Chapter 3
Chapter three
The next morning dawned cold and frosty, but the snow flurries had stopped.
After obsessing over everything he did wrong last night, Jayson vowed to turn over a new leaf.
Starting today, he was going to push himself out of his comfort zone and be more social.
He planned to spend the morning with Emma then go over and apologize to Sabrina.
He’d behaved like a cretin and he wanted to make it up to her. Starting with dinner, if she’d accept.
Jayson microwaved a breakfast sandwich and drank two cups of coffee as he waited for Emma to arrive.
Saturday mornings were their time together.
Kind of a standing date when they exercised the horses on the trails out back.
He’d built a large, heated barn, and his property had a lot of woods and extensive trails for riding.
He was just finishing the breakfast dishes when he heard the front door open. “Hey, Dad!” Emma called from the foyer, stomping the snow off her boots.
“Hi, honey!” He wiped his hands on a dish towel as she strolled in, her face flushed from the cold. She kissed his cheek and poured herself a cup of coffee, adding a spoonful of sugar.
“I need some caffeine before we hit the trails,” she announced, dropping down in a chair at the table. “My fancy machine broke. It’s only three years old and your coffee maker is still kicking twenty years later. How is that possible?”
Jayson grinned. “Because Mr. Coffee is of the highest manufacturing quality.”
She snorted at his cheesy defense of the old-school appliance then took a long sip.
His fondness for simpler things wasn’t anything new, and he yearned for the uncomplicated days before technology took over everyone’s lives.
He’d much prefer spending the day outside than glued to his phone, scrolling aimlessly.
At least, he used to be that guy. At some point, his ass became reluctant to leave his recliner.
“You’ll always be stuck in the eighties.” Her teasing tone made him grin.
“That’s because the eighties rule. The music and movies from then are still my favorites.”
She sighed, lips twitching. “I know.”
“Although, to be fair, I think Mr. Coffee is from the seventies.”
“Oh, my God, you’re ancient.”
They laughed, then settled into an easy silence.
Jayson may not be perfect—and he’d certainly made a lot of mistakes in his life—but when it came to Emma, he’d managed to create the loveliest, kindest and most beautiful creature, inside and out.
Considering she also had Tara’s genes, it was nothing short of a miracle.
“I just saw your new neighbor.” Emma set her mug down, eyeing him closely. “She’s hot.”
That perked him right up. “Sabrina.”
Emma arched a delicate brow. “You’ve met?” A Cheshire cat smile curved her lips. “And?” she pressed.
He leaned a hip against the kitchen counter and glanced out the window toward his neighbor’s house. “She is pretty hot,” he agreed.
Emma squealed. “Are you going to make a move? I think you should ask her out.”
For the longest time, they didn’t talk about his dating life.
They’d been perfectly happy, just the two of them, and he never wanted Emma to feel threatened or resentful of him spending time with another woman.
But after moving out, Emma had started dropping hints that she wanted him to get back out there.
“You’d be okay with that?” He wanted Emma’s full approval.
“Of course!” Her green eyes turned serious. They may have started off blue, but they’d ended up being a pretty sage green. “I want you to find someone, Dad. Someone truly wonderful.”
“I’d like that, too,” he said in a soft voice.
If he were being honest, a part of him had been reluctant to start dating again because he didn’t want to get burned by another bad relationship. So he’d focused all of his attention on his daughter.
But now that he was alone, perhaps it was finally time he found his happiness. Hell, everyone else around him was falling in love, so maybe it was finally his turn.
They talked about everything and nothing while Emma finished her coffee, but they both avoided bringing up the possibility of her moving to New York.
Neither wanted to put a damper on their time together.
After rinsing her mug and putting it in the dishwasher, they bundled up and went out to the barn, saddling up Magnus and Daisy to hit the trails.
Spending quality time with Emma always made him happy. And even when their rides were quiet, each of them lost in whatever thoughts occupied their minds, being together was good for his soul.
Her long, brown hair was gathered in a high ponytail and swished back and forth as they trotted single file down a narrow path, the snow crunching beneath the horses’ hooves.
Eventually, they reined the horses in and slowed down.
