She laughs, and I shake my head.
Come to mamma, cute butt…
2
Remington
I’m alone in a bar on a Friday night.
Okay, technically, I was invited here by Dagwood Magee to join his fantasy football league. The only problem is I’ve been so buried in getting my investment business off the ground, researching new applications, studying industry trends, the market, rising stars, I can’t remember the last time I even saw a football game.
I don’t have a team, I only know one person here, and I’m in an ancient, smoke-scented, crowded bar with a bunch of sweaty jocks. No joke—it’s a fucking sausage fest.
At the same time, I’d rather be here than home right now.
After another ridiculous fight with Eleanor, my increasingly overbearing mother-in-law, about spending time with my daughter Lillie, I’ve decided something has to give.
Hell, all I’d wanted to do was watch Guardians of the Galaxy with Lillie, but no, Eleanor insisted it was too violent for a four-year-old.
Lillie ended up crying, and I ended up furious.
Sitting here now, I concede Eleanor was probably right.
Still, I just wanted a fun daddy-daughter date, something we could both enjoy. Now I feel like a heel, and I’m alone in a bar. Dammit.
Four years ago, after Sandy died, I didn’t mind if her mother moved in and took over the childcare. Lillie was her granddaughter, and I had no idea how to be a single dad to a newborn baby. I didn’t even know if I was going to survive losing my wife…
I’d left the Navy, invented a series of apps to organize intelligence data then locate enemy combatants based on that data, sold it, made a billion, married Sandy, we got pregnant, and when the pregnancy turned high-risk, she wanted to move here to be closer to her mother.
I thought my life was so perfect, so planned out… then it all fell apart. I was alone, and I didn’t know how to keep moving forward. I didn’t want to keep moving forward.
I pulled away from everybody, burying myself in work, until a year ago. My daughter was walking, talking, needing a father, and I realized I had to make a change.
Polishing off my whiskey, I think about the past year. The haze of grief had slowly lifted, and I saw my home life was a mess.
My mother-in-law drives me crazy, and I need to regain control of the situation.
I’ve considered returning to Seattle, but as much as I want to strangle her sometimes, I know being that far from Lillie would kill Eleanor.
The old jukebox starts playing “Fly Me to the Moon,” and the bar erupts into drunk males singing loudly. I signal to the bartender to bring me another drink.
Getting drunk is not a responsible solution to any problem.
Which is why I’ll worry about this one tomorrow.
I push my hair off my forehead and look around the room. If I’d known it was going to be all guys…
My throat goes dry when I see her.
She’s standing at the bar looking at me, and it’s like everything stops.
Dark hair flows around her shoulders in silky waves, her eyes flash, and her body… Jesus. Soft shoulders, perfect tits, narrow waist, shapely legs… Our eyes meet again, and heat filters through my pelvis.
I smile. She blinks and gives me a shy smile in return. When she turns away, I fish out my wallet to settle my tab. I want to go over and say hi. Maybe offer to buy her a drink.
I’m just putting my wallet in my pocket when a sassy voice catches my attention. “Hey, sailor, new in town?”
She’s standing right in front of me, and I lower slowly to sit on the barstool. She’s even prettier up close. Her eyes are so deep, and when she smiles, she has a little dimple right below the corner of her mouth. I want to kiss it. Then I want to make my way lower, biting her chin, tracing my tongue down her neck to those perfect little tits.