Chapter 11

11

" Y ou got a minute?" Jasper asked, walking into my new office.

I'd spent most of my day learning the ins and outs of my dad and uncles' consulting and security business. All four of them were pleased I'd come to work for Triple Canopy. Over the years they'd made a name for themselves and they had more business than they could handle.

Their consulting schedule alone was enough to keep them busy for the next year. Now that I was there, I'd be taking over most of the tactical training for Law Enforcement. Leaving the other two new hires to handle the private security side. I had no interest drawing up site plans and installing alarms. I'd also made it clear; I didn't want to play babysitter and escort to their rich clients.

Brady, the man who'd rushed into a blazing fire to save Tuesday, would keep control of the personal protection operation. He'd proven himself in a big way to my family, therefore he'd earned more responsibility and a permanent place in the company. He was well-liked, and after meeting him, I, too, thought he was solid.

I glanced at my watch before answering, "Yeah. I've got about ten."

Jasper closed the door, and took a seat across the desk from me. His long legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed. He looked relaxed, but I knew better. I'd seen him half a dozen times today, had sat in two meetings with him. He had something on his mind, and I had no doubt Delaney was front and center.

"Em said you were at Delaney's last night. How'd that go?" he asked without delay.

Much like her daughter, Emily Walker was a spitfire. How she'd known I was at her daughter's house last night was anyone's guess. Maybe motherly intuition. Or maybe she, like everyone else, knew how much I adored Delaney and I was done fucking around. I didn't know, and I didn't much care, and I also hadn't thought she'd keep that fact from my Uncle Jasper.

"She agreed to go out on a date," I told him.

"A date?"

The look of shock was comical, because well, the state of play was amusing. Delaney and I had never dated, not once had I taken my girl out. Yet we'd been together for years.

"Yep."

"And she agreed? That fast? I figured you'd be pledging your case for at least another month."

"‘Agreed' might be a stretch. I talked her around then left before she could retreat."

Jasper's jaw was tight. His eyes piercing. He had something to say and it was going to piss me off.

"Maybe you should—"

"Please know I say this with respect. I've struggled with my relationship with Delaney for years. Part of that struggle was about you and how the rest of the family would perceive our relationship. We were raised together. I've always thought of you and called you uncle, your wife my aunt, your son and other daughters my cousins. But never not once had I ever looked at Delaney as my extended family. It ate me up inside what everyone would think. That was the first excuse I told myself. Why I was holding back, when I knew she was it for me. I know you all saw it, saw me struggling loving someone but not allowing us to have what we both wanted.

"And I gave her everything I could. I admit, it wasn't enough, she deserved more, and that ate me up, too. But I didn't let her go. I'm not a father."

Fuck, that hurt to say, knowing that I should've been.

Jasper winced and I continued, "I imagine if I was and the man who'd been jackin' around my daughter was sitting in front of me, I'd tell him to stay the fuck away from her. Again, respect, but that isn't going to happen. We're starting over, moving forward, and not looking back. She's mine, Jasper, and you damn well know it."

Jasper's face was still set in stone and he was studying me with a father's critical eye. It pissed me off he was looking at me with scrutiny instead of trust. I shouldn't have to explain myself to anyone but Delaney. But I'd fucked up, and now I was paying the price.

"I'll give you one more thing," I sighed. "I've never lied to your daughter and I've never made promises I couldn't keep."

"What kind of promises were those?" Jasper grunted.

"That I'd come home alive to her and our babies. I didn't want to make your daughter a widow so I never promised her the life we both wanted. I never asked her to marry me, though I wanted her to be my wife. I never promised her a future because I didn't know if I'd be around to give it to her. You of all people know what I was doing when I was deployed, so you know there was always a strong possibility I'd come home in a coffin."

Jasper's face remained a mask of pissed-off father giving me no indication what he was thinking.

"If I asked you to stand down and let Delaney move on, would you?"

"Fuck no."

"Goddamn uncanny, always thought as you were growing up you were like your dad. Looked like him, behaved like him, hell, you talked just like him. If you were anyone else, I wouldn't ask you to step away, I'd simply make it so you didn't have a choice but to do as I wanted. You being the man I know you are, I'm giving you a month. After that, I won't ask."

I fought to keep my temper in check. Not only was Jasper Delaney's dad, he was a man I admired.

"Think it might take more than a month."

"Then you better work fast."

"Have you met your daughter?" I asked sarcastically.

"As strong-willed as they come." He smiled as if her stubborn attitude was a source of pride. "My girl has been hurting long enough. I'm giving you something I would not give someone else—a second chance."

"I'm not giving her up."

"Then I suggest you work fast." Jasper stood and made his way to the door, opened it, and paused. "It took you less than twenty-four hours after going back to the beach to get her to go out on a date with you. What does that tell you? You said it yourself, Delaney is stubborn as they come and she holds a mean grudge. I'm sure you remember, one time she was pissed at Quinn and didn't speak to her sister for six months. It was over a fuckin' hair brush. So, I think you understand you asking her for a date and her accepting, however loosely it was accepted is huge."

"It was over a curling iron," I corrected.

"Right." Jasper chuckled. "Now all you have to worry about is if Delaney will actually be home when you go to pick her up."

With that parting shot Jasper closed the door behind him.

Fuck.

I checked my watch and I had just enough time to go back to my hotel room and change before going to pick up Delaney.

I closed the lid to my laptop, grabbed my phone and keys, and shoved back from my desk.

Thirty days? Was Jasper crazy? It was going to take an act of God to get her to forgive me and agree to move forward. I wasn't stupid enough to think just because I was going to pick her up for our first date, she'd actually softened any. It would take a lot more convincing on my part and probably no small amount of pleading, too.

I pulled in front of the Travel Suites thinking this place was a step up from the shitbag motel I'd stayed in a few days ago, but it was still crap. I'd declined my parents' offer to move back in with them, and my brother's invitation to stay at his place as well.

I had a home.

One I shared with Delaney.

And until she allowed me back into our bed, I'd be sleeping on a lumpy mattress in a cold and lonely motel room.