Single Dad Boss: A Small Town Romance

by Kara Hart

  I wake up the next morning and roll over, expecting to feel her warm body next to mine. I take a deep breath in and smell her perfume. “You awake already?” I mumble, turning over.

  She’s not there. She’s nowhere in fucking sight. “Shit,” I mumble. I check my phone. Nothing. No text. I climb out of bed, feeling my hangover creep up on me, and I look for a note. Of course, there’s none of that. That’s not how Virginia operates. If I’m being honest with myself, she’s selfish. End of fucking story. Hell, it’s not like I can really blame her. I can relate.

  I stumble over to my coffee maker and pour a big serving into the top. I dump an unknown amount of water inside and press the button. “God,” I groan. “My fucking head.” I walk over to my massive bottle of ibuprofen and take about four. I can’t deal with the thought of going into work today, but we need to set up shop. In the next week, something big could happen and we need to be ready.

  I hear Adam’s tires roll over the gravel outside, so I peek my head out the window and flip him off. He does the same and smiles. I’m not smiling. “Cheeky bastard,” I mumble. I walk outside, butt ass naked, like I always do. He shields his eyes, the pussy.

  “God dammit! Put on some fucking clothes!” he yells.

  “Go fuck yourself, Adam. I had a long night,” I tell him.

  “What else is new?” he asks, carefully walking toward the house. I grab a dirty pair of jeans, an old undershirt, and my boots. I put everything on and rub my eyes awake. “You okay?” he asks.

  “I’m fine,” I laugh. “Actually, I had the time of my life last night.”

  “I figured as much,” he says. “That woman you’ve been seeing? You finally seal the deal?”

  “I did more than seal the deal,” I say, remembering her hands dragging across my body, remembering how damn good she tasted.

  “Well, I studied the bank’s layout last night, so when they hit it, you can thank me for knowing it front to back,” he says, sounding a little pretentious.

  “Mhm,” I mumble. We walk to his car and he drives, blasting some terrible new country song.

  “Turn it off,” I finally tell him. I only like that old stuff. The twang is what gets the heart moving. But it doesn’t matter. We’re already at the place.

  “This is it,” he says, putting on his sunglasses. It’s a big bank, no doubt. We walk across the street, trying not to look too suspicious. Our car is unmarked and we’re not wearing any badges. That’s about as good as we can do around here. They’re bound to know exactly what we look like, so we take shelter in the bar across the street.

  “What’re you having?” the waitress asks us, as if we’re some tourists she wants out as fast as she can.

  “I’ll take a burger,” Adam says. “He’ll have the same.”

  I nod and say, “And a whiskey coke, darling. If you please.”

  Adam glances at me like I’m crazy to be drinking on the job, which annoys the hell out of me. “We’re going to be here for over 16 hours,” I say. “I really can’t have one drink?”

  “Do whatever you want, officer,” he says.

  I groan and keep my eyes steady on the bank. Of course, there’s nothing in sight. This whole town is fucking dead. In fact, it’s much emptier than I expected. It makes me start to think that maybe Adam has a real plan on this one. Maybe he’s going to put the case to rest.

  “There’s no one in sight,” I say. “They’d have to be fools not to take advantage of this.”

  Adam smiles big, like he’s won something. “See!” he nearly shouts. “I told you. Just wait. In the next couple of days, you’re going to have a couple thieves in your jail and we’ll both get promoted.”

  The waitress brings Adam water, and sets the whiskey coke down on the table. “I can give a cheers to that,” I say, smiling. I’ve been eyeing that promotion since forever. It would be nice to finally get recognized for all that I’ve done. Maybe they’ll transfer me to a bigger city. I’ve always wanted to go down to Austin, or even Dallas.

  In the back of my mind, however, is Virginia. I was trying not to call her or get her attention first. I figured, if she really wants to see me, she will. Though, after more than six hours pass, I grab my phone from my pocket and text her, feeling a little neglected.

  “Round 2?” I type out. Round 2? Sounds like a fucking boxing fight. I delete it quickly. “How’s your morning?” I type out. Fuck. That sounds too desperate. I never have this problem with anyone. Most people act like I’m the man in this town, but not her. She acts like I’m just like anybody else.

