I should've just stayed in my fucking room. The whole point of hiring a nanny was to get some rest in while I can, so I should be crashing in bed right now, not trying to watch a movie with my best-friends daughter.
She blinks surprised before nodding her head. "Of course."
"I hope you don't mind." I say, sinking down into the couch next to her.
"It's your house." She replies which didn't sit well with me.
"You're not a prisoner Mya. You live here now. So if you want to invite Taylor over or swim in the pool without the girls or watch a movie in the living room, you can. You're doing an amazing job with the kids, you don't have to be so guarded all the time." I tell her.
It was as if she's always in work mode. I wonder if she'd ever be comfortable around me to just be herself.
"I know." She smiles for good measure to make me believe her.
"My home is your home as long as you're working for me." I reassure her.
"Thanks."
"I don't know about you, but I can use a drink." I tell her, before I start to stand but Mya waves me back down.
"I'll get it. You just got home from work. I know you're tired." She stands and heads for the kitchen before I can argue.
A few minutes later, she comes back into the room with two beers in her hand and when I raise an eyebrow at her she rolls her eyes.
"Oh please. I can do this in front of you or behind your back. Which would you prefer?"
I wasn't sure how her dad would feel about me letting her drink knowing that she's underage, but it's like she said; she could do it when I wasn't around. At least this way I could monitor her.
"Only one." I tell her.
"Okay daddy." She says with a roll of her eyes and for some reason her calling me daddy stired something deep and warm inside me.
"What are you watching?" I ask, needing to distract myself. The screen went dark from no activity and when she pressed play on the remote the title of the movie appeared.
"When A stranger calls."
"I've never heard of it." I confess.
"Really? It came out in 2006." She explains, as if that made it any clearer.
I do the math in my head. I was twenty-nine at the time. So that put her at... four? Jesus. I've lived a whole life time before she even started kindergarten.
I glance over at her young face and hopeful eyes.
She's only a sophomore in college.
We watch the movie in silence. She's seen it a few times if the way she mouths the words is any indication and jumps at all the appropriate scenes.
"I don't know why I do this to myself." Mya says, breaking the silence.
"Do what?"
"Watch a scary movie knowing it's just going to give me nightmares later."
"Just tell yourself it's just people acting." I tell her.
"Yeah, but then I also think about how these kind of things can happen in real life. I mean, I'm your nanny; you can go on a date and leave me alone with girls and some creep can call and try to kill me."
At my look, she quickly adds, "but that's just me having an over paranoid brain thanks to being a cop's daughter."
"I get enough bad guys in my real life. I don't need to take them home with me." I tell her.
"Why did you become a cop?" She asks me.
"I wanted to help people." I answer. "I know it sounds so simple, but really. That's all I want to do. There's too many bad people in this world and not enough people to protect them. I want my daughters to grow up feeling safe."
"Do you miss her?" She asks me, but when I look at her she isn't looking at me, but down at the wedding ring on my finger that I can't seem to take off.
I think about the moment I proposed to Annie, after a late night drive we went to our favorite park and I proposed at our favorite spot. I thought we'd be together forever. Forever turned out to only be ten years.
"All the time." I confess.
"I wasn't around too much, but I know that Annie loved you very much."
She did.
She was two semesters away from graduating with a degree in law when she gave it up and to be there for me when I was training to be in SWAT. The plan was always for her to go back to school but then she got pregnant with Lilah and then Victoria and she took care of me and the girls with a smile on her face the entire time.
"Yeah, she did." I look up from my ring and look up at Mya. "What's about you? Ever think about getting married? Or is that the furthest thing from your mind?" I wonder. She's only twenty. I'm sure she had plans to travel the world and start her own business before she even thought about settling down or if she even wanted to. A lot of people her age were in life long relationships with no title.
"I want to get married." Mya admits quietly. "I want to come home to find my husband making dinner and singing off key to his favorite song and dancing in the kitchen and I join him and we just sing and dance in each other's arms knowing how incredibly lucky we are to have each other." The way she explained it, the wishful smile on her face, it made me realize that she wasn't like most girls her age.
"You want what your parents have." I say.
"Yeah."
"You'll get it." I tell her.
"How do you know?"
"Because you Harrelsons always get what you want." I crack a smile at her.
"Oh, is that the only reason?"
"No," I shake my head. "You'll get it because you're too amazing not to. You're sweet, smart, driven, great with kids, got a good head on your shoulder and you're sexy. Any guy would be lucky to have you."
"You have to say that. You're my dad's best-friend." Mya argues.
"It's actually because I'm your dad's best friend that I shouldn't say that."
•••
A week later, and Mya and I have fallen into a nice little routine since our beer and movie night. Mya is usually up before I am in the mornings and every day I come downstairs to her making breakfast. Sometimes it's pancakes or waffles or eggs or when she knows I have little to no time for breakfast she makes me a smoothie or has a fresh cup of coffee waiting for me.
Any toys the kids played with through out the day is neatly tucked away in their playroom and the girls are always showered, fed, and ready for bed by the time I come home. I honestly can't remember the last time I helped Lilah with her homework.
She's an amazing woman. It's hard to believe she's single.
I'm walking to my front door, Street and Luca behind me. We just put away one of the men high up on the FBI's most wanted list which caused for celebration. The team wanted to go out for drinks at the bar and usually I decline, but Street and Luca wouldn't stop hasseling me, so we compromised on throwing back a few beers in my backyard.
