Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“My first set was used too. A well-loved set makes a damn good set,” Dean said.
They disappeared down the hallway. I moved the towels out of the way, and I sank down onto the sofa. This day had taken a turn. Another emotional one. Where Dean Finlay was concerned, my feelings and head were all over the place. He could mess me up so easily. I just didn’t want him to mess with Cam’s emotions.
I didn’t expect him to visit Cam again, but this one time could be magical. Cam could remember it for the rest of his life. We would have dinner together. Heck, I’d even invite Dean to watch the movie with us. Then, when he left, it would be good-bye. That would be it.
nineteen
dean
Things I hadn’t known about Brielle.
She could cook, she had been a single mom since she was eighteen years old, she never dated—at least, that Cam knew about—she worked a side job as a food delivery person for one of those apps when they needed extra money for something, and she was a great mom. Every word out of the kid’s mouth said she was. He had praised his mom by telling all of this in conversation.
Brielle stood to start clearing the table, and Cam jumped up and began helping her without being asked. He was a good kid. I joined them, and Brielle took the plate from my hands, then took it to the sink.
“Cam has been wanting to watch the new Marvel movie. I bought it to stream tonight,” she told me.
“You did?!” Cam exclaimed. “Thanks, Mom!”
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling over at him.
I wasn’t ready to leave. I didn’t want to dwell on it too deeply, but I wanted to be near them. To watch them. A part of me thought if I watched them closely enough, I’d see something about Brielle that wasn’t perfect. That she’d show me her faults. We all had them. I was just struggling to find hers. Probably because I had just found out the faults I had stacked against her were all bullshit lies.
For a moment this afternoon, I’d imagined taking her the way I wanted. Fucking her until we were both satisfied with this attraction between us. Knowing that she wasn’t a cheater and being with her was all good. But then watching them, seeing her be a mom, I knew I couldn’t. I wasn’t going to mess with this. With her. She deserved more. More than what I was offering.
I glanced over at their small television, then looked back at Brielle. “How about we watch it in our own private theater?” I asked.
She frowned, unsure of what I meant.
“Where?” Cam asked.
I looked up. “My place.”
“You have a theater up there too?” Brielle asked me.
I had a lot of things I wanted to show her. Starting with the sauna. Naked. But that had been before … before I knew all this about her. She was a single mom. A young single mom. She needed a future, and I wasn’t a future for her.
“Yes, I do,” I replied.
“Oh my God. Mom, please! Can we?” Cam grabbed her arm with a pleading look.
It was clear on her face she wanted to say no. She knew I wasn’t good for them.
“But I bought it on our Amazon Prime account,” she told him.
“You can sign in to your account on my system,” I told her, but she already knew that. I needed to shut the fuck up. I wasn’t making this easier for myself.
She cut her eyes up at me, and just like that, I wanted to laugh at her frustrated expression. I liked making her eyes flash with anger. Since I would no longer allow myself to let them flash with passion or lust.
“See! We can do that. Let’s do it, Mom,” he encouraged.
I could see her give in before she finally nodded. “Okay, fine.”
“We have microwave popcorn,” Cam said to me.
“We could use that or use my movie theater popcorn machine,” I told him.
I’d never actually used it yet. Maegan had bought it for the theater for when my grandkids visited.
“Hell yeah!” Cam replied.
“Camden Dace McGinnis,” Brielle said in a stern voice. She was even sexy in mom mode.
Cam looked sheepish. “Sorry, Mom.”
She gave a nod. “Go get your shoes on,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
When he was out of earshot, I leaned down to her. “You realize he probably says worse than that when you’re not around. He’s a boy. He’ll be a teenager before you know it.”
She glared at me. “Maybe so, but in my presence, I’ll correct him.”
Because she cared. I knew Blaire wouldn’t allow that from Nate or the girls either when they got a little older and tried it. Rush had cursed like a sailor by the time he was eight. His mother didn’t notice or care. I wasn’t much better. Raising him in my world had been screwed up.