“I’m not sure what’s gonna go down, Sul, but since you mentioned this, it’s important to understand that her life is very different from ours.”

“Yeah, like you going to El Gato for lunch and it being all over the world in matter of seconds?”

Duncan smiled. “Yeah. Like that.”

“Dad, you’re famous too. You’re like the Ralph Lauren of outdoor gear.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. It’s something Aubrey says. About how Ralph Lauren became the face of his company and lived the life he was trying to sell with his clothes and home stuff. She was watching a documentary. I wasn’t paying attention. I had a test to study for.”

“Well, I understand what Aubrey means, but I can go to El Gato and not have it all over the world in a matter of seconds.”

“I’m just saying, it’s a non-issue. If you like her and she makes you happy, who cares about anything else?”

In all that was going down, one thing he knew felt great.

He’d raised good boys.

“I’ll handle your mom. Don’t worry about it. Now go do something that might not involve cramming. Call Aubrey. Take your girl out. Have some fun. Live a little.”

“No way to get summa living a little.”

“Sul, there’s more to achieve in life than achievements.”

Sully grinned at him. “Epic, Dad. I was wondering what to get you for Christmas. I’m putting that on a coffee mug.”

He shook his head but did it with his lips twitching.

“Okay, go study. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Love you, Pops.”

“Love you too, kid.”

They disconnected and Duncan was interrupted in pulling his shit together so he’d have the patience to deal with Dora if she was off the wagon due to Genny being back in his life, not to mention controlling himself from going over old ground neither of them could change with what she’d asked of their son that was the opposite of okay, when he saw the Tesla take off down the drive.

Apparently, his “larder” was not appropriately stocked.

That made him grin, but it faded when his eyes fell on Corey’s letter again.

He was reaching for it when his phone chimed with a text.

He looked down at it, expecting something from Dora.

What he saw was a number he didn’t have programed, but it had a six-oh-two area code.

And when he opened it, his smile was wide.

This is Imogen. You’re right. We need to talk in order to have some closure. Do you have plans this evening? Could you meet me in the bar at The Queen at around 8:30?

No dicking around, he immediately texted back.

Yes.

It might not be right, but after getting that from Genny, it was what he was going to do.

So he opened up his text string with his ex-wife and asked, Do you have time to talk tomorrow?

He got a, See you then. from Imogen.

He was texting a, Count on it. back when he got a reply from Dora.

I saw. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. You’ve done enough of that.

He was staring at that in shock when another text came in from his ex.

Be happy, Duncan. We’ll have lunch some time. If I’m not incarcerated after driving down to Tucson and holding my son at gunpoint to force him to study. Remain off Instagram. I’m deleting my account. He’s killing me. Slowly.

It was not lost on him that when she found help that worked for her, Dora had come back. The woman he’d married and made a family with who he’d loved.

It was too late, what they’d had and built was gone, regrettably, but irrevocably.

But knowing she had this kind of lock on it, that she could joke and be real…

Again, for the first time in a long time, Duncan’s breath was coming easier.

We’ll do an intervention at Thanksgiving. He texted back.

If he survives that long. She replied.

He gave her a thumbs-up emoji and a smiley.

She returned an angry face and an eye-rolling emoji.

He was grinning when he went directly back to Genny’s text and programmed her number in.

He was still grinning when he opened the Instagram account that he had not touched since his assistant had downloaded it on his phone.

It took him a minute, but he finally found it by searching #isitgonnabeimoway.

And when he found it, he could see it.

How they were bent toward each other, faces close, focus intense, no one in that restaurant but them.

They were having a deep, informative, but not entirely comfortable conversation.

The picture did not say that.

It looked like he was about to kiss her.

Hard.

And she wanted to swallow him whole.

Duncan was still grinning when he got up and walked out of his office.

Completely forgetting about Corey’s letter.

Chapter 8

The Steps

Corey

* * *

Thirty-eight years earlier…

* * *

He was sitting on Duncan’s back steps, waiting for him, when his friend strolled up.

As he did, Corey watched Duncan move, his body big and muscled, his shoulders wide, but all that didn’t seem heavy or clumsy to Dun. He moved like he was born in that body.

Tags: Kristen Ashley River Rain Erotic
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