I thought about telling Mya I was coming home, but she's usually getting the kids ready for bed at this time so I didn't want to disturb her. She was usually in bed herself at this time anyways. I take out my keys, reminding the guys they're gonna have to keep it down until they get to the backyard and Luca promises they'll be quiet. I unlock the door and step inside, telling the guys to go ahead and make themselves comfortable and take as much beers as they want. I was going to check on Mya and the girls before I joined them.
I walk up the stairs, eager to see my daughters. They're all I think about at work, especially since every morning I leave them could be the last time I saw them. I push away those thoughts and make my way into Lilah's room. Her room is encased in a purple glow from her nightlight and she's sleeping soundlessly while hugging her purple stuffed bunny. I smooth out the few strands of blonde hair behind her ear before placing a kiss on her temple. She squirms but remains asleep and I quietly close the door behind me before letting myself into Victoria's room.
Just like her older sister, Victoria has her nightlight on as she sleeps peacefully in her crib. I smile at her sleeping figure, lean in and press a kiss to her forehead before I walk out, not willing to risk her waking up. I can only imagine how long it must've taken Mya to get her to sleep.
I shut the door softly behind me and knock on Mya's bedroom door. I wait a few seconds then knock again. When she doesn't answer, I twist the knob and the door falls open. Her bed is messy and I hear the distinct sound of running water coming from the bathroom.
I quietly let myself out and head back downstairs until I'm standing in the backyard. Street and Luca have already made themselves comfortable, taking up chairs and their beer bottles are half way empty.
"It's about time you joined us Deac!" Luca exclaims when I come over.
"Sorry, just had to go check on the girls." I explain as I settle down into my chair and take the beer Street offers me.
"How are they?" Luca asks.
"Knocked out." I tell him before taking the first sip, realizing I needed that more than I knew I did.
"How's Mya?" Street wonders.
I look at him. "She's good. Quiet. The girls love her." When I first asked her to move in and work for me I was worried that she'd have guys over all the time and I'd catch her making out on the couch, but thankfully it doesn't seem like she's interested in anyone. The only guy I've seen her around is that tool with the red jeep and I haven't seen him around since. I hope it stayed that way. He wasn't right for her. I just know it.
"Is she seeing anyone?" Street asks.
"Aw man." Luca groans.
"What? It's an innocent question." Street grins.
"No. She's not seeing anyone as far I know." I answer. "Why?"
Street shrugs, but those damn dimples are still on display. "She's cute." He says, before he takes a sip of beer.
"Are you crazy man? That's Hondo's daughter." Luca reminds him.
"What? She's twenty. She's an adult." Street argues.
"That has bad idea written all over it man." Luca warns him.
"Don't you think you're a little too old for her?" I question.
"Dude," Street Scoffs. "I'm only twenty-seven. Hardly a need for a senior citizen pass."
"I've seen the type of women you go after; Mya isn't like that. She's a good kid. Innocent." I defend.
"If that's what innocent looks like, I don't think I can handle naughty." Street says, looking past me and over my shoulder back into the house.
"Oh jeez." Luca turns around, embarrassed.
I turn my head, following Street's heated gaze, and standing in my kitchen is Mya. She's fresh out of the shower, her usual dark hair is darker than usual and lays damp on her shoulder. Her white silk camisole only covers her breast which looks ready to topple out of the flimsy floral print material. The matching shorts hugs her lush backside, barely covering anything.
Heat pools low in my stomach and my smile falls as I watch her.
I'm frozen. I can't seem to look away.
But finally, I blink, averting my gaze as I clear my sudden dry throat.
Shouldn't she be in bed? And since when did girls her age wear pajamas like that?
She must be listening to music because she starts to move her hips, swaying left than right before running her hands seductively up the length of her body then twisting her head in a slow head roll, her dark hair swinging to the side then back in place when she does.
God, she was begging to be touched.
I stopped that train of thought. I couldn't go there.
"I need to come to your house more often for a beer." Street says and something inside me snaps. He was looking at someone that wasn't his. Well, she isn't mine either. But I know Hondo wouldn't appreciate him leering at her as some kind of sex subject like he's doing right now. It was my job to protect her innocence.
I stand up, and without saying a word to either Luca or street, I march towards the screen door and let myself inside. Mya jumps startled at the sound of the screen door slamming shut and I barely register the Spanish song coming from her phone.
"Mya." I call out to her, setting my stern face on. Her eyes widen. And as if knowing she's not completely appropriate right now, she wraps her arms around herself. "I thought you were in bed."
She shrugs and turn around and head for the pantry. "I wanted a midnight snack."
I step in front of her, knowing Street was no doubt following her with his gaze.
"So you come downstairs practically naked?" I hold back the growl in my voice, afraid I was going wake up the girls if I got any louder.
"I thought you were still at work." Mya explains.
"Well, I'm not and Luca and Street are with me. Street is practically drooling over you." I snarl.
"So he likes what he sees? Good for him. I didn't know anyone was here and I'm home- I should be able to dress the way I want."
I take a deep breath before erasing the distance between us, taking pleasure in the fact that I'm a half a foot taller.
"No one else gets to see you like this. Do you understand me?"
She's not mine.
I know she's not mine.
Hell, she'll never be mine.
But still.
No one else would see her like this damn it.
"Loud and clear Sargent." Mya tells me with a roll of her eyes before she walks off toward the stairs. And I have to resist the urge to throw her over my shoulder and teach her how to show some respect for her elders.