Flirt With Me

by Kristen Proby

  “Stop.” My voice is firm because this is one area I won’t ever budge on. “No lying, Maeve. It’s my number-one rule.”

  “I really don’t hate it.”

  “And you really don’t have anything in your eye.”

  “I was going to buy it, okay?” she whispers, shocking the hell out of me. “The house. I’ve been saving up for it. But I’m still too far away from the down payment. It’s just not meant to be, and I know you and your daughter will be happy there.”

  “Well, hell.” I shove my hands through my hair and feel like the biggest prick on earth. “Jesus, Maeve, I’ll give you the money to buy it.”

  She stares at me, shocked. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “You’re miserable. I feel like I just kicked a puppy.”

  Her spine straightens, all evidence of tears dries from her eyes, and she firms that gorgeous little chin.

  “I’m no puppy. I’m perfectly fine, and it’s a beautiful home for you and your daughter. I’ll have the papers for you later today.”

  She turns to leave, and before I can reach out to take her hand and keep her with me just a moment longer, she turns back to me.

  “Are you still interested in dinner?”

  My eyebrows climb in surprise. “Hell, yes. Don’t play with my emotions here, Maeve.”

  A smile touches the edges of her lips. “I don’t have to work at the pub tonight.”

  “Well, then, I’ll pick you up at six.”

  She nods. “Okay. I’ll be ready. I’ll text you my address.”

  “I can’t believe you brought me all the way over to Seattle just for dinner,” she says and takes a bite of her steak.

  “There’s a method to my madness,” I admit as I watch her chew.

  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, she has the sexiest fucking lips I’ve ever seen. And she tastes like heaven.

  “And what is that?” she asks.

  “I get to be with you during the travel time, as well as dinner.”

  She laughs and lifts her martini, those green eyes shining at me over the rim as she takes a sip.

  “We talked about my family earlier today,” she says. “Tell me about your family.”

  “There’s not much to tell. My parents live here in the Seattle area, and I see them often. And I have Rachel.”

  “How long have you been divorced?”

  “I was never married.” I narrow my eyes on her. “Don’t you already know all of this?”

  “How would I?”

  “I don’t know, Google?”

  She shakes her head. “No. I avoid Google. I have several members of the family who are famous, and I know that the truth isn’t always portrayed online. I’d much rather get to know you from you directly. If you want to tell me about yourself, you will.”

  “Besides Kane, who else is famous in your family?”

  She grins. “Well, because Kane married Anastasia, we have Luke Williams, Leo Nash, and Will Montgomery. Not to mention Starla, the pop star, and Amelia Montgomery, the YouTube sensation who has a makeup line. It’s awesome, by the way. There may be more, but those are off the top of my head. Also, if I didn’t again mention Shawn and his wife, my brother would kill me.”

  “Wait, you know Jules McKenna’s family?”

  She tilts her head to the side. “Yes, they’re extended family now. Do you know them?”

  “Hell, I practically grew up with Nate. He’s a bit older than me, but I pretty much lived in his dad’s gym as a teenager. Yeah, I know them well.”

  “What a small world,” she says with a smile.

  “That’s a lot of famous people,” I reply, thinking it over. “Holy shit, Maeve.”

  “I know.” She finishes her steak and reaches for her martini glass again. “Trust me, it gets intimidating. And, sometimes, we need graphs and charts. Oh! And Izzy, Keegan’s wife, is a local celebrity. She reports the weather here in Seattle.”

  “That’s where I know her from,” I say, thumping my fist on the table. “It’s been driving me nuts.”

  Maeve laughs and nods. “Yep. She doesn’t have to work at the pub, but she enjoys it, so she helps out a couple of days a week. But now we’re just talking about my family again.”

  “Right.” I smile and take a sip of my water. “I was a young fighter and met this woman, Carla. She was nineteen and what we call a ring bunny.”

  Maeve laughs. “Of course, you do. That’s not sexist at all.”