Side by side now, the horses kept a leisurely pace, winding through the back of Jayson’s property beneath the snow-dusted branches as father and daughter talked.
At some point, they each turned inward, and Jayson remembered how Emma’s love for horses started when she was ten.
When she asked for one, he bought her two.
Not because he wanted to spoil her, but because then they could do all the things together—ride, brush, feed, muck the stalls.
Over the years, they’d spent endless hours bonding while caring for Magnus and Daisy.
It filled his heart with so much joy. When the day came when she didn’t come for their Saturday morning ride, when she’d be too busy for her old man, he wasn’t sure how he’d handle it.
Most likely, not well.
They rode for an hour or so, then they made their way back to the barn, took care of the horses and returned to the house.
“It’s Saturday night,” Emma reminded him, rummaging through the pantry and settling on a box of cookies. She pulled one out and began munching on it. “Got any plans?”
“Maybe,” he murmured, plucking a cookie from the box. “Depends on how things go.”
“What things?” Emma stopped chewing and tilted her head.
“I was thinking of inviting Sabrina out to dinner.”
Surprised delight lit Emma’s wide green eyes. “Oh, my gosh, Dad, do it! Go talk to her.”
“Or I could go hang out at Old Glory.”
She waved a dismissive hand through the air. “You can hang out with your friends any time. Ask your gorgeous neighbor out. She’s going to say yes.”
His heart sped up. He’d really like that.
It had been a long damn time since he’d had a genuine first date.
But he’d make sure to do all the right things—open doors, pull out her chair, help with her coat.
He could picture them sitting across from each other at the nicest restaurant in town, an Italian place called Luca’s.
Laughing and chatting while sharing the warm, homemade bread before their entrees arrived.
Sipping wine as he hoped she’d give him a goodnight kiss later.
But what if she had someone special in her life already? A hint of caution tinged his voice as he asked, “How do you know?”
“Because how could she possibly resist Cielo Springs’ most eligible bachelor?” Emma teased.
He shrugged. “She probably has a significant other.”
“You won’t know until you ask.”
Jayson chuckled. “You really want me to ask her, huh?”
“I want you to be happy.” She put the cookies away and kissed his cheek. “I have to go, but I want all the details.” But then she hesitated and shook her head. “Well, nothing gross.”
He barked out a laugh. The idea of getting lucky with Sabrina sent his testosterone into overdrive. “See you later, honey.”
Emma tossed him a wave as she left. Crossing his arms, Jayson leaned against the counter and wondered how best to charm his neighbor. Smelling like horses probably wouldn’t help, so he decided to take a shower first.
Sabrina lowered her binoculars, feeling like the biggest stalker in the world.
Yes, her job was to keep an eye on Jayson Knight and his friends, but watching him interact with his daughter felt so intrusive.
Even from a distance, she could see they had a close bond, and it made her heart swell.
It reminded her of the relationship she had with her father.
The similarities between her and Special Agent in Charge Daniel Ross and Jayson and Emma hit home hard.
Like Emma, Sabrina’s mom had taken off. She’d been two at the time, and despite how amazing of a father she had, growing up without her mother wasn’t always easy.
Letting out a ragged sigh, she tossed the binoculars on the couch, contemplating her shitty situation. Emma had lost her mother. And now, Sabrina might take away her father, too.
Chewing on her lower lip, she considered the FBI might be barking up the wrong tree.
They believed Jayson and his crew were connected to Donato Ferrante’s murder.
He and his brother Rocco ran the Las Vegas mafia scene with an iron fist and billions of dollars in resources.
They were bad news and had been high up on the agency’s radar for years.
Out of the blue, Donato wound up dead, and an FBI contact had pointed a finger at a group of former military men living in rural Montana.
Sabrina’s undercover assignment was to set herself up in Cielo Springs and get closer to the crew.
No one would mourn the loss of scum like Donato Ferrante, but murder was murder.
And now his brother was raising hell and trying to track down those responsible.
The last thing anyone needed was a battle royale between an angry mobster and some very well-trained vigilante mercenaries.
That shit had collateral damage written all over it.
Plus, a group of under-the-radar mercs the Feds didn’t know about wasn’t a good look for the alphabet agency she worked for. Someone needed to track them down and find out what the hell was going on.