Read Burn For You (Boys of the South) for Free Online

affectionately.
    “Growth spurt,” Paisley says. “Our last visit with the pediatricians put her in the 95 th percentile for height. He said she’s gonna be tall.”
    “Tall, smart, and pretty. I better get my shotgun ready,” I say, hooking my leg around the nearest chair and pulling it to me. I flip it around and sit, waiting patiently for Paisley to realize I’m not here to judge her.
    Her gaze flicks my way. “While I’m gone, I want you take care of Mia.”
    “Anything you need.” I mean it. Covering her hand with mine, I squeeze gently. “We’re a team. I’m here to support you.”
    Paisley gives me a thin smile. “Austin will be taking care of her, too.”
    I drop her hand. Terror and anger fills me. What I know of him is nothing good, and he might be the most upstanding father in the world, but I’m not willing to take that chance. The only times I’ve ever seen him is when he was high or drunk at a party. He was tolerable then, but the marks I’d find on Paisley, courtesy of him giving in to her need to be hurt, has made me forever pissed and suspicious of him.
    To enjoy rough sex is one thing, but Paisley doesn’t like to get hurt because it gets her off. She needs to hurt so she can forget the real pain that eats at her. If Austin really cared about her, then he’d tell her ass no, but he’s only there for her money and the drugs she can score.
    The only reason I haven’t called the cops on them or reported her to Child Services is that she doesn’t allow that shit around Mia. Okay, so there is another reason, but it’s only supported by the fact that Mia is safe. I don’t want Mia taken away and placed in foster care.  If I’m not her biological father, then no judge this side of the Mississippi would grant me custody. 
    But all that doesn’t mean I can’t put my foot down. “No way in hell. He’s not touching my daughter, much less taking her anywhere.”
    “She may or may not be your daughter, so you don’t have a say in this,” she reminds me.
    Fuck that. “Actually, I am her dad, blood or not, and I do have a say in this. I’m the one taking care of her anytime you drop her off, not that I’m complaining.” I lower my voice. “But don’t you dare make me the fucking babysitter. I’m more than that, and you know it. And I’m done with your bullshit rules. If I want to put an announcement up on YouTube about Mia, I’ll do it.”
    “Fine.”
    “That’s it. No argument?”
    “No. You seem serious and babysat Mia whenever I need to get my hair done or go on vacay, so if that’s your conditions,” she shrugs a shoulder, “then fine.”
    I want to roar in frustration. It’s all I can do to keep it together. I seriously want to flip out on her, but that would only play into her hand. So I grit my teeth and say, “I want an official document, from a lawyer who doesn’t work for either one of our families, drawn up.”
    “It would be such a crying shame if I put up my own You Tube video, saying you weren’t the dad,” she says lightly.
    “Put up whatever the hell you want, Paisley. I don’t care.”
    She makes a noise of disbelief. “Sure you don’t.”
    “What you don’t understand, what you still haven’t gotten through your head—this stopped being about you and me as soon as she was born. Everything I do is in Mia’s best interest. So, the papers will be drawn up. And you will sign them,” I say flatly.
    Paisley looks at Mia, and then at me. Her big blue eyes are shiny with tears, but I’m past the point of giving a damn anymore. “You’ll let me have her back, right?”
    “She’s not a toy for me to borrow and then return.” I stand up and begin to pace the room. “I want you to get help, Paisley. You are a good mom to Mia. You know when you need help and ask for it.” She opens her mouth to argue, but I cut her off with a look. “I’m not stupid. You keep her for as long as you can, but when the craving becomes too much...”
    “I