Chapter 4
Lennox
The one-minute drive from our rental house to the diner seems silly once I’ve done it. I’ll walk next time.
Blake is easy to pick out amongst the patrons at the counter.
But the woman next to him grabs my attention. Even from behind, the auburn hair on the petite frame unmistakably belongs to my son’s ex. If I needed help recognizing her, the woman next to her was her driver.
Life in a small town… How awkward will this be?
I grip Blake’s shoulder, unable to make myself sit, and instantly sense tension.
He better not have noticed Ceci. How could he not?
It’s wrong to want a woman half my age. It’s wrong to want my son’s ex. It’s wrong to feel this obsessed over being in her space. My chest hurts. I roll my shoulders and take a breath. Still hurts.
But Blake doesn’t worry about shit like that. He’s always found rules more flexible than I have.
He turns, his eyes lingering on the back of Ceci’s head for a second. “Lennox, you got here fast.”
“The light was green.” It’s a Herculean effort to keep my eyes from drifting to Ceci.
In my periphery, I see that she looks my way before she and her friend huddle up. That’s the perfect moment to casually glance at her.
Blake smiles knowingly.
I’m fucking obsessed with her. With how my son could be so stupid to let her go. With what’s going on in Blake’s mind.
My chest still hurts. My cock thickens. What the fuck is happening? Do heart attacks cause erections? I signal the waitress. “Can I get a water?”
“You’re together?” Ceci’s finger waves between Blake and me.
The excessive dryness of my throat is troubling as I try to speak and end up coughing. “Co-workers.”
The waitress brings a glass of water, and I take it before she can put it on the counter.
Ceci wouldn’t have asked that if she hadn’t met Blake. Did he make a move on her?
I feel like I’m Wolverine having to retract my blades to keep from going feral. But the tension is so thick I could slice it with those Wolverine claws.
“Want to just stay here?” Blake’s eyes dart to her.
The simple answer is yes, but I’ll be the one sitting next to Ceci. That also happens to be exactly why we shouldn’t.
So why am I grabbing a laminated menu? “We should leave.”
Blake looks at my menu-holding hand and a chuckle rumbles from him.
“Cecilia won’t bother you anymore. We were just leaving.” The friend directs her statements at us.
Bother me? Cecilia will bother me the rest of my life. I love using her whole name. Cecilia is so much more than Ceci. I love that it takes longer to think her full name, to say the full thing. Anything that helps me dwell on her.
“Maybe we should stay, Trena.” Cecilia spins to face Blake and pauses.
What’s going on between them?
She stares him directly in the eyes. “I think Daddy wants to be bothered.”
What… the… fuck?!
Blake tucks a finger under her chin. Before I can process what’s happening, my hand is wrapped around his wrist, yanking his hand away.
“Why did she call you Daddy?” I demand.
Motion and whispers from nearby patrons remind me that this is a small town. I caution myself that they might tell her actual daddy to watch out for the creepers who are hitting on his daughter.
I take a breath. Daddy? I want that to be me. I have to get control of myself.
She sasses, “He asked me to, Henry’s daddy.”
That was so close I’m in freefall. If only she hadn’t used my son’s name. How does she know?
Reality check. She used it because it's true. A fact. A reminder of my age. I rub the back of my neck then try to take another drink of water but the ice cubes crash into my lips. I slam the glass onto the counter a little too hard and wipe my mouth.
A last second pause allows me to lower my voice before demanding, “What’s going on here?”
Blake’s eyes narrow at me. “How does she know you’re Henry’s dad?”
“Cecilia is Henry’s ex,” I clarify. “But how did you know I’m his dad?”
She shrugs. “Might have been eavesdropping on your phone call, put it together when you walked in.”
“No shit?” Blake grimaces.
Through gritted teeth, I say, “The better question is why she’s calling you Daddy.”
Blake smiles at her. “Just a joke.”
“I want the full answer.”
Cecilia raises a hand. “I can explain.”
