Page 44 of Single Dad's Second Chance

“I should go. I have to work today.”

“So does Daddy, but he’ll have brunch.” He grinned, looking past me.

I turned to find Henry striding toward us. In low-hanging sweatpants that should’ve been illegal, bare-chested, and with his hair mussed from sleep, he was mouth-wateringly, devastatingly sexy.

“Yeah, stay for brunch, Mia.” He grinned, cocky and damn well knowing I had to feel put on the spot.

“Maybe for a while,” I relented.

“Yay!” Jason scooted out a stool for me, and I took it, charmed by the boy who always wanted to include me in his life. I was turned on all over again at the sight of Henry cooking at the stove, too. Once again, I had to fight back the emotions of heartfelt longing.

This domestic scene was just what I wished to have one day.

When Eddie arrived, though, his surprise at seeing me there threw me off. He noticed my clothes, and I prayed that I wasn’t blushing so fiercely that he’d see it. I was wearing the same things I had on last night, and the implications would be clear that I’d stayed overnight. Still, he refused to hear of my leaving, insistent that I stay until brunch was over.

Jason proved to be a much-needed distraction, chattering and keeping me company while Henry tried to get me to look at him. The less I made eye contact, the better chances I had of not blushing. The mere memories of what he’d done with me last night threatened to make me turn as red as a tomato, and I didn’t want to risk his son or father observing my being vulnerable and meek like that.

Unfortunately, Jason became a significant distraction when he spilled orange juice on my phone on the counter. It soaked into the soft outer part of the case, and I hurried to get it off and dry it.

“Oh, crap,” I muttered, cringing at the mess.

“I’m sorry!” Jason hadn’t done it on purpose. He’d moved his arm too quickly. With cracks already marring the screen, though, the acidic juice screwed up the whole device.

No matter how much Henry, Eddie, and I tried to mop it up then dry my phone, it was obvious the phone was ruined. I bet I could still make calls, but the screen was shot.

“I’m sorry, Mia,” Jason repeated.

I gave him a strained smile. “I know. It was just an accident.”

Anger kicked in deep down, though, because there was no way I’d be able to afford a replacement. It was my own fault that I tried to save and keep this already cracked phone for as long as I could. Had I gotten a replacement sooner, I bet the juice wouldn’t have ruined it as quickly.

At the sink, Eddie stood with me to clean up while Henry and Jason wiped the stickiness off the table. “We’ll get you a replacement,” Eddie said.

“You will not,” I argued.

He chuckled. “Obstinate as ever, I see.”

I smiled, unoffended. Eddie Dunn had always tried to look out for me. It meant the world to me when he got me that job all those years ago, but from day one, I refused to accept charity from him.

He’d become a fatherly figure when I needed one the most. And I wanted to wince at the thought that I was paying him back for that generosity by sleeping with his son.

“Aside from this phone,” he said, “how has everything been going?” He crossed his arms and leaned his hip against the counter.

I still worked on pressing napkins to my phone, bitter and depressed that I’d need to replace it. I was saving all I could to expunge my record. Money was tight on top of all the debts from my four years in college.

“Do you think you’ll ever go back to school?” he asked before I could answer his first, more general question.

“No.” I sighed, setting my phone on the counter. “I’m not sure that I will.”

For so long, my drive had been to go to law school. But so much time had passed since then that I wasn’t convinced I even wanted to do that anymore. Besides, even with the act of expunging my record, I’d never be able to get a job in the legal field. Not as a paralegal, attorney, anything. Even if I passed the bar, my record would forever be a stain on my name.

Honestly, all I wanted now was a family, not a career. I wanted to belong with the family I’d found here. With Jason and Henry. Even with Laura and Eddie. I loved being included in their lives, and I wished I could fit in as a permanent person to stay for good.

My father was in prison, and my mother passed away from cancer a month before I turned eighteen. I didn’t have anyone, and I wished I had these wonderful people as my family.

Jason called Eddie over, and he paused before leaving me at the sink. He regarded me carefully, as though he waited to say something else but debated it.

“Just know that if you ever need help with getting the future you want, I’ll do what I can to make that happen.”

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