  “Oh, it totally is. I was twenty. What the fuck did I know? Anyway, Carla was cute and paid me a lot of attention. We hooked up a few times, and the next thing I knew, she was pregnant. By that time, she’d moved on to a different fighter, a guy named Danny Ost. He’s still in the business. Anyway, she made it clear that she had no interest in a kid.”

  Maeve’s eyes widen.

  “At first, she talked about aborting it. And it’s not that I don’t believe in a woman’s right to choose, but I sat her down and told her that if she’d carry it, I would be responsible for it. Carla didn’t come from a stable home. She would have had zero help. And, yeah, I could have taken the easy way out, but something in my gut said: Do this.

  “So, what felt like the blink of an eye later, I had this tiny pink thing to take care of. I wasn’t willing to stop fighting—and thank God for my parents. Seriously, they’re saints. I bought them a house and retired them both early. If I could do more, I would. Because they brought Rachel into their lives, and they love her as much as I do.”

  “Of course. My family would do the same.”

  “I can see that,” I agree.

  “Does Rachel ever see her mother?”

  “Carla comes and goes. She’s a free spirit, but she checks in with Rach now and then. Rachel just can’t depend on Carla to show up when she says she will. And last year, she embarrassed Rachel at school. She showed up out of the blue and sat down at the lunch table with her. So, Rachel’s figuring out what kind of person her mom is.”

  “You’re a good dad,” Maeve says. “A lot of people would talk a lot of crap about a parent like that.”

  “Hey, she did what I asked. She had the baby. That’s all I ever wanted from her.” I scribble my name on the credit card receipt. “So, that’s about it for my family.”

  My phone rings, and I glance down to see Rachel’s name.

  “This is Rachel. I have to take it. Hello?”

  “Dad, I need you to come get me.”

  I narrow my eyes. “From Gram and Gramps’?”

  “No.” Her voice is thin. “I snuck out. But I—”

  “I’m tracing your phone right now. I’ll be there in just a few minutes. Are you safe?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Don’t move. I’m on my way.”

  I click off and swear under my breath.

  “Is she okay?”

  “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I have to go get her. I’m sorry.”

  “What for? She’s your daughter. Let’s go.”

  We hurry through the restaurant and out to my car so I can check my phone to see where my daughter is.

  “She’s on my last damn nerve.”

  “You said that before. Has she been in trouble?”

  “Yeah. That’s why we’re moving to the island. She’s always in trouble lately. Her friends are awful. She’s defiant. And she’s started to give my parents a hard time. She just admitted to me that she snuck out of their house tonight.”

  I feel my jaw clench in anger.

  “Speaking of, I’d better call them.”

  I make the call on Bluetooth in the car, and my dad answers.

  “How are things going on the island?” he asks in greeting.

  “They’ve gone well, but I’m in Seattle. I came into the city to have dinner with Maeve.”

  “Oh, the woman you told me about?”

  I feel Maeve whip her head to stare at me. “Yes, that’s the one. Listen, I just got a call from Rachel. She snuck out and needs me to come get he
r. I’m on my way.”

  “Damn it,” Dad mutters. “Hunter, I swear to you, we’ve been on that girl like white on rice all damn day.”

  “She’s sneaky. And I’m over it. When I’m done with her, she’ll think being a nun is liberating. I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Please do.”

  I click off as we approach a gas station, the exact location of the red dot on my phone.

  “What’s she doing here?” I mutter as I pull in and see my daughter standing by the front doors, waiting.

  “Uh, should I get in the back?” Maeve asks, dubiously eyeing the minuscule backseat. The Rolls is a little sportster, not really meant for hauling around more than two people.

  “No.” I pull to a stop and climb out of the car to address my daughter. “You’ll have to climb into the backseat.”

  “Who’s that?” Rachel demands.

  “My friend.” Jesus, I’ve never introduced my daughter to a woman I’ve dated before. As far as she knows, I’m an eternal bachelor. “Backseat.”

  I hold my seat forward for her to slip behind. Once she’s squeezed into the back, I reenter the car and pull out of the gas station parking lot.