  It’s unreal how stupid a man can get when he comes in contact with one of the most gorgeous women he’s ever seen. In fact, when I think about it some more, I have to tell myself to calm down. This is stressing me out a bit too much.

  So, I keep it simple. I type, “Hey Gorgeous. How’re you holding up?”

  Adam sighs, glancing over at me. “What’s your problem?” I ask him.

  “Nothing. It’s boring staking out. I thought it would be more action than this,” he says.

  “Welcome to being a police officer,” I say.

  I laugh a little and put my phone away. I glance in the binoculars, although the bank is close enough. Nothing. He’s right, this is boring as hell. I wonder if we’re getting anywhere at all with this. Part of me also wonders if I should just up and leave. I don’t want to give the wrong impression. I love this state. I love the town I protect. And of course, I love the people, as wild as they can be. I’m just like them. But, if I’m being honest with myself, it would be nice to get out of town for a while.

  For a second there, I think about what it would be like. I don’t know, ending up in South America, or somewhere in Thailand… maybe it would be nice to just disappear with some woman by my side. There wouldn’t be any responsibilities. I wouldn’t have to answer to nobody. I wouldn’t have to do shit, except live a life. Hell, I could open a small business somewhere and make a fortune. ‘Course, I’m only dreaming. This is the only life that’s out there for me.

  My phone vibrates and it shakes me out of my nice dream for a moment. I read the text message and it’s short and to the point. “I’m doing well. Let’s meet up tomorrow night. Your place again?”

  Damn. This woman is already wanting more of this. Well, I’m going to have to give her what she wants.

  “Tomorrow night it is,” I type. I laugh a little out loud. Shit, I’m excited. A man’s allowed to be excited. Adam, however, isn’t laughing. He’s just shaking his damn head.

  “Quit lookin’ at me,” I say.

  “I envy you, you bastard,” he says.

  41

  Virginia

  “Vi-” I hear my name being called. “Vi!”

  A rock hits my window. I look down and it’s the guys, Craig and Elroy. “Fucking idiots,” I hiss, jumping out of bed. Why are they here? Are they complete morons?

  I run down and open the bottom gate, looking to the left and right. I make sure no one sees them, but you can never be too certain. I hurry them in, regardless, and lock the gate up. We walk upstairs and I slam the door shut, locking that too.

  “What the fucking fuck!” I half-scream at them. “Are you insane?!”

  Craig rolls his eyes. “We’re good. No one saw us. It’s still dark out,” he says.

  “Barely,” I say. “Besides, that’s not the fucking point and you know it. We have to be extra careful now.”

  “Why? Because you’re in bed with that cop?” Craig says, sitting down on my couch. For some reason, the sight of him doing that drives me crazy. I want him out and I want him to apologize now. Of course, he just smiles at me, looking all too smug.

  “He’s our inside source,” I tell him. “I’ll find out some shit. You’ll see.”

  “You better,” Elroy joins in, glancing at Craig. “I mean, the whole thing has been making us feel sick as hell. We don’t want to hit this bank if he’s going to be there waiting, guns ready.”

  “He won’t,” I cl
ose my eyes and feel despair creep up into my body. How have I complicated things so much? I’ve let myself do the unthinkable. “I’m going to get him to tell me his plans. We’ll go from there.”

  “We don’t have much time,” Craig reminds me. “So I thought we should go over this job. Most likely, we’re going to have to hit this one place regardless. If we have to switch it up last second, we’ll do it old school style. Fast.”

  “Sounds good,” I nod.

  My heart starts to race as he pulls out a blueprint. He points his fingers at each important spot, but it all moves in slow motion for me. I can’t think. I can barely even focus on my breathing. I just want out. That was the plan, to get the hell out of here. But here I am. Stuck. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

  There’s always a catch and I’m stuck in the net.

  “Got it,” I say, as he finishes up his speech. Elroy glances at me with a worried look.

  “You sure? You’re good, Vi?” Elroy asks. Vi… It just reminds me of Marshall, the man I shouldn’t ever have talked to.

