Burned: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants #8)

by Flora Ferrari

  “It’s like our bodies were made for each other,” he says.

  “A perfect fit,” I say. “I’m glad I waited.”

  His head rolls over and I look up at him. “You waited?”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to say that. I just lost control of my censoring mechanism.”

  “It’s okay. You can tell me.”

  “It was my first time. You were my first.”

  His head straightens back out and I see he’s trying to process what I just said.

  “Richard and I never actually had sex. At first he said something about being religious, and then after about eighteen months it would have been impossible anyways. He passed out drunk almost every night. And he had a porn addiction which was ruining his sex life, if it ever existed in the first place.”

  “I heard something about that.”

  “Yeah, it’s big at college these days. With guys getting on the internet at such young ages now they literally become addicted to porn before they even leave high school. They have to keep upping the novelty factor until there’s nowhere to go. They masturbate so much and so hard eventually they can’t get an erection anymore, even with pills.”

  “That sounds terrible.”

  “Believe me, it is. At first I thought there was something wrong with me. Then I saw some websites he was on. No Fapping Challenges and chat rooms where guys support each other.”

  “Fapping?”

  “A slang term for masturbating.”

  “I’m glad the internet wasn’t a thing when I was growing up,” he says.

  “Me too,” I say and I hug him tight. “Sorry to bring up my ex.”

  “It’s okay, but let’s try and limit it,” he says. We both giggle.

  “Can I ask you something?” I say.

  “You just did,” he says, as he taps me on the nose.

  “Very funny. Okay, a different question. A real one. What happened with you and Nikolina?”

  He blows out a big breath. I can see this is something he may not want to talk about, or maybe he’s ready to get it off his chest.

  “She’s a good woman. She really is. She just wanted to make sure her future, and Jennifer’s, was secure.”

  “So she went for a rich guy?”

  “He wasn’t totally rich when she met him.”

  “I sense a but in there somewhere.”

  “But he had quite a few properties which were about to close so just a few months later they were swimming in money. A lot more than a fireman makes at least.”

  “Do you ever wish you could have her back? Do you still think about her?”

  “Not at all. What’s done is done. At first I was disappointed that she left, but with my work and the crazy shifts I didn’t have a lot of time to sit around and think about it. There’s just so much to do. What I was really upset about is that she tried to keep me from seeing Jennifer.”

  “That’s why I didn’t see you for so long. It was like you just disappeared suddenly.”

  “Yeah, that was by design. Hers not mine. She likes things a certain way, and once I wasn’t in her plans anymore she did the best she could to keep me out of her life. And Jennifer’s too.”

  “Do you resent her?”

  “I don’t think about her at all to tell you the truth. She did what she wanted to do. It was a long time ago. I’ve long since forgotten about it.”

  “But she’s trying to angle her way back in now. At least that’s what it seems.”

  “Look at you with all your questions,” he says.

  “Sorry,” I say.

  “It’s okay. I understand. You want to know where this is going to go. It makes sense. It’s better to ask these questions now.”

  He leans down and kisses me on the forehead. “Thanks for understanding,” I say.

  “You’re welcome. To answer your question, I’ve been by myself for a long time by choice. Have I had opportunities? Sure. I didn’t act on them because I new none of those women were the one. I wasn’t going to get into a relationship just to get into a relationship. It was one thing to get into a bad relationship with Nikolina. But the most important thing was I learned from that and I made sure not to make the same mistake again.”

  “But why now? Why me?”

  “There’s no real answer that I can give you other than I know. When you know, you know. And I know. You’re the only one for me. I mean it.”

  I lean up and kiss him on the cheek.

  “And I want you to move in with me.”

  “What?”

  “You don’t have to pay rent, but you do have to help out of course. I think it will be good for the both of us. I get the feeling that you want to take things slower, and I understand that, but I’m older than you and I’ve had more time in my life to save up some money. I want to use some of that money to help you out, and the best way to do that right now is to give you a free place to stay so a lot of the stress is removed from your life.”

  “So we’d be roommates?”

  “Not hardly. You know what I mean,” he says, tapping me on the nose again. I smile. Everything sounds too good to be true, but I’m not sure if I should accept so quickly. There’s still a huge pink elephant in the room that we need to address.

  “What about Jennifer?”

  “I’ll tell her.”

  “When?” I say.

  “Definitely not before I do this,” he says, as he leans in and kisses me again. Seconds later and our bodies are tangled again and all I can think about is how amazing this all feels.

