Daddy Issues
By Stella Moore
Chapter One
Lochlan
* * *
He fucking hated small talk.
And he really, really fucking hated making small talk with a bunch of assholes he hadn’t spoken a word to in twenty years. He’d had no use for them in high school and he sure as fuck didn’t have any use for them now.
But the boss wanted him at this ridiculous reunion, so here he was. Sipping bottom-shelf whiskey in a hotel bar while some asshole with a bunch of letters behind his name and a hairline that had run for the hills years ago bragged about his golf game.
God, just take me now.
As the O’Rourke family’s head enforcer, Lochlan was used to dirty jobs. Their family hadn’t taken control of the Charleston docks several generations back without getting their hands dirty. And unlike Killian, his younger cousin who had taken over after his father’s death nearly a decade ago, Lochlan O’Rourke actually enjoyed the messier side of the family business. Putting down a threat to his family came as naturally to him as breathing, and he slept just fine at night knowing he’d happily get up in the morning and do it again if he was called upon.
But this? Sitting in a bar, waiting for the right moment to pin down his target and sweet-talk information out of him? That was usually his cousin Murphy’s specialty. Murph had a nose like a bloodhound when it came to getting information, and he could wheedle secrets out of just about anyone before they even realized what he was doing.
Lochlan, on the other hand, preferred much more… direct methods of interrogation.
The worst part was, he didn’t even have Tiernan with him to alleviate some of the boredom. Killian had apparently needed Lochlan’s twin for another assignment, one Tiernan had accepted with no small amount of glee, leaving Lochlan to fend for himself.
At least he’d been able to talk Tiernan into letting him borrow the ‘vette. If he had to come to this fucking snoozefest, he was damn well going to do it in style.
Movement from the corner of his eye had him glancing casually to the side, where he spotted a balding man with the beginning of a beer belly laughing and clapping another man on the back. Josh Miller, golden boy of Magnolia Creek High School. Back in the day, he and Lochlan had played football together, with Josh of course being the all-American quarterback everyone had expected to go onto college ball, if not the NFL. Which he might have, if he hadn’t wrecked his knee his freshman year at Florida State.
But Josh being Josh, he’d made the best of it. Gotten a shiny degree in some business bullshit Lochlan didn’t pretend to understand, before returning home and lighting the real estate world on fire.
Which was why Killian had sent Lochlan to this execution disguised as his twenty-year reunion. Well, the actual reunion was tomorrow. Tonight was just an informal hangout in the hotel bar, which had seemed like the best time to get Josh alone to catch up and chat. Although he and Josh hadn’t been the best of friends in high school, there was hopefully enough nostalgia and shared memories for him to figure out exactly how much Josh knew. And how deep he was in with the Russians currently buying up as much of the commercial real estate near the docks as they could get their hands on.
“Hello.”
A woman’s voice, smooth as the whiskey he generally preferred over the swill he was currently drinking, piqued his interest enough to have him slowly swiveling on his stool to face her.
And what a woman she was. Tall, exceptionally so with the help of the sky-high stilettos she’d slipped her feet into, with a cascade of blonde hair spilling over her bare shoulders. Oversized glasses in a startling shade of red with rhinestones sparkling from the corners framed golden eyes that matched the whiskey of her voice.
Letting his gaze rake over her, he took in the lush curves poured into a dress the same shade as the glasses. Heavy breasts, a beautifully round stomach and flaring hips with, he assumed, an ass to match. The kind of softness a man could really sink into.
Maybe tonight wouldn’t be a total loss, after all. “Well, hello there. What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”
A cheesy pick-up line, perhaps, but he was also genuinely curious. The glasses hid some of her features, but she definitely wasn’t pushing forty like him and the rest of the attendees. Which begged the question…
What was she doing there?
Blondie rolled her eyes as she slid onto the stool beside him. “Work meeting. But my client is running late, so I figured I’d grab a drink while I wait.” Cocking her head to the side, she gave him the same appraising look he’d given her. “Don’t suppose I could talk you into buying me one.”
Without taking his eyes off her, he flagged down the bartender. “Another whiskey, and…”
“Sex on the beach. Thanks.”
Lochlan raised a brow as the bartender disappeared to get their drinks. “Was that your drink order or an invitation?”
A slow smile curved lips painted the same show-stopping red as her dress and glasses, and he nearly had to shift in his seat to ease the sudden ache in his cock. “Could be both, if you play your cards right.”
“Beach is right outside. We could take our drinks, go for a nice sunset stroll in the sand.” And once the sun was down, he could probably find a nice isolated little spot to sink into all those soft, lush curves.