  “I’m sure,” I say. “In and out, fast. We’ll hit it and take the back routes. The car sounds good. I think we’ll be fine.”

  But I have no idea if we’ll be fine or not. In fact, I’ve got a feeling we’ll all end up in Marshall’s control, and not in the way I had hoped.

  We hug goodbye and Elroy whispers, “I hope you still have some fight in you. We’re doing this because bankers rob the world every single day. They deserve it.”

  “Yeah,” I mutter. “I know.”

  I don’t care about that anymore. I shut the door and fall face first on the couch. Justice, right? It would be one thing if we were giving the money back to the people. That, I might understand. But we’re not doing anything like that. We’re taking it for our own gain. Somehow, that seems a bit selfish. It seems like we’re doing exactly what the banks do themselves. So, in turn, we’ve become the enemy we’ve always hated.

  Great.

  I somehow fell asleep for hours, even though I had a full night of sleep. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Probably stress. It’s Marshall’s call that wakes me up, actually. I answer, voice groggy and completely unsexy. “Marshall?” I say.

  “Where you been?” he asks.

  “What do you mean?” I ask. “What time is it?”

  “It’s close to nine. I’ve only been calling you for the past two hours,” he says. He doesn’t sound angry though, so that’s good.

  “Shit, I’m sorry,” I sigh. “I got up earlier, but I guess I ended up falling asleep. Give me 20 minutes and I’ll meet you at your place.”

  “Sounds nice. I wish I could sleep through the day,” he says. “20 minutes is fine. Take your time. I’ll be here.”

  “See you.” I hang up the phone and get ready quick.

  I head out the front door, wearing some plain jeans and a t-shirt that cuts off around the stomach. I wanted to wear something a bit sexier, maybe classier, but I don’t have the time. Hopefully this outfit can get something out of him still.

  I take a cab to his house, and when I’m about to pay, he comes jogging outside, shirtless, with some money in his hand. “Here ya go,” he says to the driver.

  “Marshall, you don’t have to do that,” I weakly protest. Of course, he insists and I don’t really put up that much of a fight.

  “Come on in,” he says, kissing my cheek. “Shit, I’m so excited. I’ve had the most boring two days of my life.”

  It’s cute how excited he really is. I guess cops don’t really have the most exciting jobs in the world and part of me is starting to realize that maybe I misunderstood him a little. Maybe, deep down at least, he’s a really good guy. I mean, am I at all better than him? Probably not. I know Craig and Elroy aren’t.

  “Tell me about your boring day,” I smile. “I want to hear all about it.”

  “Really?” he laughs.

  “Really!” I say, stepping inside his house. “I’m sure it’s more exciting than my last few days.”

  Inside his house, it’s nicely put together, much nicer than my last visit. He’s really put in some effort, all for me, and I’m just using him for his information. I feel like a total asshole. Well, it’s not only about that for me. If he only wasn’t a cop, I could bring him with me. We could leave this stupid place together…

  He sits down on his couch and smooths out a spot for me. “What do you do anyway?” he asks me. “You’ve got all this free time. You’re lucky.”

  I look away for a brief moment and he catches me. I didn’t even think about preparing myself for a question like this. Shit. “I, uh…” I stutter. “I kind of did some questionable work for a while.” I look down, awkwardly. Sex work? Drugs? What kind of work am I even implying? It’s a bad lie.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he eyes me, curiously.

  “Advertisement,” I laugh. A quick recovery. “It’s the most evil profession a person can get into. You’re wasting your time on the street criminals. You should be locking people like me up.”

  He cracks up and jumps up from the couch, over to the bar area. “You got me there for a second!” he says. “My heart was racing.”

  “That’s what I’m here for,” I say. My heart is racing. He points to the big selection of bottles. “Get me a vodka tonic?”

  “Coming right up,” he says.

  He pours the drinks and sits back down. “So you want to hear about my day?” he asks.

  “I do.” I don’t even have to act interested. I am interested.

  He leans back, looking pleased with himself. He puts his arm around me and pulls out his phone. He shows me a picture. It’s a picture of a bank, but not the bank we’re hitting. Already, I’m happy. “What is this? A bank? Did another one get robbed?” I ask him, playing dumb.

