head on his chest. “All of her pain bottled up…and those eyes…my God, it was like she was ready to explode.”

“I felt it too,” he admitted as he ran his fingers up the length of Julie’s naked back.

Ashley had spent hours at Danny’s on Main, leaving well after the dinner hour but before the heavy drinking crowd descended. She wouldn’t share where she was staying the night but promised to return the following day. While neither Julie nor Danny was comfortable with Ashley’s choice, they had no say in the matter. So they both hoped the young woman’s promises were as good as her ability to recite the alphabet backward (very much a talent in Julie’s eyes).

“She’s old enough to tend bar, Danny.” His soft skin felt hot under her fingertips as she drew figure eights over his bare chest.

“She is.” His hand paused on her back. “But like us, loss is written over her. She’s young, Jules. We can’t just take her on—we’ve gotta take her in.”

Falling more in love with someone she thought owned her was beyond her understanding, but it just happened.

Danny must have mistaken her silence for something else because he continued. “I’m not saying we invite her to live with us—I mean, we don’t even know the girl. But come on, we know that girl. We’ve been that girl.”

“Yes, we have.” Her fingers trailed up his chest. “I was that girl until you found me.” In the dark, her fingers found his lips and rubbed the soft skin. “And I say if she comes back tomorrow, we do what we can to keep her close. Okay?”

Her husband exhaled. “Love you, baby.”

“You’re an amazing man, Danny. Your heart has the capacity for so much compassion, so much love. Every day I’m grateful that we met. I love you.”

“Thank God for that. Thank God.”

Even though they’d made love before their conversation, his reply melted her insides, charging her sated body for another round of play. When she placed a wet kiss on his lips, he got recharged as well.

Chapter Twenty-Two

This IS Home

“MERRY CHRISTMAS, YOU guys!” Julie’s greeting rang through the bar.

“Ho, Ho, Ho.” Danny pulled out three small boxes and placed them on the mahogany countertop.

“Who you callin’ a ho, Danny?” Ashley’s eyes sparkled as a giggle pealed out of her.

“I’m thinking he was addressing you, Spicy.” Kyle chuckled.

More than two years had passed since the feisty young woman entered their lives, and in that time, she’d become like a daughter to Danny and Julie. If he was being honest, even though Max and Kyle weren’t as young as Ashley, he and Julie still looked at them as family…sons. Max, Kyle, and Ashley were the reason Danny’s on Main had turned into the success it was. Sure, the bar had done well before they were employed, but it was doing ridiculously well now. There was a magic between the five of them that Danny didn’t think could be replicated, and for that, he was grateful.

Therefore, when he and Julie had discussed Christmas bonuses, they knew money wasn’t enough.

“They treat our bar as if it’s their own,” Julie had said over a candle-lit dinner she’d prepared one Sunday evening a few weeks earlier.

“I know. They work their asses off, above and beyond what’s expected.” Danny rubbed his hand over his scruff. He’d noticed a few gray hairs mixed in with all of the dark ones and wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Julie had noticed too, and based on her lust-filled eyes, wet lips, and rocking blow job the night she pointed out the first few, he decided he was just fine with the grays.