by M. E. Carter
We look up at Annika who must have just arrived, Jaxon heading off to say hi to some other guests.
“Hey.” I scooch over a bit so she can squeeze in. “How are you always sneaking up on us?”
“Must be a gift. What’s a little of both?”
I gesture out to the water. “We’re just appreciating how Heath has taken over the role of father figure for Carson, and how my son doesn’t lack for male attention at all because of it.”
“They are really bonded,” Annika remarks and we all laugh at the look on Carson’s face when someone finally slips and he accidentally goes underwater after a particularly hard toss. It doesn’t seem to faze him. Once he wipes the water from his eyes he starts yelling, “’gain! Do it ‘gain!”
“That kid is a mess,” Lauren says under her breath while we laugh.
“It’s good he has so many uncles to wrestle around with. It releases chemicals in his brain that’ll help make him smart.” Leave it to Annika to know the medical benefits of throwing a toddler around a pool. She and Jaxon really are perfectly matched.
We sit in silence and watch for a while, enjoying the calm of the day. I don’t have to work, Carson is entertained, and food is on the way. Everything is nearly perfect. Except for one thing.
I glance down at my phone checking the time and to see if I have any missed texts. My face must give me away because Lauren nudges me.
“Where is Paul anyway? Did he text you?”
I groan. Of course, she would know that’s who I was thinking about. She’s never going to let this go. Maybe inviting him was a bad idea.
Annika leans forward so she can see both of us. “Paul from the bar? Is there something I don’t know about?”
“No. There is nothing you need to know.” There actually is. Namely the insanely strong feelings I have for my boss, but I will never admit it to these two.
“Kiersten has a crush on Paul,” Lauren says immediately making me groan again. Now there are two of them. They’re going to gang up on me, I just know it.
“I do not,” I argue but I know the blush on my cheeks gives me away.
“You’re turning awfully red for someone who is just friends with a hot guy.” Lauren says it matter-of-factly and goes back to sipping on her margarita.
“It’s summertime. I must have a sunburn on my cheeks.” The argument falls flat even to my own ears.
“You’re sitting in a covered patio.”
“Et tu, Annika?”
“Yes. Yes Annika, too.” Lauren slaps my thigh playfully. She’s had enough to drink she’s forgotten her own strength.
“Ow,” I whine, rubbing my leg. “That actually hurt.”
“No. What hurts is knowing that you’re not being honest with yourself about how much you like him.” She turns in her seat to stare me down. She’s so close I have to lean back.
“I’m a little frightened of how aggressive you’re being about this.”
She huffs and sits back. “Kiersteeeeeeeeen.” She draws out my name like this whole conversation is painful. It is, but not to her.
“Paul is my boss and he’s at least a decade older than me. Can you please let this go? At least for today so you don’t make work uncomfortable for me?” I plead. Lauren doesn’t seem convinced, but Annika finally understands why I don’t want to have this conversation now. Really, I don’t want to have it ever, but I’ll settle for this afternoon if it’s all I can get.
“You’re right.” I knew Annika was my favorite. “We’ll drop it while he’s here. There’s no reason to make him feel weird.”
“Exactly.”
“Especially since we don’t know how he feels about you, yet,” she tacks on.
“Wrong answer…”
Lauren’s phone vibrates and she opens the screen to check her security app. “Well, we’re about to find out because someone has finally arrived.” She shakes the phone in my face, and I have to back away so it doesn’t smack me in the nose.
“Okay, drunky. You just sit there, and I’ll go answer the door.”
I push out of the lounger and give them one last glare, gesturing to zip their lips, before heading back through the house to let Paul in. Fingers crossed my friends will keep their mouths shut. Honestly, with this group, you just never know.
ELEVEN
Paul
When Kiersten invited me to a barbecue, I wasn’t expecting a house like this. Sure, it’s in a gated community and the security is pretty unreal. Meaning, I didn’t have a gate code so the armed guard, yes, armed, had to make sure my name was on some sort of list. That was kind of surprising.
