Heartbreakers: Treat Her Right / Mr November

She blinked sleepy eyes at Josh and Mick. “G’night.”

Josh bent and kissed her nose. “Night, princess.”

Mick tickled her toes. “Good night, honey.”

As Zack turned to leave the kitchen, he saw Mick sit at the table, and Josh go back to the open window. He grumbled under his breath as he hauled his small bundle upstairs. He was just lowering Dani to her mattress when she said in a low, drowsy voice, “Josh likes her.”

Pausing, Zack said, “You think so?”

Dani nodded. “I like her, too. Don’t you?”

“She’s fine.” Zack pulled the sheet up to Dani’s chin, smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead. That didn’t suffice, so he kissed her again, then cuddled her close, squeezing her until she gave a protesting squeak. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

“Do you need to potty?”

“Nope.” She rolled to her side, cushioned her cheek on one tiny fist, and let out a long deep breath.

With a last peck to her brow, Zack stood. Dani was already snoring softly. For a long minute, he just looked down at her. She was by far the most precious thing in the world to him. It seemed every time he looked at her it struck him anew how much he loved her. That she was his, a part of him, was beyond remarkable.

Josh was still at the damn window when Zack reentered the kitchen. “You look like a lovesick pup.”

Mick choked on a laugh. “As compared to you, who’s playing the part of the snarling junkyard dog?”

At Mick’s taunting words, Zack paused, but only for a second. He knew his friends, and if they had half an inkling of how Wynn affected him, he’d never hear the end of it. Casually, a man without a care, he took his own peek out the window. Wynn was nowhere to be seen, thank God. Out of sight, out of mind.

He grunted, then dropped into his seat, sprawling out and rubbing the back of his neck.

“No comment, huh?” Mick asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ignorance was a lame defense, but he was too tired to think of much else at the moment.

Mick leaned forward over the table and whispered, “Possessiveness.”

Josh turned. “She went in just a few seconds ago.” He took his own seat. “Did you see the legs on that woman?”

“Since they’re a mile long,” Mick said, “they’d be a little hard to miss.”

Josh lifted a brow. “She’s put together right, I’ll say that for her.”

“You didn’t have to put up with her first thing this morning.” Wishing he could bite off his tongue, Zack took a long cooling drink of his cola.

Saluting him with his glass, Josh said, “She can get me up anytime.”

“Ha ha.” Mick shook his head at the double entendre, but amusement shone clear on his face as he looked between the two of them. “You have a one-track mind, Josh.”

“And it’s definitely on track right now.”

Zack growled before he caught himself. “I hate to curtail whatever fantasy you’re indulging, but she’s off limits.”

Josh hesitated with his drink almost to his mouth. “Says who?”

“Says me. I have to live by her. I’ll be damned if you’re going to date her, dump her, then leave her to me to deal with.” Zack shook his head in adamant finality. “No way, so forget it.”

Mick nudged Josh with his foot. “Besides, he’s got his own plans.”

Zack did bite his tongue this time. The more he said, the more they’d read into it, so denials would do him no good.

Eyeing Zack, Josh asked, “Is that right?”

“No, it is not right.” He hoped like hell he sounded more definite than he felt. “Now can we talk about something else?”

“Because I can back off if you’re making a personal claim.”

Through his teeth, Zack said, “I’m not making a personal claim, but you will back off.”

Josh stared at him a moment, then chuckled and switched his gaze to Mick. “I think you’re right.”

“Are we going to play cards or sit here mooning over women?” Zack barked.

“All right, all right,” Josh soothed. “Don’t get all fired up. We don’t have to moon.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mick grumbled. “I’m mooning. I’d much rather be home with Delilah right now.”

Josh shook his head in pity. Even Zack managed a credible chuckle. “You’re still a newlywed, so you’re allowed.”

“And,” Josh added, “Delilah is enough to make anyone moon.”

Predictably, Mick bristled. Why in hell Josh continued to make those types of comments, Zack couldn’t figure out. He knew there was a time when Josh had fancied himself taken with Delilah, too, but since she’d married Mick—an event Josh had supported wholeheartedly—Josh had roamed from woman to woman with a near insatiable appetite.

Mick half came out of his chair. “I wish you wouldn’t speak so intimately about my wife.”

Josh looked supremely unaffected by Mick’s ire. “I was only agreeing with you.”

“You—”

“Sheesh, men in love are so touchy,” Josh complained. “First Zack breathing fire on me, and now you. A single man can’t make a legitimate observation anymore.”

“Zack isn’t married, I am.”

“Zack wants to be married,” Josh pointed out. “It’s almost the same thing.” Then he redirected his comments to Zack. “Is that it with Wynn? You considering her suitable wifely material?”

“No.”

“Did you really see her backside?”

“No.”