Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
He chuckled ruefully and took a swig of his beer. “A rare indulgence. I don’t play anymore. At some point, you gotta grow up, right?”
I furrowed my brow. That didn’t sit well with me. I took another bite of my slider and thought about the conversation threads I’d come across just yesterday on the Mclean forum. I also thought about who’d participated.
“You should check out the Off Topic group on the Mclean site now that you have an account,” I said, picking up my Grace Kelly slider. “There’s currently a quite heated debate going on about a fictional operation in a flight simulator game. Responsible for the most passionate rants—and sometimes bitchy—are Colt, Nathan, and Reese. All Doms, all Sadists, all grown men over forty.” Forty-five in Colt’s case, if I wasn’t mistaken.
I was still learning their names.
A new member had joined the conversation too, someone Colt had recruited. His username was DaddyOfTerra, and he was very vocal about dogfights in this flight simulator debate.
“I believe you’ll find gamer nights on the event schedule too,” I added.
“I hear you.” He chuckled and rolled his eyes.
“I’m not sure you do, dear. We may not have seen each other often, but your mother gives me updates, you know. You work too much.”
He smiled curiously and tilted his head at me. “You once told me to work while I’m young so I could be part of my family when that day arrived.”
That’d been shortly after Lily was born. I remembered. “I didn’t say work, specifically. I said it was okay to be selfish and focus on your own goals and dreams, because once you decide to share your life with someone, you don’t want to look back and realize you sacrificed too much.” I paused, hoping the name I brought up next didn’t come with any lingering unpleasantries. “You were bending over backward for that ex of yours. Jacob?”
He made a face. “That motherfucker. Yeah, I gave that asshole everything.” He flashed me a wry smirk. “He was the one who made me think I could get over you. That was why I invested so much in my relationship with him.”
That was…honest.
I didn’t know how to respond.
Would a joke be tactless? Perhaps if I played it gentle. “I sure am relieved you got over your crush.”
It worked. He grinned. “Me too. It’s completely inappropriate to be into your pseudo uncle.”
I chewed what was in my mouth and felt a white-hot tremor run through me, along with a string of memories from our day in bed. “In a fortunate turn of events, he can’t stop thinking about your wicked mind and perfect body.”
I sensed he’d needed to hear that, and he sat back with a smug smirk that showed off his dimples.
He wasn’t always cocky, was he? I wasn’t the only one fumbling in the dark as we navigated these new waters. He was just more graceful about it. And that tugged at something within me. I didn’t want him to hide anything. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to put on some façade.
I wiped my hands on my napkin and said, “Let’s pretend for a moment you have a day for yourself with no ringing phones, no obligations, no plans. How would you like to spend it? How would you dress, what would you eat?”
Jack went into thinking mode and shoveled a piece of fish into his mouth.
“I apologize if I’m overstepping,” I said. “As someone who spent twenty years pretending to like golf and country clubs, it bothers me to think you might be heading down the same path.”
He shook his head and forked up some grilled pineapple. “No, I get it. You’re not wrong. Sometimes I wonder if I’m into something because it benefits me at work or because it’s genuinely fun.” He popped a piece of grilled mango into his mouth next, and his eyes flashed with mirth. “I knew you were faking it with golf. Your handicap has barely improved the past four years.”
I let out a laugh. No, I was destined to stay at eleven. “It’s certainly not going to improve in the future either. I donated everything except for my favorite putter before I got the keys to my new place.”
If I ever took Lily to a minigolf course, I’d be the dad who brought his own putter.
“I’d do the same if I could, but the number of business deals that take place on a golf course…”
Very true.
“And none of those skillsets you take on for work purposes are a problem.” I wanted him to know I understood that. I’d been there myself. “As long as you have more atrocious Clancy novels on your Kindle than books on art and wine and whatever you use to impress clients.”
“Hey, whoa, what the hell. Why are you bashing Clancy?”