Page 26 of Broken Boss Daddy

“Good, good. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about this study I found…”

My dad droned on and on about this new technique a doctor in Spain had discovered. The field of expertise was one I wasn’t interested in, so I paid little mind to what he was saying. I was tempted to end the call, but he would just bug me again until he’d said all he wanted to say.

Some of my co-workers waved and greeted me as they passed. Hannah gave me a big smile that lit up her pretty features, blushing when I gave her one back. The girl was nice enough and easy on the eyes, but she came off a little desperate at times. Though if I also wasn’t stuck on Jess, maybe I would’ve asked her out.

“I’ll be there in the next week or two—”

“What?” I snapped back into the conversation, searching my mind for any mention of him coming here. “Can you repeat that, Dad?”

“I was telling you how I would like to see how you’re doing at Mercy Greenside, and I would like to see you. We haven’t gotten together in a while, and I thought it would be nice to spend some time together.”

Mother—I bit off the curse in my head, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. I had nothing against him coming for a visit, it was just a bad time for him to do so. My time was taken up by work and Jess.

“Uh, Dad, I’m working double shifts for the next couple of weeks, so I won’t have time to spend with you.”

“That doesn’t really matter. The family will be with me so we’ll do our own thing, and I can come to the hospital. We could all go to dinner. How does that sound?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Listen, Dad. Now’s not really a good time for you to come down. Can I let you know when it’ll be best for me before all of you visit?”

All I could hear was my father’s deep breathing. Then he said, “Sure. You’re obviously busy and I don’t mean to intrude.”

“Dad, that’s not it at all.”

“I have some work to do up here anyway, so you get back to me and we can arrange something.”

“Dad—”

“Grant, it’s fine. I’ve got to go, talk when you can?” he asked me hopefully.

“Yes, for sure.”

My dad said goodbye, and I felt like complete shit. Sometimes I forgot my dad wanted to be around me, and times like those are when I felt the guiltiest about avoiding him most of the time.

Technically, I wasn’t lying. I really had a lot of work to do, and Jess was in the picture now. Hopefully, when we got to have that dinner, I could bring her along to meet my family.

Then I couldn’t believe I just said that.

Checking the time, I saw it was barely three in the morning—seven for my dad—and I already had afantasticstart to the day. I wanted to talk to Jessica, to let her know how crappy I felt about blowing my dad off. But she was probably still sleeping. I wouldn’t wake her with my problems, no matter how much I wanted to.

Rather, I sent her a message asking if we could meet up when my shift finished later that day and headed toward the residents’ locker room. With my scrubs on, I put on my white coat and prepared myself for what was sure to be a long day.

(Flashback)

Rolling over in bed, my head split in two with a massive headache.

I groaned.

Everything was too loud, too bright, and my mouth was as dry as the desert. All I wanted was to go back to sleep, but scuffling noises pulled me right out of it.

Last night played out like a movie behind my closed eyelids, and even in my hungover state, I still smiled.

Opening my eyes, which burned in the morning light, I spotted Jessica on her hands and knees in search of what I could only presume were her clothes.I wonder if she realizes she’s going to have to search the whole damn hotel room,I thought in amusement.

“Good morning,” I rasped out, barely getting the words out of my dry throat.

Jessica jumped up. “Shit!” Trying to cover her semi-naked body, she gave me a sheepish look. “You scared me.”

“I’m inclined to do it again.” I gave her body an appreciative once-over. “What are you doing, anyway?”

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