“I am.” I all but ran out of there.
When I returned to my desk, I reopened the document I had been reading before the interruption, but the words seemed to have no meaning. All I could think about was what had just happened.
Mr. Jones said he would buy me dinner, but we didn’t make plans. He didn’t even tell me his first name yet. Did he mean he just wanted free food? Probably. This was work.
I shouldn’t have asked him to cross a line.
He definitely wanted a free dinner.
I pulled up a local delivery app, and, after scrolling, I found what I thought was the perfect restaurant and ordered him dinner, to be delivered to his office later that day.
“And that takes care of that.” I looked down at my bracelet. “I’m glad you’re back.” Despite loving how it looked on the daddy’s wrist.
Chapter Four
August
I probably shouldn’t have had him called into my office, but I had to know if the Hal at our company was the Hal from the rainy night on the side of the road. And it was. Even more adorable in the light of the fluorescents—not something many people could manage. Especially in office clothes. If I’d had the slightest doubt about him being a little, it would have dissipated when he looked at the floor and traced a circle with his toe.
If it wouldn’t have been the most inappropriate thing in the world, I’d have tugged him onto my lap for a cuddle and some kisses. But, as his boss’s boss’s boss— Yeah. No. Still, I was glad to have returned the bracelet. Hal tried to talk me out of it, but I saw how his gaze settled on it, the yearning in his eyes… No daddy worth his mac ’n cheese recipe could have held onto it.
We agreed on dinner, but somehow didn’t make definite plans. I assumed we’d connect at the end of the day, but just as I was shutting down my laptop, my assistant poked her head into the office. “Boss, I was on my way out the door when a delivery came for you.” She entered and set a white plastic bag from Felipe’s on my desk. “Hope you didn’t order takeout because you’re working late again.”
“No, Suze, I am not.” My assistant was a grandmotherly type—in fact, she was a grandmother of quite a few. I had long ago lost track of all their names and ages, but sometimes I felt as if she included me in her brood. She was also the most efficient person in the building and had held down the fort for me the whole time I was gone. We communicated daily, and some people were shocked to learn I’d been away at all. So…if I had to put up with being mothered, and it came with excellent workskills and an occasional bowl of the best chicken soup on the planet? I could deal.
Also, as a daddy, it was nice to have a relationship with an entirely different dynamic. Suzy was not a Chained member, and so far as I knew, had no interest in a big/little relationship. She was just a born caregiver in her own way.
“Glad you’re not sticking around all night.” She headed out the door with a finger wave and a smile. “You’d better not be lying,” she called over her shoulder.
No, I was not lying, but I wasn’t happy either. It seemed the little had decided to buy me dinner this way instead of spending time together eating. At least he’d picked one of my favorite restaurants. A quick peek in the bag revealed a combo plate—taco, green enchilada, chili relleno, and more. Along with their incredible beans and rice. The beans and rice defined a Mexican restaurant, some people claimed, and I had to say I agreed. Felipe’s were the best I’d ever had.
Not as good as an evening getting to know Hal—but better than most other options. Lifting the bag, I started for the elevator. Maybe after dinner, I’d work on one of the many projects a house built so many decades ago needed desperately.
Grandpa’s building skills had been epic, and structurally, the house was excellent. And the furniture made to last a thousand years. As in, Grandma had it covered in plastic, and she and mom refused to take it with them as each generation retired in Florida. They had been stylish in their time—plastic aside—but I’d made it clear that I would be redecorating when I bought the place. Mom took me aside and told me that she’d been afraid to spend the money when it was all in such good shape, but her new home was all “beachcore,” and I was welcome to do what she’d never had the nerve to do, up to and including a bonfire.
So far, I’d been dismantling a room at a time and putting the furnishings up for sale. Turned out, they were valuable and vintage. I used the money to buy new things that felt more like me. Sitting at the kitchen counter, I ate every bite of the food Hal sent, using the accompanying freshly made tortilla chips to scoop up the last of the refried beans.
Still not as good as what I’d had in mind—but not bad at all.
With no more tasty goodness left, all I could think about was the man who’d sent me dinner. And if I didn’t find something else to occupy my mind, it would go places it had no business going. So, I decided to see if I couldn’t check something off my to-do list. And by something, I meant the task I’d been putting off for months before I went out of town.
The dreaded wallpaper stripping of the downstairs bathroom.
I loved my grandma more than almost anyone in my life, but when she picked this wallpaper, she had to have been drunk. Stripes of avocado green and a sort of adobe orange/brown, they reminded me of pictures I’d seen of some bell bottoms from the era. Of course, the bell bottoms were easier to take off.
Having already tried a steamer and three different “guaranteed” wallpaper remover with little success, I began to think there was nothing more to be done than scrape and try not to damage the wall behind any more than necessary. If necessary, I’d watch some videos on refinishing the walls, but I so did not want to have to do that.
Hal standing right in front of me had been surreal. When we parted that first night after I helped him out, I had no reason to believe I’d ever see him again. And when I faced him in my office, I knew I’d never seen him around the office before. I’d learned he was a new transfer before I called him in.
Sitting on the canvas drop cloth in the bathroom, I was grateful to have found the flooring under the carpet. Yes…thisbathroom had the horror of shag carpeting when I was growing up. Because it was “only for guests,” it did not get destroyed and therefore replaced by something more practical while I was growing up. Another example of Mom not getting rid of anything that was “still perfectly good.”
When I pried it loose, I discovered Grandpa had laid the same tile from the tub surround before being convinced somehow to cover it with the shag. Black and white patterned with a bit of turquoise where the corners met. It was a work of art and one I would not get rid of. Not because it was “still perfectly good” but because it was wonderful. A work of art. Would Hal like it? Did he like a tubbie with bubbles and toys? Duckies? Boats? Maybe he’d enjoy a pirate fleet to do battle.
But that wasn’t why I was here.
The floor and tub surround were beautiful, and I had ordered a pedestal sink. The new toilet was in a box ready to be installed because I had no nostalgic feelings about the old one. But if I couldn’t get that ugly striped bell-bottom wallpaper off, I’d never show off this room to Hal or anyone else.
Not that he was coming over.
