Her Old-Fashioned Oregon Daddy (Stateside Doms Book 6), page 3
“I could use a drink,” Terri offered.
Trask leveled her with a dommy glare. Or I should say, he tried to. “It’s barely afternoon on a weekday.”
She shrugged him off, throwing her hands in the air. “First of all, it’s Friday. And who cares what time it is? I feel like celebrating. And it’s not like either of us have jobs to get to yet. What’s the big deal?”
Trask looked unamused and like he was desperately searching for an argument, so I gave him one.
“Now that I’m filled in on everything, it might actually be fun to go into town and see everything and have a drink. I’m definitely down to celebrate, but I need food first and a nap. How about we meet for dinner at the Dutch and if we’re feeling it, we’ll move into the bar and extend the evening. Maybe even sing a karaoke song or two.”
“Well, I don’t know about the karaoke, but I’m down with the rest of that plan.”
“I’m good with all of it,” Terri said with a grin, “especially the karaoke.”
Trask rolled his eyes. She stuck her tongue out. Imagining where the interaction could go from here, I stood to leave, shaking Trask’s hand and giving Terri a hug.
“I’ll see you guys tonight for dinner. Say around seven?”
“Sounds good.” Trask walked me to the door and Terri waved.
I drove through a Subway on the way back to The Apple Inn, calling from my car to book the room for one more night. I parked across the lot and avoided the cafe like the plague.
Using the keycard to unlock the room, I deadbolted the door behind me, stripped down to my undershirt and boxers, and climbed in bed, turning on the TV for background noise. It was a lot easier to sleep soundly now that I had answers than it had been this morning, and I barely woke up when my alarm went off at six.
Ashley
I was a bad mom. I expected my kids to be perfect little children who went to school and got good grades and respected their elders, but I also expected them to be good little adults who cleaned up the dinner dishes and put themselves and their siblings to bed at night while Mommy went out for drinks at the bar. I knew it wasn’t fair, and I knew they deserved better and still, every week, I did it again.
“Another Jack and Coke, please,” I told the bartender, slamming a ten down on the bar. I had made decent tips today. The responsible thing to do would have been to save the money or use it for something my kids needed, but here I was drinking it away again, just like my father had.
“You want to slow down, or maybe get some food?” the bartender asked with a concerned frown.
He was always saying things like that, always looking out for me. You would think I’d have appreciated it, but as far as I was concerned he needed to mind his own damn business.
Scotty delivered my drink with an eye roll, and I tipped my head back and drank it without stopping. Even I knew I was going too fast to be safe; I just didn’t care.
I rummaged in my purse for another ten or even a twenty but came up short. Groaning, I laid my head on the bar. Eventually someone would come along and buy me a drink. Probably some dumb fuck who wanted bathroom head, but what did I care? It wouldn’t be the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.
A local drunk butchered an Adele song, and a group of girls who were barely legal came up and did a fairly decent rendition of some man-hating anthem I recognized but couldn’t place. Jax, Paisley, and Weston, Three River’s newest and only throuple were up on stage belting out a Shania ballad when the back bar door swung open—the one that entered from the diner—and I looked up to see who was coming in. Maybe I could get that drink soon.
Fuck. Scratch that, I thought as soon as I saw the trio of Trask King, Terri Travers, and Dusty Reese. Now it all made sense. I ducked behind a logger and tried to make myself invisible while I watched from the shadows. They all seemed to be in great spirits, all smiles, lifting their beer bottles in a toast like they were celebrating something. They had lots to celebrate, with Trask being exonerated, Terri returning to Three Rivers, and the two of them managing to help take down the ring of crime and conspiracy that had put him in jail in the first place.
I shook my head. Must be nice. They had come to me for help last month when they had first begun digging into the past, and I had turned them away cold, lying to their faces. I hadn’t wanted to, but for the sake of my kids and our safety, I hadn’t had a choice. Doing it had made me sick; I had gone into the bathroom and thrown up afterwards. Now, just as I had in school, I watched them jealously, on the outside looking in while they shrugged off their jackets and settled at a table near the stage.
