Page 10 of Silver Fox Single Dad

“I’ll be back in about ten minutes, Dan. She’ll be no trouble.”

“You got it, boss.” He saluted, and Camilla set to coloring again.

I strolled outside, sending a few texts about an upcoming meeting, and I leaned against the building on the far side. I used to be a smoker, and even though I’d given up the habit years ago, I was still used to the ritual of going outside for about twenty minutes every few hours. It was weird without a cigarette, but it still gave me a little bit of peace time away from everything.

I leaned my head back against the cold stone of the building and just looked out over the city. The lab was a little outside of New Orleans, and on a hillside, so we got a pretty sweet view. I was about to go in when I spotted two women sitting on the bench on the far side of the courtyard. It was Stevie and Cassie, drinking mugs of coffee. Cassie’s back was to me, though, and they were both looking out over the city as well.

“Does nobody do any work around here?” I muttered to myself.

I’d heard a little about the old manager, who had been old, literally, and clearly, he didn’t give a shit about what his employees did. It was no wonder that people had taken far too many sick days and vacation days without it being deducted from their salaries.

I snuck away, not wanting to deal with it right now, and I overheard Cassie say, “Dickhead Doc has it coming to him. He’ll see I won’t be bossed around so easily.”

I shook my head on my way in. Guess Cassie was playing me after all.

* * *

CASSIE

I rubbed at the spot above my heart. My heart was acting weird, getting all fluttery and silly every time I thought about Dr. Foster or saw him. Or dreamed about him.

You’ve only known him the one day!

And yet my daydreams were slowly turning into weird sexual fantasies that I had to nip in the bud. After I saw him with his daughter, things were only getting worse by the minute. I was getting serious strong man with a soft heart vibes, and it needed to stop.

“He was like a different person, wasn’t he?” Stevie asked, sipping from her mug.

“Who?” I said with a frown, and she laughed.

“Come on. You know who. The Doc. When he was talking to his daughter. Like all the firing he was doing seems like it came from a different person. Not the guy we saw today.” She squinted up to the sunlight and pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, I guess. I refuse to think of him in a good light, though. No way any other boss would force you to watch their daughter. Dickhead Doc has it coming to him. He’ll see I won’t be bossed around so easily.”

Stevie tapped a finger to her lips, and I slowly turned around. “Shit,” I muttered when I saw him walking into the building, having just gone past us.

“Hole even further dug.” Stevie laughed. “At least he hasn’t fired you. Normally, if someone said the stuff you said to him, he’d probably just let them go.”

“Yeah, I guess. But why do I care? He deserves all criticisms!” I stretched my neck and sighed as I looked out over New Orleans, my favorite city in the whole world.

“So, how are things going for Jane’s wedding?” Stevie asked while I was just about to launch into another sex-fueled science lab daydream.

I was grateful for the distraction.

“Oh, they’re good. Sadie and I are like co-maids of honor, but Jane isn’t letting us do anything. Not yet, at least.”

“She bagged a hottie, didn’t she? Like the hottie billionaire of the year,” Stevie said, eyes widening.

“Sadie too,” I said, although most people didn’t know about Jane’s brother, Parker’s amount of money.

“That’s right. I met him before. He is super-hot. Third time’s a charm, you know.” She winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Come now, Stevie. You know me better than that.” I put my elbow on the table and leaned my head in my hand. “I have no intention of looking for love.”

It was a perfect day, even though it was November. There was still the slightest hint of summer in the air. I smiled as I felt a cool breeze blow over my skin. The jealousy I often experienced when I thought of my friends was only barely there, a mere pinprick. Soon, it would be all gone, and I could harden my heart forever against all such lovey-dovey nonsense.

Yay! Goth Fairy here we come!

“I think everyone says that who’s actually looking for it. What’s wrong with love anyway?” Stevie snorted. “You could at least get some sex out of it, whatever guy you meet.”

---