Family Ties — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

The front half of the room was arranged as a sitting area, with a leather couch and two matching wingback chairs in front of a large window.

“Have a seat.” He gestured at the couch and slid the doors closed. Then he opened a small liquor cabinet. “Whiskey all right?”

“Yes, thanks.” I sat and took a deep breath. My skin prickled with another surge of adrenaline.

Harold handed me a glass of amber liquid. Then he sat down in one of the chairs. He swirled the ice in his glass, took a sip, and rested it on the arm of the chair.

“I won’t beat around the bush,” he said. “I’d like to know your intentions toward my daughter.”

I actually laughed. I couldn’t stop myself.

“You think this is funny?”

I wiped the smile off my face and took a long drink of liquor. It burned going down and focused my attention. “No, sir,” I said at last. “It isn’t funny at all. The timing is. I thought you might get to know me first, or wait till right before we left. I didn’t think you’d ask straight out. Sir.”

“With all due respect, sir, that’s between Christy and me.

He cocked his head to the side and studied me. He looked so much like an older, craggier version of Christy that I almost laughed. Again.

“You’d better explain,” he said at last.

I took another deep breath and a sip of whiskey. I wouldn’t have been able to speak otherwise. “I like your daughter,” I said. “And she likes me. I don’t know about our long-term prospects, but I’d like to find out. I think she would too. Sir.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

His eyebrows twitched the barest fraction before he controlled them.

had years more experience than Christy, but I could see where some of her temperament came from.

“I don’t mean to sound arrogant, sir, or cocky.”

“Then you need to work on your approach.”

“Enlighten me,” he said with an economical gesture. His expression didn’t change, but he sat back in his chair and took a sip of whiskey.

“If Christy didn’t think we have a future, why invite me here?”

“I like Danny a lot.

“And you think that telling me to mind my own business, especially where my daughter is concerned, is going to score points with me?”

“And you thought ‘sooner’ was the better option?”

“No, I don’t think I would.”

“What would you think if I were a young Ensign who’d just stood up to you on principle?”

“I’d have you court-martialed for gross insubordination!”

It was my turn to stare at him.

He narrowed his eyes and studied me.