Ed's Blind Date Dilemma

by Katie O'Sullivan

  Claire laughed and pulled the sheet back up over her chest, pushing him away in a playful way. “Why don’t you take a quick shower? I’ll throw on my sweatpants and see about the contractor at the door. We can resume this later if you want, after you get off work.”

  Ed groaned and tugged at the sheet. “I’d rather get you off now and skip work entirely.” The doorbell rang again and he huffed out a breath. “Except for the guy waiting at the door, of course.”

  Claire rose from the bed, letting the sheet fall and padding naked across the room to her dresser. Ed watched, entranced, as she shimmied into a pair of undies and a tank top and turned to face him, hand on hip. “Go on. There are extra towels in the linen closet next to the bathroom.”

  “I will take you up on using your shower, thanks. But, uh, you’re not going out to talk to anyone dressed like that, are you?”

  She laughed, and cocked one hip. “What’s wrong with this outfit?”

  He growled, getting out of bed. He stalked toward her, snaking his hands around her waist and pulling those delicious curves flush against his nakedness. “Put more clothes on, Claire.”

  “I planned to, until you grabbed me.” She giggled and let her hands slide down his back to rest on those hard glutes she’s admired last night. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip and his cock throbbed against her stomach. “What are you doing after work tonight?”

  “What would you like me to do?” His question came out as barely a whisper.

  She swallowed hard, gathering her courage. “Me.”

  He gently dusted a kiss across her lips, the corners of his mouth curving up. “That can be arranged.”

  “But right now I need to go talk with the roofer. Take a shower and find me outside to say goodbye before you leave.”

  He kissed her forehead. “You got it. Now put some pants on.”

  Ten minutes later, Ed emerged from the bathroom, dressed in the same shirt and khakis he’d worn yesterday to work. According to his phone, he had barely enough time to swing by his house to grab a fresh shirt before heading into the station, but it was doable. Heading out the front door to find Claire to say goodbye, the first thing he spotted was the familiar logo on the side of the pickup truck parked right next to his SUV.

  “Oh shit.”

  Old Country Construction. His father’s company. For fuck’s sake. The first time he’d even thought of sleeping with another woman since Laura died… and Dad is on site for my walk of shame. His steps slowed to a full stop. Except, Dad’s in New York this week.

  It couldn’t be his dad giving the estimate.

  No walk of shame required.

  Ed heaved out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding since he saw the F350 sitting in the driveway. It’s not like he knew all the guys who worked for his father’s company. As one of the largest contractors on the Cape, his dad employed close to a hundred guys from Sandwich all the way down to P-town, and every town in between. Including Chatham. The chances of Ed knowing the guy giving Claire’s estimate were probably close to zero.

  Until he saw him coming around the corner, luckily without Claire in tow.

  Logan. The one cousin in the family who worked for his father.

  “Dude! What are you doing here this early in the a.m.?” Logan stepped closer and gave Ed a half hug with a slap on the back for good measure. At six three, his cousin only had him by a few inches in height but made up for it in breadth. A hockey defenseman in high school and college, Logan was a wall of muscle with broad shoulders and an imposing presence. Two years younger than Ed, he and Logan had been in high school together for a few years and had been fairly close before Laura died. Since then, Ed had been closer with Logan’s older brother Jack, who also worked in law enforcement as a State Trooper.

  But right now, he had no idea what to say. “Um, I… um…” Ed was at a loss.

  Logan’s eyes widened, his eyes matching the bright blue of the company polo shirt. He whistled. “Dude, are you fucking the homeowner?”

  Ed bristled at the blunt words. “It’s not like that, Lo. She and I are… dating.”

  His cousin stood stone faced for a long moment before breaking out in a wide grin. “Dude, it’s about time.” He paused again. “Have you told her about Laura and Kayleigh?”

