Chapter 5

I love my daughter. She"s one of my proudest achievements. What I didn"t appreciate was her pushing that guy at Marley. After everything Cat went through, I didn"t want to hurt her, but my ability to respect her wishes wore thin.

Thinner still when Marley disappeared out to the beer garden with what"s-his-name.

After seeing red for a long, drawn out moment, I knew it was the right thing for her to do. Anything else would raise suspicion from Cat and everyone else.

I had a feeling, by the way he kept watching me, that Shaw already suspected something was going on between us. Not much got past him. He didn"t know anything for certain, or he would have told Cat. Unless he believed it was in her best interest not to say anything. In which case, it might only be a matter of time before he changed his mind.

"That assist from Easton was fucking awesome," Cruz was saying. "I couldn"t have made that goal without him." He draped an arm over the other defenceman"s shoulders and leaned into him. They were both with my daughter and also with each other. Both as arrogant as fuck.

Cat had forgiven them for giving her hell, but I had a longer memory than that. If either of them tried anything like that again, I"d make both of their lives hell. And short.

Although, I"d have to get in line behind her, Shaw and each other. They were all very protective of her. Fuck knew she was good at standing up for herself.

"Shame you didn"t get more goals," Saxon Davies said as he stepped past the table. He stopped to smirk. "Opal Springs doesn"t need more than one premier sports team anyway."

"Fuck off, Davies," Cruz snarled. "There"s plenty of room in this town for more local heroes like us. Stop trying to hog the spotlight."

"He"s just trying to compensate for having a tiny cock," Easton said.

Saxon laughed. "That"s it, keep projecting. I know how big my cock is."

"So do half the women in town," Cat said.

That made him smirk even harder. "Only the discerning ones. The rest end up with losers like these guys." He gestured towards Cat"s boyfriends.

"Did I mention, fuck off?" Cruz said. "We already know which one of you is the evil twin, you don"t need to keep showing off."

"You said "talented, good-looking twin," wrong," Saxon said. "No wonder my brother likes playing with you losers. He"s in good company."

"Is that jealousy I hear in your tone?" Easton asked. "You weren"t good enough at ice hockey to play, and had to stick to football?"

"In your fucking dreams," Saxon sneered. "We don"t have to wear all that padding like we"re a pack of princesses. Rugby is a real man"s game."

I sat back and listened to them fling insults back and forth. As a doctor, I"d seen my share of injuries from both sports. They were rough as hell, and a very good way to lose your teeth. I was never much into team sports anyway. Once upon a time, when I was their age, I made the Winter Olympics in speed skating. Cat inherited the love of the sport from me. If not for an accident, I might have taken out the gold medal. Those days were a long time ago. I hardly thought about them anymore.

"If you ever get tired of these idiots, look me up," Saxon said to Cat.

She snorted. "Not if you were the last guy in town."

"You say that now, but you might change your mind." He kissed the air, his eyes on her before turning and walking away.

"He"s such a dickhead," Easton said. "I"m starting to think he got tackled a few too many times."

"To be fair, he was always a dickhead," Cruz said. "If it wasn"t us threatening other kids for their lunch for lunch money, it was him."

"He looks more like the sort of guy who"d tell the teacher," Shaw said.

The other guys laughed.

"That sounds more like it," Easton said.

I tuned in and out again and looked towards the beer garden. Marley was still sitting opposite that guy, deep in conversation. The whole time they"d been sitting there, he"d gotten closer and closer. I"d recognised him as the person who walked upon us beside Marley"s car, just after we"d fucked. When I first saw him, I"d expected him to say something to Cat. Thank fuck he hadn"t. Doing that would have lost him teeth too.

I let my mind drift to the memory of Marley"s pussy around my cock. I couldn"t get enough of being inside her. I didn"t care about the difference in our ages, we got along better than I did with anyone my own age. She was smart, sweet and had the most incredible pussy I"d ever had the privilege to know.

I"d fallen for her long before we were ever intimate. I suspected she had no idea how deep my feelings for her went. Losing her would be as devastating as it was when we lost Cat and Bree"s mother. Sooner or later, I"d have to officially stake my claim.

I squinted. Toby had moved even closer. I"d seen a man make his move often enough to recognise one from a distance.

"Excuse me." I rose to my feet and strode away before they had time to respond.

"All you need to do is give me a chance," Toby was saying.

"A chance for what?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Toby glanced over at me, looked me up and down and then back to my face. "That"s between me and her, old man. She"s tired of being treated like she"s nothing. Just someone to use to get your dick wet."

I didn"t rise to the bait. Instead, I turned to Marley. "Is he bothering you? It seems to me like he"s outstayed his welcome."

