Single Dad

by River Laurent

  He looks at me, smiling sadly. “I can guarantee Marissa wouldn’t have stuck by me if I got hit by a bus. And all those friends of mine, and clients, would vanish over time after getting distracted by their own lives. I would be alone. With nothing to show for all the work I put into my glossy image. It’s utter bullshit.”

  “So you decided to go slumming for something real. I get it. I’m not here to save your life, Ace, or to give it meaning. She hurt me. Badly. I’m not here to give your life meaning while I get knocked around, you know?”

  He nods, solemn. “Thank you for your honesty. I appreciate it. And for the record, I don’t want you to get knocked around, either. Like I said, I only wanted to be with you tonight. I’m sorry Marissa had to spoil it. Were you having a good time before this?”

  I was. I was actually having a terrific time, without doing much more than talking and sipping champagne. Everyone else was nice. Warm, welcoming. “I was.”

  “It doesn’t have to stop. It really doesn’t, unless you want it to. Frankly, I would love nothing more than to see you have the time of your life tonight. Especially if somebody else happens to see it at the same time.” He jerks his head in the direction of the party, where Marissa is lurking around. “I would love to see you in there with your head held high, showing her how pathetic she is. How she can’t hurt you or me.”

  “You’re sure you didn’t bring me here just to show her up?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

  “For one thing, you were there when Justin told me he had to invite her. Did it seem like I knew she’d be here?”

  Oh. I forgot about that. “No, it didn’t.”

  “And even if I wanted to bring you here to show her up, what does that say?” He reaches for me, pulling me closer by my waist. “It means I’m proud to be with you. I’m proud to be seen with you, because you’re a knockout. No matter what she says, no matter what anybody with a warped viewpoint says. You’re a knockout, plain and simple. From the minute I saw you last night, I wanted you with every breath in my body.”

  “Really?” I might forget to breathe.

  “Really. Was I not obvious enough?”

  I can’t help but chuckle. “You made it pretty clear.”

  “All right, then.” He leans in, smiling, and kisses me deeply. My arms wind around his neck as his slide around my waist, holding me firmly against his body.

  I don’t care very much about my lipstick right now.

  Chapter 16

  Dawn

  I don’t want the kiss to be over, not ever, but we’re sort of in public so it kinda ends, but he holds me close, our foreheads nearly touching. “Dawn,” be breathes, stroking my cheeks with his thumbs. One of them brushes along my lower lip, making me shiver.

  The way he whispers my name… I could listen to it for the rest of my life and never grow tired. He sounds like a man hanging onto his senses by the thinnest thread. A thread I wouldn’t mind seeing break. The idea that I might be the one to drive him wild is powerful. I could get used to it.

  If he’d let me.

  “I’m right here,” I whisper, eyes closed, soaking in the moment. Between the sheer magic of him and the magic of the magnificent sensations running through my body, I’m more certain than ever that this is a dream.

  If it is, I think I’ll stay asleep forever. I wonder what happened to the attitude I gave Gena today, what happened to my conviction. Why it’s okay for me to want him the way I do, to want there to be more between us than there is.

  I guess it’s because my head is spinning and I can hardly think.

  “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he growls softly.

  “If it’s anything like what you do to me, I think we’re in trouble.”

  We both chuckle as his hands slide down to my shoulders, then to my back. He pulls me even closer, my palms against his chest where I feel his heart beating strong and steady. Wouldn’t it be nice to believe I made it race just a little? It’s one thing to hear a man ask if I know what I do to him, but another to feel the evidence hard against my stomach.

  “By the way,” he says, “when I said you were the most beautiful woman at the party tonight I forgot to add that you are also the sexiest, the all-around best.”

  A voice in my head wonders if he’s ever said anything like that to Marissa. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to ask, and it would ruin the moment. “Between you and me, I think you’re the only person at the party who holds that view.”

