Page 40 of Mister Mom

I lick my lips, ready for another kiss, but his hand falls from my cheek and he steps back.

“Good night,” he mumbles and disappears down the walkway.

I shut the door, my hand still clutched around the door handle while I gather myself.

“Mommy,” Payne says from behind me and I startle.

“Don’t scare Mommy.” I lock the door, and lead Payne back to the kitchen.

“How come Vance was licking your neck?” he asks.

Shit.

“I’d spilled something on myself and we ran out of napkins.” Not my best excuse, but this is uncharted territory for me. Since Payne’s half asleep he takes me at my word.

I look around at the clean kitchen, think of the dry-cleaning hanging in the hall closet and how Vance will be back tomorrow to watch Payne. It may only be temporary, but it’s a relief to have someone else to rely on and not have everything resting on my shoulders alone.

I’ll carry the load alone if I must, but I’m beginning to understand that it’s so much sweeter when there’s someone there sharing the weight of it all.

11

Vance

“I’m worried.” Leo glances away from the Golden Retriever he’s shampooing in his doggie spa to where Payne is hanging out by the puppy corral.

“What?” I pop a chip into my mouth as I sit on the counter watching him.

“The kid looks at you like you’re Spider-Man. You’re playing with fire. He’s attached after only three days.”

“Nah, Payne loves Ninja Turtles. He’s on the fence with Spider-Man.” I pop another chip into my mouth.

Leo shoots me his annoyed look. What can I say? I know what he’s saying, but I can’t be expected to control how awesome I am.

“You know what I mean.” He hoses off the big dog, the water spraying back onto his shirt, causing it to cling to his chest.

“Do you have that window so women can ogle you?” I look through the cut-out in the wall at the four women sipping their Starbucks and admiring the scene unfolding in front of them.

“No.” He glances at them, too, then back to the dog. “I do it so the owners can see what we’re doing.”

“Uh-huh, whatever. Clearly those women haven’t heard the rumors.” I chuckle and Leo shakes his head.

Besides his doggie spa Leo creates and sells dog clothes on some website that starts with an ‘E’. When people find that out they make their own assumptions and Leo never bothers to refute them. Apparently, a single heterosexual man can’t be good at designing and sewing dog clothes.

“They can assume all they want. I don’t lie.” Leo shoots me a look of warning and then glances at the window where two of the women with iced coffees look like they’d like to be sipping him up with a straw.

“You should just take off your t-shirt. You know, for sales.”

Leo picks up a wet rag and throws it at me.

I catch it in time to avoid getting wet. “Don’t bring me into your twisted world. You don’t want me competing for their attention.” I wink and then place the rag in the sink next to me.

“You do realize that they probably think you’re my lover, right?” Leo lifts the dog out of the tub and places him on the grooming table, hooking him up to the pole.

Each woman follows his movements with a head tilt, their mouths ajar slightly.

“You just made them all wet.”

“I aim to please.” He laughs.

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