by Rie Warren
I hoped to hell he didn’t hear my truck as I slowly backed away.
****
I endured another sleepless night care of Mr. Kane Bishop. Images of him circled my head.
Him, perfectly polished in a suit.
Him, disheveled and sweaty after a morning run.
Him, exiting the bathroom, all damp skin and solid slightly furred chest.
Him, splayed out on a chair with that big hard cock pistoning between his hands.
The throbbing tone of his voice when he said my name, ordering me to suck him.
At least Ethan had laid off with the phone calls and text messages. There were no more midnight surprise visits to my apartment, which included him banging to beat hell on my door, irritating the neighbors, and being an all-around asshole like the last night before I’d broken up with him.
That time he’d asked me to get ready for a flashy boat cruise on the harbor, but he’d turned up with five friends—former prep school buddies I was familiar with—and barged right in so he could show them how the other half lived. I’d been wearing my nicest dress, a sweet peasant-style number, and I’d immediately buckled under their scornful scrutiny.
Scrutiny and scorn that became a million times worse when they tromped all through my few rooms, rifling through my belongings like I owned so much trash, Ethan lounging and laughing all the while.
“Jesus, Rutt. I wouldn’t let my mistress live in a hovel like this.”
“I’m not his mistress,” I hissed.
“Easy, precious. They’re just being friendly. Old Boys group, that’s all.” Ethan chucked me under the chin.
“I wouldn’t let my nanny live like this,” another tipped over a mug in the kitchen, sending it shattering to the sink.
“I’m nailing my nanny.”
“About time. Those young European bitches with the big bush . . . mmm . . . just wait until you get the pussy waxed clean. She’ll be ready to share.”
They all cheered. Even Ethan. Especially Ethan.
Then the last straw came from my boyfriend:
“Hell, boys. I wouldn’t even let my maid live in quarters like this. But Stevie here hasn’t been fully trained yet.”
Venom boiled through my veins.
“Out! Out! All of you, you pathetic excuses for men!” I shoved at Ethan, bracing against him. “Get the fuck out now, you pig!”
“Hot blooded, like I told y’all. That’s why she’s such a good easy fuck.” He laughed, but his face turned red, and at the last moment he wheeled back to me. “I’ll go now, bitch, but you owe me.”
He hadn’t tracked me to Kane’s house, which had happened during the last build. Frank and Brian had taken care of him that time.
In fact, I very nearly forgot about Ethan altogether, forgot to stay on guard, forgot he’d been so persistent, so frightening. Which only gave me more time to obsess about Kane Bishop.
I had no idea how I was going to face him today without turning red in the face or melting into a puddle at his feet.
Showing up early at the worksite as was my habit, I couldn’t bring myself to go in alone.
I waited for Frank and Brian. Strength in numbers and all that, right?
They drove up shortly after me, already bickering before they even exited the van.
“What’re you doing hangin’ around outside?” Brian ambled toward me.
“Just got here.”
He placed a palm on the hood of my truck “Huh. Engine’s cold.”
“Brought you a coffee, boss lady.” Frank pushed a cup of probably perfectly sweetened java into my hand.
“Suck up,” Brian muttered.
“Shut the fuck up.” Frank came back with a one-two middle finger.
“Since you’re here, help me explain modern-day shit to old Frank here.” Brian hooked an arm around my shoulders, leading me to the porch.
We entered Kane’s house with Frank bleating about Roku and Netflix and Hulu and “Why doesn’t Hulu come with pop-up ads”—he added air quotes—“of actual hula girls?”
And all three of us shut up and stopped short at the entry to the kitchen because Kane stood there at the brand-spanking-new island looking absolutely stricken.
My first thought? Oh no. He knows I watched him jerking off last night.
Then I glanced down and clasped a hand over my mouth, because the brand-spanking-new island was loaded with feminine hygiene products.
“Cecilia started her period.” Kane poked at a box of tampons as if it were about to come alive with alien life forms.
“And you sprouted new gray hairs,” Brian remarked, rocking back on his heels.
“They’re silver,” I blurted then hesitantly stepped toward the man surrounded by a million menstrual options.
“Alice would’ve known what to do.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a frown drawing his black brows low.
And just like that, my heart went out to him.
Frank came up beside me, taking a box of pads in his huge paws, a look of sympathy all over his face. “Well, I ain’t got all the answers, but my Jenny—she’s sixteen right?—she always makes me pick up these Always pads. The ones with the butterfly wing things. You can get ’em in bulk at the Costco.”
Brian rounded the opposite end of the island. “I dunno about that. The wife won’t use anything but those pearl Tampax.” He slotted a wad of chewing tobacco into his bottom lip from his Skoal’s can. “They look like pink torpedoes. Got a photo on my phone if you wanna know exactly what the box looks like. Because this shit’s mindboggling.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and Kane looked more and more confused.
Poor guy.
“Okay. I know you mean well, but you’re scaring the shit out of him.” I hustled Frank and Brian from the kitchen. “Out.”
