Jen_C’s Reviews > Barely Breathing > Status Update

“Hi, Dad. Want to see my new cheer?” My throat tightened, burning as I fought back tears. The sound of my little girl calling me ‘Dad’ was like nothing I’d ever heard. It was a gift I’d never thought I could dream of deserving. What made a good father? I sure as hell hadn’t had one. But I wanted to be one. For now, I knew I needed to focus on Brooklyn and make up for all the time I’d missed.

I turned my attention to Brooklyn. “And I also need to say that the reason I missed out on being part of your life . . .” I cleared my throat, trying to keep myself under control. “It’s all my fault. It was never because of you.” “My mom said that, too. She said you couldn’t see me but . . . you still love me.”

I wanted to tell him how much I loved him right now, but it didn’t feel like the right time. This moment was about him and Brooklyn. Kane was haunted by his past. I’d never known what it meant to love someone so much that healing their pain was just as cathartic as healing your own. But right now, I felt light and free and hopeful. Kane was getting the chance he deserved.

My appearance hadn’t changed much, besides the hair. But I saw something so much different in the mirror. I was with an amazing woman. I was trying to find a way into Brooklyn’s life. I was now one-third owner of one of New York’s hottest, most successful clubs. It was worth. I saw a shred of worth looking back at me in my reflection.

I wanted to be with him. He made me feel things and want things I’d never known possible. Kane touched me in ways that were more than physical. But if we were going to make it, we had to be able to disagree without him walking out on me. Staying when things were uncomfortable was hard for him, but when he left it made me feel like he didn’t care enough to stay and work things out.

I watched him, mesmerized. The ink of his tattoos bespoke the path he’d walked to get to me. A skull and crossbones on his hip. His daughter’s initial on one side of his chest and the words ‘Sine metu’ on the other. I’d learned Latin in college and I knew it meant ‘without fear’.

My eyes filled with tears. Damn him for reeling me in and throwing me back like this. “Don’t,” he said softly. “Just go. You’ve humiliated me enough.” “You don’t know—” “Then tell me!” I clenched my hands into fists at my sides. “Effing tell me or don’t, but stop playing these games.”

“Hmm.” She smiled and tipped her face up. I cupped one of her cheeks and leaned down, vowing to end our first date with the best damned kiss of her life.

I was thirty-four years old and had never gone out on a date. The women in my world didn’t expect to be wined and dined. Their desires were much more . . . primal. “But . . .” I wrapped my hand around the back of my neck and exhaled deeply. I didn’t know what else to say. Had she seen me? Did I really look like the kind of guy who rang women’s doorbells with a bouquet in hand?

It was a silly idea. Homemade brownies for the bouncer who’d pulled Eric off of me? It was all I could think of to thank him, because I was pretty sure Hallmark didn’t have a ‘thanks for saving me from sexual assault’ section of greeting cards.