by Claire Adams
“He loved you guys, too,” I said.
“Fred!”
“What, Kevin?”
“You done inventory, yet? One of the customers left a complaint about being out of decaf coffee and green beans. What the hell’s up with that?”
“Fucking customers and their picky bullshit. I’m going, Kevin. Right now. To work when I should be eating.”
“You can eat after you work. Let those girls enjoy their staff meal without your gross sex stories,” Kevin said.
“Now you’re just being insulting,” Fred said.
Angie and I smiled in amusement while we watched Fred stomp off to do inventory, but I knew it wouldn’t last for long. I’d dug myself a hole Angie had sat herself right into, and I knew the question that was coming before she even opened her mouth.
“You met someone, didn’t you?” she asked.
“He’s actually my new neighbor,” I said.
“Oh, God. You got a hot new neighbor. Tell me he’s single.”
“Yep. Has the cutest little daughter, too.”
“You hit the jackpot. A hot new neighbor who’s good with kids? I can feel my ovaries churning behind my stomach fat.”
“What happened to you and the skinny dude with the big dick?” I asked.
“Same story, different guy. The other one didn’t like licking the downstairs area.”
“Ew. No, thanks,” I said.
“Exactly! So, what’s this hot new single dad neighbor like?”
“Well, his name’s Jason, and he’s got these mesmerizing blue eyes. He’s new in town, works up at—”
“—the mechanic shop in the middle of town?” Angie asked.
“Yeah. How did you know? Have you met him already?” She seemed a bit surprised that Jason was my new neighbor, but then she slid her plate close to mine and got next to my ear. She was bound to deliver a blow of bad news that would wreck the fantasy running through my head every time I took a shower.
“He’s a bit different,” she said.
“Different how?” I asked.
“His life just isn’t all there, I guess. I don’t know; he’s always kind of distant. Jokes around with Mike a lot.”
“Who’s Mike?” I asked.
“For a girl who’s lived here for most of her life, you really need to keep up. Mike’s the playboy that works down at the mechanic shop. The one that’s always hitting on the moms?”
“Nope. Nothing,” I said.
“Anyway, from what I hear, Jason’s a bit of bad news. Like Mike, in a way. Except with a daughter.”
“Well, how bad can he be? I mean, he’s got a daughter who adores him. He can’t be that bad, right?” I asked.
“A man who comes into town and already has rumors circulating around him is never good news, Lucy. Seriously. Mike’s already been bragging about his sexual prowess with other women.”
“Why? Does Mike have personal experience?” I smirked. Angie giggled a bit before she took a massive bite of her burger and then quickly turned the conversation back to whatever she’d heard about Jason.
“It’s honestly shocking to me that you’ve already heard rumors. I mean, he’s new. Really new. What kind of rumors could he possibly have?” I asked.
“Well, my cousin’s friend’s friend told me he’s a hardcore womanizer. Apparently, wherever he came from, women called him Max because he’s slept with a maximum amount of women.”
“Oh, my gosh. You’re serious,” I said, giggling. “You can’t possibly think—”
“I’m just telling you what a good friend told me,” she said.
“Who heard it from her cousin’s friend. Really, that’s not newsworthy reliability, is it? I mean, do other people call him this?”
“Nope, he calls himself that,” she said.
“Well, good thing he introduced himself as Jason.”
“Lucy, this is serious. He’s bad news. He’s only gonna break your heart if you go after him.”
“Well, my heart’s already been broken enough for one lifetime. I’m sure some guy fucking and leaving won’t do me any more harm than life’s already dealt me,” I said.
“Fuckin’ and leaving’s the best kind,” Fred said. “What’d I miss?”
“Apparently my neighbor’s name is actually Max because he’s slept with a maximum amount of women,” I said.
“Holy shit, your neighbor’s that new mechanic?” Fred asked.
“Seriously. Did everyone know about him before I did?”
“Yes,” Angie and Fred said simultaneously.
“Look, he’s a single father whose wife left him, I think. I saw him with his daughter. He’s got a massive soft spot, and it’s probably a side of him many don’t see.”
“Maybe his wife left him for sleeping around,” Angie said.
“Or maybe his dick was too big, and she couldn’t handle it, so she turned to pussy instead just to free him up for me,” Fred said.
“You are relentless,” I said.
“Did he flirt with you the first time he met you? Or have you only dreamed of him from afar?” Angie asked.
“No, I haven’t. I introduced myself. And he might have flirted. A little. But nothing bad.”
“My Go—Lucy. Seriously. I get that people are pushing you to date and get laid and all this, but don’t do it with the first guy who comes around. Jason’s bad news, I’m telling you.”
“Look. Even if she did leave him for sleeping around, no good mother would leave their daughter with a bad man. So Jason’s got a good spot in him somewhere. Just because a guy likes to sleep around doesn’t make him a bad guy.”
“Oh, but bad guys are the best,” Fred said.
“Do you need a twenty-minute break to go to the bathroom?” I asked him.
“Nah. Gotta eat and get my strength up first. And honey, I’d need at least thirty.”
“Well, you’re obviously attracted to him. So, sleep with him,” Angie said.
