Real Deal

by Piper Rayne

  I’d miss her too.

  Fuck. Stop that.

  “Well, I’ll do my part to make sure it’s a great day for your family.” I sit up straighter.

  “Why don’t you join us?” he asks and I think my heart actually skips two, no three, beats.

  “Well, I have my daughter and...”

  “Bring her. I’d love to see that little girl. Plus, my grandson is four. I guarantee Tahlia will be happy he has someone to play with.”

  “It’s your family time, we’d only be intruding.”

  Please let this go. The thought of seeing Caterina in a swimsuit again just gave me a chub. If it were him making the decision, I’d have already accepted the invitation.

  “Nonsense. We’ll see you then. Thanks, Marcus.”

  The line goes dead and I wonder where Bill Santora learned his phone etiquette.

  What did I just get myself into? An entire Saturday afternoon with Cat and her family—with her Italian father and her nosy mother. The only silver lining is I that have Lily to act as a buffer. If I’m lucky she’ll get seasick for the first time in her life and we’ll have to cut the trip short.

  That evening I walk into Happy Daze and the usual single dads are milling around the long table in the back. Summers tend to make it harder for our members to meet, what with all the kids being out of school. I approach the bar and find Charlie Shaw working.

  She’s Garrett’s buddy’s sister and though he moved away years ago, she’s still always more than friendly to us.

  “Hey, Charlie.”

  She looks up from her clipboard and sets it down. Her usual friendly smile has something more to it than normal. A tease of some kind, but I have no idea why. Maybe I’m seeing shit.

  “Blue Moon?” she asks, her hand already grabbing a glass.

  “Thanks.” I sit down on the stool and glance up to the television.

  She sets my beer down and then drops an orange on top.

  “There you go. I’ll add it to your tab.” She turns around.

  The one great thing about Charlie is she’s not a chit-chat person really. She goes about her business and if there’s no point to the conversation she doesn’t spur one on.

  “Thanks, Charlie. How is your brother?”

  I’m not in the mood to join the single dads just yet.

  She turns around and leans against the back of the bar. Her hair is braided to the side and she wears almost no make-up but she’s got that girl next door thing down. The one a boy might just bypass for the cheerleader only to find out the right girl for him was there hiding in plain sight the whole time.

  “He’s in California now. Living the dream—bachelorhood.” She rolls her eyes.

  I laugh. From what I know and it’s really only Garrett who’s told me anything about him, he’s a forever bachelor. A guy who never wants to settle down and actually believes monogamy doesn’t work. How different can two best friends be? Garrett enjoyed his settled down life with Sydney’s mother. At least from what I can tell by the few times he’s opened up about it at these meetings.

  “Well, here’s to your brother’s simple life.” I raise my beer and take a drink.

  “One day I hope he’ll find a girl that knocks him on his ass.” She starts wiping down the bar, but her hand stops mid-stride, her gaze darting to the door.

  I don’t have to look back to know who’s there. Everyone in town knows Charlie has a crush. A crush on the one man who’ll never be available to her.

  His big brooding body sits down next to me. No hello, no pat on the back in greeting.

  “Hi, Garrett,” Charlie says, her voice raising an octave or two from when she was talking to me.

  “Hey. Usual,” he says in a clipped tone.

  Charlie’s movements become fidgety as she opens the cooler, grabs a Miller Lite and twists the cap. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks.” He surprises me by looking over at her.

  Charlie smiles, waiting there, staring at him like he’s some celebrity she’s lusting after.

  Garrett is the blindest man I’ve ever met.

  “Thanks, Charlie,” I say, and she comes out of her trip to Garrettville, giving her head a little shake.

  “Let me know if you need anything else.” Just like that she heads to the back of the bar over to the tables with the other single dads.

  “What’s up, man?” I ask Garrett, grabbing my Blue Moon and standing from the stool.

