and she’s with Holden. Bethie takes my arm, hooking hers with mine.
“That guy, he’s hot, but he’s totally a womanizer. He’ll chew you up and spit you out. Sweet girl like you doesn’t stand a chance,” she sighs.
I snort. “He’s not going to have an opportunity. I don’t date.”
She pauses in her tracks, turning her head to the side, she looks at me with wide, shocked eyes. “Why not?” she practically screeches.
I could keep my son a secret, but he wouldn’t be for long. I have to walk right past her desk to get to the childcare center. I won’t tell her how he came into my life, about what happened to me, only my mother knows that. But, Holden? I’m so proud of him, I’ll definitely tell her all about him.
“Tell me over lunch?” she asks.
“Yeah.” I smile. “I’ll tell you over lunch.”
I don’t take chances anymore, not ever, but something about Bethie seems really safe. She’s inviting and she reminds me a lot of myself… especially the me before.
LANDRY
Clearing my throat, I finish the last line of my document before my office door opens. Laurent waltzes in and plops down in the chair that Tennessee just vacated. Pushing send, I email the file to the attorney, then lift my eyes to meet my son’s.
“Laurent?”
“Lunch?” he asks.
It’s not often that my eldest child asks me to go to lunch. Leaning back in my chair, I eye him suspiciously. Granted, Laurent and I are close, but he usually does his own thing, preferring to see me after work hours, at family functions, and my forced weekly dinners.
“What do you want?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Can’t I want to go with my boss, my own father, for lunch?”
I grunt as I stand to my feet. Turning off my computer monitor, I don’t bother grabbing my suit jacket, preferring to keep my white shirt sleeves rolled up to my elbows. Rounding my desk, I clear my throat as I make my way toward him.
Laurent chuckles again, making his way toward my office door and wrenching it open. “I did want to talk to you about something,” he begins.
I let out a groan. “How much is this going to cost me?”
He lifts his arm, sliding it across my shoulders. “Not much.”
I don’t say anything. Instead, I walk into the elevator car and can’t help but imagine the woman that was just here. Tennessee. I shouldn’t be thinking of her. I should push her out of my mind, but there is a thrill that fills me at the thought of seeing her first thing Monday morning.
Pressing my lips together, I grunt to myself. I’m sick. Truly, there must be something wrong with me. This is not normal. I have been attracted to women before, I can appreciate a beautiful woman of any appropriate age. But never have I hired one I’ve been sexually attracted to, never have I been unable to control an erection the way I was today.
I’m over sixty years old, this just isn’t fucking normal.
The restaurant hostess seats us and I’m glad to sit down. Lifting my hand, I ask for a drink before she can even leave.
“It’s a little early isn’t it, Dad?” Laurent asks.
“You’ve brought me here to ask me for money, or some kind of favor, so no, it’s not.”
He chuckles, his eyes finding mine and he holds my gaze.
“A favor, not money.”
“What is it?”
He grins, leaning back in his seat as the bartender brings my drink and sets it in front of me. Lifting my hand, I extend my finger as I take a sip of my bourbon. Clearing my throat, I place my glass back on the table before I flick my gaze back up to meet my son’s.
“I want a promotion.”
What I want to do is laugh in his face, but I don’t. Instead, I lift a brow as I watch him, then take another drink from my glass.
“No.”
“No?” he practically cries.
Jerking my chin up, I grunt. “No.”
“Why?” he demands, sounding every bit the spoiled brat I tried so hard not to let him become.
I failed at that, just like I have failed at a great many things in my lifetime. All three of my children are spoiled as absolute fuck. I like to think that it’s not my fault, but rather the fault of their mother who bought them things rather than spend quality time with them.
However, I know that it would be a lie. I did the same. Awarded them with things even if