“I like that advice,” Fred said.
“Wait. You just sat here and tried to convince me that my hot-ass, muscly, sweaty neighbor is a womanizing prick, and now you’re telling me to sleep with him?”
“Yep. It might even be a good thing, because if you start something with him and know it’s doomed, then it’ll help you get back in the saddle without any of the emotional ties to this dude.”
“Oh, emotionless sex. Girl, get it while you can. Emotions complicate everything,” Fred said.
“So, you want me to go screw my neighbor knowing he won’t care about anything else besides making me scream so I can stick my toe back into the world of men and try to find myself something?”
“And get pictures,” Angie said. “We all want pictures.”
“Besides it being an insane plan, I’m not that kind of person. I can’t just have sex with someone and not care about it. I’ve never been that way.”
“We’re not saying don’t care about the sex. Just don’t care about him,” she said.
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Yep,” Fred said.
I dug into my lukewarm food while Angie and Fred continued to talk. I had five minutes to eat before I had to get back to work, and my mind had been preoccupied with Jason for this entire conversation. I couldn’t stop remembering the beads of sweat trailing along his neck or how much his daughter seemed absolutely taken by him. I couldn’t forget how his white-washed jeans hugged his tight ass or the feeling I got when I chanced to look at it. The curls of his hair still beckoned to my fingertips, even as the image flooded my mind. By the time Kevin’s voice ripped me from my trance, my nipples had become hardened nubs underneath my bra.
“Lucy! We got guests.”
I looked down at my plate and took one more bite of my potatoes before I shoved the plate to the side. I grabbed a sip of my soda before I wiped my hands on my apron, and all the while, Angie and Fred smirked at one another.
“Food not good?” Fred asked.
“Get over yourself,”
I said with a snicker.
“Remember what I told you,” Angie said.
“You didn’t tell me shit.”
“Fuck him without any of the emotions. Get your pistons greased a bit before you throw your heart back into the game.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as I rolled my eyes.
“Lucy,” Kevin said.
I went out to seat the booth of four and promptly took their drink orders. It was a mother with her two children, and a man who I assumed was her husband. The kids were ripping up napkins, and the mother was trying to calm them down, and I watched as the husband reached over and took the mother’s hand. For a split second, while the children were running around and creating havoc with the salt and pepper shakers, the man smiled at his wife, and she let out a sigh of relief. Just one look from him seemed to settle her entire being, and that’s when he lifted out of his seat and gave his wife a small kiss.
While I held the drink on my tray, he looked at me, and I couldn’t help but notice his eyes were the same blue as Jason’s.
Fuck, I had it bad.
Chapter Eight
Jason
“Daddy, I’m hungry.”
“Well, what would you like to eat, princess?”
“Soup?”
I went to rummage through the kitchen and realized we were pretty bare. I’d filled the house with furniture and stocked the kitchen and bathrooms with essentials, but in the flurry of it all, I’d forgotten to do a grocery trip. I had a few things here and there I’d picked up along the way, but nothing I could turn into any substantial meal, much less soup, for my daughter.
I opened the fridge where there was about enough milk for one last cup for her. That wasn’t going to last long. We’d have to go out. I could take her for a treat, and then we could go grocery shopping afterward.
“How about we go out tonight, hm? My treat.”
“Can I get pie?” Jenna asked.
“You can have whatever you’d like,” I said.
“Race you to the car!”
She ran out the door, and I heard her slap her hand down onto the car. She loved racing me in everything she did. If I could do it, she could do it faster. If I could cook it, she could add something to cook it better. If I was cleaning, she could clean it better. She was a competitive little snot, and she got that trait from me. I always had to be the best: the best mechanic, the best man, the best father, the best lover, the best pussy eater. I had to excel at everything I did so no one had a right to complain when they were around me.
That was another thing that had drawn me to Jenna’s mother. She was better than me at almost everything.
She could sympathize with people when I’d just brush them off, and she took her pregnancy like a champ. I worried over every damn step that woman took while she was still stormin’ full steam ahead into everything she loved. She swam until she couldn’t fit into her bathing suit anymore, and then she just up and got another one so she could keep swimmin’. I wanted sex with her to be gentle so we didn’t disturb her pregnant belly or pop her water or some shit, and she was still wantin’ me to throw her back against the wall and fuck her senseless.
That woman trumped me in everything I thought I was good at, and she pushed me to be better because of it.
“Dad, where’re we going?”
“I don’t know. I thought we’d drive around town until we saw something we liked.”
“Can we find somewhere with soup?” she asked.
“Soup and pie. Got it.”
I backed out of the driveway and took in how pretty our neighborhood was. Many of the trees were still turning and hadn’t dropped their leaves yet, and Jenna kept calling out their colors as we rushed by them. Old couples were walking hand in hand through the small town, and a couple of shops offered free samples at tents set outside their establishments. One day, I wanted to walk Jenna through town. There was a snow cone shop and a frozen yogurt place I knew she’d love, and there were several thrift shops I’d enjoy walking through.
There was nothing like picking out a ratty piece of furniture and fixing it up nice. Plus, I was still looking for materials for the house, so it wouldn’t hurt to come in one day and look around.