  I’m trying to be funny, to make him chuckle a little, but he doesn’t see the humor. His brow creases as his eyes search mine. “Why do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “You talk down about yourself and try to make it sound as though you’re joking, though it’s obvious you aren’t.”

  I open my mouth, then close it. The thing is, I can’t come up with an answer that won’t sound ridiculous. Why do I do it, anyway, now that he mentions it? “It’s complicated,” I whisper.

  “What’s so complicated about it?”

  And the thing is, he’s serious. He had no idea why a person would find it difficult to accept a compliment, why it would make me uncomfortable for a man like him to tell me how much more beautiful I am than these obviously beautiful women. He carries on staring at me, waiting for me to explain myself.

  “You know something?” I take a step back, leaving the circle of his arms. “I think you’re the only man who’s ever given me a compliment like that and actually meant it. You’re definitely the best-looking one. I don’t get the idea from you that you’re trying to get anything out of me—you know, money or a place to stay or even sex. Because you don’t need those things from me. You can get them anywhere you want them.”

  “You’re right. I can. So whatever I say to you, I mean.”

  “You don’t understand what that means for a girl like me.” I need to turn away from him for a minute. I can’t look him in the eye right now. It’s all too embarrassing. Too emotional. I almost don’t know why I’m even telling him these things, seeing that I don’t think I’ve opened up this way with any man. Especially not a virtual stranger.

  Maybe it’s because he still knows so little about me that I’m able to open up.

  I take a deep breath to steady myself. “As you know I just broke up with my boyfriend last night. No, no, let’s keep it real. I didn’t break up with him, he dumped me, but today I held him to his word.”

  “You did? Good for you.” His voice is firm and full of satisfaction.

  I nod. “I packed him up when I got home today and made him pick everything up.”

  His laughter gives me a little extra courage.

  “He wasn’t very nice to me. He told me I couldn’t wear this dress, for one thing. He said I couldn’t pull it off.”

  Ace lets out a low growl. “He’s an idiot or blind as a bat. I’d like to pull your dress off. With my teeth.”

  “I’m serious,” I whisper. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m serious. I’ve never worn this dress prior to tonight because James, the jerkoff, told me I was too fat for it. That I looked ridiculous in it. And I believed him. Do you see what I’m saying? It’s not like he was the first one to ever tell me how fat I am. How crazy it would be for me to ever think I was as pretty or sexy as girls like… well, you know who I mean.”

  “You shouldn’t have packed up his things,” he snarls. “You should’ve set them on fire.”

  Even though all kinds of emotions are churning inside me I have to laugh at that. Imagine James’s face if he had come to the charred remains of his stuff. “Yes, I wish I had. But then where would I live? He’s not worth burning down an apartment for.”

  “He’s lucky he came to get his things before I showed up to get you tonight,” Ace mutters, sliding a gentle arm around my waist. “He’s a worthless piece of shit, and beating him to a pulp would’ve been a nice way to close out my year.”

  “Watching you do it would’ve been a nice way to close out mine,” I have to
admit, “but you look so nice. I wouldn’t want you to mess up your clothes.”

  “Nice?” he says with an amused smile. “Very kind of you.” He places a sweet, tender kiss on my shoulder. “However, he did me a favor, this jerkoff who used to be yours.”

  “What did he do for you?”

  “He was stupid enough to let you go. And you’re mine.” He steps behind me, and runs his hands down my sides before resting them on my hips. Funny. I used to hate being touched there, like the presence of hands on my fat would make them real to the person touching me. As if denying myself the pleasure of being touched would make my imperfections disappear.

  I lean against him. He leans against me, too, and the scent of his cologne is basically an aphrodisiac. It wraps itself around my head and makes me wonder why we’re still wearing clothes.

  “You’re a beautiful woman,” he whispers, his breath hot against my ear. “Just because some ass didn’t see you for who you really are doesn’t change who you are. It’s his loss. I know that makes me sound like a parent trying to encourage their sad kid, but it’s true.”

