Sweet Spot by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page B

they’re wrong?”
    Meaning what? “I can’t take the chance.”

    HAWK WAITED UNTIL TEN in the morning to knock on his daughter’s door. “Hey, sleepyhead,” he said as he pushed into the dark room and walked to the window. After opening the blinds, he faced the bed. “Do I have to tickle you?”
    Brittany rolled onto her back and yawned. “Daddy, it’s Saturday.”
    “You know, the calendar said that, but I wasn’t sure. Saturday. Huh. Thanks for the clarification.”
    “I get to sleep in on Saturday.”
    “It’s ten and I’m making blueberry pancakes.”
    Brittany sat up. “I can’t eat those. They’ll make me—”
    He held up his hands. “You know the rule. The ‘F’ word is not allowed.”
    “I wasn’t going to say fat.”
    “Yes, you were. Do you want pancakes or not?”
    “I want them.”
    “Then get your girly butt up, kiddo.”
    Brittany grinned at him. “I love you, Daddy.”
    “I love you, too.”
    She scrambled out of bed. “Give me five minutes.”
    “Sure thing.”
    Her bathroom door slammed shut.
    He returned to the kitchen where he heated the griddle, then stirred the batter. Brittany was growing up. She was a senior this year and even if she went to the University of Washington, she would be living in a dorm, so this was her last year at home. The time had gone by too fast.
    Brittany walked into the kitchen just as he slid the cooked pancakes onto a plate. She kissed his cheek, then settled into a chair.
    “The game was great last night,” she said. “The team is pulling it together. You’re going to have a kick-ass season, Dad.”
    He eyed her. “Ass” was one of those borderline words. He decided not to start the morning with a fight.
    “We’ll see how it goes. We’re focused on each game as it comes.”
    “All you have to do is win the next game and the play-offs take care of themselves,” she said, repeating what he’d said a hundred times.
    He laughed. “What are you doing today?”
    “A bunch of us are meeting up around eleven-thirty. We’re going to lunch and an early movie. Then back here to finish up the homework I didn’t get done before the game yesterday.” She wrinkled her nose. “I have two more pages on my paper. It’s not due for another week, but I want it done. There’s a party at Michelle’s house, which you already know about. You talked to her mother on Thursday.”
    “I remember.”
    “So we’ll go to that. Tomorrow I want to work on my college admission essays.”
    Hawk listened as she detailed her plan. As the words washed over him, he found himself thinking more about how much she’d changed in the past few years.
    She was everything he could have wanted. Popular, a good student, caring, responsible. He wanted to take all the credit, but he knew Serena had laid the foundation. She’d been the perfect mother. After she’d died, he’d done his best to fill in the gaps. Apparently he’d managed to do a pretty good job.
    “Things okay with Raoul?” he asked.
    She chewed a mouthful of pancakes, then swallowed. “Sure. We’re fine.”
    “You seemed pretty tight last night after the game. You’re not taking things too far, are you?”
    Brittany ducked her head. “Daddy, jeez. Get personal much?”
    “You’re my daughter. I worry about you. You’re nearly eighteen. You’ve been dating Raoul for a while now. Do I have to kill him or not?”
    “Not!” She shuddered. “This is humiliating. I won’t talk about this with you, mostly because there’s nothing to talk about. We’re not doing…that. It’s too soon.”
    “Okay.” He kept his voice casual, but inside he was doing the happy dance. She’d said exactly what he wanted to hear.
    If he had his way, his daughter wouldn’t have sex until she got married…around age thirty-five. But that wasn’t realistic. While he liked Raoul, he was wary. It wasn’t personal—he wouldn’t totally trust any teenage kid with his daughter. So he would do what he could to keep