Page 5 of Wrong Number, Right Grumpy Single Dad

She was a wild bird.

Now I wished I had never saw him.

How could someone that hot be that damn grumpy?

And his daughter… holy cuteness alert.

I couldn’t even swallow after my first glance of him, barely made it through them visiting Willow, and even after saying goodbye, I couldn’t get him off my mind for the rest of the day.

Or the next day when they visited for a second time. Or the day after.

I basically stopped my other volunteer jobs just to be here and watch them with Willow. Yep, Donna told me I was crazy. But I couldn’t help it. Plus, I enjoyed being around the birds. I’ve thought about fostering a few.

On the third day they came in, we finally introduced ourselves, and I learned their names and the story of how they found Willow.

Watching him with his daughter slowly changed my mind. He wasn’t a grump with her. He was kind and caring. The love he had for her radiated off him in waves.

So there was a kind heart under there after all.

Suddenly, I didn’t care he was grumpy. I wanted to know him more. Wanted to crack his shell wide open.

But soon, Willow was leaving. Her leg healed nicely, and we planned on setting her free. I didn’t look forward to breaking the news to them. Especially not to Amylee.

It was just after three when the pair arrived, right on schedule. I greeted them out front and led them to Willow, where she now mingled with other birds in the facility.

While Amylee happily smiled and giggled at Willow, I looked at Ronin and nodded my head to the side. “Can I talk to you quick?” I took a step backwards and motioned for him to follow.

He looked at Amylee before following me a few steps away. Being this close to him without his daughter caused his cologne to fully engulf my senses and it was hard to focus on anything but him and his fucking hotness.

I cleared my throat and crossed my arms over my chest in hopes of regaining my posture. “Willow is scheduled to be let back into the wild tomorrow morning. I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Shit.” Ronin scratched at his stubble, and I ignored the clench of my stomach. Did he have to look good with everything he did? “I don’t know how I’m going to break my little girl’s heart.”

“I would’ve suggested adoption, but Willow is a wild bird. It’s where she deserves to be.”

“What if I built an outdoor paradise for her?”

There went my heart. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

“For the bird?”

“Yeah, like an outdoor cage, but a really big one so it doesn’t feel like she’s trapped. I could screen it in and create a perch.” He ran a hand through his hair and down his stubble again. Fuck, he needed to stop being so damn hot. “What am I even talking about? I already told Amylee that we couldn’t keep her. She deserves to be free. But now I’m attached and stupidly impulsive…”

His words trailed off and I tilted my head to the side as a smile played on my lips. There went my heart again.

“Crap. Did I really just say that out loud?”

I laughed. “I think you did.”

“I’m attached to a bird. Great.”

I looked around him, unable to see over his shoulder, and nodded toward his daughter. “So is she. It’s beautiful. There’s nothing like the bond between an animal and human.”

“I think you might just be right.”

“Listen, there’s one other thing. I am sorry but I am the woman you misdialed the other day. I lied the first time and I apologize.”

His faced turned dark. “Why lie?”