  “It does.”

  “Only small people try to make other people feel small, to drag them down to their level. He made you unhappy, so he doesn’t deserve my sympathy, but I almost feel bad for the poor bastard, knowing how miserable he must be to try and make you miserable. You’re worth much more than what he put you through. I hope you finally figured that out.”

  The funny thing is, I’m starting to do just that. And it’s all thanks to him. The deep breath I take fills my lungs with cold, clean air that I could swear feels like it’s cleaning out all the old garbage and making room for something new and better.

  “I guess this is as good a time as any to start changing my ideas about myself,” I reason. “New year, new me, all that jazz.”

  His soft laughter sends warm breath over my neck—funny how something so warm makes goosebumps rise up over my skin. “So long as you don’t change too much about yourself, since I kinda like you the way you are, but if there’s a way you can be happier, I’m all for it.”

  With him behind me, literally, I get the feeling there’s nothing I can’t do. God, what is it about him that brings out the corny fool in me? He makes me think all these things that I would never normally think. Like all of a sudden, my thoughts are coming out sounding like cheesy greeting cards.

  I could forget everything in the past. If not forget it, at least get past it. Leave it. Baggage like that is too heavy to carry around with me. I want to be happy. I want to move on.

  Just one thing holds me back: knowing that tonight is just tonight. A party is just a party. No matter how sweet he is, no matter how hot the sex was last night, it is what it is. There’s nothing more. If I want to let go of the past, I’ll have to do it on my own.

  At least I’ll know he wanted me. I’ll know I managed that. And it’s as good a starting point as any.

  With that in mind, I decide to enjoy the moment. I won’t have anything left of him after tonight. Marissa was right, even if she is also a bitch. Nobody would ever accept us together, and he would end up looking like a joke because of me. I’m not fat, not the way she made me out to be, but I’m not like her, either. I’m not like him.

  “I have an idea.” I turn in his arms, forcing a smile I don’t quite feel. I want him to remember me fondly, not as the girl who made him freeze half to death on the balcony of his friend’s house.

  “What’s that?” he grins. He has no idea what I’ve been thinking about, no idea of the turmoil in my head and heart. He doesn’t know how dear he’s already become to me, the sneaky jerk. He has a way about him. He ought to bottle and sell it if the whole gym endeavor tanks.

  “I think we ought to go in and enjoy the rest of the party, instead of standing out here and freezing our asses off.”

  “I feel pretty warm right now,” he informs me with a sexy smirk.

  An icy breeze touches my bare legs, making me shiver. “Yeah, well, I’m a lot more naked than you are.”

  Chapter 17

  Dawn

  I didn’t think you two would ever come back in,” Justin smirks when we return to the party.

  Ace slides the coat from my shoulders and hands it to the man in the uniform to be hung up with the others. “The lady is far more sensible than I am,” he explains. “I would rather have stayed out there where I can hear myself think. You know I can’t stand big groups.”

  “I know, I know, it gives you a headache,” Justin replies with a wink in my direction. “So what does he do for a living? He buy himself a gym that’s always busy as hell.”

  “If it’s not busy, how do I make money?” Ace asks.

  Justin shakes his head, turning his attention to me again. “He could’ve come in on the ground floor with me, you realize. You’d never have to spend time in a smelly, sweaty gym.”

  “Then I would never have met, Sam. Besides I don’t have a head for all that computer stuff,” Ace drawls, sliding an arm around my waist.

  “No, but you have the business sense.” He swipes a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. “And that would’ve been enough for me.”

  Ace rolls his eyes, but gently. “Don’t you have other guests you could be bothering right now instead of bringing up old news with somebody I brought with me to impress a little bit?”

  Justin shrugs good-naturedly. “I thought she should know right off the bat what an idiot you are.”

  “I’m sure she’ll figure it out on her own, thanks.” He rolls his eyes again as he steers me further into the house, among the rest of the guests.

