Twenty minutes was all it took and he’d seen everything he needed to see. So, what now? Nothing at home to look forward to. If he had a beer with Karin, she’d be on his ass to work things out with Maddy. The alternative—sitting around by himself trying not to think about Maddy—didn’t thrill him either.
He knew a quiet bar in the center of town, but halfway there, he remembered the place was closed on Sundays. Instead, he went to the Sea Breeze on Beach Street and took a seat at the bar.
Ingrid Ostergard, the owner and Keely Bravo’s mom, served him a beer. Ingrid used to be a bona fide rock star. She was fun, with lots of attitude, her hair a different color every time he came in. Tonight, it was a deep magenta. They made small talk for a few minutes and then she moved down the bar to pour refills for a couple of guys in Rip City T-shirts.
Sten nursed his beer and did exactly what he would have been doing if he’d gone home—missed Madison. He wished he hadn’t been such a douche to her last night and he wondered if she’d had any trouble getting a ride to the Bravo house for the DNA dinner. Taking her where she needed to go and protecting her from any possible hassling was supposed to be his job. But instead, he’d pissed her off and left her to scare up a ride for herself.
He was currently trying to tell himself that staying away from her was for the best. The woman presented a lot more temptation than he was ready to deal with.
When Ingrid asked if he wanted another beer, he said no, thanked her and put his money on the bar. He didn’t realize he’d left his phone in the truck until it buzzed at him from the console as he got in behind the wheel.
Maddy?
He grabbed for it, almost dropping the damn thing in his eagerness to see what she had to say.
But it wasn’t Madison.
It was Ella Robson. His ex-girlfriend had sent him four texts while he was in the bar.
Guess who? How have you been?
Been thinking of you lately, missing those big hands of yours and all the amazing things they can do.
Joey still asks about you. I swear he’s grown a foot since you last saw him.
Sten? Come on. Only joking around. Can’t we just talk?
He felt nothing—well, nothing beyond annoyance, that she’d contacted him again, that she’d stooped so low as to drag poor Joey into it. The kid didn’t need his mother pulling that kind of stuff.
Did she think she could start something up with him again? Had she split with Darrin for the second time? Or was she texting him behind her husband’s back?
Whatever she was up to, he wanted it stopped.
He’d thought the world of her once, a single mom, newly divorced, trying to take care of her young son after her husband had left her. Joey was a great kid. Sten had wanted to help her, wanted to make things better for her and her boy.
He’d been the one to hire her as the office manager at the Boatworks. Joey was four then.
It was pretty much what Karin had said the other night. Sten had fallen for both the mom and the kid—and that had surprised the hell out of everyone who knew him.
After all, he was the guy who loved his freedom. When he wanted family around him, he had a sister, the kids and his dad—and Bud, too, before they lost him. He’d liked things with women to be simple and uncomplicated. But when it came to Ella and Joey, right away he was thinking forever with a ready-made family.
Ella had refused to go out with him at first. She’d said it was a bad idea to date the boss. He’d thought that showed so much integrity.
Soon enough, though, she was saying yes. The morning after their first night together, Sten asked her to move in with him.
But she wouldn’t come live with him—not out in the open for the world to see, anyway. When Darrin, who lived in Seattle, had custody of Joey, though? That was a different story. She would play house with Sten while her son was away.
He’d asked her to marry him over and over, been such a sucker for her brave single-mom act. She’d always said no, always claimed that she was wild for him, but she wasn’t “ready” for marriage again yet. That she just didn’t think getting married again would be good for Joey.
Then, out of nowhere—at least, from Sten’s point of view—Ella and Darrin had reconciled. Ella broke the news to Sten right there in his private office at Larson Boatworks.
She marched in, shut the door and came to stand at his desk. Head high and a noble expression on her pretty face, she’d quietly informed him that she appreciated what a good guy he was, not to mention how great they were together in bed.
But sex wasn’t everything. She was quitting the Boatworks and she and Sten were through. Darrin wanted to get back together and they were going to remarry. Ella and Joey would join Darrin in Seattle. It was the best thing for Joey, after all. She collected her last paycheck, put her stuff in a box and walked out. Sten hadn’t seen her since.
It had taken him a while to accept the depressing fact that he’d been little more than Ella Robson’s dependable booty call for three years. Her goal had always been to get back with her husband.
Now she had what she’d been after—and she was screwing it up?
