I squinted at my father, both from the shock of hearing him actually tell me I needed to have sex and the unexpected sting of not being able to remember whom I’d had it with last and how long ago that had been. My divorce had been brutal enough to deter me from pursuing anything other than a casual handful of dates with women.
Ever since my mother had passed away and my father’s diabetes had progressed to the point of discussing amputation and possible dialysis, even casual was too much. I’d moved into my old bedroom in my father’s house after the surgery. At least in his own house, everything was on ground level and he didn’t have to worry about climbing stairs once he was inside. He had a home health aide when I was on shift, and he was only by himself on the Saturdays I did contracting work.
Most of the friends I’d grown up with had kids to look after, and I supposed I did now too. But instead of watching the person I was taking care of grow, I watched for different kinds of milestones, and I was always tense as I dreaded all the complicated possibilities.
But Dad was all I had left. I’d hover as much as I thought was necessary to make sure he was okay.
“Hey, Davis. I thought that was you.”
Before I could figure out how to answer my father about my lackluster love life, I found Peyton Russo standing next to our table.
“Hi, Peyton.” I stood to give her a quick hello hug. “Dad, you remember Jake’s wife, right?”
“You mean the wife of the man who gives me peace a couple of Saturdays a month?” He planted his hands against the table and slowly rose to stand. “Of course. Nice to see you, sweetheart.” He picked up Peyton’s hand and pressed a kiss to her wrist.
She giggled and kept hold of his hand as he sat back down.
“Nice to see you too, Mr. Davis. We’d better stop flirting or it will get back to my husband,” she teased, patting his hand before she let go. “You know how this town is.”
He waved a hand at her wry grin. “I knew your husband and the police chief back when they were kids in high school. I’m not afraid of him.”
Peyton chuckled. “Uncle Keith is on duty and Jake will be away at a landscaping job until tonight. My best friend is in town for a while, and we’re trying to tire out my daughter for the afternoon.” She tipped her chin to the playground behind us. My stomach dropped when my eyes landed on a familiar profile.
Our encounter had been brief, but those dark eyes and full lips were impossible to forget. Her throaty laugh ran through me as she made faces at Peyton’s daughter, holding on to her swing as she pushed it back and forth. The baby squealed every time she came close to Claudia’s face, and I couldn’t help the smile drifting across my mouth.
Last night had been an easy shift and boring enough to be forgettable, until I’d clocked someone doing ninety in a sixty-five zone and pulled her over. As much as it annoyed me and didn’t make sense, I’d folded when she’d regarded me with all that remorse and regret. True contrition was rare when I pulled people over. Fear and panic were what I saw reflected at me when they’d roll down their window. Going more than twenty miles over the speed limit was an automatic ticket, no matter what her reasons were, but I’d been as surprised as she was when I’d backed off and let her go.
I had a strict policy of never giving empty warnings whenever I pulled people over, especially in a small town like this. Women who tried to seduce their way out of a ticket from me always failed, but something about her forlorn expression had gotten me right in the chest, and I couldn’t find it in me to make her day any harder than it already had been.
I’d watched her drive away, safely and within the speed limit, as I tried to make sense of why of all the drivers I’d pulled over in my lifelong career as a cop, she’d gotten to me enough for me to let her go.
When she lifted Peyton’s daughter out of the swing and turned around, a smile spread across her mouth, lighting up her entire face and draining the air right out of my lungs. Maybe Dad was right. It had been way too long, and a beautiful woman shouldn’t have rendered me so powerless, no matter what her story was.
Maybe I was getting soft in my forties, but nothing about me was soft as I fought to keep my eyes above her neck and not allow my gaze to roam over the dangerous curves of her body.
“I’d call her over to introduce you, but I think you’ve already met. She told me about her almost-ticket.”
“I was going to say,” my father said as he sputtered out a laugh. “I haven’t seen you…recognize anyone like that in a while, son. Andalmost-ticket?”
I threw my father a glare as his shoulders shook with a chuckle.
“Claudia is having a hard time right now,” Peyton whispered. “Please know she’s not usually reckless like that. She feels terrible about it.”
“I already threw out the ticket, no need to do any more convincing.”
“You threw out a ticket?” Dad gaped at me.
“I pulled her over for speeding and let her off with a warning,” I explained, holding in a groan when my father’s jaw went slack.
“Did you now?” Dad brought his fist to his mouth in a failed attempt to stifle a laugh.
Peyton looked between us and squeezed my wrist. “Well, she appreciated it, and so do I.”
“I think this little lady may need a diaper change.”
Claudia came up to Peyton, bouncing the little girl as she rested her against her hip. She tilted her neck and gently peeled the baby’s fingers away from the gold hoop hanging from her ear. When she pushed her sunglasses up to hold back her silky black hair, her tank top inched up her stomach as she handed the baby to Peyton.
I dropped my gaze back to the grass after getting a glimpse of the perfect swell of her ass in those denim shorts and those long legs that seemed to go on for days.