What’s surprising is how modest the house is in size. Don’t get me wrong, it’s huge by regular everyday standards. But it’s not what I’d call a mansion either. Just really large. The landscaping is impeccable and I assume professionally maintained, if it weren’t for the kid’s plastic shovel in the mulch. I didn’t realize Heath and Lauren had children. I must not have been paying as much attention to our local sports news as I thought.
It takes just a few minutes of waiting for the door to finally be answered by Kiersten, of all people.
“Hey,” she greets with a bright smile. She’s so damn beautiful I almost stumble over my own reply of “Hey.” Well done, Romeo.
I quickly pull myself together by reminding myself of two undeniable truths. She’s an employee and significantly younger than me. Would that make me a dirty old man?
It doesn’t matter. Dating her is off-limits. Even if she is the first woman who has truly caught my eye in a very long time.
“Come on in.” She steps aside for me to enter the house. “You got here just in time. Everyone’s out back and the food is almost done. You hungry?”
“I could eat.”
She smiles at me over her shoulder as she leads me through the house and the unintentional sexiness of the gesture hits me straight in the gut. I try to glance around as we walk through the living areas, but my eyes are too busy enjoying her backside. I really need to get laid. Having a crush on one of two employees isn’t a good idea. I wish the angel on my shoulder would hurry up and shut down the devil on the other side. I’m getting tired of battling myself.
Stepping out through a set of sliding glass doors, Kiersten continues doing her best to make me feel welcome. “We’ve got mixed drinks in the blender out here and there’s beer in the fridge. Or you can just have straight liquor. What do you prefer?”
“I’m good with beer.”
“You got it.”
She takes off into the outdoor kitchen area and I’m left standing alone, awed by the backyard. It’s massive and perfect for entertaining. This one area is nicer than my entire business. It’s got more people using it, too.
Shit.
I just realized I’m at a barbecue with a bunch of kids in their twenties. Maybe a few in their early thirties. For the most part, they’re all babies. And yet they have more to show for it than I do. At least Heath Germaine does. But considering how many of the men here are obviously pro football players, it’s a reasonable assumption that they all have some pretty nice digs.
That’s not discouraging, per se. Just makes me all the more determined for my bar to succeed so I have something to show for myself.
I’m not left standing alone for long when a voice I recognize calls out.
“Hey Paul.” Jaxon saunters over to greet me with a handshake and man hug.
“Good to see you, man. How was the honeymoon?”
Jaxon’s eyes light up. “Amazing. St. Lucia was stunning. You ever been?”
“Nope.” Kiersten hands me my beer with a smile and takes off to talk to her friends. “I’m sad to say I don’t do much traveling.”
“You should put it on your bucket list. It’s fantastic.”
Jaxon and I chat a bit more about his trip and the pediatric oncology specialty he’s working toward. I never pegged the guy for a medical student when we worked together, but I’m glad he’s found his calling. At s
ome point into my second beer, Annika joins us, snuggling into her husband’s side. When he kisses her on the forehead, I admit to wondering what it would feel like to have someone to be that comfortable with.
It’s not that I haven’t dated in the past. Hell, the thought of marriage has crossed my mind before, just in the very distant future. Still, I’m in my mid-thirties. Convention says I should have settled down long ago. I’ve never paid much attention to that thought process but seeing all these kids starting their lives makes me begin to wonder if I’ve been missing out.
“You know Lauren, right?” Jaxon asks as the tiny blonde bounces up to our group.
“Yeah, we’ve met a few times. Thanks for inviting me. Or letting Kiersten invite me,” I clarify.
“The more the merrier,” Lauren says and raises her glass, almost losing her balance. “Oh! Apparently, I’ve already had too much to drink.”
I chuckle in response. “At least you’re among friends. And no driving home for you.”
“Right?” She gets an over-exaggerated happy expression, a clear indicator in my world of her lack of sobriety. “I should have parties more often.”