  He laughs. “No, no. I wish another one would happen. I know it’s wrong, but we’re getting pretty stumped out there. I hate admitting that. But that’s how these things go.”

  “So what’re you going to do? You’re staking this place out or something?” I ask him. He’s already given me too much. If he’s staying in one area, we’re good. We’re golden.

  “Yes, ma’am. Until they hit some place else. Then, I guess it’s back to the drawing board. These things usually happen in threes,” he says, eyeing me to see if I’m impressed by the big task he’s got. I’m assuming he thinks he’ll win this battle and draw me in further. He’s wrong though. Very wrong. Before he knows it, I’ll be gone. I’ll be on the coast of Europe, drinking a glass of red wine, happy as can be. I can’t wait.

  “Well, you have to catch the guys,” I say.

  He gives me a long, hard, and serious stare. “Who said they were guys?” he asks me. I start to freak out, but he bursts out laughing. “Just kidding. Of course they’re guys. And we’ll catch them. We always do.”

  I laugh alongside with him, but things aren’t sitting right for me. At least he thinks there’s going to be more jobs in the future. This is the only one though. None will come after. He’ll be sitting, waiting and twirling his thumbs.

  “Hey, want to do something fun?” he asks me.

  “I love a little fun,” I smile, biting my lower lip.

  “Well come on, then. I figure we could use some excitement,” he says, taking me by the hand. He pulls me into his garage and turns on the light. Inside is an old motorcycle. “Want to ride?”

  My eyes light up. “Whoa, I haven’t ridden one of these in years!” I exclaim. I haven’t since I was a kid. It’s kind of a coincidence, really. The other day I was thinking a motorcycle might make a perfect getaway vehicle.

  “Hop on,” he says, getting on himself. He pushes the garage door open with a button. “And don’t forget to hold on tight, honey.”

  My hands grip tightly around his pecs, slowly moving downwards. I feel his tight abs and close my eyes, pressing my face against his shoulder. Before I know it, we’re flying out of the garage, going at least 80 on some neighbor
hood streets. He’s speeding around some turns and definitely breaking the law, and he’s scaring me to death.

  But I like seeing him like this. He screams against the wind, something cheesy like “yee-haw,” and I find myself doing it right after him, because in this moment we’re nothing that we’ve built ourselves up to be. We’re just living. We’re free. In the end, this is what we should be, I think to myself. Again, I fall against his shoulder and feel the solid heartbeat of this man who could end my freedom any second. And even though this is the sad truth of things, I feel okay about it. Anyway, I’m not as hung up about it in the moment.

  We turn off onto a dusty trail and it gets a little rough, so I’m forced to hold on tighter. “Almost there,” he says. I can’t stop fucking smiling. This is it. The highest I’ll feel until I’m where I need to be. I know it. The trail starts to climb and we’re face to face with a steep edge of a mountain. We keep going until we turn around at the very top.

  “Here, at last,” he smiles, a little out of breath. He turns the bike off and gets off.

  “That drive was a little unexpected,” I laugh, fixing my hair.

  He completely ignores me in the most charming way, that it almost makes me sick. “You’re so damn beautiful,” he says, reclaiming the air in his lungs. He looks confident, and a little bit somber, which hits me hard. Of course, I fall. I fall harder than he does. When he runs his hands above my ear and through my hair, I glance away for a second, only to feel my chest sink with emotions.

  “You’re just saying that,” I tell him. I don’t know what else to say. It can’t be. We can’t be “a thing.” It’s just not in our cards.

  “Only, I’m not. This is real. This isn’t a dream. You’re here in front of me and we can do anything our hearts desire,” he says, full of hope and wonder. It’s inspiring. It’s uplifting. It’s everything every girl in the world dreams about. But what am I going to do about it?

  “I wish that was true,” I say.

  He gets down on his knees, covering himself in dirt. “What do you want me to do to get you to react like a human being?” he asks. If he wasn’t right in his assessment of me, I would be offended. “Just be here with me. For one night, at least.”