  Lily wasn’t exactly thrilled that I was leaving tonight. She’s been a little clingy lately and I haven’t been able to pinpoint why.

  “Just Sydney. There’s some dance at the camp and she called me on the way here. She wants to go shopping with some girl she met and her mom.”

  “Dance sounds fun.” I shrug, not seeing the problem.

  “Dance equals boys. Boys equal trouble. Boys plus my daughter equals death row.”

  I chuckle, patting him on the shoulder.

  “Hey, not all guys are bad.”

  He raises his dark eyebrows at me and I laugh. He’s right. At thirteen, even the captain of the math team is bad. Any and all thinking goes through their dick.

  “I’m sure they’ll be chaperones there.”

  “Yeah, me.” He points to himself with his thumb, standing wait for me.

  We head toward the table and Dane runs through the bar doors. His white t-shirt is drenched and his shorts are hanging off his hips. What the hell?

  “I’ll be two minutes guys, just have to change.” He holds up two fingers in the air.

  “This is your club,” I holler back.

  He swivels around so he’s walking backward to his office. “Some things are more important than a room full of dicks.” He waggles those eyebrows and I wonder where he finds these women that are always up for a quickie. I mean we’re in a town of less than a thousand people.

  “See what I mean? Guys suck,” Garrett mumbles as he passes me and says hello to the other members of the Single Dads Club.

  As I take the seat next to Garrett and say hello to everyone, a blonde walks through the door and my stomach drops watching as her hips sway side to side on her way to the bar.

  Charlie places a napkin down for her and the two exchange a few words before Charlie’s head dips in my direction.

  Cat swivels in the bar stool, and I watch the color slowly creep up her skin until her face is dusted pink.

  I tip my beer in her direction and she returns the gesture with a small wave. This might be my favorite Single Dads Club meeting yet.

  14

  Marcus

  What happens at the Single Dads Club meeting, stays at the Single Dads Club meeting. I can’t tell you what we talked about, but I can tell you that as I’m half-listening to Jesse, a new member of the club, talk about some shit he’s going through at home, I keep sneaking glances at Cat.

  The same thought triggers come to mind each time—I shouldn’t.

  I shouldn’t be looking.

  I shouldn’t be wanting.

  I shouldn’t be touching.

  As much as I repeat it, my dick pays no attention. It wants Cat.

  It wants to be looking.

  It enjoys the wanting.

  And it wants to be touching. Deep and hard and often.

  “Why don’t you go over there?” Dane knocks his elbow against my ribcage.

  At some point during my diverted attention, the group has dispersed. The meeting is over and it’s time for me to leave.

  “What are you talking about?” My gaze snaps back to Dane and away from Cat.

  “The hot blonde at the bar with Charlie,” Garrett says.

  “So, you do know her name?” I say.

  Garrett’s face contorts into a what-the-fuck-are-you-talking-about look.

  “You obviously want her, go ask her out.” Dane urges. At this point he seems so desperate for me to enter the dating game that he’d throw me in front of a pack of female wolves in heat.

  “She’s too young.” That�
�s what I keep telling myself.

  But she’s not too young anymore. She’s twenty-four according to her dad.

  Fuck. Her dad. Reason number two and that one’s legitimate.

  “So, you don’t mind if I hit it?” Dane asks with a grin.

  My fist clenches around my bottle of water and the plastic crinkles in my hand. “No.” I shrug, going for nonchalance I don’t feel.

  “You two act like you’re fifteen years old,” Garrett says, leaning back in his chair and shaking his head.

  “All right. Thanks, man.” Dane stands up and clamps me on the shoulder. “She’s one hot piece of ass.”

  I try to concentrate on anything but him approaching her. I don’t want to watch but more than anything I want to watch.

  “Why are you letting him do this?” Garrett asks.

  I start picking the label off my water bottle. Anything to stop my gaze from drifting over to Cat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I can’t stop myself and my gaze slides over to them. Dane is facing me as he stands next to Cat.

