Page 16 of My Forbidden Boss

He belatedly noticed my eyes locked in open observation. “Oh, boy… What do you want from me? Huh? You want me to tear up and hug a pillow while you strum some strings, and we both have a good cry or something?”

I shook my head softly but kept my voice neutral and firm. “You said it, not me. If that isn’t what you want, then man up and spit out whatever is on your mind. I don’t have all day, you know.”

His gaze swung to mine, but he realized that he’d been caught in his own web of defensive testosterone. After another moment of wordless fight, Dad sighed and eventually conceded and started to open up. I had a pretty good idea of what was coming, but it was good to hear him say it aloud.

“It’s just… quiet. With the wedding over and everybody gone back to their normal lives, Ryan and Harley off on their honeymoon. I guess I got used to the hustle and bustle around here and now, with that all finished…”

He trailed off without offering any conclusion. I didn’t want to make him sit in silence until he voiced an admission that would only succeed in needlessly wounding his pride, so I finished the confession for him. “It’s lonely.”

He nodded and glanced up apologetically. I cut him off before he could try and put those expressions into words. “It’s okay, Dad. I get it.”

“I don’t want you to think that I don’t appreciate you coming around like this, Hollis. It’s just…”

“Dad, it’s okay. Really, I get it. To be honest, I kind of feel the same way. All of the excitement was annoying while it was here, but now that it’s over, everything feels a little empty in comparison.”

He nodded but couldn’t seem to bring himself to vocalize his feelings. Without that guide from him to go off, I did my best to lead the way. I used my intuition and our past history together, doing my best to edge the discussion wherever he might find some source of comfort or catharsis.

“If this is about Ryan, you don’t need to worry. They’ll be back in two weeks, just like they said. I know that it’s tough, but you have to keep reminding yourself that he isn’t gone for good this time.”

“Oh, it isn’t that. Well… maybe it is a little bit. I suppose… I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’m still missing your mother, that’s all.”

I stood and clapped him on the shoulder, moving back to the sink and beginning to rinse the dishes from supper.

“Oh, don’t do that, Hollis. I can manage just fine on my own.”

“I know that you can, Dad. Trust me, nobody questions that. But just because you can doesn’t mean that you have to or even should. You’ve always done everything yourself. I’m not saying that you have to stop, but you can’t take it personally when one little thing gets done without you. Christ, it’s only half a dozen dishes. Go watch your shows or enjoy the night air out on the porch. Put your feet up and enjoy your beer. I’ve got this.”

He rose and squeezed my shoulder, gathering up our empty bottles and dropping them in the bin by the door. “Alright, alright. You win.”

He turned and walked toward the living room but turned back just before the open threshold. “Are you heading back into town tonight, or should I check to make sure that your old room is ready?”

“Nah, that’s okay, Dad. I told Charlie earlier that I would meet him for a drink or two. Thank you, though. Now go relax!”

He nodded and moved off into the living room, tossing a wave over his shoulder as he left the kitchen and disappeared around the corner.

I finished washing up and pulled the bag of trash from the bin, turning off the kitchen light as I closed the back door behind me. With the bag tossed in the can, I climbed into my truck’s cab without saying goodnight. I didn’t want to distract my dad from his thoughts, knowing deep down that he would be okay as long as we left him to his normal routines.

I headed back into town and eyed the line of parked cars along the main street, pulling over to a gravel lot when I spotted Charlie’s coupe. Shutting off the truck’s engine, I dismounted to the muffled sound of bar music and patio bands. Adjusting my belt and swinging the driver’s door closed, I glanced from one neon saloon to the other, trying to guess which one Charlie Howell, my oldest friend outside of my brothers, would’ve bounced to by that time of night.

I guessed wrong the first time but soon found Charlie smoking on the back deck of the second bar I tried. He leaned forward and coughed, sloshing his glass as he raised it in greeting toward my direction.

“Hey-o, Captain! What’s good?”

I smiled. “Hey, Charlie. Jesus, you still haven’t learned to just dip a toe in, huh?”

“Hell no! Who’s got time for that? It don’t matter if the water’s hot or cold if you don’t realize it until you’re already swimming!”

I nodded and smirked, turning to the waitress as she came over and took my order. “Hey, hon, I’ll have what he’s having. Charlie, you ought to be working for one of those fortune cookie companies. That was just plain beautiful. Seriously, they ought to put that on somebody’s Christmas card or something. Hell, you better write that one down… It’ll look great as your epitaph.”

He puffed his chest out proudly and swung a sleeved arm over his chin to wipe the froth away from his beard. “Don’t you pasteurize me, Hollis Fleming. I took one of them philosophizer’s classes, you know. I ain’t no idiot.”

My eyebrows were stretched skyward, but I held my tongue. I knew correcting Charlie in any way would only embolden him further. Instead, I pulled out the seat across from him and eased myself into it, smiling at the waitress as she returned with a fresh glass for me and another round for my friend.

She handed Charlie his, exchanging it for the empty one in his hand. He grinned up at her with a twinkle in his eye. She rolled hers in response but conceded a sly smirk as she turned. The waitress bent down, depositing my glass on the tabletop in front of me as Charlie beamed and leaned forward, wrapping his hands around her ass while sneaking his nose deep between the cheeks of her tight denim shorts.

“Charlie!”

Just as the pint’s thick glass base hit the coaster in front of me, the girl quickly released her hold of it. The frothy head of my drink sloshed like a wave across the table, but none of us noticed at the time. Understandably surprised, the waitress was instead reaching down, aiming to steady herself with the armrest of my chair. Her fingers missed the narrow metal bar and fell upon the much more defined, nearby shape of my thigh. In the rush of the moment, she gripped me, steadying herself with her fingertips smoothing into the inseam of my pants and her fingernails sharply pricking electricity into my already flexing quad muscle. She gasped as she arched her back, leaning her chest deeper across my lap as her hips accentuated the curve of her shorts. The girl’s eyes turned up and, through the strands of her bobbed black hair, locked with mine. With her face close to mine, a sly smile started to curl at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes sparkled coyly as she recognized our closeness. I saw the edge of her lower lip pull between her teeth, tentatively biting before she glanced down at the crotch of my pants beneath her hand.

---