The smile I gave to him wasn"t pleasant. The double meaning to my words should be obvious. If he didn"t think I could get him deported, he could think again. I had contacts neither of my daughters, nor Marley, had any clue about. I could have him on the next plane back to New York before he could blink. With or without an injury; that was up to him.

"He"s not bothering me," Marley said. "He was keeping me company." Judging by the pink on her cheeks, he was doing a lot more than that.

"Is that what you want?" I wasn"t going to let her end things between us, not just like that. Not without a fight from me.

On the other hand, I"d seen how Cat was with her three guys. If Marley wanted a similar relationship, I"d let her do that. She deserved to have all of her needs met.

She glanced over at Toby, then back at me. "Toby, can you give us a few minutes, please?"

He narrowed his eyes at me in warning. In warning. As if I"d ever do anything to hurt her. Arrogant prick.

Finally, he rose. "I"ll get us another round of drinks."

How big of him. As if I didn"t make more money than he did.

He was barely more than a step or two away before I sat in the seat he"d just vacated.

"I know Cat tried to set you up, but you don"t need to spend time with anyone you don"t want to just to make her happy." I wanted to pull her into my lap and hold her close. I wanted to slip my hands up under her top and pinch her nipples. My balls were aching just thinking about it.

"But I have to stay away from you in public to make her happy," Marley said bitterly. "How is that any different? I"m tired of sneaking around in the shadows. I"m sick of lying to her. And Eden. I think we need to either come clean or end it."

"He really got into your head didn"t he?" I asked.

She sat back and gaped at me. "Yes. No." She exhaled heavily with frustration. "I was thinking all of this before I spoke to him. Maybe it"s a good thing. He"s interested in me and doesn"t want to hide it."

"So go out with him," I said.

She gaped at me again. "What? Did you just tell me to go out with him?"

"Yes, I did," I said evenly. "I see no reason why you can"t see us both. When the time comes, we can explain everything to Cat. In the meantime, you should go out and enjoy yourself."

"Are you ending it?" She frowned.

I leaned in close. "No. I am not, nor will I ever end my relationship with you. But you can have a relationship with me and someone else, if that"s what you choose. Including a physical relationship."

The thought of Toby touching her made me want to stab him in the eyeball with a scalpel, but this was about more than me. I couldn"t give her everything she wanted, not until Cat had her baby. I wouldn"t risk my grandchild if I could help it. Not unless it meant losing Marley forever.

"You"re okay with me fucking Toby?" She blinked a few times and shook her head. "This is…"

"It really is," I agreed. "Just until Cat has the baby. I swear to you right now, the moment that happens, I"ll tell her everything. You and I can be free to see each other wherever and however we want."

"I want that," she said softly. "I"ll hold you to that. Are you really sure you don"t mind me seeing someone else?"

"I mind," I said. "But that"s my problem. If he hurts you, I"ll rearrange his face, but your happiness is more important to me than my ego. I"ll leave the arrogance to the hockey players. And the rugby players."

"The soccer players have egos too," Marley pointed out. "It seems to go with the territory."

"Fortunately, us doctors are humble," I said jokingly. I wasn"t humble, I just kept my arrogance in check slightly better. Maybe that came with getting older.

She snorted. "Very humble, Doctor Ryan."

I smiled. "Don"t you forget it, Marley-Jane Hammond." I loved the way her name sounded on my tongue. Almost as good as she tasted.

"I wish I could fast forward to the day she has her baby." Marley"s expression was wistful. "Because we get to be together and I get a baby to play with. I have a few other friends with babies, but none are close to me like she is."

"You"re looking forward to being a step-grandmother?" I teased.

Her eyes widened. "That makes me sound old."

I chuckled. "I"m not old and I"ll be the grandfather." After a moment I added, "If we had a child, they"d be younger than their nibling?"

The flush was back on her cheeks. That was what I thought.

"Nibling?" she asked.

"Like niece or nephew, but gender neutral," I said. "I have no idea what the sex of the baby is."

Knowing my daughter and her boyfriends, the child would be on ice skates before they could walk, regardless. If Cat had a girl, she might end up playing professional women"s ice hockey someday. Hopefully, that would be a thing by then. If it wasn"t, she"d probably find a way to make it one. Stubborn women were plentiful in my family.

"The baby is bound to be cute though," Marley said. "With Cat for a mother, how could they not? Not to mention having you for a grandfather."

"Knowing my luck, the baby will look just like whichever of those guys contributed his sperm to their creation," I said. "Then they won"t be so pretty." According to my daughter, they were all gorgeous, but I wasn"t even going to try to look at them that way. That would be about a billion different kinds of wrong. At least.

"Don"t pretend you won"t love that baby just as much as the rest of us," Marley said.

I would, but I saw the longing in her eyes. The question was, what did I do about it?