The law of deceit, p.7
The Law of Deceit, page 7
I open my mouth, unsure what I want to say to him exactly, but he dips his head until our noses nearly touch. This has whatever words I wanted to say dying on my lips. Staring at him this close has fried my brain.
“You can’t touch me, Sloane. I can’t…I won’t be able to handle it.”
He releases my hand, letting it drop, and then sidesteps me to head for the window. I’m left reeling from his words.
You can’t touch me, Sloane. I can’t…I won’t be able to handle it.
Not because he’s angry at me or Trevor. Not because I’m some cop and he’s the town bad boy. Not because I’m his mom’s best friend.
No, he can’t handle it because it would be torture.
He glances over his shoulder at me. Pain is written all over his handsome face, tugging his full lips into a sad frown that breaks my heart.
Why is he hurt?
Why do I feel like I’m responsible for his anguish?
“Dempsey,” I whisper. “I…I’m…”
“It’s fine. It’s nothing. Forget it ever happened.” He shakes his head, teeth grinding together. “See you Saturday.”
But I can’t forget.
It did happen.
Dempsey likes me. His joke about a date wasn’t a joke at all. He really actually likes me—so much, in fact, that my mere touch would have done something to him. What? I have no idea, but I do know he was worried about the outcome.
Holy shit. This is an actual problem.
A big one.
One that I’m going to have to deal with before it escalates any further.
Dempsey
Fuck, I’m going insane.
Sloane is slowly driving me to madness and I don’t know what to do about it. Several days have passed since the weird admission of her effect on me while in her bedroom and I’m still obsessing over it.
I shouldn’t have said anything.
I should have let her comfort me.
But I was barely hanging on by a thread. Seeing her in her pajamas, her pert nipples peeking through the nearly transparent fabric of her shirt, killed me. I was thinking of everyone and everything just to keep my boner at bay.
If she’d have touched me, I might have touched her back.
Fuck.
It would have been heaven, but it also would have meant risking this budding thing between us. At least, as it stands now, she’s opening up to me and agreeing to spend more time with me.
“You’re so quiet and it’s kind of freaking me out.”
Jerking my head to my right, I meet Gemma’s concerned stare. “What?”
“You’re in la-la land. Maybe I should drive.”
I scoff at that. She’s in charge of the shitty music and directions while I’m in charge of getting us there in one piece. “I’m fine.”
“Is it because we’re going hiking with your crush?”
I nearly swerve off the road at her question. “What the hell are you talking about?”
My voice is high-pitched, and I sound guilty as fuck.
“Oh, give me a break, dummy. First, you invited her for dinner, then you brought her coffee, and now we’re going on a hike with her. What exactly am I supposed to think?”
Not this.
Not the actual truth.
“Gemma,” I growl in warning, gassing it to get us through a yellow light in a hurry. “Back off. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her vicious black fingernail stabs in my direction. “Do not gaslight me. It’s so obvious!”
“I’m not gaslighting you—whatever the fuck that means,” I bark out in frustration. “I’m just saying mind your own damn business.”
“No.” She crosses her arms over her chest, scowling my way. “You will tell me. I won’t let it go until you admit you like Sloane.”
I don’t make it to the next light in time and end up having to slam on the brakes as it turns red. While we wait, I shoot my twin a withering glare. “Enough.”
“Okay, Dad,” she snips back. “You say it’s enough and I’ll back off.” She snorts out a laugh. “Seriously, you don’t get to do that to me and it works. Try again.”
Unbelievable.
How is it that I’m so obvious?
Do I walk around with fucking hearts in my eyes for all to see?
“You like her,” Gemma accuses, “because she’s hot and it’ll piss Mom off if you sleep with her!”
The light turns green and someone honks at me to go. I peel out, grinding my teeth to hold in mean words, but eventually, they burst out anyway.
“Fuck off. You and everyone else always think I’m out to ruin the world. Fuck you and fuck them.”
Gemma huffs and then starts rapid firing texts to someone. Probably Mom or Willa. Whatever. It’s not like I care if she tattles. Boo-fucking-hoo. I stood up for myself. I’m tired of everyone treating me like I’m rotten trash. My sister doesn’t get to demand to know my life and then throw a tantrum when I don’t tell her.
We drive the rest of the way to Sloane’s in pissed-off silence. When we reach her neighborhood, I start to panic. Will Sloane feel the tension between me and Gemma? Will she think it’s because of her?
Fuck.
I pull over just inside the neighborhood and put the vehicle in park. Turning in my seat, I try to meet my sister’s furious stare.
“Hey. Yo. Womb mate.”
Her lips twitch at one side. “Don’t call me that. Sounds incestuous.”
I do know what that word means. “Hardy har har.”
