Thirteen
THIRTEEN
“He said that?” Kinsley asks, a mouthful of potato salad and little bits flying out of her mouth.
After my encounter with Hendrix last night when I walked in on him and his friend, I texted Kinsley a summarized version of what happened, but she said that she needed every last detail. She showed up with lunch and a box of wine, and said we are sitting out by his pool until every drop of wine is drunk and every ounce of tea is spilled.
“Yup. And he was one hundred percent serious. I took one step back and slammed the door in his face. I can’t even believe he thought I would thank my lucky stars for giving me a chance to fill a previously occupied spot on his lap. What a pig.”
I take a bite of the chicken salad sandwich and watch her shake her head in shock.
“That son of a billy goat. I can’t believe he thought you would go for that. He’s so dumb he could throw himself on the floor and miss. I swear.”
I smirk at yet another Kinsley-ism that I’ll have to stick in my back pocket for just the right time.
“So...d’you think you’ll still hook up with him?”
I freeze and tug on my ear, trying to figure out if I heard what I think I did.
“Kinsley. Did you not hear what I said? You think I want to sleep with him after that?”
She takes a swig of her glass of wine and nods her head. When she pulls it away from her lips she says, “Yes, I most certainly think you want Henny to grind your corn. I say you go for it.”
“Grind my cor—you know what, just no. The last thing I will ever do is have sex with Hendrix Dare. He’s a pig and I had temporary amnesia the other night, but he quickly reminded me what an asshole he is.”
I pop a chip into my mouth to punctuate my statement, making the point to both her and I. Because, I’m not going to lie, I did think about taking him up on his offer. If my brain hadn’t started working again, I would have followed him right back downstairs and helped him kick that woman out on her ass.
My phone begins to ring and I wipe my hands off on the napkin and flip it over to see Dad’s face on the screen.
“Hold up,” Kinsley says, and stops me from swiping my screen and answering the call. “Is that Daddy McCallan? Good gravy. You wouldn’t by any chance be open to a step-mama only slightly older than you, would ya?”
I tug my hand away from her. “Gross. Stay away from my Dad. My mom will gut you if you lay a finger on him.” She shrugs as if to say I tried , and I finally answer the call. “Hi Daddy.”
“Hey baby bird. How are you doing today?” His voice is welcoming and the equivalent of a warm hug.
“I’m good. The same as when I texted you this morning…and last night…and yesterday afternoon.” Much like his voice, my tone is currently that of an eye roll.
“I just worry about you. Is that man feeding you? Has he been any sort of inappropriate with you?” If I was hooked up to a lie detector, the needle would be going off the charts with as much as I’m about to lie right now.
“Hendrix has been very accommodating. He’s quite nice and has been gracious enough to let me use basically his entire home. He even invited me to join him and a group of his friends for dinner the other night.”
“Well that was nice of him. But you didn’t answer my other question. Has he been inappropriate with you? I need to know if I should get Luca on the phone and have him employ some of his shadier family.”
“Oh my god Dad, no. Stop that. Hendrix has been nothing but a gentleman with me. You have nothing to worry about.” Visions of my Dad and Zio Luca, along with some Italian gangsters, filing off a private jet and ready to dump Hendrix in the Mississippi Bay fill my head.
Kinsley does a comedic level spit take when Hendrix’s name is followed by the word gentleman. I shush her and she covers her mouth, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks. My Dad is already suspicious about everything. I don’t need him catching Kinsley cackling in the background sending up his hackles even more.
“Well that makes me feel a helluva lot better knowing I can trust that man to keep an eye on you. I can’t have my baby bird alone and scared and so far away.” His voice softens like he’s speaking to my three year old sister, Autumn Jade.
“Dad. In case you’ve forgotten, I live three hours away most of the year. It’s not like this is the first time I’m away from home.”
With a sigh he tells me, “Yes, but even at school you’re still in the state of Texas. This has given me a glimpse at what it would feel like to have you living so far away and I don’t like it.”
I forget sometimes that before Mom and Sloane and AJ came along, it was just him and I. We were not only father and daughter, but best friends too. When mo-Stephanie died, he was all I had. We only stayed in Florida a few months after she passed away, and even though Grams and Pops and Uncle Hayes were waiting for us, our little family was now Vaughan and Dagen. So the fact that the thought of him and I being separated by more than a few hours is unbearable, isn’t totally ridiculous.
He cried more than Mom did when they dropped me off at college. Mom got all of her crying out early which I’m fully convinced sent her into labor on my graduation day. But by the time move-in day was upon us, Mom was calm while Dad was bawling his eyes out like I was heading off to war.
“Well rest assured Dad, I am just fine and will be home before you know it.”
“Possibly sooner than later,” he tells me.
“Oh?” My stomach drops, not sure what he means by that.
“Yeah. Hendrix called me this morning and said he was doing what he could to get the few parts needed sooner so that he can get you back on the road to home. He said he’s made our car a priority.”
“That’s, uh, that’s really nice of him.” Silly as it may seem, my feelings are hurt knowing that he wants me gone as soon as possible.
I can only guess it has to do with me turning him down not once, but twice. I suppose he thought he’d get a little bit more than monetary payment out of this deal and now that he knows he won’t, he wants me out of his house asap. I’m sure my interruption last night was a major kink in his plans.
“It is. I’ve already told him that I would love to shake his hand in person one day. You know, look the man who took care of my baby bird in the eye and thank him personally.”
“Yeah, that would be something Dad.” In the background I hear Uncle Hayes yell out.