“Maybe you should drink a little water so you don’t get dehydrated.” Annika hands Lauren a water bottle. She shrugs and begins chugging the whole thing without any resistance. I wish the drunks in my bar were always this compliant.
Jaxon just shakes his head, clearly amused by the antics. Somehow, I don’t think this is the first time he’s seen Lauren blitzed.
“And here’s the man of the house,” Jaxon announces. A very tall, very muscular Black man holding a toddler joins our group. “Paul, did you meet Heath at the reception?”
“I don’t think I did.” I hold my hand out to shake his. “Nice to meet you. You’ve got a great outdoor space here.”
Heath looks around, admiring the area as he nods. “This is what sold me on the house. I didn’t really care about the inside. That was all Lauren. But out here is my favorite space. I would be in that hammock over there all the time if I could be. Anyway, I’m glad you could make it. Kiersten says you’ve been working way too hard lately.”
“She exaggerates. You know how it is when you’re trying to get a business off the ground. It takes a while.”
“It was a pretty cool place, though.” Heath shifts the kiddo from one side to the other. The toddler doesn’t stop rubbing his hands over the top of Heath’s hair. He doesn’t seem to notice. I’m not sure whose kid it is since they don’t look alike at all. Unless maybe they adopted? But surely I would have heard about that. Regardless, they’re obviously really close.
“You should swing by when you have a night off. It’s pretty low-key. Not many customers yet so at least you won’t get mobbed. First drink is on me.”
Heath’s eyebrows raise slightly. “Yeah, that sounds fun. We’ll do that. Thanks, man.”
“Of course. Any friend of Jaxon’s and all that.” Looking at the kiddo again, I can’t stop myself from inquiring. “And who is this guy, huh?” I poke the kid’s tummy because, well, I don’t really know why. I guess that’s what people do.
“This is Carson. Kiersten’s boy but my little man, isn’t that right?” Heath starts blowing raspberries on the boy’s neck, making him squeal with delight, but I’m too stunned to really notice.
As if on cue, Kiersten walks up and wraps the tot in a towel.
“I cold, mama.”
“I can see that,” she replies with a laugh as she tucks the fabric around him. “Your lips are blue. You better tell Uncle Heath to turn the heater on in the pool.”
His big brown eyes turn to the football player accusingly. “Turn on da heata, Unca Heat.”
“Oh man, you’re fine. You ain’t no pansy. Tell your mama that. Say, I am no pansy.”
I continue to watch the whole exchange, shocked by this new information. Eventually, Heath recognizes Lauren is swaying, so he takes her hand and walks away to sit with some teammates. Carson goes with him, laying his head on Heath’s massive shoulder. That’s when I finally turn to Kiersten.
“You have a son?”
She cocks her head, likely feeling just as confused as I do. “You didn’t know that?”
“No. We’ve worked together for almost two months and it never came up.”
She looks off and thinks for a few seconds before answering. “Huh. That’s weird because I know I’ve talked about him before. I think Tammy will kill me if I show her another cute baby picture.”
Tammy knew and didn’t tell me? That seems out of character for her. She made sure to tell me about Desiree’s sugar daddy and when Dwayne’s dog had gastrointestinal issues. Seems like Kiersten having a kid would have been the first thing she spilled.
I clear my throat at my spinning thoughts. I don’t want to sound rude. “Well, he’s really cute.”
Kiersten bites her lip and smiles in his direction as he begins to entertain the crowd by demanding Heath become “a horsie, Unca Heat.”
“He’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Kiersten says wistfully.
It shouldn’t matter to me that she’s a mom, and it doesn’t in any important sense. But I hope this is the information I need to close the door on any potential relationship. Hell, I don’t even know if Carson’s dad is around. What I do know, however, is single moms have so much on their plates, the last thing she needs is me getting in the way, especially with her limited free time. And the last thing they both need is for me to fail them.
At least I have one more reason to stop pining over her. Maybe this is the reason that will finally stick.