  CHAPTER 11

  Liam

  I hear a knock on the door and reach for my watch. 8:37. Who in the hell can that be? I look at my phone and see the notification of over thirty WhatsApp messages. Shit, was there a fire last night? Other than the one we set in my bedroom.

  I fumble for my clothes, but all I can find strewn across the floor are my boxer briefs and pants. I slide them on and answer the door.

  “Surprise!” Nikolina says jumping into my arms.

  “What are you doing her, Nik?” I say quickly setting her down.

  “I came to celebrate.”

  “Celebrate what?” I say, still trying to get my eyes opened all the way.

  “Very funny,” she says.

  “I don’t have time for your games. What are you doing here?”

  “You won your case. You’re back to work. Congratulations, honey!”

  She steps in towards me, but is quickly met with my palm, stopping her forward progress. Good news and it has to come from her. Now I know what all those text messages were.

  “I’m not your honey, and we’re not celebrating.”

  “But you’re back on! I just thought we could—”

  “You thought wrong.”

  “Mom. Dad?”

  Fuck this is going from bad to worse. Jennifer and Thomas are approaching down the sidewalk holding hands. Jennifer lets go of Thomas’ hand and beelines it towards me. She throws her arms around me in a big ‘ol hug. “I’m so happy for you, dad.”

  “Thanks, Care Bear.”

  I see Thomas’ eyes light up making a mental note of my nickname for her. I shoot him a look letting him know that’s my term for Jennifer. Mine only.

  In the melee Nikolina has slid behind me and showed herself inside. Figures.

  “What is she doing here!”

  “That didn’t take long,” I say.

  Jennifer looks up at me with a cocked eyebrow.

  “Oh, sorry, dad. I didn’t know you were seeing someone. We can go.”

  “Too late for that now, thanks to your mother.”

  I hear something hit the floor and I dart inside the house. I pull Nikolina off Emma and put her in a chair.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? And you smell like alcohol. You’re drunk!”

  Luckily Emma had time to put on her bra and panties before Nikolina came storming in.

  “Emma!” Jennifer screams.

  “Everybody shut up!” I ye
ll. “Take a seat in the living room and we’ll deal with this one-by-one.”

  I shut the front door and surprisingly feel a calmness come over me. I’m going to set everyone straight on everything right fucking now.

  CHAPTER 12

  Emma

  I ’m pissed, embarrassed, and totally confused. What in the hell is Nikolina doing here after he just told me hours ago that there is nothing between them? And she shows up with a bottle of wine looking like a cheap hooker ready to get fucked. I don’t like the look of this at all.

  “First thing,” Liam says. “Nikolina. You are not to show up at my house, ever, without an invitation. And don’t hold your breath waiting for one. If it wasn’t for our child I wouldn’t have said a damn word to you the last fifteen years. And now that she’s grown up, I don’t have to anymore. It’s time for you to go, for good.”

  He extends his hand to her, but she won’t take it. She shoots up out of her chair and stomps off toward the door. It slams behind her.

  “Mission number one accomplished,” he says. “Now, onto mission number two.” He looks over at Thomas. “Thomas, I like you a lot, but this is a family matter. Man-to-man, could you please step out so I can handle this the right way.” It’s a statement, not a question.

  “Yes sir, Mr. Logan.”

  “Thank you,” he says.

  I’ve managed to get dressed, but I still feel just as ashamed. Jennifer’s looks are shooting lasers right through me and I can’t say I don’t deserve it.

  “Jennifer, I’m sorry,” Liam says.

  “Sorry!”

  “Let me finish. I’m still your father.”

  Jennifer breathes out hard as if she’s not sure she’ll be willing to acknowledge that fact in about five minutes. I’m wondering how I got myself into this mess, and how Liam’s going to get us out of it.

  “Care Bear, you know I love you. And you know I’d never mean to hurt you. I’m really sorry you had to find out this way. I was going to tell you later today after the results of my disciplinary review from yesterday were announced. I know that’s easy to say after the fact, but you know I would never lie to you.”

  Jennifer wouldn’t say anything. She still looked furious.

  “Emma and I met recently. At the time I didn’t even know she was the girl I pulled from the fire, let alone your best friend. There was nothing preconceived here by either one of us. It was only later that we realized who the other was. And if you think back, I haven’t even seen her in about sixteen years.”

  “But your pictures are up in my room! She’s seen you!”

  Liam raised a finger asking for her to wait.

  “I know that, but we didn’t make the connection right away. It’s not like either of us knew anything about the other or planned any of this. As a matter of fact, you didn’t even tell her who I was when she was in the hospital. This totally happened by chance after she came to thank me after what happened.”