  I know he’s baiting me. He must know how badly I want her and how pissy it’s making me to watch him flirt with her.

  Cat laughs at something he says and her head falls back between her shoulder blades. Her neck is exposed and I imagine my tongue sliding up that arch all the way to her earlobe.

  Dane inches closer, his hand now on the back of her chair.

  Charlie has no choice but to move down the bar to greet a few customers, leaving them by themselves.

  Cat slides to the side to gain some personal space, but Dane bites his bottom lip and watches her lips move intently at whatever she’s saying.

  What is she saying?

  Fuck, I don’t care.

  “Why are you torturing yourself?” Garrett asks.

  My gaze shoots over to him. “Those that live in glass houses, man.”

  Again, his face contorts into a fuck you look, but he knows I’m right.

  The only difference between us is that I don’t think Garrett’s been with anyone since Sydney’s mom whereas I have my fun, but it’s away from Lily. Away from anything in Climax Cove.

  I sit there trying to convince myself that I don’t need any relationship drama to weave into my already chaotic life. I fill my mind with the certainty that I’m doing what’s right—for both myself and Lily—and then it happens.

  Dane’s hand reaches out and tucks a strand of her shiny, blonde hair behind her ear.

  I stand up.

  “About fucking time,” Garrett comments.

  Dane’s shit-eating grin could be seen across the Pacific Ocean it’s so big. He knows he made his point and he’s proud of himself that he got me off my ass and trudging over to her right now.

  I stop on the other side of her. She glances over and then does a double take.

  Yeah, it’s me Cat. Standing next to you like a damn puppy dog and wanting your attention.

  “Can we talk?” I ask.

  She sips her beer, which doesn’t seem to fit her. I would’ve thought a margarita or wine but a beer girl? Not sure I saw that.

  “See, I told you, it would take less than five minutes.” Dane looks at his wrist as though he’d actually wear a watch. The man is a minimalist when it comes to how he dresses. Simple is always better. “I think it only took two, maybe three.” He winks at her and then hops over the bar to the other side.

  She places her beer on the napkin, twisting the bottle back and forth, doing anything but looking at me.

  “So, can we talk?” I ask again.

  I think I just felt my nuts shrivel up and die. Could I be any needier?

  “This is a public bar.” Her eyes meet mine and I wonder why the hell they seem so sad.

  I glance at Dane behind the bar, his eyes perked up and ready to eavesdrop and there’s a couple sitting a few bar stools down.

  “Can we go in the back?” I ask, knowing this is a lot to ask. To seclude her.

  To my surprise, she finishes her beer, places it on the bar and stands up. “You have two minutes.” She walks off.

  Dane raises his eyebrows with that same know-it-all smirk on his lips.

  I follow and once we’re in the back hallway by the bathrooms, she leans against the wall, her arms crossed in front of her.

  “We can go to Dane’s office. He won’t mind.” I motion with my hand farther down the hall.

  “Yeah, no thanks. Here is,” she looks around, “private enough.”

  “Are you interested in him?” I ask the thing that’s really needling me right now.

  “Who?” Her brows draw together.

  “Dane,” I grind out between clenched teeth.

  She lets her hands drop to her sides. “You’ve got some nerve.”

  “Well, do you?”

  She silently stews for a minute before she answers. “You pursue me for weeks, finally get my number, ask me for coffee, and then don’t bother calling.”

  Relief rushes through me. She’s pissed because we didn’t have our coffee date? I’m just a guy and I’ve never really understood women all that well, but I’m pretty sure this means good things for me.

  “That’s why you’re upset?”

  She gives me a look that I can only describe as ‘duh’. “Of course, that’s why I’m upset. Why didn’t you call?”

  I shove my hands in my pockets and roll back on my heels. “I was going to. I had every intention of calling you when I asked you for coffee. Then your dad called me to tell me he’s coming up this weekend and I started thinking about what he would think about his youngest daughter spending time with a man ten years her senior and I thought it was better that I leave you alone.”

