Page 6 of Murphy's Laws of Attraction
“Hello Mr. Murphy, come on in. Paisley is inside.” Mira gives me a tight smile before opening the door all the way to let me in.
“Mira, we’ve known each other since we were kids. Do you really need to call me Mr. Murphy?” Paisley is leaning against the wall, her arms are crossed, and she looks like she’s been crying.
“Hey baby girl, let’s get you home. You can take a hot shower or bath whatever will make you feel better. How are you feeling?” Typically, Paisley would give me attitude instead she practically throws herself in my arms and starts to cry.
“Daddy it was awful everyone saw, even the boys. I can’t go back to school after that, please don’t make me.” I look over her shoulder at Mira for some help with this, because this is not how my kid typically acts.
“I’ve explained to Paisley that by tomorrow no one will care. These things happen in high school all the time. Were you able toget a hold of anyone?” She doesn’t say Savannah’s name and I’m grateful, Paisley sounds like she’s too vulnerable to deal with her mother’s bullshit.
“Unfortunately everyone seems to be too busy. If the offer still stands, I would be in debt for life. Whatever you want whenever you want it, it’s yours.” Something flashes in her eyes and I start to think of what kinds of things she could demand of me. There are a few things I’d definitely demand from her if the roles were reversed.
“Sure thing, I gave Paisley my number, but I’ll be over shortly after school lets out. Paisley, if you ever need someone to talk to you, I’m your gal. I knew your dad before he grew all those muscles.” Paisley looks between the two of us like she can’t believe we knew each other.
“Thanks Ms. Gordan. I’ll see you in a little while. Can we go dad? I really want to take a hot shower and change out of these clothes.” It’s probably the nicest Paisley has been to me in too long. Whatever Mira magic she performed I’ll keep her around just for that.
“I’ll have dinner ready by the time you get to the house. You can’t say no Mira, it’s the least I can do for you helping me out. I’m man enough to admit I’m lost when it comes to this stuff. If you tell me what to buy, I’ll go buy it but figuring everything out the first time, forget it. I love you baby girl, but she will definitely be a better choice to take than your old man.” Waving a final goodbye, me and Paisley head out. On the way out the door some boy I’ve never seen before steps up to Paisley. He looks like he’s on the football team based on his build. My first instinct is to protect my little girl, but his posture doesn’t scream aggression.
“Hey Paisley, don’t worry about what happened. I’ve got two older sisters; it just happens sometimes. I hope you feel better.”Paisley looks up at him stunned before ducking her head and hurrying out the door. The boy looks at me shrugging.
“I’m Brent Conrad, Paisley and I have Science class together. I was with her when, well you know. She was kind of freaked, so I came down after class to check on her. You must be her dad.” Brent sticks his hand out for me to shake and I return the gesture. Instead of letting go of his hand after the initial shake I yank him toward me so I’m towering over him slightly, very slightly because the little shit is tall as fuck. What the hell do they feed these children?
“Let me be perfectly clear here Brent, that’s my little girl and I have no problem going to jail for her. Whatever your little hormone induced mind is thinking just stop right now. She can’t date till she is sixteen, period.” Brent grimaces a little at the pressure I put on his hand but other than that he doesn’t seem fazed at all, almost like he was expecting it.
“It’s cool I get it, I’m protective of my sisters too. I got a little sister that starts high school next year and I’m dreading these animals trying to get at her. Look, I like Paisley, but I’m not ready to date either.” Brent puts his hands up in surrender and I release him. He seems like a good kid, but when it comes to Paisley, I trust no boy.
“Alright, keep things in the friendzone and we won’t have a problem. She could use a friend right now. Who’s your daddy?” At this question Brent freezes up and his jaw ticks.
“No one important, but my momma is Daisy Bishop.” He smiles real big at his momma’s name and I can tell he loves her. I knew Daisy in high school and she was married right out of high school to Duke Conrad, the quarterback and biggest dickwad to walk the campus. Based on Brent’s reaction I’d say Duke hasn’t changed much since high school.
“I knew your momma in high school, sounds like she’s got her hands full these days.” Brent smiles and nods.
“Oh yeah, Scarlet and Jenny they’re seniors now, but Lilly she’ll be a freshman next year and then there’s me the monkey in the middle as they like to call me. Sorry Mr. Murphy, but I gotta get to class before I get in trouble. Momma will skin my hide if I get in trouble.” I laugh a little before motioning for him to go.
“Just remember what I said Brent, friendzone.” Without a backward glance I walk out to find Paisley standing there with her arms crossed looking madder than a wet hen.
“Daaaad, why must you embarrass me in front of hot guys!” Okay, I definitely do not like Brent Conrad now if she thinks he’s a hot guy. It’s really sad for Brent, but I’m sure he’ll understand.
“I apologize, it won’t happen again.” Oh, it’s totally happening again, but I don’t want to argue with her today. I want to be the supportive dad that does all the right things for her, because she needs that more than overprotective dad right now. She takes my apology and we head home where she can take a soothing bath and change clothes.
Meanwhile I start to get everything ready for dinner with Mira. Why did I suddenly feel nervous about her eating dinner with me? It’s not like we haven’t known each other for years. Maybe it’s the fact that she went from cute girl to hot woman over the years. On top of that she was doing me a solid by helping Paisley out. She deserved a good meal and I was going to make damn sure she got one.
Chapter Six
Mira
Ohmigod, I was going to Finn Murphy’s house. He was going to make me dinner. What if I made a mess? What if he didn’t like the way I chewed my food? Ohmigod, he's divorced. Why does that make me happy? I cannot be lusting after a student's father, nope not a good idea. We’d known each other most of our lives, could I still consider us friends instead of him being a student’s dad. I was doing him a favor, maybe that constituted as friend’s behavior.
Pulling up to the small ranch style house I was blown away by how pretty the outside was. Maybe Savannah had decorated before they divorced? There were pretty ceramic pots on both sides of the door filled with an array of colorful flowers. The faux shutters were painted a pretty teal that matched the front door, and there were lawn gnomes along the front path.
Getting out of my car I started up the path toward the house. That’s when I took a closer look at the ‘cute’ lawn gnomes. These were not your standard lawn gnomes. Nope, there was a very curvy stripper gnome who was in front of a bearded biker gnome. Then there was a set of mini gnomes being eaten by a t-rex, and finally near the front door there was a gnome mooning everyone with his middle finger stuck between his legs. I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
Standing in front of the door all the sudden my nerves were on high alert. This was just a favor for an old friend, it wasn’t like it was a date. Or was it, could it be considered a date. What if he considered it a date? No, he wouldn’t consider it a date. Finn isso out of my league there was no way he’d ever think of this as a date, especially not with me. Just as I’m running my hands down my dress to smooth out invisible wrinkles the door opens to a smiling Finn.
“Hey there, come on in. I’m almost done with dinner.” He motioned for me to come inside and closed the door behind us.
“You have no idea how grateful I am to you for doing this for me and for Paisley. I’ll go grab her out of her room. Go ahead and have a seat at the table,I hope you like lasagna. Oh shit, I hope you aren’t gluten free or lactose intolerant. Damn it, I should have asked you that before I made dinner. Just say the word and we’ll go out to dinner, my treat.” He was so cute, all flustered over making lasagna for dinner.
“Lasagna is fine, I’m not gluten free, and with the amount of ice cream I eat on a weekly basis definitely not lactose intolerant.” I smiled at him and his shoulders seemed to release all the tension he was holding in.