“Look! Sign!”
I looked to where Jenna was pointing, and a colorful, albeit rustic, sign that said, “Kevin’s Place” stood tall and proud. I didn’t know why that place sounded so familiar, but when two of the three words on the sign were exactly what Jenna was asking for, I knew I’d found the right place.
“Soups, burgers, and pies. Sounds good to me, princess.”
“Me, too,” she said.
I got her out of her car seat, and we strolled on into the diner. The place was a little more than rustic, honestly looking more poorly maintained instead. But the booths were almost full, and there were no free tables, so the food couldn’t be that bad. A bubbly waitress with full, red cheeks and jet-black hair got us seated, but when she scurried off, she seemed all too happy with herself.
“I want soup and pie,” Jenna said.
“I know, princess. Now, let’s figure out what Daddy wants.”
“Fancy seeing you here.”
I whipped my head up at the familiar voice, and I realized why the restaurant name sounded so familiar. Lucy had mentioned she worked as a waitress here, but I had probably been too distracted by the tits that were now eye level with me while she stood beside our booth with a notepad in her hand.
“Hello, Lucy,” I said.
“Hey! It’s the girl that lives beside us,” Jenna said.
“And how are you doing?” she asked Jenna. She crouched down so she was eye level with my daughter, and I couldn’t help but take in the slope of her ass. It was jutted out all perfectly, and I wondered if she liked it from behind. I’d make that ass bounce while she cried out for mercy. She struck me as the kind of girl that never did butt stuff with any of her other partners, and the mere idea of taking that part of her virginity made my balls curl up into my body.
“I’m good. Do you guys have pie?” she asked.
“We do, and I think I heard something about soup?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
“What kind of soup do you want?” she asked.
“Creamy soup. And chocolate pie.”
“Do you like potatoes and corn in your soup?”
“Yes, please. And lots of whipped cream!”
“On your soup or your pie?” she asked Jenna.
“On the pie, silly.” The giggle that came from my daughter while she interacted with Lucy wasn’t something I’d heard in a long time. Up until recently, Jenna had always been wary of other women. It’s one of the reasons I never tried to date or even hook up with someone. I never wanted to bring someone into our home that she wouldn’t be comfortable with. And, I sure as hell wasn’t gonna leave her with some dude babysitter while I dated. Call me shitty for it all you want, but I watch the news. That shit doesn’t always go over well.
“And what would you like?” she asked me.
“I think I’m gonna take the double cheeseburger with bacon and all the things that come with it. Double fries, and an Orange Crush. I’ll also have a strawberry milkshake whenever Jenna gets her pie.”
“Hearty appetite,” she said.
“I just like to eat big, is all.”
She held my gaze for a second before she turned back to Jenna, and I knew what was going to come flying from Jenna’s lips even before she asked.
“And no, Jenna. You can have a milkshake or pie, but not both.”
“Daaaaaad,” she whined.
“We’ve got milk,” Lucy said.
“Could I have chocolate milk?” she asked.
“Dad, can she have chocolate milk?” She threw those innocent green eyes over at me, and my dick practically sprang to life. She was ganging up on me with my own daughter, and the only thing I wanted to do was wipe my arm along this booth and thrust her back upon it. I held her gaze and saw her falter
ever so slightly, and when I knew she was squirming just like I was, I relented.
“Chocolate milk is fine,” I said.
“Yay!”
“I’ll be right back with your drink orders,” Lucy said. “Oh! Jenna, do you like to color?”
“Yes.”
“Do you like to color princesses?” she asked.
“Princess! Princess! Princess!”
“I’ll bring you some crayons and a princess to color when I come back with your drink.”
“Thank you so much, Miss Neighbor Lady!”
“It’s Lucy,” I said to Jenna.
“Thank you so much, Miss Lucy Lady!”
Lucy threw her head back and laughed, and I could swear her pulse point was begging to be devoured. Her smooth skin was shining underneath the poor lighting of this diner, screaming for my touch while my tongue lightly licked at the outer edges of her lips.
“I get to color,” Jenna said.
“I know you do, princess.”
I was also taken aback by how wonderful she naturally was with Jenna. Most women ignored her, and some had even been rude to her, and it was just another reason for me to put things on hold. The last thing Jenna needed to see was a revolving door of rude ass women just because her dad had urges he wanted to fulfill. Jenna deserved better than that from me.
And it was refreshing to see someone kind and gentle be so accepting of my daughter.
Lucy came back promptly with our order, and that’s when it hit me. I needed to tell her that I glanced at her car this morning and noticed something was leaking out of the bottom. If she wanted me to, I could get the hoses for her and fix it up in no time. Her car was a heap of junk, but it was obvious she couldn’t afford anything relatively new with the job she was working.
“A double cheeseburger with bacon and all the accouterments with double fries, and a creamy potato and corn soup for the beautiful princess.”
“Oh. Do you speak French?” I asked.
“Not a lick. Did it make me sound smart?” she asked.
“Nope. Just French,” I said with a wink. “I meant to tell you, I might have taken a look at your car this morning.”
“How could you have done that without my keys?” she asked.