Trask leaned back with a smile on his face and draped his arm around Terri’s shoulders like he hadn’t just spent a decade in jail. Terri looked radiant and totally at ease, like she had no guilt whatsoever and her life was just perfectly perfect. Somehow it probably was.
Dusty… Dusty looked even more delicious than he had this morning when I had mistaken him for a predator and kicked him out of the cafe. I’d instantly felt guilty when I finally recognized him. I wasn’t known for being a good judge of character, but even I knew that Dusty Reese was nothing but a perfectly decent kid who had probably grown into a proper and respectable man. Had I not been so wrapped up in getting ahold of and yelling at Elijah, I would have recognized him, been happy to see him, poured him a cup of coffee and caught up. Maybe even have scored myself an invitation to whatever tonight’s little celebration was. Instead, in a typical Ashley move, I had ruined everything.
They finished their beers, and Dusty stood up and headed toward the bar. He looked even hotter tonight than he had this morning, and I wondered if he would be in town long enough for me to get a second chance. And then, I ended my pity party, tossed my hair back and marched toward him.
“Hi,” I said, batting my eyelashes.
“Ashley!” he exclaimed, looking genuinely happy to see me. Aside from my youngest, nobody had looked that happy to see me in a long time.
“Listen, Dusty, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I didn’t recognize you until I had already kicked you out, and I’m embarrassed at how I reacted.”
He held up his hand in front of his chest as if to stop me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone into the kitchen. You were just back there for a while, and I was desperate for a cup of coffee. But it’s no excuse. And I’m sorry I frightened you.”
He had frightened me, and he shouldn’t have gone back there, but he was so genuinely apologetic that I felt even worse. “It’s no big deal. Really. I don’t know why I flipped out like I did.”
“Trauma response,” he murmured, looking deep into my eyes, holding contact until I blinked.
“I… what?”
“Nothing. Listen, I’m only in town for one more night, and I’d love to catch up. Why don’t you come sit with us?” He gestured to the table where Trask and Terri were still sitting, and I hesitated, thinking about how I had lied to them when they had just been trying to help.
“Come on,” Dusty coaxed. “I’ll buy you a drink.”
Well shit. How could I say no to that? Dusty was the kind of man who would buy a woman a drink with no strings attached. He wouldn’t even expect a blow job, and besides, even if he did, it would be more of a dream than a hardship.
“Jack and Coke, please,” I answered.
He ordered it, along with three more beers, and guided me to their table with his hand on the small of my back, and even pulled out a chair for me, like I was a real classy lady or something. I shot him a dazzling smile, greeted Terri and Trask like I wasn’t nervous as shit to sit with them, and soon the awkwardness faded. I managed to choke out an awkward apology for our dubious conversation last month and like the awesome people they were, Terri and Trask waved it off like my lying to their faces was no big deal, something that was probably a thousand times easier since the events of a few days ago, when everyone and their dog had been arrested on national television. After that, the conversation flowed, and so did the drinks. Trask and Dusty stopped after their second beer, but Terri nursed two more and I had several Jack and Cokes before the bartender announced last call.
“Well, crap, I guess it’s time to say goodnight,” Dusty said as Terri and Trask gathered their coats. “Thank you both for everything, and hopefully it won’t be another decade before I see you again.”
“Hopefully not,” Terri agreed, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek before letting Trask guide her out of the bar.
And then there were two.
Dusty narrowed his eyes as I stood and swayed on my feet. “Where do you live?” he asked.
The answer was an apartment complex not much better than the one that had burnt down, but I was too embarrassed to admit that to him. “Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving my hand drunkenly. “It’s not too far, I’ll walk.”
Dusty was not easily dissuaded. “I’m okay to drive, Ashley. I quit drinking hours ago. I wouldn’t feel right about letting you walk home alone this late. Please let me give you a ride.”