  “Who are you?” Rachel asks.

  “I’m Maeve,” the woman next to me says. “Nice to meet you.”

  Before Rachel can say anything else, I give her a hard look in the rearview mirror. “Talk to me.”

  “I just decided I didn’t want to go do what my friends wanted to do.”

  “Why in the ever-loving hell were you out in the first place? You know you’re supposed to be at Gram and Gramps’ while I’m out of town.”

  “Well, apparently, you aren’t out of town. You’re just having a sex weekend with this…person.”

  “Watch it,” I warn her. “Why did you leave the house?”

  “Because I wanted to go hang with my friends.”

  “That’s not a good reason.”

  I pull through the gate to my house and drive up the steep driveway toward the garage.

  “Why are we at home?” Rachel asks. “Aren’t we going to Grams’?”

  “No.” I pull up to the house and get out of the car, holding the seat for Rachel. As soon as she’s standing next to me, I smell her breath. “You’ve been drinking.”

  “I had one beer.”

  “You’re fifteen fucking years old,” I remind her, my voice like steel. “You’re not an adult.”

  “You treat me like a baby,” she counters. “I called you because they were snorting coke, and I didn’t want to do that stuff.”

  “Coke?” I stare at her in disbelief. “Jesus Christ, Rachel. You’re done with them. You’ve just lost your phone and every other privilege you enjoy.”

  “Dad—”

  “Wait.” We both turn at the sound of Maeve’s voice. My chest is heaving, my blood rushing through my ears. “She just told you what happened. She called you for help. I know that what she did was wrong, but she also did the right thing by not doing the drugs and calling you instead. You can’t punish her for her friends’ decisions.”

  I narrow my eyes, but I know she’s right.

  “I like her,” Rachel decides and turns to Maeve. “Not that you’ll be around for long because no one ever is. But I like you.”

  My daughter tosses her phone to me and then stomps into the house, leaving me out in the driveway with Maeve.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have interrupted,” she begins, but I shake my head.

  “No, you were right. I was upset, and I can’t punish her for what her friends decided to do. I’m glad she called me, but I’m so damn pissed that she snuck out in the first place.”

  “Absolutely.” Maeve checks her watch. “I’d better hunt down a hotel room. I’d call an Uber to take me back to the island, but I think I’ve missed the last ferry for the day.”

  “Ah, hell. I’m so sorry. Why don’t you stay here tonight? I’ll take you home first thing in the morning.”

  She calmly looks back to the front door where Rachel just slammed it and shakes her head. “I think, under the current circumstances, that’s not at all appropriate.”

  She looks back at me and raises a brow.

  My heart skips a beat.

  “Maeve.”

  “It’s okay.” She walks forward and takes my hand in hers, giving my fingers a little squeeze. “I’ll grab a room.”

  “I’ll pick you up in the morning and take you home.”

  “I’d like that.” She smiles and then reaches up to cup my cheek. I feel my heart, the one that just skipped a beat, shift. “She’s going to be okay. And so are you. I enjoyed tonight.”

  “I wish you’d stay with me.”

  Her smile is quick and full of female satisfaction. “Another night. When there isn’t so much teenage angst going on.”

  “That could take five years.”

  She laughs and taps on the screen of her phone, then leans in to hug me.

  “My car will be here in three minutes. I have to meet them down at the gate.”

  “I’ll walk you down.”

  We start down the driveway. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll sneak out again?”

  “Nah. This place is like Fort Knox. She’s not going anywhere else tonight. But I might sneak out later and come find your hotel.”

  Maeve’s laugh fills the air. “You’d best set a good example for your daughter.”

  “You’re a bossy one, you know that?”

  She leans her head on my biceps. I can’t get enough of her touch. “Yeah. I am.”

  Her car pulls up to the gate. I watch her get into the backseat and then stare at the red taillights as the car pulls away.

  I have to go up and have a long talk with my daughter.

