Page 83 of Challenged by the Single Dad

“Much appreciated, little man,” Wyatt said, giving Silas a salute.

Silas snickered.

“Don’t fill up on thebusiate,” Griffon warned. “Make sure you try them all. I worked real hard on thetrofie.”

“On it.” Bennett stood up with an empty bowl and wandered back to the kitchen. “Now which one should I try next?”

“Mine!” Griffon and Jake yelled at the exact same time.

Friday afternoon at the pub was busy. Maybe because the weather had eased off and pockets of blue sky peaked through the mostly-white clouds, and the wind held not nearly as much of a bite as it did earlier in the week.

Everything was still wet, dripping, and lending a freshness to the air. However, they decided to offer up the patio to patrons, since it took a proper near-hurricane style storm to keep islanders indoors.

The lunch rush lagged on until nearly three, but as always, Silas helped when he could, then stayed out of the way when things were busy.

Logan popped down from Jagger’s house for lunch, sitting at the bar and asking Dom questions about things he wasn’t clear on. Then, when the place got so busy Dom was struggling to keep up with orders, Logan abandoned his steak sandwich and jumped behind the bar to help.

He didn’t have to, but Dom sure as hell appreciated the kid’s initiative.

Before Dom knew it, it was three forty-five and the door from the kitchen swung open to reveal Chloe. And fuck, she looked good. Like yesterday, she her hair down today, with a bit pulled back off her face. Shorter pieces of her dark-red locks framed her heart-shaped face and showed off her cute ears.

He’d never thought ears were cute until he saw hers. And she had cute ears. She’d even gone and put dangling sparkly silver earrings in today, which seemed to make the green in her blue-green eyes sparkle with an almost silver hue.

“Hello,” she said, all smiles, but also with wariness in her eyes. She spied Silas coloring quietly at the end of the bar and her eyes widened then darted to Dom. “Everything okay?”

Dom nodded and put a pint glass under the tap to fill for an order that just came in. “Yeah …” His lips twisted. “Well, no. Si was bullied and hurt by another child at school yesterday, and when I went to confront the principal, he basically dismissed the whole thing. So I let Si take a personal day and just hang out with me.”

Her glittery gaze shifted back to Si and an uncomfortable expression creased her pretty features. “I’m sorry he’s being bullied.”

Dom cleared his throat. “Thanks.”

She stowed her purse and sweater under the bar, and tied an apron around her waist. “If you want to check out early, I can take over.”

Was she trying to get rid of him?

He understood why, but that didn’t mean it still didn’t sting.

Logan entered through the swinging door before Dom could answer, a big grin on his face. He greeted Chloe like they’d known each other for years, resting a familiar hand on her shoulder and gently ducking behind her to grab his own apron. “Hello, hello,” he greeted. He held out his closed palm to Si for a fist bump and Silas returned it with enthusiasm. “Oh, cool shark, little dude. You’re a great artist.”

“Thanks.” Silas beamed.

“How’d your day playing hooky go?” Logan asked.

“Great. It was calling for rain all day and fifteen mile an hour gusts, with a low of thirty-six after the windchill. I don’t need to deal with that right now.”

Logan quirked a brow. “Oookay then.”

Silas shrugged, then his gaze shifted to Chloe, then to Dom, then back to Chloe, as if he was waiting for Dom to introduce him to the new woman standing there.

Why did this feel so painfully weird and awkward?

Dom had introduced his kid to all the staff and thought nothing of it.

But this wasn’t just another staff member. This was a woman he was very much interested in, had been intimate with, and shared details about Silas’s mother with. He cleared his throat again. “Si, this is Chloe. She’s the new bartender here. Well … I mean, Logan is thenewest,new bartender. But Chloe is new too. She’s working nights so I can be home with you.” Why did it feel like he was stammering and blathering on like an idiot?

Because he was.

Silas gave her a small, shy smile. “Hello.”

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