Page 41 of Doctor Daddy

Dad was good at getting Mom to see things in a more logical fashion. It wasn’t as if we weren’t heading up to a house that already had beds ready and made. Mom never left the lake house without it being spotless and in ready-to-move-in condition.

“That sounds like a plan.”

I was on my feet and headed to the kitchen. Disaster averted. Mom made no mention of limiting my after-hours activities. Of course, I was about to be sequestered at the lake house with her for two days, there was plenty of time for it to come up.

Mom followed me into the kitchen. At first, she just stood there as I pulled coffee filters and the bean grinder out. I placed them on the counter next to the bag of dark roast. The smell made my nose twitch. I felt nauseated for a moment but did my best to hide it from Mom.

“I’ve been thinking, you can invite your friend up to the lake for this weekend.”

“Really? I’ll see if Angela is available. I bet she’d love it.”

“Oh, Angela. Okay, she’s welcome.”

For a moment I looked at Mom out of the corner of my eye. Was she trying to figure out if I had a secret boyfriend? I mean, I did, but I wasn’t about to let her know. Besides, he was going to be there.

“Just let her know we are headed up on Wednesday evening.”

“Wednesday? We’ll be up Friday after work.”

“Nonsense. Friday won’t give you enough time. You’ll want a few days to relax.”

“Mom, we have jobs and have to work,” I said. I opened the fridge and began pulling out eggs and cheese. I found an unopened package of bacon and added that to my pile on the counter.

She waved her hand around. “Just tell them you’re taking some time off. I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

“I haven’t earned any vacation time yet. And I’m not using PTO to go to the lake house.” Especially not to go to the lake house with my parents.

“I have no idea if Angela has time, she can take either.”

“Don’t worry about it, Brooke. I’ll let your father know. He’ll take care of it. Don’t forget to pack an onion and some pepper, we can make omelettes for breakfast.”

I stared at her back as she left the kitchen. Going to the lake house next weekend was clearly a command, and not an option.

19

MARK

Brooke was all leg as she lounged on the back deck. Her shorts exposed so much skin I was hard-pressed to feign indifference. I wanted to sit next to her and run my hand up those lush thighs.

“What are you working on?” I asked. Brooke and her friend had their noses deep in their laptops.

I remembered her saying something about applying to a graduate studies program. I sat in an empty lawn chair just to be near her.

“Writing essays,” Brooke did not look up.

I wanted her to look up at me. Even if it were just once. She hadn’t made eye contact with me since she arrived on Friday afternoon. Didn’t she understand how difficult all of this was for me? How much I didn’t want to be here knowing I couldn’t look at her without feeling like everyone around us knew exactly what was going on.

“Still? You were writing essays yesterday too.”

“A good essay requires multiple rewrites,” her friend Angela answered.

They were so focused on their writing that I couldn’t even properly thank Angela for covering our asses all those times.

Brooke swung her legs over and stood up. I had a delightful view of her ass as she put her laptop down. “I’m getting a drink; do you want anything?”

“Is it too early for a beer?” Angela asked.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Brooke said.

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