Why was he so damn nice? And sexy? I couldn’t fight him, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to take him back to my place, ask him in for a nightcap, and fuck his brains out. I wouldn’t because there was still the matter of three kids and not wanting him to see where I lived, but I could at least accept the ride and extend the fantasy a little longer.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Lead the way, sir.” I gave him a mock salute, stumbling over my own feet as I walked toward the door.
He caught me and kept me from falling, grabbing my elbow to steady me as he guided me out the door and into the lot toward a small conservative white sedan. It was not the car I’d imagined a sexy mo-fo like him to be driving.
There was nothing sexy about it, but what was sexy was the way he kept his hand on the small of my back as he unlocked the passenger-side door, helped me in, and even reached across my lap to buckle my seatbelt. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had taken care of me like that.
When he walked around the car and let himself into the driver’s seat, I couldn’t help myself. I leaned over and kissed him.
Dusty
Her lips were soft and sweet. She smelled like strawberry shortcake and tasted like whiskey. I got caught up in the surprise of the moment and leaned into the kiss, resting my hand on her hip as I explored her mouth with my tongue. She reached for my belt and then I remembered. She’d been drinking, at least three, but probably more. She had stumbled on the way out to the car and her words had been slightly slurred when she accepted my offer of a ride home. Gently, I pulled away.
“Ashley,” I said, not sure what else to say. As tempted as I might be, as much as I might want more, it couldn’t be tonight, and there wouldn’t be a tomorrow. I had to get home to Redmond, to the center and to my kids. And I wasn’t a one-night-stand type of guy. I definitely wasn’t a drunken one-night-stand-with-dubious-consent kind of guy.
“Dusty.”
She moaned my name as she went in for another kiss. I had to bite my lip to not let her take it. She was sexy and sweet and a little bit needy. There was something about her that made me feel protective, like I wanted to take care of her and keep her safe, for more than just tonight. I could tell that she was a little bit broken and, god help me, I wanted to be the one to put her back together. That primal urge was exactly why I couldn’t give in.
“Ashley.”
She blinked up at me with lust in her eyes. “C’mon, Dusty. Let’s have a little fun. For old times’ sake.”
Starting the car, I shook my head. “Trust me, honey, I would love to, but I’m going back home tomorrow.”
“So? That doesn’t matter.” She reached for the collar of my button-down shirt, and I gently smacked her hand away. The more time that passed, the sloppier she became. I needed to get her home so she could pass out and sleep it off.
“Where do you live?” I tried to get her to focus.
“Ooh, you wanna go to my place and do it in a bed? Old-fashioned, I like it. You’ll have to be careful not to wake my kids up, though.” Her words were slurred, and her expressions exaggerated.
“Tell me where you live.” I ignored her lewd come-ons but didn’t turn her down. I didn’t want to upset her. I just wanted to get her home.
Finally, she named a worn-down apartment complex on the edge of town. Sucking in a breath, I turned the car onto the road and headed that way. It certainly wasn’t a place for children, though Ashley had mentioned having them. Children, plural. My heart squeezed.
It’s not your problem Dusty. Not your circus, not your monkeys.
I pulled into the lot and stopped in the middle. I’d have given her front door service, like the gentleman I was, but she still hadn’t told me where to go. I looked over in time to see her whip off her top and lunge at me.
Oh Lord. Here we go.
I jumped out of the car and ran around to the passenger-side door, flinging the door open. Her attention jerked toward me and she looked confused.
“Oh. Dusty. There you are. Look at my breasts. Are they nice? I guess they are a bit saggy after three kids. You’re probably used to much nicer. Big double Ds and a twenty-six-inch waist. Much prettier girls than me.”
To my absolute horror, she started to cry. Shit. I was a sucker for tears, even when those tears were coming from a sloppy-drunk female who was just trying to get into my pants. Maybe especially then.
I took her face in my hands and wiped her tears gently with my thumb. “Ashley, back in high school you were my dream girl,” I said. I was trying to console her, but it was also true. Even with a couple years between us, she had managed to catch my attention.
