Worth The Risk

by Carly Marie

  Of course Seth walked in while I was in the middle of dancing like an idiot. His entrance caused me to jump and grab the counter for support.

  He blinked at me in confusion. “Uh, hey, Dad. Are you okay?”

  Fighting to get my heart rate under control, I nodded forcefully. “Yeah, fine. How was your night?”

  Seth grinned in the way only a young teenager could. His excitement for life oozed from him. I took the sweet moments when I could since he’d begun withdrawing more and more. My cuddly boy was a teenager. I knew it was to be expected. I’d already lived through this period of the teen years once before with Jenna. She was getting better now, but sometimes her head still came off her shoulders and rotated 360 degrees while smoke billowed from her ears. Those were the days I normally came home from work with a few chocolate bars, told her she could find me in my room if she needed me, and escaped. I probably had the single-dad-of-a-teenage-daughter thing fucked up—or maybe I was doing it all right—but we’d managed for this long.

  “Great!” Seth’s voice brought me out of my little daydream about how fast my kids were growing up. “We played video games most of the night.” He then went into a ten-minute explanation about the games he was playing the night before and conversations he’d had with his friend.

  I smiled and tried to act interested in what he was telling me while simultaneously not having a damn clue what he was talking about. Sometimes Seth being a moody teen who didn’t share his life with me was easier than him spilling his guts and expecting me to be excited for him.

  “So, what had you dancing about like an idiot when I got home?”

  Well, if that wasn’t a loaded question. “Uh, we’re going to go get pizza tonight with a friend and his kids.”

  Seth’s eyes narrowed, driving home what a terrible liar I was. “Rizzi’s?” His eyes lit up excitedly, and he completely forgot to push for who we were going with.

  “Yeah, Rizzi’s,” I confirmed.

  “Sweet!” He made it halfway out of the kitchen before he turned around and looked back at me. “Who are we going with?”

  “Doctor Murray and his boys.”

  The answer caused Seth pause. “The new doctor?”

  I nodded. “He saved my ass last night when Louie broke down outside of town.”

  Seth rolled his eyes. “Leave it to Louie. Do you need help getting him running again?”

  “Not today, maybe sometime after Christmas.”

  Seth nodded then headed out of the room. “I’m going to take a shower and maybe take a nap before we leave.”

  I didn’t know if it was worth telling him we weren’t leaving for another five hours. He’d probably be in his room for the rest of the afternoon either way, so I doubted it mattered.

  Standing in the kitchen, alone with my thoughts about Mark and the previous night, it was tempting to call him back downstairs so I could listen to him ramble on and on about video games and his friends. Anything to get my mind off how good Mark had looked in my pajamas that morning.

  At least when Jenna arrived home, she hung out with me for longer than her brother had. We were finally at a point where she liked me more than hated me and our conversations were usually effortless. Before I felt ready, we were in the car heading to the only pizza parlor in town.

  At six on the nose, Mark got out of his car. In his well-fitting dark-wash jeans paired with a casual black V-neck shirt and tailored sports coat, he was overdressed for the casual dining place. The outfit fit him like a glove, and I had a hard time taking my eyes off him. When I finally looked at his face, he was smiling at something one of the boys had said.

  “Holy shit, where did he move from?” Jenna asked, her eyes wide with shock. “He looks more like a runway model than a doctor.”

  I pushed playfully at her elbow. “Behave yourself, Jenna.”

  When Mark saw us exiting the truck, he smiled in acknowledgement. A few seconds later, he led his boys over to us. “Thanks for inviting us.” He reached behind him and guided his boys in front of him. “This is Eli,” he introduced, pointing to the younger boy.

  Eli had big brown eyes that looked a lot like Mark’s, and curly blond hair. “Hi,” he said with a bashful smile before pushing closer to his dad.

  Mark gestured to his older son. “And this is Thomas.”

  Thomas was several inches taller than Eli. With blue eyes and dark brown hair, it was hard to believe the two were related. Aside from the blue eyes, though, he looked exactly like his dad.

