Baby Daddy Wanted (Crescent Cove 5)

Not to mention they weren’t working. I looked down to see Gideon’s name and relief helped a few of my problems.

One, that I’d originally had a long day of nothing on tap.

If Gideon needed me, at least I could stop obsessing about this woman. At least for five minutes.

I swung my legs off the side of my bed and read the text. A single day job a few towns over sounded like the perfect way to get my head straight.

Because I really didn’t know how to answer that message.

I replied back that I’d meet him on site and set my music to filter into my bathroom from my phone. I liked a rustic look to my cabin, but I was a proud geek. I’d created my own smart house and was looking into maybe adding it as a project I could work on with Gideon.

In the winter months, the construction business was a lot slower. While I had my company Cabin Fortress for gaming and apps, I still liked to come up with new ways to challenge my brain. Installing smart homes could be a way to keep me busy in the off months.

I was still picking over ideas as The Brothers Osborne rocked me through a shower and shave. I had a little time to work on one of the outsourced projects I should have done three days ago.

Veronica was a distraction I wasn’t used to.

Compartmentalizing my life had been easy until that damn message on The Cove group. Now I was juggling two jobs and a secret identity. Cabin Fortress Man, I was not.

Unfortunately, Brewed Awakening was way out of the way for this job, so I made my own substandard coffee. The grounds were fresh from the café, but Macy had some magic in her machine. It never tasted the same.

I filled my thermos and pulled on my Carhartt jacket. Finally, there was a snap in the air. Fall was my favorite season. The air was different. Crisp with a hint of the winter to come, but there was still enough sun to make the outdoor work bearable.

I pulled in behind Gideon’s truck on a huge circular drive. It was so freshly paved I expected my boots to stick on the blacktop. I heard the telltale headbanger music in the backyard. Fucking awesome. Lucky would be on the crew today.

He generally was, but occasionally Gideon had multiple jobs going at once so he spread out his people. Just my luck—pardon the pun—that I got to work with the guy who was making it his mission in life to flirt with the woman of my goddamn dreams.

And she flirted back.

The huge fucker practically had Darwinism tattooed on his shoulder. Followed by, “I make awesome swimmers and was born to breed.”

Fuck.

My fingertips went white with the grip on my thermos as I stalked around the house. At least the music was loud enough that I didn’t need to make small talk with him.

Gideon waved me over to the edge of the property. “We’re pulling down this old tree house and building something a little sturdier for the little man who lives here.”

I tipped my head back to look at the very crooked, very precarious lines of lumber. “Dad tried to do it himself with YouTube again?”

“Yep.” Gideon put his hands on his hips. “Macy’s coffee?”

I held out my thermos. “Kind of. Her blend, my coffeemaker.”

Gideon made a face, but filled his to-go mug anyway. “Thanks.”

Lucky came up. “Is that Macy’s coffee I smell?”

I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but of course I didn’t. He took my thermos and dumped most of it in his tumbler made for giants.

“Oh, sorry. Did you have some?” he asked over the mouth of his cup, waggling his eyebrows. “Damn good stuff. And she’s hot as fuck. Not to mention that cute little sprite that works with her. I’d bang the lot of them.”

“Jesus, Lucky.” Gideon shot him a look. “Did your mama hand out any manners?”

“That would require having a mama.” Lucky turned away with his mug, whistling in his off-tune way.

I couldn’t imagine not having a mom. And that meant he was a lot more like Veronica than I was. Another point in his goddamn pro list. Shit.

“Don’t let him get to you.”