  “We’ve talked about Laura, and about her ex-husband too. But… I haven’t told her I have a kid, or that Mom is the principal at her school, or...” Ed shook his head, hands resting on his hips as he looked up at the sky, trying to explain his reasoning when he wasn’t quite sure he understood it himself. “It’s all so new, you know? I mean, I haven’t even gone on a date since high school. Since Laura. I wanted to see if things clicked between Claire and me before throwing all of our huge family at her. That’s a lot of pressure.”

  “I get it. Jack’s girlfriend was totally overwhelmed over Christmas, especially with all the wedding bullshit.” Logan’s older brother Jack started dating someone new in October. Like Claire, Maggie wasn’t from the Cape and initially had no idea how integrated the MacDonald family were into the fabric of Chatham, or that one of their cousins was an international rock star.

  Claire chose that moment to emerge from the house with two mugs of coffee in hand, and saw the men talking to each other. Her steps slowed, approaching warily as she handed one of the mugs to Logan. Her cheeks filled with a bit of extra color, as if she was wondering what they’d been discussing. If they’d been discussing her. “I see you guys know each other.”

  “The Cape can be a small place. We, uh, went to high school together,” Logan offered before taking a sip of his coffee. He gave Ed a pointed look as if to say, the ball is in your court. But Logan had already given such a generic excuse for their friendship, wouldn’t it seem odd for Ed to come out and say, actually we’re cousins…?

  Before he had a chance to decide or say anything, Claire turned to him, clearing her throat. “There’s more coffee in the pot if you have time.”

  He automatically pulled out his phone to check. Shit. He no longer had a window to swing by the house to change his shirt before Chief Nickerson’s 9:00 a.m. briefing. Hopefully no one realized it was the same white button down he’d worn yesterday, but didn’t these shirts all look alike anyway? “I’m going to be walking into the morning meeting late as it is. Can I get a rain check? Or maybe a sip of yours?”

  She smiled and held out her mug. “Milk and one spoonful of sugar?”

  “Just how I like it.” He took a quick swig from the offered mug, nodding his thanks as he returned it to her. “I’ll see you later?”

  “I’ll be here. I’m planning to finish painting the downstairs guest room today and get it put back together.”

  “Don’t move the heavy furniture on your own. I’ll bring some takeout and help after work.” He cupped the back of her head and planted a quick kiss her on the forehead, breathing in her earthy, cinnamon scent. “See you after five.” He turned, surprised to find Logan staring at them openly, eyes wide. He’d completely forgotten his cousin was standing there. “Good to see you, Logan. Don’t forget to give Claire the friends and family discount on her quote, okay?”

  “You got it.” Logan smirked knowingly before covering it with his mug.

  Ed drove away from the house, wondering what he was getting himself into. And hoping she gave him the time to find out.

  12

  Friday, April 24

  Chatham Police Station, George Ryder Road

  The rest of the week passed in a blur of what Ed could only describe as pure happiness. Leaving work a little on the early side to show up at Claire’s each afternoon, helping her to finish whatever project she’d started that day. Eating dinner together on her back deck at her ridiculous white plastic table, which he’d already decided to replace as soon as he could convince her to take a trip into Hyannis. And then his favorite part… making love all night long. His cock stirred at the very thought of her warm, welcoming body underneath his. His fingers sliding alo
ng all those soft curves, the weight of her full breasts in his hands, her rosy nipples teasing his tongue as he sucked and teased them to hardened peaks…

  And now he was sitting in the station house with a full-on erection, no relief in sight. Luckily, his desk covered the evidence of his arousal. As long as no one needed him to do anything for the next stretch of time, at least until he got his raging hormones under control. Being with Claire made him feel like a horny teenager again. Five o’clock can’t come soon enough.

  They’d made plans for tonight, scoring last minute tickets to the open air concert at the Payomet Center in Truro. As an added surprise, he’d booked a room in a bed and breakfast in Provincetown. On their first date he’d promised to show her more of the Cape, but his work schedule this week hadn’t allowed for much sightseeing. He figured if they stayed overnight in P-town, he could show her around the quirky town at the tip of the Cape a bit on Saturday morning before they needed to head back to Chatham.

