Watching Mine

“How’s it goin’?” he asks. “It’s been a while since you’ve stopped by.”

“Work’s been keeping me busy.”

“So, I assume business is good then?”

He turns in his seat and grabs a couple beers out of the small fridge behind him. After tossing me one, he opens his, takes a swig, and rests it on the arm of his chair. I pop the top of mine and do the same.

“Yep,” I reply. “Really good.”

He nods and tips the bottle to his lips again. His eyes stay on me, and I decide to wait him out. There’s a reason he asked me to come here today.

Growing up, I was always close with my dad, and that hasn’t changed since becoming an adult. I always know when something’s going on with him.

It only takes him a couple of moments before he decides to enlighten me.

“I’m selling out,” he states quietly. “It’s time to retire.”

It takes me a moment to absorb his words, and when I do, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t shocked. He’s owned strip clubs since before I was born. What makes him successful and stand out from most other strip club owners is he honestly cares about his girls. He once told me he thinks of them as his daughters. I thought that shit was funny because no daughter of mine will ever work in a place like this.

I’d have never thought he would sell out. I figured I’d find him one day dead in his office.

“Why now?” I ask, genuinely curious.

His eyes drop from mine and he looks off to the side. They narrow before he brings them back to me.

“You remember Lora?”

A tall woman with flaming red hair comes to mind. She came to my dad beaten to hell and back three years ago, asking for a job. Dad being the man he is, felt sorry for her and hired her.

“Yes, I remember her.”

He nods. Clearing his throat, he continues. “We’re getting married.”

I sit up in my chair. “Jesus fucking Christ, Dad,” I growl. “She’s, what? Twenty-three now?”

“Twenty-four, and watch your tone with me,” he barks.

I put my beer down on the desk with a bang. “Like that makes a fucking difference. She’s still thirty-seven years younger than you.”

“I love her, Nathan.” His tone has softened, but his eyes remain hard. “There’s been a lot that’s gone down with her ex that you don’t know about. Shit that I’ve helped her get through. We grew close over the last year.”

“And her? How can you be so sure she loves you and isn’t just after what you can give her?”

His fist slams down in the desk, jostling my bottle of beer and knocking over a cup of pencils.

“That’s enough!” he snarls. “I asked you here to tell you this because I figured you should know, but I’ll be damned if you’ll say shit like that about Lora. You fucking know her, Nathan. She doesn’t have a deceptive bone in her body.”

I clench my jaw because I know he’s right. I feel like a dick for even suggesting it. The girl is too sweet to try to pull off a stunt like that. She’s never belonged in a place like this, everyone knows it, but she’s a part of Dirty Rumors. From the day she walked in, everyone took her under their wing, security, staff, and other girls included. Obviously, my dad did more than take her under his wing.

“What about Walt,” I ask. “You really think he’s going to allow his daughter to marry a man over twice her age? Hell, you’re older than he is, Dad.”

He leans back in his chair, regaining his composure. “He already knows and has given his blessing.”

I raise my brows at that, remembering when Walt stormed into Dirty Rumors when he first found out his little girl was stripping. I was at the bar on one of my bi-weekly visits when the door was thrown open and a man started yelling for Lora. When he spotted her on stage, he hauled ass that way, but didn’t make it very far before Larry, Dad’s head of security, intercepted him. At first, we thought he was the guy who did the damage to her face, but it wasn’t long before we found out he was her dad. It took ten minutes for Lora to calm him enough to sit down and talk. I went with them to Dad’s office to make sure there was no trouble. Apparently, Walt didn’t know of the abuse Lora was receiving from her ex, and he broke down when he was enlightened. Although she was an adult and could make her own decisions about her life, she begged him to understand why she wanted to stay at Dirty Rumors. She wanted to make a life for herself on her own terms, without the help of others. Walt and Dad formed a friendship after that.

Releasing a sigh, Dad explains further. “He didn’t like it at first and damn near took my head off, but after Lora and I both sat down with him and explained how much we love each other, he’s since come around.”

I try one more time to get him to see reason. “You realize you’re setting her up for heartbreak, right? You’re sixty-three. If you’re lucky, you’ve got fifteen to twenty more years left. Are you willing to put her through that?”