by Sean Michael
“The bad boys shooted him with a real gun. They said. They said they was gonna shooted people.”
“I know, honey. They were very bad boys. But your daddy’s going to be okay. He just needs to take time to heal.”
“What’s heal?”
“Get better and not hurt.”
“Oh. Can I kiss him good-night?”
“You already got to cuddle with him when you were watching your movie. Let’s just go to bed, and tomorrow you can kiss him good morning.” He carried her into his room.
He thought she’d argue, but she settled on one side of the bed, looking tiny. “Love you, Daddy Bee.”
Oh.
Oh wow.
He hadn’t been expecting that. He hadn’t been expecting the way it warmed his heart, either.
Brock patted her arm. “Thank you, honey.”
“No, silly. You say, ‘Love you, Josie.’”
He chuckled. “Is that what I’m supposed to do?”
She nodded at him. “Yes. I say, ‘Love you.’ Then you say, ‘Love you, too.’”
“Okay. I’ll try to get it right next time.”
“’Kay.” She chuckled and hugged his arm, then snuggled with her blanket.
He pulled the covers up over her shoulders and tucked her in.
Then, sighing, he closed his own eyes and went back to sleep.
Chapter Six
BROCK STEPPED into the elevator and leaned against the back wall as it rose, bringing him home.
It was nearly seven. Josie would have had dinner already, had probably been bathed as well before Lacy left for the day. He figured she and Eric were probably asleep on the hospital bed, some animated movie running in the background.
He nodded to Sergei, the evening bodyguard, and let himself in quietly.
Eric was holding Josie, sound asleep. Josie, on the other hand, was wide-awake and coloring.
“Bee!” She smiled, waving a piece of paper. “For you.”
“Oh yeah?” He grinned and put down his briefcase, heading over to her.
She nodded happily. “Daddy sleeps. Mark went bye-bye.” Mark had started leaving in the evenings after the first few days.
Brock took the drawing from her. There was a little girl standing between two men in front of big windows. “Is this us?”
She nodded happily. “Me an’ Daddy an’ Daddy Bee.”
Eric’s eyes slowly opened. “Bee? You okay?”
“Hey, baby.” Brock went over to Eric’s side. “Jo’s coloring. How are you doing?”
“Sore, a bit.”
Josie nodded. “Daddy was bad. No picking up Josie!”
“Eric!” Brock shook his head. “You know the rules.”
“Josie, don’t tell on me!”
Josie giggled.
“I’m glad she did. You need to heal so you can pick her up for the rest of your life.”
“You have a good day?” Eric touched his wrist, just once, gently.
“Yeah, I got a lot accomplished.” And he’d somehow missed all day long the chaos his home had become.
“Good for you.” Eric smiled at him. “There’s leftover pizza in the kitchen.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I’m not that hungry. Has she had her bath yet?”
“Yes. That’s where I tried the picking up thing.”
“I’ll talk to the nanny about staying later when I’m working.”
“Nonsense. We managed.” Right. That was why Eric had huge dark circles under his eyes.
“Humor me.”
Eric chuckled, and Josie crawled into Brock’s lap, jabbering nonsensically. He let her talk flow over him, spreading his attention between her and Eric.
He hated to admit it, but it was nice to have someone to come home to. If he hadn’t known they were here, he would have probably worked until ten or so, maybe even midnight, like he normally did. This whole thing had really changed his life. He couldn’t be upset over that.
Eric was watching them, something warm in his eyes.
“What?” Brock growled.
“Nothing. Just looking.”
“You like what you see.” It wasn’t a question.
“I always have.”
Brock smiled at Eric, his prick throbbing once, his belly going warm. Eric still looked good, too, despite the paleness and the circles under his eyes.
They’d been a good-looking couple. They’d been more than good-looking; they’d been happy, at least at the beginning. Brock bit back his sigh and closed his eyes. It was actually kind of relaxing, just sitting, letting Josie’s chatter wash over him.