  Back to his reality. Kayleigh would be home tomorrow.

  He marveled at how much changed in five short days.

  He hadn’t slept in his own bed since Monday night. Yeah, he’d been home to grab fresh clothes and water his mom’s houseplants, but other than that it was like he removed himself from his normal routine. He skipped the once-a-month poker night Wednesday with his cousins, begged out of drinks with Jake and the guys Thursday, and now he was planning the best way to introduce Kayleigh and Claire. Or, you know, introduce the fact he had a middle school daughter in the first place. Okay, so he should’ve told her on their very first blind date. He knew it could make or break any budding relationship, so he decided to keep his daughter a secret at first. After getting to know her better, he couldn’t imagine Claire being scared or turned off by the fact he’d had a child right out of high school. He probably should’ve told her right from the start and gotten it over with. It might be awkward to admit he’d omitted telling her something as important as “Oh by the way, I have a daughter in middle school.” But it had to be done sooner rather than later if he had any hope of continuing the relationship.

  Because after less than a week, he was sure he wanted to keep Claire in his life.

  His parents and Kayleigh would be driving back from New York the following afternoon. Should he break the news to her tonight? After the concert, maybe? Or in the fancy hot tub at the bed and breakfast? What should he even say? Nothing like waiting until the very last minute.

  Jake dropped a heavy file box on the corner of his desk, jolting him out of his thoughts with a bang. “No time for daydreaming on the job, MacDonald. We’ve got bad guys to put away.”

  “Piss off, Campbell.” He eyed the folders as Jake pulled out a few and threw them down in front of him.

  “No, I’m serious. We’re due up in Boston after lunch for the start of witness testimony in the TKO drug case against your ex-chief of police. I figure we should brush up on some of these files this morning, or at least grab a few relevant ones to bring along for light reading this weekend.”

  “Weekend? Wait, what?”

  Jake rolled his eyes and let out a long-suffering type of sigh. “Where has your head been at this week? Honestly, this is all anyone has been talking about around the station for days, and how you’re the lucky bastard who gets to represent with me and Chief Nickerson up in Boston. Seeing as how it was your first case as a full-fledged detective, I’d a thought you’d be more pumped at the prospect of putting the motherfucker away for good. He shot two men dead in front of me, and killed plenty of others with his nasty-ass designer drug.”

  Ed dragged a hand down his face and groaned. “I thought testimony started next Friday. I made plans for this weekend.”

  “Plans?” Jake’s face scrunched into a frown. “Your daughter’s away all week with your parents and Dylan. What kind of…” He paused as a light bulb seemed to go off in his brain, his eyes widening. “The blind date from Monday night! You guys hit it off and you’re having a second date already?”

  Ed squirmed in his seat, although why should the truth make him uncomfortable? He was a single adult, for fuck’s sake, with every right to date whomever he chose. Maybe he hadn’t chosen to kiss and tell, to spill his guts to his friend about Claire… but it’s not like Jake said anything to him when things heated up with Abbie. Although, technically, they weren’t friends back then, only co-workers on a case. On this particular case, rearing its ugly head today to screw up his weekend plans. And now Jake was staring at him expectantly. Oh shit, how long have I been sitting here? What was his question? “Yeah, we hit it off. I was going to take her out to the Payomet Center for a concert tonight.” And a reservation at the most romantic bed and breakfast he could afford in Provincetown.

  “Sorry, buddy. Chief Nickerson already said he expects to be in court late and again tomorrow. I told my buddy Garcia to expect us both to be crashing at his apartment for the next few nights. Sunday, too, if things move as slowly as Nickerson thinks they may.”

  Ed met Jake’s old partner Antonio Garcia once or twice over the last year, and knew he was a good guy. Solid Boston cop. Garcia had originally been the one assigned along with Jake to work the undercover drug case which nailed the former Chatham chief of police. A family emergency sent him back to Boston, and left a support position open for Ed. His first undercover operation as a newly minted detective, even if his role was behind the scenes.

