Page 85 of After You Returned
Dakota strolls into the hallway and Rhett lights up. “Hey, Havoc.”
She settles herself against Rhett before telling me, “Eli’s ready for you.”
“But I haven’t had time to prepare.”
She shrugs. “It’s not my fault you were playing with your brothers and lost track of time.”
“I wasn’t playing.”
She nods to my hands. “Agree to disagree.”
I scowl. This isn’t a joke. I’m meeting with Eli today to discuss the approach to our meeting withVelvet Blossom.I want to prove to my big brother that I’m ready to meet with the distillery’s biggest clients.
I glance down at my rainbow hands. I’m not provinganything to him today except for my lack of seriousness.
“How do I get rid of dye on my hands?”
“In the next thirty seconds?” Dakota snorts. “You don’t.”
“When did you become cruel?”
She blinks. “I’m the cruel one? You’re the one who bought our five-year-old a drum set for Christmas.”
“Pearl loves her drum set. I think she has real talent.”
“Said by the man who doesn’t have to listen to her practice at all hours of the day and night,” Rhett grumbles.
I shrug. “Practice is important for every musician.”
“She’s five.”
“Taylor Swift was sixteen when she had her first hit.”
Dakota buries her face in Rhett’s shoulder. “And now we know why she keeps saying she’s going to be the next Taylor Swift.”
“I’m confused. You don’t want your daughter to be a talented musician?”
Rhett grunts. “She wrote a song about how worms eat poop yesterday.”
“It’s better than writing a song about getting her heart broken.”
Rhett groans. “My daughter is forbidden from dating until she’s twenty-five.”
Dakota tugs on his shirt. “I think you mean our daughter can date when she’s a teenager.”
“And in the meantime, she can practice her drums.”
Rhett lunges for me but I dodge him and dart into Eli’s office.
Eli’s brow wrinkles. “Why are you out of breath?”
“Long story.”
“Do I even want to know why your handsare rainbow-colored?”
“Because my brothers are assholes.”
He lifts a brow.
