Temporarily Yours (Shillings Agency #1)(21)
Author: Diane Alberts

Good for you for going after what you want, Kayla thought.

“Right. Now off you go, Susan.” Her mom gently turned her in the opposite direction. “Cooper hasn’t met your father yet.”

“Oh.” Susan looked over her shoulder at Cooper and cringed. “Good luck with that.”

Cooper blinked at her. And he might have paled, too. “Uh, thanks?”

“He’s not that bad,” Kayla said to Susan. Then she looked at Cooper and tried her best to be reassuring. “He’s really not.”

“Yes, he is,” her mom said sympathetically. “That’s him, in the corner. Ignore any rudeness you might get—it’s all in the name of his love for Kayla.”

Kayla watched Cooper’s eyes follow her mom’s gesture, then he stiffened. He turned to Kayla with a scowl. She flinched, not sure why he looked ready to bite her head off. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” he muttered. He straightened to his full height and then smiled at her mom. “Why don’t you go along ahead of us, Mrs. Moriarity. I just want a second with Kayla before we follow.”

“Of course, dear. I’ll see you in a few.”

She practically skipped toward the corner where Kayla’s dad sat, frowning at Cooper even from across the room. Cooper waved at him politely, then turned to Kayla. “At what point were you going to mention your father is the man I’m going to be working for?”

Chapter Eleven

Cooper couldn’t believe it. The guy sitting in the corner was his new boss. What the hell were the chances of that happening? He bet Kayla knew. She always knew the answers to weird shit like that.

But she had failed to tell him about this.

Kayla blinked at him, then looked over at her father again. “I think you’re mistaken. My father isn’t in private security. He’s a cop.”

He dragged a hand through his hair. He hadn’t been expecting this. And he didn’t know if this fake relationship with Kayla would work for him or against him in this situation. “A cop that runs a private security firm?”

“No…he’s just a cop.” Kayla pursed her lips. “A homicide detective. I think you’re looking at the wrong guy.”

“Well, then, which one is your father?”

She pointed at the guy next to his new boss. “The one in the black suit and the green shirt.”

Of course her father was the guy who looked as if he wanted to pummel Cooper into the ground for touching his baby girl. And of course her father would be a cop who probably had an arsenal of excellent ideas of how to properly dispose of a body.

“Who were you looking at?” she asked.

“The one in the grey and purple.”

“Oh.” She nodded. “That’s Uncle Frankie. Well, we call him uncle, but he’s just a family friend.”

Cooper sighed. “He’s the guy who hired me.”

“Oh. Well, let’s go say hi.” She caught his hand and tugged him toward his employer and the man who looked as if he’d like nothing more than to kill him. “It’ll be nice having a friendly face when you meet my dad. Trust me.”

“What will your father say when—”

“I don’t know. There’s a sixty-three percent chance that this will backfire, but it’s too late to back down now. They’ve both seen you and they know who you are. There’s nothing to be done except to walk up and say hi.”

“Shit.” He dragged his hand down his face. He didn’t like this, but she was right. He couldn’t exactly tell them the truth, could he? “Fuck it. Let’s go.”

She nodded and they crossed the room to stand in front of Kayla’s unfriendly looking father. “Dad, meet my boyfriend, Cooper Shillings.” The smile on her face was forced, but hopefully only Cooper noticed that. “Cooper, this is my father, Greg Moriarity. And that’s his best friend, Frankie Holt.”

Cooper tensed but managed a smile. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Moriarity.” He shook hands with her father. The man practically broke his fingers, but Cooper didn’t flinch. “And nice seeing you again, Mr. Holt.”

Mr. Holt shook his hand, his brow furrowed. “Cooper. I didn’t know you were dating my niece.”

Cooper forced a laugh. “And I didn’t know my girlfriend was your niece.”

“I’d imagine not.” Mr. Holt didn’t let go of his hand. “How does she feel about you leaving?”

“She is right here,” Kayla said. “And I’m fine with it.”

“Yes, sir, she is.” Cooper extracted his fingers from the man’s hold. “We have a great support system.”

“Wait a second.” Kayla’s father watched him with narrowed eyes. “What’s the position and where is it?”

“It’s an overseas assignment.” Mr. Holt sat back down and smoothed his suit jacket. “Mr. Shillings here used to be a Marine, and he’s going back over with his team as a guard now. He leaves next week.”

Cooper shifted on his feet. This was the complication Cooper had been trying to warn Kayla about. What would her father say about a boyfriend that was leaving her behind to go fight overseas? “Yes, I am.”

Her dad narrowed his eyes on Cooper. “So, you get involved with my baby girl and then you leave?”

Cooper flinched. He didn’t do that and never would. “Actually, sir, I—”

“Stop it, Dad,” Kayla cut in with. “He’s just doing his job. He’s trying to protect the people fighting for his country. It’s honorable and I’m proud of him.” Kayla curled a hand around his biceps, surprising Cooper. “Don’t you dare give him a hard time about that. You of all people should support him.”

Mr. Holt cleared his throat. “We’ll take good care of him, Greg.” He looked at Kayla. “I promise that much.”

She nodded, but she looked a lot paler than she had before. “Thanks, Uncle Frankie.” Then she faced her dad again. “Just so you know? I’m behind his decision one hundred percent. No odd numbers or decimal points.”

Cooper glanced down at her, something warm taking over his heart. “Thanks, sweetheart. I support you, too.”

“I know.” She smiled up at him. “And you’re welcome.”

Her dad relaxed a little bit, his eyes still locked on Cooper and Kayla—watching the way the two of them were interacting. Something told Cooper her father saw way too much, but he nodded and gestured toward the empty seats at the table.