Page 23 of Treat Her Right

“Girls start this puberty stuff earlier than guys, as early as eleven or twelve,” Zack pointed out. He was amused despite himself, at the picture of Josh sorting through adolescent underwear. It was a far cry from lingerie, which admittedly, Josh knew a lot about. He bought enough of it for his girlfriends.

“I could handle it.” Josh looked thoughtful, then grinned. “Hell, it might even be fun. I do enjoy shopping you know.”

Zack did know. Every Christmas and every birthday, Josh took Dani shopping. They’d make a whole day of it, and Josh would spoil her with gifts and a movie and the amusement park. It was surprising, given Josh presented the world with only his preference for bachelor-hood, yet Zack trusted him completely with his daughter.

In many ways, both Josh and Mick were pseudo-daddies, picking up the slack whenever Zack ran short on time. And they did a great job. They’d helped him get through the loss of his wife, and helped even more in the transition from grief to thankfulness, because despite losing his wife, he still had Dani, and that was a lot, more than he’d ever asked of life.

Zack had inadvertently wandered down a maudlin path, so he changed the subject while dealing out the cards. “Mick, did Josh tell you his station is making a charity calendar?”

“What’s this?” Mick asked.

Josh picked up his hand, rearranged the cards a few times, then said, “Some pushy promotions broad is organizing the whole thing. She wants a bunch of the men to pose in some cheesy way to go on the calendar, then they’ll sell it and the proceeds will benefit the burn center.”

“Pushy promotions broad,” Mick repeated slowly, as if savoring the words. “Does this mean she had the audacity to exclude you from modeling?”

“I never gave her the chance. Anyone who was interested was supposed to call her to set up an appointment.” He peered over his cards at Mick and Zack. “To get ogled, no doubt. Can you believe that?”

Frowning, Zack asked, “Have you met her?”

“I don’t need to. I heard all about her from a friend at a different station. She a rich daddy’s girl who plays at this charity stuff out of boredom.”

Mick and Zack shared a look. Mick laid his cards facedown and crossed his arms on the table. “Since when do you care about a woman’s character?”

“Yeah,” Zack said. “I thought it was the size of her bra cups that attracted you.”

Josh suddenly looked harassed and annoyed, not that Zack minded after what he’d just been through. About time someone else took a turn on the hot seat.

“She’s supposedly really beautiful, okay? And I’ve had it with women like that. I want someone more like Delilah.”

Mick choked and his face turned red.

“Oh for God’s sake.” Josh quickly got out of Mick’s reach and explained, “I wasn’t—not for a second—saying Delilah’s not beautiful! She is. Flat-out gorgeous.”

Mick stood, looking far from placated.

“But she doesn’t go in for all the props. When was the last time Del painted her nails or colored her hair? Never, right? She’s genuine. Well that’s the type of woman I want.” He waved a hand toward the window. “Wynn what’s-her-name would do, too. I want a natural woman, not a glamour doll who thinks she can crook her little finger and a guy will come running.”

Mick subsided, but he looked far from appeased.

Zack shook his head. “Mick, you’re going to have to get a handle on these jealous tendencies of yours. You know Josh won’t poach.”

“As if it’d do him any good to try!”

Zack sighed, but it turned into a laugh. “I wasn’t suggesting it would. And seeing as you know that, why do you let his every comment rile you? You know he doesn’t mean anything by it. It’s just how he is.”

Mick grumbled, “That wasn’t your sentiment when he was trying to seduce Wynn.”

It was Josh’s turn to choke. “I wasn’t trying to seduce the woman! Hell, all I did was hold her hand.”

“You’re both nuts,” Zack concluded out loud. “Let’s forget Wynn and the calendar and women in general. Mick, you can go on pining for your wife since I know you can’t help it.” He grinned. “Now, let’s play cards.”

Three hours later Zack was ready to call it a night. His neck was still stiff and his mind refused to pay attention to his hand, so he’d lost more than he’d won. Mick, too, was yawning, and mumbling that Delilah had likely finished writing for the night. Josh, the only one to look fresh, decided to call a woman from Zack’s house and made plans to visit her that night.

Mick and Zack both shook their heads.

The night was cool and crisp and black as pitch when Zack waved goodbye from the doorway. He stood there until the headlights had disappeared out of the driveway, then he locked the door and tidied the kitchen.

On his way through the house, he picked up toys and drawings and a lone frilly sock peeking out from beneath a chair. He checked all the locks and headed upstairs.

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