Frank dragged his heels. “But—”
“I can handle this particular crisis. I’m the woman. I have all the girl parts.”
“Are you sure about that?” Brian winked broadly.
“Just for that, I’m docking your pay.”
“We’re here for you, man!” Frank hollered as I booted him toward the front door with orders to very carefully bring in the new windows for the master bedroom upstairs.
CHAPTER SIX
Kane
“JUST REMEMBER TO TAKE cover when Cecilia has PMS.” Brian tried to get in the last word with Stevie practically shoving both big men outside.
“And agree to everything she says!” Frank gave his parting suggestion.
Rubbing her forehead, Stevie pulled up a stool opposite the island from me. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m not sure how much more advice I can handle. Or how I’m supposed to act when Cecilia gets home from school.” I stared unseeingly at the mounds of feminine hygiene products. “She wasn’t even at home when she started because I let her sleep at a friend’s last night.” Blowing out a sigh, I scratched along my jaw. “Jesus. I thought buying her bras was bad enough.”
Stevie laid a hand over mine. “She’s still your little girl, huh?”
I raised my gaze to hers, stroking a thumb across her knuckles. “I remember when she took her first breath. The first time I held her.” I chewed on my lip. Cecilia was all I had of Alice now. “Every first, including when she peed all over me during a bath in the old kitchen sink.” I laughed, shaking my head. “At least we haven’t gotten to boyfriends yet.”
“Boys aren’t all they’re cracked up to be anyway.” Stevie pulled her hand away, folding hers together in front of her.
I’d barely registered caressing her so casually, like it was an everyday occurrence to hold her hand. The last time we’d been together, I’d nearly crushed her against my body and kissed her senseless.
Now we sat in my kitchen, surrounded by CVS’s stock of almost every feminine product they had for sale.
I nearly laughed at the irony.
Stevie started organizing neat piles of the sanitary napkins in all shapes and siz
es and the tampons in all colors and “flow types” and the many menstrual relief products I’d purchased.
I sensed her trying not to grin while I fidgeted in front of her.
“Is there anything you want to ask me?” she said all matter-of-fact.
“I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret, Kane. I used to be a teenage girl.”
“And not that long ago,” I grumbled.
“We’re not on that again, are we?” Stevie stood up with a huff.
I smiled at her show of attitude. “I don’t want to say the wrong thing or embarrass her.”
“She probably already knows a hell of a lot more than you think she does. I mean, kids these days, right?” She winked. “So periods come around every—”
“Twenty-eight days, give or take.”
She stared at me. “You already Googled everything and bought out an entire drugstore. What do you need me for?”
“Moral support?”
“Kane, you’re the most capable man I’ve ever met. I’m sure a period isn’t going to be your downfall.”
“Well, I’ve never had one!”
She sputtered with laughter, staring at me with dancing eyes. “I should hope not.”
“You’re not helping.”
Moving around the island to where I still sat, Stevie drew me into her arms. She kissed the top of my head, and I circled her in my embrace.
Drawing in a deep breath of her clean scent, I relaxed against her.
“This is helping.” Her top muffled my voice, and I realized my mouth was dangerously close to the crest of one breast.
She patted me on the head then pulled away. “I just bet. You’re terrible, you know that?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” But I couldn’t help grinning.
“I think we better get back to the point of all this. So, there are also other things like menstrual cups—”
“What?” I jumped up from the stool so fast I had to catch it with a hand before it clattered to the floor.
“And I wasn’t even going to mention the cup because I didn’t want to make your head explode. So forget about it.”
“A cup?”
“Kane. Just let it go.” She plucked three boxes from the counter. “We’ll give her these. And let her know if nothing feels comfortable or works for her, there are a lot of other options.”
“We?”
Stevie blanched before pressing the boxes against my chest. “I didn’t mean to cross the line.”
“You didn’t.”
Her gaze landed on the laser level propped up next to the coffee maker, and she snatched it up.
“I was looking for that last night.”
“Last night?” Sudden remembrance engulfed me . . . the deeply dirty words I’d uttered with her in mind while I’d jerked off until I came all over my stomach.
As if needing an escape, Stevie hurried away. “So I’ll just go help Frank and Brian with those windows before they shatter them.”
****
I’d left for the office with a slew more questions roiling around my head. Six hours later, I’d visited several construction sites for my ongoing builds, put out a couple new fires started by the Bancrofts, worked on a new sketch to implement possible changes for another less demanding client. I’d also probably pushed Gwen past her limit, bombarding her with pop quizzes on My Daughter’s a Woman Now, What the Hell Do I Do?
“I’m a million months pregnant, Kane. I don’t even remember what it’s like to have a period. You’re so asking the wrong woman.”
And even after rescheduling an afternoon meeting, I didn’t make it home before Cecilia. Her bedroom door was firmly shut, and loud music filtered out, joining the sounds of Stevie, Frank, and Brian quite possibly destroying the master bedroom and bathroom.
Stevie peeked her head around the doorway of my room. “Everything all right?”
I walked over to her. “She been home long?”
“About ten minutes.”
