Before I can answer, a familiar voice sounds behind me, making the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

“So, this is what it’s come to? My daughter comes back home for a visit and I have to casually run into her at the diner just to see her?”

I turn on my stool to see my father standing a few feet behind me, his hands stuffed casually in his pockets, his expression bland. Well, bland to those who didn’t grow up under his roof. For those of us who did, there is a storm brewing just beneath the surface, a storm that comes with an hour-long sermon-slash-lecture attached to it. I’ve only been the recipient of a couple. I was always a good girl and avoided trouble of this kind. But still, I got one every once in a while. Not fun. And even now, several years into being an adult, I still feel the urge to shrink under his disapproval. But, mindful of Jake at my side, I hold my ground.

“Not at all, Daddy. We were just out for some breakfast. You remember Jake Theopolis, right?”

My nerves are jangling. I know how my father feels about Jake. Jake does, too, after last night. I just hope he doesn’t embarrass us all by showing it in front of Jake.

“Sir,” Jake says with a nod, coming to his feet to face Daddy. He extends his hand politely toward him.

At first my father just looks down at Jake’s hand like it’s dirty, but then he smiles and gives it a quick shake.

“So, you’re the one that’s lured my daughter into a life of sin,” he says, as amicably as if he were talking about the weather.

“Daddy!” I exclaim, mortified.

“Not that I know of,” Jake says with an unaffected smile as he resumes his seat next to me. I get the feeling he isn’t nearly as relaxed as he appears, however, when he leans back against the bar facing my father, crossing his arms over his chest. That’s clearly a defensive posture.

“Are you saying that she hasn’t been staying at your house? Because I can’t think for the life of me where else she might’ve gone.”

“I didn’t say that. But I’ve been working at the fire station, so she’s had the place to herself.”

My father nods, but I can tell he’s still not satisfied. He wants blood. Jake’s blood.

“Well, regardless, you can imagine how something like that looks. How it reflects on her fine character.”

“I imagine that those inclined to judge others will find something undesirable in the purest of people.”

“And yet we must keep up good Godly appearances, isn’t that right, Laney?”

He turns his intimidating stare on me, but somehow, in the face of how manipulative he’s been about Shane and how he’s so openly antagonizing Jake, I don’t wither as much as I usually do.

“That’s probably the right thing to do, Daddy, but that doesn’t mean it’s the thing I’m going to do.”

“Laney, I didn’t raise you to—”

“This is not about how you raised me, Daddy. This is about you not being happy with my choices. But, lucky for both of us, you don’t have to be. I’m an adult and I can live my life how I see fit. I can make my own decisions and make my own mistakes. I can decide for myself who’s worthy of being part of my life and who’s not. That’s not your business. And it’s certainly not your role to mend a relationship that I’ve ended. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you’d just stay out of my life right now. I’ve got enough to worry about without staying awake at night wondering if I’ve disappointed you.”

Without meaning to, I’ve come to my feet, like I’m braced and ready for battle, and as much as I hate to cause a scene, I’ve done just that. I can feel every eye in the place focused on me. Evidently my voice rose as I did.

I turn to Jake.

“I’ve lost my appetite. You ready?”

Jake’s expression is curiously blank. “Sure.”

With that, he slides off his stool and holds out his arm for me to precede him. My father’s disdain is palpable. Jake’s apathy is, too.

I start to walk off with Jake, but Daddy grabs my arm before I can leave him and this humiliating conversation behind. “He’ll be through with you once he gets what he wants, Laney. Don’t waste your love on someone like that.”

Before I can respond, Jake does. “She won’t waste her love on me, sir. I’m unlovable. But you should trust her more because I’m sure she’s not.”

With a palm to my lower back, Jake urges me on. I keep my eyes straight ahead as we walk, avoiding all the accusing stares of the town folk. In their eyes, my father can do no wrong. But now I can.

My hands are shaking by the time we get to my car. “Here,” Jake says, taking the keys from my fingers. “I’ll drive.” He opens the passenger-side door for me then walks around and slides in behind the wheel. “I knew we should’ve brought the Jeep. What are you, an elf?” He has to scoot the seat back as far as it will go just to accommodate his long legs.

I don’t respond. I’m still too shaken by that run-in with my dad. I’ve never stood up to him that way, and I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable with it. I don’t want him to think badly of me, but I also don’t want him meddling in my life so much. He’s got to let me go eventually.

I’m also embarrassed by the things he said to and about Jake. I know I should apologize or something, but I don’t even know where to start.

When Jake has started the car and pulled onto the main road, I give it a shot. “Jake, I—”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says abruptly.

“But I am worrying about it. I never wanted—”

“I know you didn’t. I get it. You think your dad is the first father to disapprove of me? Hell, my own father hated me. Why should yours be any different?”

His voice drips with bitterness, but something tells me that there’s more than that just below the surface, that somewhere deep down, he’s hurting because of it. But what am I supposed to do? Or say? I hardly know him. How can I comfort someone I don’t know? Over a situation I know nothing about?

“I’m sure that’s not true,” I assert weakly.

Jake’s only response is a single harsh bark of laughter.

Laney’s worked quietly all day. And I’ve let her. She’s got some shit to sort out on her own. She doesn’t need my help. And I wouldn’t know how to help her anyway. I suck at family issues. Actually, I suck at family period. Whatever part of me that might’ve been good at being in a relationship of any kind died with my mother a long, long time ago. I’ve learned since then that “stick and move” doesn’t just keep you from getting punched in boxing; it’s a philosophy that can help you survive real life, too.

Besides, I wouldn’t want to give Laney the wrong idea. That’s not what this is about it. It’s not what we are about. I don’t want her getting attached to me. Have some fun, yeah. Have some sex, hell yeah. But get attached? Not a good idea. I’m not the kind of guy she needs.

It’s getting close to dinnertime now, though, and I’ve got a mission to tend to—get Laney back in my bed tonight. And under me.

I figure it’s just a matter of time before she says it wouldn’t be right for us to share a room. What do I say? Bullshit! That’s a cop-out. If she wants to stop being a good girl, she can start with me. I’m about as good at bringing out the bad in a girl as a man can be.

And bringing it out in a woman like Laney will be the sweetest of all.

My phone rings as I cross the yard to the back door of the house. I glance at the Caller ID and see the department’s main number on the screen. I stop and hit the green button. After a few short sentences exchanged, I hang up and slide the phone into my pocket.

Just like that, in a single act as simple as answering the phone, my plans to seduce Laney tonight are shot all to hell. With a sigh, I continue on to the house, detouring toward the dining room where Laney works.