TWELVE
Kiersten
“I need two fingers of whiskey for Jimmy, and I guess Dwayne has decided he likes what he calls fruity drinks after all, so if we have any more Apple Pie Ales, he’ll take three.”
Paul chuckles, the rumble in his chest lighting up my hormones. Lately, it’s been my favorite sound and every night I find myself setting a goal to see how many times I can make it happen.
Damn Lauren for putting my crush into the forefront of my mind. I blame her for not being able to get him out of my thoughts since the other day at the barbecue. I refuse to believe it has anything to do with how much I enjoyed hanging out with him. Nope. It’s all Lauren’s fault.
“I knew he’d come around eventually. And he’s in luck—I stocked up on some today.” Paul pops the top off the bottle and puts it on the counter. “But he’s only getting one at a time.”
I shake my head in fake disappointment. “He’s going to be really mad he has to stop playing darts to order another.” Grabbing my tray, I drop the act and deliver the drinks as requested.
“Here ya go, gentlemen.”
Dwayne looks over from the dartboard where he’s getting ready for the next round of play by removing what Tammy and I refer to as the weapons. Let’s face it—anything a drunk can throw in a bar fight doesn’t have to be called by its official name. Darts are number one on that list. And Dwayne doesn’t look happy already. “What is that? I ordered three.”
“Sorry, Dwayne. Boss man says you can only have one at a time. But between you and me, they’re best straight from the fridge anyway. The colder the better.”
He considers my words then thanks me through his grumbles and gets back to his game. There is nothing Dwayne loves more than throwing pointy objects at that wall. Thank goodness he doesn’t lose his aim the longer he drinks and isn’t an angry drunk.
I quickly bus the vacated tables and wipe them down. There aren’t many. It’s another slow night. While it makes my job easier, I feel bad for Paul. I know he wants to increase business sooner rather than later, but it’s slow going at this point. Sure, we’re seeing a small increase in traffic, but I know it’s nothing like he’s hoping for.
Satisfied everything is covered for now, I head back to the bar to take a break and grab some caffeine.
Once I return the dirty glasses to the bar and load them into the dishwasher, Paul looks
up from where he’s counting bottles. He’s holding an inventory form on a clipboard and I assume he’s taking advantage of the lack of customers to get some extra tasks done.
He smiles at me and once again, my insides melt a little. “Taking a break?”
Grabbing a clean glass, I fill it with ice and flip on the soda gun. “I could use some caffeine to get me through the night.”
“It’s only nine. You hit a brick wall already?”
I shake my head and take a long drink. “Carson decided on the day he was born that he’s a co-sleeper, but not even a snuggly one. He rolls around all night long. Last night was worse than normal. I don’t know if he was having nightmares or what, but it makes for really bad sleep when you have a foot in your back.”
“Oooh. And on your night off, too.”
“Tell me about it.” I fill the glass again, only sipping this time. “I should have known it would happen. Since I work nights, he only gets to sleep with me a couple of times a week now. I guess he’s missing me or something. Maybe he’s still transitioning a bit.”
Paul tosses the clipboard aside and grabs his own clean glass. Only he fills his with water. “I was wondering about that. Where does he go when you’re here?”
“You mean you couldn’t tell at the barbecue? He stays with Lauren and Heath.”
“Ah. That explains why Carson’s comfortable with them. And by them, I mean Heath.”
I giggle because he’s not wrong. As much as Carson loves Lauren, he’s all about Heath right now. “Oh yeah. They are basically best friends. And Heath just loves him so much. We argue all the time about how much he spoils my son.”
Paul chuckles. “There are worse things, though, right?”
“Definitely.” I lean back against the bar, taking some of the pressure off my feet. “They’re the reason we moved here. Well, them and the Harts. The four of them are the best support system anyone could ask for.”
Every once in a while, when I really think about it, I get almost teary with gratitude. Life is hard, but it would be much worse without them.