  Thomas seemed more eager to meet us than his younger brother. “Hi!” he bounced. “Dad told us all about you. He said that you,” he pointed to Jenna, “might like to babysit.”

  Jenna beamed. “I love babysitting.” Then she shot me a questioning look. There was a chance I’d forgotten to tell her that plan. I was going to hear about this later, but hopefully she wouldn’t mind.

  If I gave Mark more than a brief once-over, well, who could blame me? His outfit really did make him look like he should be walking the runway. Fuck, why did Jenna have to put that thought in my head? After one look at the man partially dressed the night before, my mind went straight into the gutter.

  I held the door open so everyone could walk in, then tried to discreetly adjust myself in my pants. It worked until my eyes settled on Mark’s ass, hugged so perfectly in those damned jeans. At least when I walked headfirst into the second door, it snapped my attention back to reality.

  Jenna shook her head and groaned. “Oh my god, Dad. Why do you have to be so embarrassing?”

  I rubbed my forehead, fairly certain there would be a goose egg on it before long. “I swear, that door wasn’t here last time.”

  Seth rubbed the bridge of his nose like he was the parent frustrated by their child. “Dad, that door’s been there since the day this place opened.”

  Mark stifled a laugh behind his hand. “As long as you don’t start seeing double or get nauseous, I think you’ll be fine.”

  “If he does, at least he’s with a doctor,” Thomas piped up.

  My face flared red at the teasing, but at least my cock was finally behaving itself. I was the single father of two teenagers—I was used to teasing. Even if it embarrassed me, there was nothing they could do to embarrass me as much as I could embarrass them. “Just remember this when I pick you two up in Daisy Dukes.”

  Jenna stopped laughing in an instant. Seth studied me with a furrowed brow, debating if I was serious or not. I’d shown up to Jenna’s school on her sixteenth birthday to take her to her driver’s test in a shirt that said “Jenna’s Dad” with a picture of her on her third birthday. Her friends thought it was hysterical and even Jenna had managed to laugh, after she’d hidden behind her boyfriend and pleaded with him to hide her. For all they knew, I’d do it… Hell, I could look cute with short pigtails.

  “Stop. You’re thinking about it. I see it on your face. Don’t go there. I’ll be good. We’ll never speak of the Dad-verse-door incident again,” Jenna begged.

  “Your Dad has good legs. If anyone could pull off Daisy Dukes, it’s him.” Mark’s words shocked me to the core, and I had to sit down quickly before my dick had a chance to go hard again.

  And where did we go from there?

  Judging by the look of surprise on his own face, I didn’t think Mark had meant to speak the words to begin with. Thankfully, Eli interrupted both of our mental freak-outs with an innocent question. “What’re Daisy Dukes?”

  “Really short shorts,” Jenna volunteered. “That my dad has no business wearing. Ever.” She shot me a death glare and I laughed.

  Mark cleared his throat, directing the conversation to a safer, more pressing topic. “So, what do you guys want on our pizzas tonight?”

  And they were off, the kids debating between pineapple, olives, pepperoni, sausage, cheese, and every other configuration of toppings. The only thing we all agreed on was no mushrooms. Mark smirked at me over the kids’ heads, and his eyes lingered a fraction of a second too long be
fore he blinked and the look was gone. God, I must have been going insane because I was reading way too much into each interaction now.

  Damn Mark and his too tempting muscles.

  I focused in on the pizza discussion. Truthfully, I didn’t give a shit what we ate. As long as there weren’t mushrooms or fish on it, I’d eat anything. The kids, on the other hand, were far more opinionated about their toppings. In the end, the six of us ended up ordering three pizzas. There would be leftovers, but at least everyone had toppings they liked.

  Once we moved past the awkward beginning to dinner, it was like we’d known each other forever. Conversation between the kids flowed easily. Jenna entertained them with stories and songs. She was in the middle of tryouts for the school play, so having an audience, no matter who it was, would make her night. I overheard Seth asking Thomas who his new teacher would be and sharing stories he had about Mrs. Baron, who had been his fourth grade teacher. The kids laughed and told stories about school, and Thomas and Eli both opened up about their old house and friends.