  I was watching Jennifer’s face. Something about when he reminded her that she hand’t brought up anything at the hospital seemed to click with her.

  “To be honest, I’m a bit surprised you never said anything at the hospital. I won’t question your motives. My guess being you were trying to be modest, and in that case I’m proud of you. No need to draw attention to a fireman’s work. It’s done with good intentions. We’re not out for recognition.”

  Liam took in a deep breath before continuing. “With all that said, I’m sure this seems strange, to say the least. But as strange as it may seem to others, to us it’s very natural and very normal. Although we’ve just gotten to know each other we’re connecting extremely fast. It’s similar to what happened with you and Thomas. I remember you once told me when you first met him you knew he was the one. I guess when a Logan knows, we just know.”

  “Daddy, are you sure?”

  “I am sure. I can’t speak for Emma, but I can tell you that without a doubt, I am in love and it feels amazing.”

  “What?” I say.

  Jennifer leans back in her chair as this seems to be spiraling into the Jerry Springer show for her, but I barely notice her.

  “I love you, Emma.”

  I jump up from the couch and wrap my arms around him. We kiss passionately and when he sets me back down on my tiptoes I see Jennifer with a hand raised to her face trying not to watch.

  “This is the way it’s going to be, Jennifer. From now on.”

  “Dad, it’s not that I don’t approve of the two of you of course, it’s just that it’s such a shock. Emma is my best friend, and like any relationship one of my girlfriends gets into I’m going to be there to look out for her. It’s just so strange that it’s my own dad.”

  “I can understand.”

  “I’m sorry if I went crazy, but with mom here, then Emma in her underwear, and Thomas was here to see it all…and to think I just came over to congratulate you on the outcome. It was just too much emotion at once. I got overwhelmed.”

  “It’s okay. These last few days have been overwhelming for all of us.”

  “Okay, well…congratulations on getting your job back. It will take some time to process the two of you together, but I’ll keep an open mind as best I can.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But right now I better catch up with Thomas. And from the looks of things I guess I interrupted, so I’ll just be going.”

  “You can stay for a coffee,” I say.

  “Thanks, but I’ll take a rain check. We obviously have plenty to talk about next time we meet for coffee.” She smiles and I do too. I’m glad she’s at least willing to give us a shot. Although we are adults and don’t need her approval, it would mean the world to me.

  She makes the ‘call me’ motion and kisses her dad on the cheek before heading out.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Liam says.

  “One way to wake up with a bang,” I say, feeling feisty.

  “And now for that other way,” he says as he grabs me and we fall together onto the couch.

  EPILOGUE

  Liam

  Three months later

  H oney, I’m home,” I say. The minute I finish my shifts I get excited thinking about saying those words. It takes a lot of restraint not to break the speed limit on my way home to see her.

  “In the kitchen,” she says.

  I drop my duffle bag full of gear by the door and make my way towards the amazing smell.

  “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?” I say, wrapping my arms around her.

  And there’s more to wrap around these days. I knew we were meant for each other, but it turns out we were really meant for each other. We did the math and figured out it only took us one night to conceive. I was so excited. After all these years I was going to be a dad again, but this time it was different. I was in a much better place in my life and I’d finally found the perfect woman for me. And as she always reminded me I was the perfect man for her.

  I relished my role as protector and provider. It felt amazing to help her out from time to time. I offered emotional support when she hit life’s roadblocks and financial support once in awhile when she had to pay for university and off-campus certifications. I was willing to offer a lot more, but she liked the feeling she got from accomplishing things on her own and always tried to take care of everything she could by herself. I admired her strong will, but couldn’t wait until she allowed me to help out even more.

  Fortunately the fire department had agreed to pick up the tab for our baby, even though we weren’t technically married yet. That was all about to change soon enough. I had the perfect ring. All I needed was the perfect moment. It had to be something special that we’d remember forever. Something our kids’ kids would tell their kids. She said if it my proposal was unique enough I might ‘break the internet’…whatever that means.

  I didn’t know much about all this new age stuff, but I did know I loved her and that’s all that mattered to me. I was an old fashioned kind of guy even th
ough it seemed like half of the fires we put out were from new age problems. Phone chargers overheating and exploding. Kids trying crazy experiments they say on the Youtube only to find out the hard way that certain chemicals absolutely don’t mix. And there were always the ones who put lighter fluid on propane tank fueled back yard barbecue grills. Fourth of July fireworks arriving well before sunset.