21. Beckett #2
“So, Beckett,” Olivia said, placing her hands on the table. “I know it’s bad manners to talk business at the dinner table, but I’m curious… What have you found out about our little predicament?”
I blew out a breath. Admittedly, I hadn’t been as focused on the situation at the bar as much as I should’ve been. In my defense, finding out your former one night stand was five months pregnant really throws a wrench in your plans. However, I wasn’t completely useless.
“Well, I can certainly see how easily my father was able to get Richard Cochran under his thumb. The man is in debt up to his eyeballs. Or at least he was until Montgomery Holdings stepped in to help encourage him to make better choices,” I said.
“I’ll be honest… It will be hard to dissuade him with the amount of money I assume he’s receiving under the table. ”
“But not impossible,” Olivia said. It wasn’t a question. No, she didn’t strike me as the type of woman to give up when the going got tough. She was, however, realistic. I appreciated that about her.
“Correct. We’ll have to approach from a different angle. I have a meeting scheduled with him next week. He thinks I’m coming on behalf of my father, which means he’ll be more willing to talk.”
Sawyer’s gaze burned a hole through me as she tried to decipher my meaning. We hadn’t technically talked about what I was doing in Pinecrest, having gotten caught up working through the pregnancy details.
Duke pursed his lips. “I don’t like lying.”
“It isn’t, and I’m not. Technically, as far as he and my father are concerned, I’m an agent of Montgomery Holdings.
But neither of them needs to know what I’m doing on the side until we’re prepared to fight back.
We can’t risk them countering our plans just yet,” I said, leaning back as our waitress dropped off our drinks.
Duke stared at the table, caught in some faraway thought I was sure included kicking my ass out of his bar and his life for good.
“I know you don’t trust me. I can see it in your eyes.
But if this is going to work, I need you to have a little faith. ”
“You’re right,” he grunted. “I don’t trust you.
It makes me worry that you’re going to fuck us over somehow.
” Duke and Olivia shared a look, something passing between them.
Even knowing the truth, it still stung. It wasn’t until his next words that I realized how badly I wanted his approval.
“But I also know we can’t do this on our own.
And if we’re going to fight fire with fire, we need as much gasoline as we can muster. ”
I nodded. It wasn’t his approval, per se, but it was better than him telling me to go kick rocks.
Sawyer glanced between the three of us, brows drawn in tight.
The crease between them deepened the longer her wheels turned.
I wasn’t sure how much she knew or if it was even my place to say something, but if she asked…
I’d tell her everything. I had nothing to hide from her.
“I’ll earn your trust,” I said, glancing between the couple across from me. “Both of yours. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Duke settled back into the booth and slung an arm around his wife. The corner of his lips twitched ever so slightly. “I’ll hold you to that.”
By the time we finished lunch, we’d spent over an hour settling into pleasant conversation.
I learned all about the history of Frank’s and how it had belonged to an eccentric old man, its namesake, before his death.
It was funny, in a weird roundabout way, it had connected Duke and Olivia without them even realizing it.
But my favorite part was learning countless little things about Sawyer that I never knew.
Some were silly, stupid quirks, like how she liked to alternate dipping her fries in ranch and then ketchup.
Or how she never finished a drink before ordering a new one—apparently, it tasted flat to her.
I filed each new fact in my mind, tucking them away for safekeeping.
Now that she was fed and sated, there was a warm blush on Sawyer’s cheeks.
She was completely in her element here, laughing with her friends who might as well have been family.
I hadn't seen her this comfortable since the night we met, and I soared with pride knowing she was finally able to relax around me. My arm was slung over the back of the booth, and she was tucked against me. It wasn’t a cuddle, but it was the closest thing we’d gotten to it.
If my hand slipped down two inches, I could pull her closer, but I refrained from touching.
Instead, we both watched as Harper and Charlie ran up to the counter to pay for the meal with my card.
Duke had fought me on it, but I’d insisted. It seemed like the least I could do.
When they clambered back, we all scooted out of the booth and headed for the door. Sawyer hung behind with Olivia as I walked in step with Duke. There was something I wanted to ask him, though I wasn’t sure how he would take it.
“If I needed to ask for a favor…” I began, pausing when I noticed his eyes roll.
“What do you want, hotshot?” Okay. Didn’t love how the nickname was already sticking, but if it meant he’d help me, he could call me whatever he wanted.
“I don’t know how much Sawyer has told you about me, but, uh, I’m the father of her baby.”
Duke glanced at me out of the corner of his eye as we stepped out into the cold. “She might’ve mentioned it.”
“Right. Well, the thing is… I don’t know how to be a father. Mine isn’t exactly a role model I want to emulate.”
“You don’t say?” He snorted, rocking back on his heels. “Listen, no one knows what they’re doing.”
“But you do,” I said, earnestly. Watching Duke interact with his daughters today left me feeling more than a little in awe. He handled them with a level of grace and levity I’d never known existed until now.
“Yeah, now. But do you think I had any fucking clue when Harper was born? Absolutely not. It was like being tossed into the ocean with no life raft or buoy in sight. The best you can do is just keep your head above water.”
Did the man ever get tired of being an impossible ass? I’d rarely seen him crack so much as a smile unless he was speaking with his wife or his daughters. Or Sawyer, actually.
Maybe the issue had more to do with me than anything else. Maybe this would be a way to show him that while I was an outsider, I was hell bent on being the best man for Sawyer and the best father for our son.
I glanced down, hoping I didn’t sound as crazy as I felt. “Would you teach me?”
“Teach you? How the fuck do you want me to do that?” he asked, pulling his brows in together.
“I don’t know. Like a Daddy Daycamp or something—”
“Jesus Christ, don’t fucking call it that,” he interrupted. His words ended on a low groan. “Makes it sound weirder than it is.”
“Whatever. Look… Will you help me or not? I’m desperate here.”
Duke looked around for a moment before he pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sharp exhale. “What is it you want me to teach you? How to get some sense? Because that’s not something I can teach.”