  “How was your first week at the clinic?” I finally questioned when I was sure the kids were getting along well. Oddly enough, it was a topic we hadn’t covered the night before.

  Mark chuckled before taking a sip of his Pepsi. “It’s such a change of pace from the emergency room. My last shift in Louisville, I’d ended up being called in early for a multi-vehicle crash. A drunk semi-driver had caused a massive pileup on the highway. I’d had two patients die on the way to the hospital, four more coded, and of those, three had died. In the midst of that, two gunshot victims came in.” He shook his head at the memory, his eyes clouding over. “Any hesitations I may have had about the change or moving the boys three hours away from the only home they’d ever known were erased that night. Twenty-three hours of pain and death, all that could have been avoided—I was over it. The sleepless shifts were the worst. They always made me question my decisions, but that one was particularly terrible.”

  He looked around the room, filled with families and friends enjoying dinner. A Christmas tree sat in one corner and a menorah with seven candles lit sat in the front window. “This week, I had three cases of the flu, two ear infections, a toddler with peas stuck up his nose, and stitches. Aside from that, there were checkups, medicine refills, and the common cold. Life here is night and day different than it was in Louisville. It’s taking a bit of time to get used to, but I think it’s going to be nice.”

  “Doc has spoken highly of you.” Actually, Doc had sung Mark’s praises the last time I saw him. He’d been over the moon that Mark had accepted the job, but once Mark started to see patients, everyone loved him. Doc had told me earlier in the week that he was finally certain retirement was the right choice.

  “That’s the hardest thing to get used to. Everyone talks here. In Kentucky, I was no one. Here, I feel like I can’t fart without someone knowing.”

  As if on cue, my phone buzzed. Looking at the screen, I had to laugh. “It could be worse,” I mentioned, holding my phone out so that Mark could see the text from my sister.

  What are you doing having dinner with the new doctor?

  Mark’s eyes widened. “Who’s that? And how do they know?”

  “My sister. You’ll meet her before long. She’s the office manager at the garage. As for how she knows, I have no clue. My sister knows all.”

  Mark shook his head in disbelief. “Walking down the street and having people recognize me is hard to get used to. Having my mom and dad a few minutes away is strange. My brother and his wife have volunteered to help with the kids whenever I need. It’s just, there’s so many people who want to help, and it’s overwhelming. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”

  “Eventually, I’m guessing they’ll get used to you being back and things will settle down.”

  Mark nodded toward my phone that was now on the table. “Aren’t you going to answer your sister? My mom would blow up my phone if I didn’t respond.”

  I turned it to silent and flipped it so it was screen down. “Nope. She can wait, and it’s none of her business anyway. She’s just being nosy. And she thinks you’re hot.”

  Mark sprayed water across the table at my statement, his face turned red, and he stumbled for words. “I-uh-I-um. Oh.”

  I bumped his shoulder with mine. “She’ll survive. It’s okay. And she won’t jump you on the street or anything.”

  “Good to know.”

  I didn’t know what was more adorable, Mark being shocked that my sister thought he was hot or that he was as embarrassed as he was by it.

  By the time we left Rizzi’s, we were all overfull, and Eli and Thomas were yawning frequently.

  “Hey, you guys should come to my basketball game Thursday. Mrs. Baron’s son is on my team.” Seth wasn’t one to invite people to his basketball games, but he’d seemed to connect with Thomas over dinner, and Mrs. Baron had been one of his favorite teachers in elementary school.

  Thomas looked up at his dad with big puppy dog eyes. “Can we?”

  “It will depend on what time it is. I have to work.”

  “It’s at six,” I answered, maybe a bit too quickly.

  Mark seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, we can make that happen.” He turned to me. “Can you please text me the details?”

  The response earned me a genuine smile from both Seth and Thomas. “Awesome!” Seth exclaimed as he bounded to the truck and was inside in seconds.

  I looked over and chuckled. “You don’t have to come. Sorry he sprung that on you.”