  Chapter 5

  ~Maeve~

  “What hotel?” Maggie asks with a frown as she stares at me on FaceTime.

  “Uh, the Four Seasons,” I reply with a chuckle. “I figured if I’m stuck in Seattle for the night, it might as well be at a really nice place.”

  “Fancy,” she replies with a grin. “I’m sorry that happened, though.”

  “He has a teenager.” I shrug and sip the wine I had brought up. “I just feel bad for him. Sounds like she’s a handful.”

  “I think Ma and Da had it kind of easy with us. I don’t remember any of us pulling stuff like that.”

  I purse my lips and then giggle. “You’re too young to remember Kane stumbling into the house, drunk at sixteen, trying to act nonchalant. I thought Da was going to kill him. And then there was the time that Keegan got caught trying to have sex with Elizabeth Scooner in his car in the park. The cops called Da on that one. Threatened to charge Keegan with indecent exposure.”

  Maggie’s eyes go wide, and then she busts up laughing. “Okay, never mind. We should really buy them presents more often than just holidays.”

  “Flowers every single day,” I agree with a nod. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be home until sometime tomorrow morning, but I should be at the pub for my evening shift.”

  “Just let me know if you can’t make it, and we’ll figure it out,” Maggie replies with a yawn. “Oh, guess what?”

  “What?”

  “I have a date tomorrow. A morning date because I work nights.”

  “With who?” I sit up in surprise. “Mary Margaret, you have to tell me everything.”

  “This guy, Eddie, who works at the gym, asked me out. I thought, what the hell? So, while you’re coming home tomorrow, I’ll be eating waffles and staring at a hot musclehead guy.”

  “I want to know everything,” I say and point at her. “Be safe. Call me when you’re done.”

  “Yes, mother. Okay, I’d better get back out there. It’s actually pretty quiet tonight, for a summer evening.”

  “Have a good night.”

  “You, too.” She blows me a kiss and hangs up. I lean against the pillows of the bed. This place is posh. I wouldn’t usually splurge like this, but
now that I know I won’t be buying my dream home, I figured I deserved something extra indulgent tonight.

  I never realized that a person could mourn for a thing. But I sure had a bad moment this afternoon when I drafted those papers. The owners moved to Phoenix, so I suspect that Hunter will be able to take ownership quickly. The furniture inside is for staging. As soon as papers are signed, we’ll have the company come and empty it out.

  Realistically, it can all happen pretty quickly.

  I’ll find another house. There’s always another one. Or, I’ll buy a lot when one comes up for sale and build.

  There are options.

  In the meantime, I have a great home. It’s not like I’m homeless or anything.

  I sip my wine, and my phone suddenly rings at my elbow. I look down and smile.

  “Hello there.”

  “Did you get to your hotel okay?” Hunter asks. His voice is soft in my ear. I can’t help but wonder how it would sound if his lips were pressed directly to my skin, and a rush of pleasure moves through me.

  “I did.” I grin and sip my wine. “I’m in my room, wrapped in the robe they provide, with a glass of wine in hand. This turned into a little vacation.”

  “Well, that sounds a hell of a lot better than the icy silence in my house tonight.”

  “She’s fifteen, Hunter,” I remind him gently. “It’s her civic duty to make your life difficult.”

  “She’s good at it.” There’s a smile in his voice now. “I tried to talk to her, but she’s just mad.”

  “Give her a day or two. She’ll relax a bit.”

  “You sound so sure.”

  “I know it’s easy for me to say, given that I don’t have any kids, and she’s not living with me. But I was a fifteen-year-old girl once. After a couple of days, I’d soften a bit.” I sigh and turn onto my side. “You know, if you can’t get away tomorrow, I’ll call one of my brothers to come get me. It’s really not a big deal.”

  “It’s a big deal,” he counters. “I’ll be the one to take you home.”

  I grin, grateful that he insisted. I want to see him again. I don’t know where this is going or what we’re doing, but I’m enjoying him.

  “Okay.”

  “What are you going to do with the rest of your evening?” he asks.