“So, I’m invited for a tea party?”
“That wasn’t my intention, but it’s a start.”
“Well, I’d be honored. I just can’t remember where I put my tiara,” Charlotte teased.
“I’m sure Isla has one you can borrow.”
“Seriously though, are you sure about this, Luke? I mean, I know Isla invited me, but I don’t want to make things awkward.”
“Absolutely. I asked Isla if she minded if you came over for dinner. The rest was all her.”
“Well, if you’re sure, it sounds like a date. A tea party and dinner. Throw in dessert and I’m in.”
“Play your cards right and you might end up as dessert,” I suggested, raising my eyebrows.
“You drive a hard bargain, Luke Steele.”
“It’s not the only thing that’s hard,” I grumbled, reaching down and adjusting the growing problem in my sweats.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it. Have a good night, Charlotte.”
“You too.”
Knowing we had company coming, I’d cleaned up making sure everything was put away before heading to bed early but not before checking the bedside drawer to make sure I had a supply.
Grabbing the unopened box of condoms from the drawer, a box I couldn’t even remember buying, I flipped it over and checked the use-by date. When I noticed it was already six months out of date I groaned before throwing them at the door, disgusted with myself. What sort of self-respecting guy had an unopened box that was out of date. Explained my dry spell really.
Disappointed with myself, I turned off the light and went to sleep only to be consumed by dreams filled with the most amazing woman and ideas of a future I couldn’t shake.
“What’s got you smiling?” Franklin asked as I practically skipped through the door toward the rig to start the morning checks.
“I’m not,” I denied, knowing I was full of shit.
“Yeah, okay. You’ve got a creepy Joker smile on your face, but you keep telling yourself you don't.”
“Just get to work,” I’d told him. The sooner we got the work done, the sooner I got to go home and spend time with my girls.
My girls.
Damn, that sounded good.
We’d stopped and grabbed tacos for lunch, and while Franklin inhaled three, I ducked into the shop across the road. I’d been sitting in the front seat listening to him grunt and groan as guacamole dribbled down his chin when I spotted the tiara in the window and couldn’t help myself.
When I got back to the car carrying a two-dollar plastic silver crown, Franklin eyed me like I’d grown a second head.
“What the hell is that?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” I told him, setting it on the floor near my feet, careful not to knock the bright pink jewel from the center.
“Wouldn’t understand what? You’re going to start dressing in drag and expecting me to call you princess?”
I snorted. Honestly, I should’ve expected that kind of reaction from Franklin, but some days he caught me off-guard and obviously today was one of them.
A call came through that sent a shiver down my spine. A kid had been backed over by the family’s SUV—my greatest fear. Shoving the rest of his lunch in the bag, we were off and moving without a word. We didn’t need to say anything. Sadly, this wasn’t our first call out to one of these, even though I hoped it’d be the last. Last time things hadn’t gone so well, and by the time we got there it was too late. Silently, I shot up a prayer to whoever was out there listening that this time it would be different.
With the sirens blaring and lights flashing, we raced through the streets before stopping in the middle of a busy neighborhood. People were everywhere. It was complete mayhem, and I already knew this was going to be a shit show. But dealing with the drama wasn’t what we were here for. Cops were on their way and they could sort out the how and why, it was my job to make sure that little boy lived to tell the tale.