Before he knew it, a warm hand was on his shoulder, easing him up, leading him into his bedroom.
“You should be in bed.” Still, he let Eric guide him into bed.
“Shh.” Eric helped him undress, the pillows soft on his cheek.
“You’re in trouble if I find out you pushed too far,” he muttered.
“Mmm-hmm.” A soft kiss landed on his temple.
His eyes closed and he felt himself drift away into sleep. “Love….”
BROCK WAS having a great dream. He was making love, pushing slowly into his lover and rocking in and out. “Mmm….” He nuzzled into his lover’s neck, the skin so warm, so real.
His lover cuddled back against him, sighing softly. He didn’t want to wake up; he liked this dream. So very much. One of his hands was taken, fingers twining with his own. His lover seemed so real, warm and solid. Brock could even smell him.
He cracked an eye open. This was more than a dream.
Oh, God. There was Eric—warm and close, wearing only soft shorts.
Shit.
Brock jerked and tugged his hand out of Eric’s. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling. What was he doing in bed with Eric?
There was a long silence. Then Eric slowly slipped from the bed. “Sorry. I. Sorry.” Eric moved through the darkness and out the bedroom door, closing it silently behind him.
Well, shit.
Brock groaned and peeked at the clock. It was the middle of the fucking night. He had to be up early to go to work.
Still, Eric had sounded upset, and Brock knew he’d sleep like shit if he didn’t go out and say something. Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed and headed for the living room.
Eric was sitting on the sofa, head in hands.
Brock went and sat beside him, shoulder to shoulder. “Hey.”
“I’m sorry, Bee. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
He put his hand on Eric’s back, rubbing. “I was just surprised.”
Those muscles were so tight. “It was late and I was tired….”
Brock grunted and shifted, moving to sit behind Eric, legs on either side of his lover.
His ex-lover.
Legs on either side of his ex-lover.
Grunting again, he began to work the tight muscles of Eric’s back. “Like I said, I was surprised. I didn’t mean to hump you like that.” Eric must think he was a dog.
“I liked it.”
His fingers stilled for a moment, and then he went back to work. “You’re still recovering.”
“I know. I didn’t get it up. I just….” Eric sighed. “It was you.”
Brock just kept on massaging in lieu of any better idea of what to do. “This is a confusing situation.”
Eric nodded. “You should rest, huh?”
Brock snorted, the sound echoing a little in the dark, spacious room. “You’re the one who should be resting. Let me help you back to bed.”
“It’s cool, man. I’m cool.”
“I’m not leaving you to spend the night on the sofa. You’ll get hurt, and that little girl is expecting you to get better.”
“Pushy bastard.” Eric was actually chuckling.
“Yes. That hasn’t changed at all.” In fact, he’d perfected the ability of getting what he wanted—at work.
“Can I come back to….” Eric sighed as a little face appeared in the doorway.
“
Daddy?”
“It’s late, Jo.”
“You should be asleep.” Brock eased away from Eric and got up with a groan.
“Need to potty.”
“Okay, Jo. I’m coming.” Eric eased himself up.
“Son of a bitch.” Brock growled and put his arm around Eric, steering him toward the hospital bed sitting in the middle of his living room. “I’ll help her. After I get you back in the fucking bed.”
“Bad words!” Josie shrieked.
“Oh, fuck! I mean shit. I mean.” Brock slapped his hand over his mouth and gave Eric an apologetic look.
Eric looked at him, then started laughing—big, full belly laughs that had to hurt, but sounded so, so good. He started laughing himself, the release after the tension of the last week wonderful. Josie looked at them, and then her little laugh joined in too.
Brock held out his arm for her to come. She ran for him, bare feet slapping on the floor. Still chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.
“Bed. All of us.” She pointed. “Sleeps.”
“Yeah. If your daddy can be trusted to get straight into bed, I’ll take you to the potty and then tuck you in.”