“Uncle Hayes says hello but that he needs me in the barn. Make sure to call Mom later. She’s missing her best gal pal.”
“You two have serious problems,” I joke but in all honesty, I miss them too.
The last few days have been more than a rollercoaster, and I could really use a hug from Mom, then crawl into her lap while she combs her fingers through my hair. It’s those small comforts that mean so much more when they seem so far out of reach.
“I’ll call Mom when Sloane and AJ are home so I can talk to everyone at once. Love you Dad.”
“I love you too, Dagen Rayne.” I can hear the smile in his voice and it causes a lump to form in my throat.
I press end and see Kinsley watching me, her spilled wine and tears now dry.
“How did you manage to keep a straight face when you told your daddy Hendrix has been a gentleman?”
“Hush your face.” I tuck my phone in my pocket, then take a seat at the edge of the pool and dip my feet in. “Technically he is a gentleman in the original sense of the word. He aided a woman in her time of need. That is most definitely gentlemanly.”
With an arch of her brow she asks, “Oh yeah? Was it gentlemanly when he wanted you to ride his pogo pony?”
“You know, you should really meet my Aunt Vivian. You two would really get along.” Every euphemism, every off-collar comment makes me think the two of them are long lost siblings.
“If she’s anything like me then I assume she is fabulous.” She purses her lips and flips her sunglasses down over her eyes.
I may not be home with my family and friends, but Kinsley has definitely made me feel like a piece of them are here with me.
I’m sitting on the bed, clicking through page after page of my online textbook not really seeing anything, when a knock comes at the door. I assume that since Kinsley is at a family dinner –which she invited me to but I told her I had homework– that it is Hendrix standing on the other side.
I pad over to the door, my bare feet cushioned by the plush rugs, and slowly open the door. Hendrix stands on the other side, his arm braced on the door frame, and it’s an instant kryptonite.
“Hey,” he says, giving off all kinds of smolder.
I don’t think it’s intentional, it’s just him. Most men have to work at exuding sexiness, but I think it was programmed into Hendrix at birth.
“Hello,” I respond, somewhat curt and robotic.
Hold strong Dagen. Don’t let him break you with those ocean blue eyes.
“I was wondering if you’d be interested in going to dinner with me?” I watch him with consternation, just waiting for him to add something crass.
When he doesn’t, I quickly try to think of an excuse as to why I can’t.
“Oh, thanks for the offer but I just ate,” I lie, but my stomach betrays me like a little bitch and growls ungodly loud.
Hendrix’s eyes fall to my stomach and he smirks.
“Well apparently it wasn’t enough if that sound is any indication.” My face burns red with embarrassment. “C’mon. It’s just dinner and I owe you an apology after my behavior last night.”
I narrow my eyes, skeptical of his words. “Why are you being nice to me? This seems like some type of ruse to get me to do… things . Like, oh I bought you dinner now you owe me dessert.”
He chuckles and I freaking want to melt. Why did the Lord make him so beautiful? And why did the devil practically drop me at his front door? Did I somewhere, somehow, make a wish to be put through an emotional wringer only to be tortured by the sexiest man I have ever seen?
“There’s no ruse, Dagen. I know that Kinsley is out for the evening and you don’t have a vehicle. I may be a jerk, but I certainly do not want to see you starving to death.”
I inhale a deep breath and it was the goddamn wrong thing to do because now my lungs are filled with his scent. Cedar and Bergamot and a hint of motor oil mix to form the perfect aphrodisiac. A man like him knows what the smell of woodsy and hard working man does to women. It’s like a call for horny women everywhere that a man is on the hunt.
I think for a moment knowing he’s right because I am starving and I should’ve planned more efficiently and conserved some lunch or at least asked Kinsley to take me to the store to grab some chips and bananas to get me through the night.
Don’t judge . It’s called girl dinner.
“Fine. I guess I could use more than a piece of gum to settle my stomach.”
“Why didn’t you just go down to the kitchen and get yourself something? I told you to please help yourself.” The look of concern is quite unexpected.
“I didn’t want to interrupt you if you happened to be entertaining this evening.” His face grows hard and I see a sort of wall go up, but it quickly crumbles.
“That was horrible on my part. I’m just used to being alone so I’ve never had to worry about privacy before. I was a little out of my mind last night, so I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Studying him, I decide he seems genuinely apologetic and just let it go. What’s the big deal, anyhow? I don’t know him from a hill of beans –thanks a lot, Kinsley– so it shouldn’t irk me so much that he had a woman here that he was definitely going to do the dirty with right in his living room.
“Let me grab my shoes and my wallet,” I tell him and turn toward the nightstand where my wallet sits and my shoes at the edge of the bed.
“You won’t need your wallet unless you plan on drinking.”
I freeze with my foot halfway into my sneaker and look up at him. “I can’t let you do that. You paid for the bar the other night and have allowed me to roam your house while at work.”
“Sorry little mouse. No woman, mine or not, will pay for a meal when I’m around. We can argue about this all night, but I know you’re hungry so let’s just go.” He winks at me and my core yells at me to just sleep with him already.
Down bitch. It’s been four days.
I finish getting my shoes and tuck my wallet into the back pocket of my shorts. I flash a look in the mirror as I pass to ensure that I don’t look like trash on garbage day in the summer.
“You look fine. Trust me.” His voice turns low and I shiver from my ears to my toes.
I walk past him and he shuts the door behind me. I may put a teensy bit of extra sway into my hips, but it’s purely unintentional. I’m simply trying to free a wedgie.
Or so I tell myself.