  “You two like busting each other’s balls, I guess?”

  His rueful laughter tells me I’m right. “It’s sort of a lifelong habit we both have. I guess tonight, it’s my turn. I deserve it. The last time he brought a girl around, I told her the story of how he once sat on a cacti during a sports run.”

  “He did?” I giggle.

  “Yeah, and he jumped around and wailed like a banshee and had to have them removed one by one in front of a whole bunch of people. I’ve never let him live it down.”

  I almost hate to laugh, covering my mouth with both hands in a vain attempt at covering it up. “Aww, poor kid. That’s a shame.”

  “He gave up all sports after that. I suppose it was for the best. He turned to computers after that, coding and building.”

  “You’re hard on him,” I jokingly chastise.

  He smiles, shaking his head. “It’s all in fun. He’s the closest thing to family I have. I’d kill for him, and I know he’d do the same for me.”

  We reach the table where several desserts have been laid out: puddings, little cakes, cute little things that look like whoever set them up found the inspiration on Pinterest. I’d bet just about anything that it wasn’t Justin. When you’re wealthy enough, you hire people to do things like that for you.

  “Hungry?” Ace loads a plate with the reddest, most luscious looking strawberries I’ve ever seen. They even smell good.

  Of course, after what just happened upstairs, my immediate inclination is to refuse. The last thing any girl who’s been labeled as “fat” wants to do is be seen eating in public, especially after being reminded how ridiculous she looks when standing beside a ripped, impossibly gorgeous man who makes his living by reshaping bodies.

  But I am hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since lunch. Why should I refuse myself some food when I’m hungry? Just because somebody might have something to say about it? To hell with them. I look at the pile of strawberries and a crazy image of him feeding them to me floats into my head. Maybe with a blindfold over my eyes. Oh, I’m becoming a sex maniac.

  “I’d love some of those strawberries,” I blurt out quickly. “And maybe a little of the chocolate sauce.” To hell with anybody who decides they have a problem with it. It’s damn good.

  “And how about a dance once we’re finished?” he asks. “You did promise me one.”

  Da
nce with him? With all these people watching? “Did I? The champagne must have gone to my head.”

  He steps closer, overwhelming me with his nearness. “Come on. I’ve been dying for another excuse to get my hands on you.”

  An excuse to get his hands on me, in front of all these people. Wouldn’t that just about kill Marissa if she happened to see? I know I shouldn’t care so much over what she thinks about anything, but I’m only human. “All right. Make sure I have another drink in me first, just for the extra confidence.”

  “Go on, I know, you know how to move. I’ve seen that for myself,” he says with a wicked wink.

  I look around as my cheeks burn furiously. “Ace!”

  “It’s true,” he shrugs. “And nobody heard. They’re all too busy with themselves. Don’t worry so much.”

  “I don’t worry.” But he’s wrong that nobody’s paying attention to us. We’ve been attracting attention all night, glances and smiles and a few whispers, but nothing as drastic as what Marissa pulled upstairs. Even so, we’re the ‘it’ couple tonight.

  The band goes into a slow, jazzy tune I vaguely recognize.

  “Ready?” he asks, taking my hand without bothering to wait for an answer. Well, I guess this is better than a fast tune which might have me bouncing out of my dress.

  The crowd seems to magically part as we walk through, and of course he chooses a spot in the dead center of the dance floor. I guess men like Ace are used to being in the middle of things. It’s more than likely that he doesn’t even think about it.

  He turns to me, taking my right hand in his left and pulling me to him using the hand he’s pressed to my lower back. My left hand rests on his right shoulder. Damn, how do the seams of his shirt and jacket manage to hold up against all these muscles?

  And we start to sway.

  Our bodies move together without a hint of awkwardness, or even a bit of clumsiness. I’ve never been this graceful in my life. It’s like we’ve been doing this all our lives, with him leading and me following, without the need for either of us to say a word.