“But now I’m just a washed-up hag with too many kids?”
Shit. I should have seen that coming. I was always putting my foot in my mouth. “That’s not what I meant,” I corrected. “You’re still beautiful.”
“Then why won’t you have sex with me?” She pouted; her plump lips were wet with the tears still falling down her face. I grabbed her shirt off the floor of my car and wrestled her back into it, with her fighting me all the way.
“Ashley, c’mon. This isn’t what you want. A drunk one-night stand with someone you’ll probably never see again.” I wasn’t coming back to Three Rivers. I had gotten what I had come for.
Ashley rolled her eyes. She wasn’t giving up that easily. “Why not? That’s how I got my kiddos. We would make pretty cute babies, I bet.”
Oh brother. Reasoning with a drunk person was never the way to go. I had forgotten that in my time away from this place. It was all coming back to me.
Realizing that I was getting nowhere fast, I lifted her out of the car, foisting her over my shoulder.
She giggled. “Oooh, the caveman act. I like it. Are you gonna spank me, Daddy?”
I rolled my eyes, my lips twitching at her use of a title I was used to hearing. It was a good thing she couldn’t see my face because I would totally give myself away. It was also a good thing she wasn’t mine, because if she were, the way she was acting, she’d never be able to sit down.
“What apartment?” I growled.
“C321.”
Oh goody. I had to carry her this way up two flights of stairs. I found the building marked C and started my ascent. Ashley was hiccupping drunkenly, but at least she wasn’t hitting on me anymore. The stairs were steep cement covered in faded, musty carpeting. It was a good thing I worked out every day or I’d be huffing and puffing. Even as thin as she was, Ashley was dead weight over my shoulders. I made it to the third level and walked down the hallway until I found her apartment.
Fuck. There was a bright yellow eviction notice pinned to the door.
“Hey, Ash?”
The only response was a soft snore. Grabbing the yellow piece of paper off the door, I shoved it in my pocket and twisted the knob. Unlocked. Another reason she wouldn’t sit if she were mine. This woman had no self-preservation skills.
Walking in, I was greeted by three children sitting on a couch, staring at a TV screen. The oldest looked to be about thirteen, but he had to be younger. He swung his head in my direction and didn’t even flinch when he saw his mom passed out over my shoulder.
Instead, he jumped up. “C’mon. I’ll show you where she sleeps.”
Disgust knotted my insides. These kids were too young for this to be normal, but I had a feeling it was all they had ever known. I let him lead the way into a small bedroom with one tiny window and piles of clothes littering every available surface. Telling myself not to get involved, I gently set Ashley down on her bed and tiptoed out of the room, closing the door behind me.
Back in the living room, three sets of eyes stared at me, watching my every move. “Shouldn’t you guys be in bed?” I asked.
The oldest shrugged at me.
I started again. “I’m Dusty. I’m a friend of your mom’s from high school. What are your names?”
The oldest kid, with his shaggy brown hair that fell in his eyes, looking vaguely familiar, just shrugged again.
The middle child, a petite girl with blonde pigtails who looked to be about eight, spoke up, answering for them all. “That’s Elijah. He’s eleven. I’m Adelyn. I’m eight and a half, and this”—she jabbed the youngest who was almost asleep, sagging against the arm of the worn-out couch—“is Iggy. He’s six.”
They were a bit younger than the kids I normally worked with, but I knew the universal way to a kid’s heart, and I had seen a twenty-four-hour pizza place on the way over. “Are you guys hungry?”
“We’re sick of ramen, so we didn’t eat dinner,” Adelyn offered. “That’s all Elijah knows how to cook.”
“Ramen is good, but… do you guys like pizza?”
“Pizza. Pizza. Pizza,” Adelyn chanted, with Iggy copying her. Elijah just shrugged, but his eyes were lit up.
“Okay, I’ll order a pizza, but after you eat you have to get your jammies on and get to bed.”
“It’s Friday. We get to stay up on Friday.”