“No. Your bed. All of us.”
“I don’t know….” If he kept letting her come to his bed, it was going to become a habit, right?
“Come on, Jo. You can sleep up here with me, ’kay?” Eric reached for Josie and she leaned out for him.
“No, there’s more room in my bed.” He wasn’t having stitches ripped out or something tender kicked because Josie was sleeping with Eric in that narrow bed. “Come on.”
Josie crowed, clapping. He got Eric into the bedroom and her to the bathroom, and then they got settled together in his bed, all cuddling in. There was a lump in his throat as her little head settled on his shoulder.
Maybe Josie wasn’t the one he had to worry about this becoming a habit for….
Brock closed his eyes and willed himself back to sleep.
Chapter Seven
THE ALARM rang shrilly, and Brock groaned. Fuck, it felt like he hadn’t had any sleep at all.
Someone reached over, turned the sound off. “Bee, it’s Saturday, man. Do you have to go in?”
He rubbed his face. “Got a call at noon I have to take.”
“I’ll wake you at eleven. I promise.” A soft kiss closed his eyes, easing him right back into sleep.
He nuzzled into his pillow and let himself drift into dreams.
Before he knew it, there was the scent of eggs and bacon, coffee, and a tiny hand patting his cheek. “Daddy Bee. Daddy Bee. Breakfast!”
He blinked his eyes open and there was Josie, face right in front of him. “Hey, honey.”
“Mornin’. Daddy bringed your breakfast.” She pointed to the bedside table, the tray there.
“Wow. Breakfast in bed. I can’t remember the last time I had that.” He sat up and arranged the pillows so he could lean back comfortably.
“I help?” She crawled up next to him.
He couldn’t help but wonder how helpful she’d been with Eric. Or how much Eric had pushed himself. Was the man out there in a chair, pale and sweating and panting?
He reached for the tray and put it on his lap. “It looks really good, honey.”
“Daddy made eggies.” She picked up a fork and handed it to him, then picked up a tiny one and started eating a little plate of eggs herself.
He waved his fork for a moment and then dug in. “Hey, these are good.”
She nodded, eating happily, periodically jabbering at him. There was fruit, coffee, juice.
“So what’s Daddy doing now?”
“Is out there.” She pointed to the bedroom door.
“Do you know what he’s doing?” He put his tray on the bedside table.
She shook her head. “Daddy said, eat with Bee.”
“Okay, honey. You keep eating, I’ll be right back.” After he found out what Eric, who was supposed to be on bed rest but had made breakfast anyway, was doing. Eric, who was not even supposed to lift five pounds, but had brought him breakfast in bed. Eric was leaning against the kitchen wall and drinking a cup of coffee, eyes closed, more than a little pale.
“I am going to dig out those handcuffs we bought that time at the adult shop and cuff you to the damn bed. Make you pee into a bottle.”
“What? How was breakfast?”
“It was good. I hope it was worth it.” He went over to Eric and wrapped his arm around the man.
“It was. You deserved breakfast.” Eric leaned into him, leaned hard.
“I can live without you making me breakfast, Eric.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you?” He half led, half dragged Eric out of the kitchen.
“Because you deserved it. Where are we going?”
“You’re going back to bed. I’m going to have to see about getting weekend help if you’re going to insist on getting up and doing things.”
“Nonsense.” Eric let him take them to the bedroom, where Josie was waiting, eating berries.
It was only as he helped lower Eric onto the bed that he realized he hadn’t even considered taking Eric to the hospital bed in the living room.
“Daddy!” Josie smiled, leaning over to kiss Eric. Brock shot one hand out, making sure her little hand didn’t push against the healing flesh.
“Did you eat?” he asked Eric. There was still some egg and toast left on his plate, although it was probably cold at this point.
“I had some fruit and coffee, yeah.”
He grunted and handed over his plate. “Have some toast or something.” Fruit wasn’t enough to heal on, right?
