And he did such a complete job of it, Elvira clicked by them, ordering, “Good Lord, take it to a room.”

That was also a good idea.

So Axl broke the kiss, took her hand, moved her to his Jeep and helped her in.

Then he got in and took them to a room.

Chapter Twenty-One

Stolen Base

Axl

It was Sunday morning, they were out on the deck with fresh coffee, warm biscuits from a tube that Axl had thrown into the oven, a plate of butter and a jar of apple butter.

And Hattie had just declared, “Tonight, Jacuzzi time,” when his phone rang.

He looked down at it on the table, saw it was his dad, and he really wanted to ignore it.

Especially since he’d rather talk about planning Jacuzzi time with Hattie.

It’d be the perfect thing to look forward to if shit went south with her dad at the game that day.

Don had said yes.

Axl was a little surprised.

A little encouraged.

And a lot concerned.

But considering how cagey Axl’s mom was being, he figured he should talk to his dad just in case, by some minor miracle, Axl could ferret something out of him about what was going on with those two.

“Definitely,” he said to her as he reached for his phone. “Gotta take this, babe.”

She nodded, staring at his phone like it was a snake that could bite him.

He put it to his ear. “Hey, Dad.”

“The girl you’re dating is a stripper?”

“Be back,” he said to Hattie, rising from his seat.

She watched him closely but said nothing.

“Is she there with you right now?” his father demanded incredulously.

“Yeah,” he answered, moving into the house and making certain the door was shut behind him.

“How serious is this?”

“She’s been to dinner at my parents’ house. How serious do you think it is?” Axl returned, stopping at the kitchen sink and aiming his eyes out the window.

“I cannot believe you brought a stripper into your mother’s and my home,” Sylas bit out.

“I cannot believe you investigated my girlfriend.”

“We have an in-house investigator, as you know, and you come from money. I wouldn’t be a good father if I didn’t do it.”

Axl couldn’t believe his ears.

“Right, and what else did you find, Dad? That she’s an artist as well as a dancer? That she pays her bills, has never been arrested, has no problems with drugs or alcohol, has a lot of good friends who love her and are loyal to her because she’s lovable and inspires loyalty? Did you find all that out and then call me to bitch about her having been a stripper? Is that what a good dad does?”