  He closed his eyes and felt the eager anticipation from earlier drain from his body. There was no way out of going up to Boston today with Jake, and potentially being there through Monday.

  He needed to call Claire and cancel their plans. He should also call his cousin Brian and see if he wanted the concert tickets for himself and Caroline. He should also give him the non-refundable overnight stay at the White Sands B & B.

  He could make it up to Claire another time, hopefully. If she wasn’t too pissed at him for the last minute cancellation tonight. Except… next weekend Kayleigh would be home. Well, he wanted to introduce the two of them anyway, right? He’d come up with a plan for the following weekend. And maybe have a chance to talk with Kayleigh first, see how she felt about her dad jumping back into the dating pool. He was pretty sure she’d be cool with it, but it was sometimes hard to predict how a preteen would react in a situation like this. Not that there’d ever been a situation like this before. Hell, it was hard to predict how any woman would react to anything new. Sometimes you just had to roll with it.

  “MacDonald? Are you with me?”

  Ed looked up to find Jake giving him a funny look. “Yeah, sorry. Lost in thought. Trying to rearrange plans in my head.”

  “Don’t hurt yourself with all that thinking. It’s quite simple. We have two hours to sift through the files, then we need to get on the road and head over the bridge. The only question you should be pondering is who gets to drive.”

  He waved off the question. “You can drive. I need to make some phone calls.”

  “To your girl?”

  “Yeah, and to remind Mom I won’t be here when they get back from New York.” Although, she might’ve remembered his schedule better than he had. How did he forget about traveling up to Boston? What else had he forgotten in his lust-induced fog this week?

  “If it were me and Abbie, I’d be calling her sooner rather than later. Chicks like as much notice as possible when you’re changing plans on them.”

  “You’re probably right.” Before he could beat himself up further, he dialed Claire’s number and got her voice mail. Turning his chair away from Jake to avoid the smirk splitting the other man’s face, he left a message. “Hey Claire, it’s Ed. I’m sorry I have to cancel our concert plans for tonight but a work thing came up. I need to head to Boston to testify in a trial but I’ll call when I get back to the Cape.” He paused, not sure what else to say, not with Jake listening over his shoulder to every word. “Um, so yeah. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  He clicked the off button on the phone an
d turned back to face Jake. “Okay. Hand me some of those files to go through.”

  Jake handed him one of the files, his face more serious than usual. “Sorry about your second date.”

  Ed grabbed the file, and again didn’t bother to correct him. Not the time or place to be talking about feelings, or emotions, or finding an unexpected connection with a woman who might be nothing like his wife yet was still able to make his blood heat and his heart beat faster. Better to keep all of it locked down until he figured out what was going on between them.

  And how Claire felt about adding a preteen into the mix.

  Claire held the phone pressed to one ear, the other hand covering the other ear, listening to Ed’s message. She was disappointed he canceled their concert plans, but how could she hold it against him? He had an important job to do, keeping the community safe. Part of it was testifying at trials. The job was obviously important, and would probably screw up their plans from time to time. She sighed as she clicked the phone off and slipped it into the back pocket of her jeans. She hadn’t expected the job to get in the way of stuff so early on in their relationship.

  Relationship? Is that what was going on? No. She and Ed were dating, only having fun. After less than a week, how could it be serious anyway? She had other things she needed to focus on. Getting totally wrapped up in a guy probably wasn’t the best idea at the moment anyway.

  More banging from overhead emphasized the fact she had other priorities right now. The hammering on the roof had started first thing at 7:00 a.m., but Logan promised that his crew would be finished by the end of the next day. Whether it was his normal timeframe or a favor to his friend Ed, she wasn’t sure and she didn’t care. The hammering needed to be over soon. She needed to focus on finishing the rest of the repairs on her grandmother’s cottage, and then deciding if she wanted to be the one to purchase it. Which she couldn’t make a decision on until she knew whether she’d be offered a contract with the Monomoy School District. It’s not like she could buy the cottage without the prospect of a permanent position.