Page 126 of Rescued by the Single Dad

Inez smiled, then Clint closed the door on her.

He returned in three strides, pulling her from her brother’s arms and into his. His mouth fell to her neck, and he shut his eyes, inhaling her deep, imprinting her on his memory for as long and best as he could.

Once Rocco confirmed that Willy’s truck was gone, they all exhaled.

“What the fuck is between you two?” Clint asked as the three of them made their way into the kitchen. He still hadn’t released Brooke. He wasn’t ready to. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready.

“Goes back to high school, actually,” Rocco said, sitting down at the table, plunking his elbows on it and raking all ten fingers through his floppy blond hair. “I was a year ahead of Inez, which put Brooke two years ahead of her. Our dads were friends—both being cops and all—and Inez had a major crush on me.”

“Most of the girls in school did. You had—and still do have—heartthrob good looks,” Brooke said, rising up to her tiptoes to press a kiss to Clint’s cheek as a way to let him know he could let go of her. He released her, and she joined her brother at the table.

“Yeah, well, Inez was obsessed.”

“And you broke her poor little sophomore heart,” Brooke teased.

“She cut out pictures of her face and mine, then glued them onto existing faces of couples and had them all over her locker—and from what I heard, bedroom, too. If you don’t call that obsessed ...”

“How’d you let her down?” Clint asked, filling the kettle up for the French press and Brooke’s tea.

“As nicely as I could, but some of the guys on the wrestling team caught wind of it—I didn’t tell a fucking soul, I swear—and they took it to the next level. She got harassed for the rest of that year. A lot of people called her ‘stalker-girl’.”

Brooke made a sad face. “She’s always been a little intense. But it’s harmless. You apologized for what happened to her, even though you didn’t do anything. You were very kind to her. You let her know you didn’t feel the same way, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t be friends. You didn’t even date in high school, so it’s not like there was someone else.”

“Wrestling and getting good grades so I could get the hell out of that town and away from Aunt and Uncle Fuckface was my primary goal. I couldn’t let girls and drama blockade that.”

“But there’s still bad blood between you two?” Clint asked.

“She never believed me when I said I didn’t tell anybody. That I didn’t start the nickname. And I still think she’s not quite right in the head. She’s also still probably embarrassed over what happened. I doubt there’s still a crush there, though.”

“Agree to disagree,” Brooke said dryly. “Inez is fine in the head. She’s just intense. And I honestly think the wrong person saw her locker and the pictures, and that’s how people found out. I mean, she wasn’t exactly discreet about it. If she wanted to keep it a secret, why put those pictures up in your locker? Just leave them on your bedroom wall?”

Rocco nodded. “I still think she’s nuts.”

“How’d Inez come to be your assistant?” Clint asked Brooke as he scooped coffee grounds into the French press.

“It was kind of serendipitous, honestly,” Brooke said. “I had an assistant, but she got pregnant and decided to stay home with the baby. Her husband developed some software that he sold for a lot of money, so she didn’t even need the job anymore, anyway. I hadn’t even put out any feelers for a new assistant when I bumped into Inez at a Starbucks in Los Angeles. She said she just moved to California and was looking for work. Turns out she’d been a receptionist, event planner and personal shopper before. It was perfect. I basically hired her on the spot.”

“You didn’t call any of her references?” Clint asked, a little bewildered.

“I mean, I’ve known her since we were kids. I called the references, but mostly as a formality. Everything checked out.” She shrugged. “I also saw it as a way of making things right. After what happened with her and Rocco.”

“And how did you feel about your sister hiring Inez?” Clint asked, directing his question to Rocco.

“I wasn’t thrilled about it. But since you hired her nearly three years ago, she seems to do her job well enough.”

“She’s the best assistant I’ve ever had,” Brooke agreed. “I do wish the two of you got along better, though. It’s been over ten years since high school. Let things die.”

Rocco didn’t say anything.

“She’s not going to make a bigger stink about you staying here, is she?” Clint asked.

“Oh, no, she shouldn’t. I mean, I don’t think so anyway. She’s always only ever wanted what’s best for me.”

The kettle beeped, and he poured it over the coffee grounds, then over the tea bag in the mug for Brooke.

Talia joined them before he was finished with his second cup, then he was in full-on pancake making mode until ten o’clock when there was another knock at the door.

He hesitated to open it and used the peephole first.

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