  Mark brushed my concern off. “Too late. I already told him I’d be there, and I’m not going to break my promise. Besides, I think Thomas would have my head if I backed out now.”

  “Then we’ll see you on Thursday. Have a good Christmas.”

  “Thanks, you too.”

  I had chosen to ignore the smile on my face from the knowledge that I would be seeing Mark again in just a few days. I should have known, though, that my kids wouldn’t let me ignore it.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Jenna asked as soon as my door was shut.

  “What was what all about?” I shot back. “And watch the language.”

  She rolled her eyes. I couldn’t remember rolling my eyes like that at my parents, but I guessed I must have. “The flirting!”

  My jaw dropped open, then I clamped it shut. “Flirting?” My voice broke on the word, so I probably didn’t sound as casual as I’d hoped for. “We weren’t flirting!”

  The snort from the back seat told me Seth wasn’t buying it either. But we hadn’t been flirting. Had we?

  Jenna gave me a look like I’d lost my mind. “He told you you’d look good in Daisy Dukes, Dad.”

  “He was joking.” Seth groaned, drawing my eyes to him in the rearview mirror. “What say you, peanut gallery?”

  Seth just shook his head at me. “No wonder you’re still single.”

  I let my head drop back on the headrest and let out a long sigh. “Guys, listen to me carefully. Mark is not looking for a relationship. Hell, he just uprooted his life and moved to a new town with two young kids.”

  Jenna cocked her head to the side. “Your point?”

  CHAPTER 8

  Mark

  I woke up the day before Christmas in the middle of a dream about Jeff. They had become standard since Saturday. I hadn’t had a vivid dream about anyone in six years and all of a sudden, I was dreaming about Jeff every night. I’d woken up humping my bed just as Jeff’s lips had closed over my cock. I didn’t know how long my dream had been going on, but before I could process that I was in my bed, dry humping the sheets, I came. The pooling cum between the mattress and me is what finally had me waking fully. Wasn’t forty-two too old to be having wet dreams? At least the wet dream material had gotten better with age. If I was going to have to change the sheets, I was thankful it had been because of images of Jeff giving me an amazing blow job and not my own hand or whatever else I dreamed a
bout as a young teenager.

  Knowing I was now too awake to get back to sleep, I lifted my head to look at the time. Just after six. I could get up, change the sheets, start laundry, and maybe even get a short workout in before the kids would wake up. It was time to get back into a normal routine. Unfortunately, the town didn’t have a gym anywhere nearby. I made a mental note to start looking into a treadmill or elliptical to go with the basic weight set I already had.

  As I got into the shower over an hour later, sweaty and sore from the first weight lifting session I’d had since leaving Kentucky, I heard the boys waking up. We weren’t in a rush to get moving that day since the clinic was closed Christmas Eve. It would also allow me time to put up the decorations we’d gotten from the home store Saturday afternoon.

  I hadn’t been in the shower long when I heard my phone ringing on the bathroom counter. I picked up the pace but allowed voicemail to take it. As I was rinsing the soap from my body, the voicemail notification chimed. When the phone began to ring not even ten seconds later, I worried there was an emergency with a patient and rushed to get out. Water was still dripping from my body when I swiped upward to answer the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Mark?” The voice wasn’t harried and I’d know it anywhere.

  “Hey, Kathryn,” I greeted my sister-in-law. “Everything okay?”

  “I think I could ask you the same. You sound like you just ran a marathon. I was just calling to see if you’d like me to take the boys for the day. I have some last-minute gifts to wrap, and the boys would be a great distraction for my kids.

  Gifts. Shit. I hadn’t wrapped gifts for the kids yet, and panic sank in as I thought of the closet filled with toys. In years past, our nanny had helped me wrap gifts, but this year, there was no one but me. I internally kicked myself for forgetting to wrap the gifts. I had no idea how I was going to finish all the gift wrapping that day, but Kathryn’s offer was suddenly more like a saving grace.

  “That would be great. I’ve got some stuff to do around here anyway.” Hopefully, I didn’t sound as panicked as I felt. Gift wrapping had never been a strength of mine.