Tanner follows, but Drew hesitates, not sure quite how to act now that her lemonade idea is blown. A couple of Alphas are in her home, and a daughter’s love is hanging in the balance. It’s all over her face how much this means to her. She knows it means everything to me, too. She also knows I have the Cocker temper.
Getting Emma to talk to me again is all I want, it’s the only reason I agreed to meet this bastard. I just haven’t been able to pick up the phone. He’s not wrong—I could have gone by her apartment. What my wife and this asshole don’t know is that I have driven by it a few times. Couldn’t bring myself to go in. I’m angry at her. She chose him.
Drew asks, “What would you like to drink, Tanner?”
Grabbing two rocks glasses with one hand I mutter, “He’ll take what I give him. This is my house, dammit.”
I pour my finest whiskey in my glass and go for the cheaper stuff for his.
“Jake!” Drew balks.
“What?” I innocently ask.
“You know what!”
She doesn’t want to say it aloud because that would make it more rude. “What’s the problem?” I ask, bottle suspended above his glass.
She huffs and throws her fists on those hips I love so much. “Give him the good whiskey, too!”
“But I don’t want to,” I insist.
Tanner’s back is to her and he’s struggling not to laugh.
She sees his shoulders shake and rushes over. “Jake Cocker, that’s not funny!”
“It’s a little funny,” I chuckle, snatching up the finer whiskey and filling his glass, handing it to him as my upset wife blinks too much. “Now that we’re loosened up, what the fuck are you doing with my daughter?”
Tanner’s eyebrows lift and he takes a sip at the same time as me, neither of us bothering to toast.
He nods at the glass, eyes me that it’s a good blend, sets it down on the bar and slides his hands into his pockets. “I want to ask for Emma’s hand in marriage and I’d like your blessing.”
My chest thuds and I down the whiskey. “That’s what I was afraid you were gonna say.”
Drew slides her hand down my back, knowing I hate everything about this. She asks the question knocking through our minds. “But why do you want to marry her, Tanner? Have you ever been married? Do you know what it means?”
“I do, which is why I’ve never been married before. I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d want to be…until I met your daughter.”
Like I’ve been kicked, that’s how it feels. “Nobody prepares you for this shit,” I mutter, pouring a fresh glass even though I’m not a heavy drinker. “I knew it when she was a baby staring up at me, didn’t I say it, Drew? The day Emma gets married would be the day I’d want to kill a man.”
He rightly asks, “You think I’m going to hurt her?”
“You do and you won’t see another day.”
A glint of respect lights his dark eyes. “Understood. You don’t have to worry.” He lifts the glass he’d set down, still almost full, and stares into the amber liquid. “Emma is a miracle to me.” Meeting our eyes he explains, “I’ve never laughed so much in my entire life. And before you interrupt me, with all due respect, I understand it won’t be all laughter. She’s temperamental, stubborn, strong-willed, highly intelligent and maybe even a little high maintenance even though she doesn’t think she is. I’ve never seen anyone butter their toast to all the edges, and skim off the excess quite like that before.”
Drew and I exchange a look before she quietly says, “Emma likes her food just so.”
Tanner smiles, “And don’t try to butter it for her.” He takes a sip, thoughtful. “Something changed inside of me the day I met her. Maybe I was supposed to come back to Atlanta after all these years. Cora set us up to cause drama, but maybe it was meant to be. We talked about it in the Bahamas. Hell, we talked about a lot of things. I shared aspects of my life that nobody but her knows. I woke up early just to watch her sleep. There wasn’t a moment, even when she lost her temper because she hadn’t eaten anything in a few hours when we were snorkeling, where I didn’t think she was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve done a lot in my life, traveled the world, seen pretty much everything there is to see, except love like this. It’s new, everything else pales to this feeling. Now that I have it I can’t let it go. Emma and I were both half-empty before the day we met. I love your daughter maybe more than I love myself, and I never thought that could happen. I think pretty highly of me.”
I snort, “Well, shit,” sliding a hand in my pocket, too. “You fit right in with this fucking family, damn you to hell.”
Tanner and I stare at each other while Drew holds her breath. I’m a very good judge of character, and this man just told me the truth. “For a lot of years I hated you, Tanner.”
He nods. “I wasn’t a fan of you either.”
“But it was a misunderstanding.”
“Yes.” He flicks a glance to Drew. “I never go after married women.” Meeting my eyes he holds my look. “If I had known that’s why you fought me I’d have cleared this up way before that fundraiser.”
“Guess I didn’t give you the chance,” I concede, grabbing my drink.
Tanner lifts his glass. “Hell of a punch though.”
I grin and knock my glass to his so hard they almost break. “My jaw hurt for a week after you got me right here.” I poke at where he landed the best shot. “Pretty evenly matched I’d say.”
“Want to go again?” he smirks.
“Right now,” I smirk back, “Let’s go.”
Drew laughs and hugs me out of the blue. “Can