  “You are so infuriating. I’m a grown woman, Marcus. I can make my own decisions.” Her hands are clenched in fists at her sides.

  It’s times like this that I wish her temper didn’t turn me on so much. I shift my stance to adjust the growing distraction in my pants.

  “I didn’t think it would be a big deal. You were the one who was insistent that we were just going out as friends.” I add air quotes to the “as friends” part for emphasis.

  She presses her lips together and says nothing. I can see by the way she’s narrowed her eyes that she knows I have a point.

  “If you just want to be friends then why are you so upset that I didn’t call about coffee? Why did you act like you didn’t recognize me instead of just telling me to go to hell the first time you saw me?” I ask.

  A hollow laugh leaves her throat and her gaze zeros in on me, her amusement fading fast.

  “I’m not that eighteen-year-old girl anymore. I’m not the girl you can crush with a few words. And I’m not the girl who will pine over you. I just didn’t feel like rehashing the past. I feel like I don’t even know that girl anymore. I’ve grown up.”

  “First of all, I’m well aware you’ve grown up, and if you’d have acted like you remembered me, I would have apologized. I was an asshole.”

  “Yeah, you were.” She loses that defensive stance and looks down at her shoes, shuffling from foot to foot.

  “You were eighteen, I was twenty-eight. I’d just found out that Lily’s mom was pregnant. My life was a fucking mess. The timing was just wrong.”

  I remember how scared I was that despite everything going on in my life my dick still reacted to the way her perfect tits called out to be touched. How I committed the vision of her lace panties giving a glimpse of that small patch of blonde hair between her legs. She was way too young and out of my league, but I’d wanted nothing more than to have her in that moment.

  “Look, it was years ago and I’m completely over it. I know we have to co-exist at camp for Lily, but this back and forth,” she moves her finger between the two of us, “needs to stop.”

  I step forward placing one hand on the wall above her head. “Do you need me to be more direct? What do you want me to tell you? How my dick was hard for months after our little encounter every time I reme
mbered you? That even today, you stripping down in that tiny office in the back of the restaurant is still the hottest thing that’s ever happened to me? Do you want to know how I’d beat off to the memory of you topless, only to feel like a total douchebag afterward?”

  She fidgets, her cheeks growing red and her gaze darts everywhere but on me.

  “Should I mention how after our argument that day at camp, I beat off in my shower, imagining me stripping you down in that dingy cabin, spreading your legs wide and tasting you? How every night after months of nothing, I can’t seem to get off enough and every damn time it’s to you.”

  Her breasts rise and fall with ragged breaths at my words and although she’s trying to act indifferent, I’d hazard to guess she’s anything but.

  I take a chance and my hand leaves my other pocket and lands on her hip. My finger grazes along the bare skin between her shirt and her shorts.

  “I want you, Cat,” I whisper in her ear. Her eyes close and I inch forward, giving her no room to escape. “And I think you want me, too.”

  A small moan leaves her lips and though I’ve tried, I can’t fight the inevitable in this moment. I smash my lips to hers, caging her to the wall, one hand above her head and the other digging into her hip.

  She meets me with the same intensity, our tongues entwining in a newfound dance. Unable to control myself, I press harder and her hands move up to lock behind my head.

  She tastes every bit as sweet as I knew she would.

  I want to move her to Dane’s office. I want to swipe his desk clean and fuck her long and hard so she knows she’s mine and no one else’s.

  “I’m sorry for being an asshole. Present and past tense,” I murmur against her lips and then fuck her mouth with my tongue again.

  She mumbles something I swallow down and her one leg swings around behind mine, pulling me into her. I grind into her center, loving the friction on my hard cock, but knowing it’s not enough. Another moan from her and a groan rumbles up my own throat.

  I slide my hands down her small frame until her ass is in both my hands. I’m about to prop her up so I can carry her into Dane’s office.