Free Daddy by Surprise by Debra Salonen Page A

list of phobias was growing. Kids. Needles. Tight spaces. But he knew how to drive a bike. That had to count for something.
    Not that she had a mental scorecard going or anything. Nope. She wasn’t going to rejoin the dating game till her boys were in high school. Maybe college.
    Jack studied Mac’s truck a moment, then scanned the street. His expression said he didn’t see what the whole fuss was about, but that was probably to be expected since he didn’t know Libby and Cooper.
    He nodded toward the bike. “We should probably be going, huh?”
    “Right.” She waved to her friends. “See you later, Mac. Say hi to Megan for me. I’ll call you tonight, Char.”
    “Bye. Nice meeting you, Jack. Hope to see you around.”
    She felt funny hopping behind Jack with her friends watching, but once she’d made it clear that her interest in the man was purely mercenary, she was sure they wouldn’t try to play matchmaker.
    Powerful swoo not withstanding, the guy wasn’t her type. Even if she was in the market. Which she wasn’t.

CHAPTER SIX
    A CCORDING TO HIS ODOMETER , they’d traveled just under a hundred miles when the first sense that something wasn’t right sank into his consciousness. They’d twined along the Needles Highway—a most impressive and at times confounding landscape. He’d been tempted to change his mind about walking to the top of Harney Peak when they stopped at Sylvan Lake, but by then the morning was almost gone, so he’d chosen to head to Custer State Park, instead.
    And he was glad he had. The views were amazing, the road just challenging enough to be able to drive and talk. And the conversation had been heady. Kat was not only sweet and accommodating, she was smart. And she knew her Black Hills lore. He liked it that she didn’t buy history’s attempt to whitewash reputations.
    “Seth Bullock is a perfect example,” she was saying, leaning closer as she had every time she had a point to make. Normally, he’d have enjoyed the contact, but at the moment, his skin was tingling—in a not-so-pleasant way—around the areas where she’d put his tattoos. “He was strong enough to hold on to what he grabbed in Deadwood and smart enough to make friends with powerful people, like Teddy Roosevelt. Did that make him a good man? The people who lived in the little town near present-day Belle Fourche—I can’t remember the name at the moment—might not have liked him much when he made a deal with the railroad that changed the line from their town to a spot through his land. Sure, he offered citizens of the town free lots if they wanted to move, but what about the ones who’d invested their life savings on a dream that he crushed?”
    “I guess the HBO show got canceled before that happened,” Jack said, trying to keep from wiggling.
    She sighed and leaned into him a bit more. “Yes, well, just because a person is portrayed one way on television doesn’t make it the truth. I mean, the actor who played Seth Bullock was excellent. Great eyes. Did you know that one of Seth Bullock’s grandsons said his granddad never needed a gun because he had a stare that could stop a bull elephant?”
    Jack didn’t know that. Nor did he care, particularly. Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what to do about it. He’d have to tell her soon if it didn’t get better. Luckily, she hadn’t seemed to notice anything was amiss.
    “And one thing I’ve learned from Libby’s experience is that TV and reality are quite often very far apart. If something isn’t entertaining, it isn’t relevan—” She paused. “Is something wrong? You seem really tense.”
    He swallowed. “I think I may need some of the sunscreen you brought. My neck feels a little hot.” At least, he hoped it was the sun and not something else making his skin burn.
    She pulled back and a second later he felt her fingertip prod his shoulder. Then the nape of his neck where the tattoo started.
    He heard her swallow. “I can’t see