Page 5 of Banking on Love

"I'm dropping him off at his house," I said, turning on the car.

"Why can't he walk?"

"He lives outside of town," I lied. "I'll drop you off then him."

"Nope. Not happening," my dad shook his head. "Drop him off first. He might try to hurt you or something."

"Oh. Now you want to care about me," I rolled my eyes. "Put on your seatbelt."

He fumbled a few times but managed to fasten his seatbelt. When he leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, I took that as his closing argument about the stranger being dropped off first.

Normally, I wouldn't dance along the line of danger. No way would I have offered a stranger a ride. However, something was drawing me to the mystery man.

Five minutes of silence later, I turned off my headlights and coasted into my old childhood home's driveway. Killing my lights was my attempt to keep from waking my sisters up. However, as I placed the car in park, the porchlight turned on, and Kimberly barrel-assed out the front door over to my window.

"Dad, wake up. We are here," I said, nudging him. He replied with a heavy snore. "Lovely. Just lovely."

"Want me to carry him inside?" the mystery man asked.

"I don't want you to go through the troub--"

Mysteryman was already opening his door.

"No trouble at all," he said, climbing out and closing the door behind him.

I quickly shut off my car and hopped out. Kimberly was staring dreamily at the man. She looked at him then me. Then back at him.

"When did you get a hot boyfriend?" she asked, mortifying me.

I looked at the man. Surprisingly, he was blushing at her question. He didn't strike me as the shy type.

"Um… I'll grab your pops," he blurted then rushed around the car.

"Pops?" Kimberly asked, making me giggle.

"It means dad where he is from," I whispered then quickly made my way over to the passenger side.

"Hey, I'm going to carry you inside. You good with that?" the guy asked, leaning into the car and unbuckling my dad's seatbelt.

My dad remained dead asleep. The only sound that came from him was snoring. Kind of reminded me of a grizzly bear.

"Here, let me help you carry him," I offered.

"It's okay," the man looked at me and smiled. "I got it."

Chapter Four

NICK

Don’t drop him. Don’t drop him,I muttered to myself when my legs turned intoJell-O.

Any other day, lifting this guy wouldn’t be a big deal; however, today I got my ass kicked by manual labor. Walking down to the bar had been a challenge. My legs protested each step I had taken. Somehow I managed to make it inside without collapsing to the sidewalk. But now, I was fireman-carrying a drunk across a yard, up the steps, and no telling how far through the house.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” the woman asked softly, staring up at me.

“No. I’m good,” I smiled.

“Okay,” she said, closing the car door for me. “This way.”

---