Eric took one piece of toast, nibbled slowly, eyelids heavy.
“You look tired, baby.” Was Eric getting enough rest here? Did he need to hire a nanny in twenty-four seven until Eric was a lot better?
“I’ve been up a while.” Eric settled back.
Josie watched him with a fond smile. “My daddy.”
“That’s right. He needs to sleep, though, so why don’t we go and color or something.” He glanced over at the clock. He had over an hour before his conference call.
“Okay.” She nodded and scrambled off the bed. “Love you, Daddy.”
“Mmm-hmm. Love you, Jo-jo.” Eric was already dozing, head bobbing.
Without really thinking about it, Brock found himself bending and kissing the top of Eric’s head before following Josie out into the living room.
Josie waited for him, grabbed his hand, and walked with him, singing some silly song that was making her laugh and laugh. He couldn’t help but smile, that little laugh infectious. For all she was a lot of work, it was nice to have her around, cheerful.
She settled to coloring easily, humming under her breath, little feet kicking. It didn’t take much to make her happy.
He grabbed his briefcase and pulled out the file he was supposed to have already gone through for the noon call. Josie let him read most of the file before she came to him for juice and help in the bathroom and help getting a doll from the toy box. They puttered through the rest of the hour, and when it was time for his meeting, Eric was sound asleep, so he put her in front of the television with one of her movies and sat down to dial in.
They were two hours into negotiations when he noticed that Josie was gone and his bedroom door was open. God, he hoped she hadn’t done anything to hurt Eric. She’d never do it on purpose, of course, but…. Thank God for cordless phones. He got up and headed that way to check things out.
Eric was sitting on the bed with her, reading her a book, her cheek on his bandaged chest. Neither of them saw him, they were just focused on the story, on being together.
“Daddy! Look! Daddy Bee!”
Eric nodded. “That’s right, Jo. That’s the knight who’s coming to rescue the princess from the dragon.” Eric grinned. “But what happens before the knight comes?”
“Princess tells dragon, be nice and have a cook
ie!”
“That’s right, Jo. She does it…”
Josie finished. “All by herself.”
Brock chuckled.
“What was that, Mr. Vencenza?”
He backed away and cleared his throat. “Sorry, go on.” And on and on and on. He was ready for this call to be over.
Eric looked up at him, eyes twinkling, then winked. He bit the side of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud.
Eric met his eyes, then mouthed, “You’re still hot.”
“Vencenza! Are you still there?”
“Um. Sorry, I think I’m having issues with my line. You’ve had my input on what you needed, right?”
“Yes. Yes. Thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry I have to duck out early.” He hung up the phone without listening to any of the other pleasantries.
Eric grinned at him, unrepentant. “You deserve Saturdays off.”
He shook his head. “I deserve—you say that a lot.”
“It’s true.”
Josie was being very quiet. When he looked down, she was sound asleep.
He sat on his side of the bed. “Your hero, huh?”
“Yeah. You think I’m the world’s biggest moron?”
“I think you’re forgetting all the reasons why you dumped your hero.”
The smile faded off Eric’s face, just slid away. “No. I haven’t forgotten. I’m just… enjoying you.”
And didn’t he feel like a heel for making that happy smile disappear? “Sorry, baby. This whole thing has thrown me.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” Eric patted his hand. “Let me get her into her bed and I’ll get out of yours, huh?”
“Why? You both look comfortable as you are, and it’s not like I’m going back to sleep anytime soon.”
Eric sighed, the sound soft, low. “I’ll leave her here, then. She’s gotten heavy.”
“She’s going to get heavier.”
“I’ll be able to lift her soon.”
He narrowed his eyes and pointed at Eric. “You make sure you’re actually able to before you try.”
Eric’s lips parted. Fuck, that was still sexy.
Brock bit back his groan. “You want to watch a movie or something?”
“Uh-huh….” Eric was staring at him, watching him closely. That stare was unnerving. Arousing.