I’m shocked by her boldness, although I really shouldn’t be after what I witnessed earlier.
She lowers her hand and continues. “You see, he butted into our conversation and I told him to be a good boy and mind his own business. That’s when he informed me that he preferred being called Daddy. Did I get that right, Trena?”
A weird zing shoots through me when she says ‘good boy’.
“That’s correct,” Trena says far less enthusiastically, then puts money on the counter and stands. “And that’s why we need to discuss our big move before this gets any weirder.”
“Hold on.” Cecilia grabs Trena’s arm but faces Blake and me. “Why have I never seen either of you in town?”
“We just moved in today.” Blake is quick to answer.
“Hmm.” Cecilia considers it. She picks up a piece of paper, but all I can read on it is ‘ASAP’ before she shreds it. “Hey, Bev, looks like I won’t be leaving right away.”
Trena gasps. She tries to whisper but her shock leaves her words loud enough that I can hear. “Ceci, stop it. You’re being impulsive.”
“Why leave? This town suddenly got a lot more fun.”
“No, Ceci. Absolutely not.”
“But they’re good boys. I bet they know how to STFUALMPLAGB.”
“Ceci!” Trena’s failing at trying to drag Cecilia out.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I can’t make sense of the letters. “And we’re not…” I can’t bring myself to refute being called a good boy. “How old are you?”
Damnit! Her age doesn’t matter. I no longer have control of my mouth.
“Popular question today. I’m old enough to know what I want.”
“And that would be?” Blake asks, adding fuel to the fire instead of acting like a grown man who remembers that he’s an undercover cop on a mission.
I punch his arm. “It doesn’t matter. We’re here for work.”
“All work, no play, makes Lenny a dull boy.”
I’ve always hated that nickname. “It’s Lennox.”
Bev cuts in to talk to Cecilia. “Hey hun, so glad you’re still here. Can you cover the late shift?”
She goes on to explain that someone is sick. Great cue for us to leave.
I slap a hundred on the counter—more than enough to cover whatever Blake had, then grab his arm, making it clear he’s going to follow my lead—and I head for the door.
Once we’re outside, I say, “Cecilia is one hundred percent off limits. I’ll never make amends with my son if I—if we—if you mess around with his ex.”
“Your son must be a fucking moron.”
“He’s young, his prefrontal cortex isn’t developed. He can’t handle a woman like Cecilia.”
“I could.”
“Don’t let a little playful banter go to your head.” I step toward the truck.
“We’re way past banter. I already sucked her finger.”
I spin around so fast that I misstep and stumble off the curb, catching myself on the hood of the truck. My first inclination is to see if Cecilia saw me falter. Thankfully she didn’t. “Why did you have her finger in your mouth?”
“Just blending in with the locals.”
“That’s not blending in. Besides, we don’t know if she’s the courier.”
Blake stares through the diner window. “You really think she could be involved?”
“What we think doesn’t matter. We can’t afford to complicate things.”
“All work and no play—”
“Don’t say it.”
“You know you want her.”
“Irrelevant.” I fumble the keys, prolonging my attempt to distance us from her.
“She and her friend were talking about moving to a place that has ménages and reverse harems. We could save her the moving expense.”
The world stops. I replay his words over and over, then finally cover with, “When did this become a financial decision?”
“I know how budget conscious you are.”
“There’s nothing wrong with having a budget. Besides, I just dropped a hundred for whatever you had in the diner.”
“And that’s precisely how I know you’re messed up over Cecilia.”
“We’re not having this conversation here.”
Blake smiles, catching that I left the possibility we’ll discuss this elsewhere.
I’ve never heard of a reverse harem but logic fills in the blanks. There’s no way I’m going to let her hook up with a group of random guys.
What’s wrong with her generation? Fuck! Another reminder of how wrong this is. I’m tempted to walk back in there and spank some sense—I stop myself.
The knocking of Blake’s knuckles on the hood of the truck pulls me out of my obsession. “If we’re not having the conversation here, let’s get going.”