“Did she say anything?”
“She said hey.”
“That’s it?”
“Kane, what did you expect? She’s not about to say Hey y’all. Started my period today. Go me!”
“I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“Then go ask her already.” Stevie rolled her eyes and moved to rejoin Frank and Brian.
I grabbed her arm, but when she swung around I was at a loss for words.
“You’re pathetic, you know that?” She stared up at me.
I remained silent until she relented.
“Fine. I’ll just go be a girl then.” Stevie tossed her hair over her shoulder and marched to Cecilia’s room.
I waited for her to slip inside before I snuck close enough to hear their conversation.
“Cecilia? I know it’s not my place, and I don’t want to overstep, but your dad was kind of out of his depth this morning when we got here.”
“He told you?” Cecilia sounded horrified.
I almost thunked my head against the wall.
“Not exactly,” Stevie said. “He’d been out buying up all the tampons and pads at the drugstore. And yeah, he looked petrified.”
“Dad? Petrified? Oh my God. I wish you’d taken a picture.” I heard a little laughter in Cecilia’s voice.
“I should’ve.” Stevie actually giggled. At my expense. “You should’ve seen his face. And all the tampons!”
They roared with laughter, which was a better outcome than expected. I’d have to make a fool of myself more often.
When they calmed down, Stevie’s voice lowered. “I’m not gonna get all best friend-y with you or anything like that, but just so you know, my mom died when I was sixteen. Being a teenager without her really sucked.”
That brought me up straight. Stevie had lost her mom too? I wondered what else there was about this complex woman I had yet to find out.
And I decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to eavesdrop on a private conversation. I made my way downstairs and took refuge in the kitchen. Sometime later, Stevie showed up to grab a bottle of water.
I looked over from some paperwork I hadn’t been focused on anyway. “That went well?”
She leaned against the refrigerator. “It’s tough for a girl.
“I didn’t know about your mother.”
Her eyes widened a little before narrowing drastically. “You were listening?”
“Sorry. I came downstairs after that.”
“No. It’s okay, I know you’re just concerned about Cecilia.” Striding over, Stevie took a seat next to me.
“You were only sixteen when she passed away?”
Sunlight struck the side of Stevie’s face, illuminating her in gold. “It was cancer, and she didn’t go quickly.”
Reaching over, I cupped her shoulder.
“What about your wife?” she asked quietly.
I kept my hand where it was, even more connected to Stevie in that moment. “She wasn’t ill. It was a car accident. Completely out of the blue.”
She nodded. “I’m not sure which is worse. It must have been terrible for you and Cecilia.”
“When Alice died, it . . . very nearly destroyed me.”
“Same for me. It was a really, really shitty time.” Her voice quivered. “I was pretty messed up for a couple of years after Mom died.”
She glanced at me with wet eyes when I pulled her hand into my grasp.
“You don’t seem messed up to me.”
“You didn’t know me when I was eighteen. I think my dad wanted to disown me.” She sniffled and swiped beneath her eyes. “Lord, I haven’t cried about her in ages.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’d rather cry in front of you than Cecilia when I’m trying to cheer her up.” She looked down at our joined hands.
Then she slipped her hand free. “Or crying in front of my dad or brother.” She shivered comically.
“Surro
unded by men, huh?”
“That’s why I’m such a tough cookie.”
“You’re so much more than that, Stevie.”
A beautiful blush lit her cheeks, and her lashes fluttered down.
“Hey, boss lady! You gonna work today or what?” Brian shouted from upstairs, shattering the moment.
She hopped to her feet, hollering back, “Yeah, yeah. Keep your shirt on!”
“I didn’t mean to take up so much of your time.” I stood with her. “I won’t bother you for the rest of the afternoon.”
“What a relief.” She winked. “One more thing though, you need to buy a hot water bottle and get some Advil in case she gets backaches and cramps.”
“I got Midol.”
“Yeah. That stuff’s for shit. And I’m not even charging you extra for the advice.”
I laughed for the first time that day.
Hours later, Stevie and the others gone, the house all quiet, Cecilia hadn’t come downstairs. She’d claimed she didn’t want any dinner.
I knocked on her door. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
She sat in the middle of her bed, fiddling with Mr. Ears, the blue bunny she’d had since she was a baby. The thing was now a dingy gray color, and its fluffy tail had fallen off years ago.
“I brought chocolate cake. And salt and vinegar chips.” I placed both on the nightstand along with two plates and forks.
“Oh God, Dad. You’re ridiculous.” But she laughed while shaking her head.
I sat down on the edge of the bed. “You feel okay?”
She nodded for a moment but then admitted, “I miss Mom.”
And when her lip started quivering, I thought my heart would break all over again. Before the first tear fell, I pulled her into my embrace, my eyes stinging too.
I just held my little girl, wishing I could take all her pain away.
“I’m getting your shirt all wet.” Her voice was muted against the fabric.
“I don’t care about that.”
“I don’t understand why she had to die.” More tears blotched my shirt, softer sobs wracking her small frame.