“I’m not trying to be a bitch, you know,” she says softly, not looking at me. “I just care about you. What I said was mean and uncalled for. I’m sorry.”
The tension in my shoulders eases up. “She is hot,” I admit with a stupid grin, “but I’m not going to sleep with her to make Mom mad. I would never do that to Sloane.”
She snaps her head my way, big blue eyes darting all over my face. Then she frowns at whatever she sees. “Oh, Dempsey. You don’t like her. You’re in love with her.”
My heart aches at her words. “Stupid and pointless. I know.”
She reaches one of her clawed hands my way and clutches my forearm. “I’m guessing she doesn’t know how much you like her?”
“Nope.”
“And you don’t want to tell her?”
“Fuck no,” I growl. “It’s humiliating enough that you know.”
“Unrequited love. Such a tragedy.”
“I don’t know what the hell unrequited means, but a tragedy seems fitting.”
“I’m going to find you someone sweet and perfect when we start PMU this fall,” she assures me. “Someone who’s going to love you right back.”
I have no doubt that Gemma will do her best to make that happen.
Unfortunately, I won’t be interested.
The thing about love is you can’t just wish it away even if you know you’ll never have a chance with the other person. No matter how much you want to deny it, it just won’t fucking go away.
Now that my secret is out, I continue driving us through Sloane’s neighborhood and park in her driveway. It’s hard to believe just a few days ago I was climbing into her bedroom window, craving a helluva lot more than just one sweet touch that would’ve been the death of me.
“I won’t say anything to anyone,” Gemma assures me. “Promise.”
I give her a nod of thanks before climbing out to face the woman I’m all in knots over. Before I reach the porch, the front door opens and Kaden races out.
“Duuuude, this is going to be awesome!”
I grin at him and we fist-bump before he heads for the car. Sloane turns her back to me as she locks the front door. She’s wearing jeans that hug her ass, showing off each and every sinful curve. Fuck, this is going to be difficult.
“Ready to get hot and sweaty?”
She swivels around, revealing her owlishly round eyes. “W-What?”
“Hiking,” I tease. “In the summer. We’re basically going to die.”
Her body relaxes and she laughs. “Just be thankful I forced that kid to put on deodorant. He actually tried to get out of it.”
“Thank God for women. Us males would be so fucked without you.”
She rolls her eyes at me. I’d expected things to be cringy as fuck after our last encounter, but she’s pretending it didn’t happen. I can definitely play along with her.
When we reach the car, Gemma climbs out of the front seat. “I’m going to sit in the back with Kaden.”
Sloane doesn’t argue or beg to sit with her nephew, so I take it as a good sign. I wait for Sloane to take Gemma’s vacated seat and then shut her inside. Gemma discreetly gives me a thumbs-up as I pass by her window. My sister is an idiot.
Everyone’s chattering by the time I get back into the driver’s seat. Sloane sitting next to me feels good. Really damn good. Like I could almost pretend we’re a couple and going on a real date.
Nah, she’s doing that later.
With someone else.
The ache inside my chest hurts so fucking badly.
Will it ever stop hurting?
“Keep going,” I bark out to the three people trailing behind me. “We’re almost to Park’s Peak.”
“The coffee shop?” Sloane asks hopefully.
“Later, princess. I’ll reward you for your efforts later.”
She flips me off and this sets both Kaden and Gemma into a fit of giggles. When Sloane kneels to tie her boot, I motion for my sister and Kaden to keep going while I wait.
“I’ve never seen you exercise or run or anything,” she grumbles. “How are you not out of breath right now?”
“Like I said, woman, I’m full of mysteries. Be a good girl and I’ll tell you all my secrets.”
“You’re relentless, Demps.”
I hold out my hand for her to take. Surprisingly, she does. The small touch of her sweaty hand in mine sends jolts of awareness down my spine and straight to my dick. She releases my hand once she’s standing upright, but I don’t miss the pink on her cheeks.
“Water break?” I don’t wait for an answer and instead fish out a new bottle from my backpack. “It’s hot. You need to stay hydrated.”
“I need a shower and a nap.”
“Definitely both if you plan on enjoying your date.”
She laughs as we continue our hike. “Enjoy? Your mother damn near forced me into it.”
The tightness in my chest eases at knowing she’s not exactly eager for her date.
“Come on, Officer Do-Good. I bet the dweeb will take one look at you and fall in love. Free food and a fan for life. Sounds like a good time if you ask me.”
Before she can respond, Kaden yelps up ahead. I pick up speed and make my way to a rocky landing where Gemma looms over where he’s seated.
“What happened?” I demand.
Sloane squats down next to him, eyes flickering with worry. “Are you injured?”
“I’m fine,” he utters, a clear lie considering the slight quaver in his voice. “We can keep going.”
I notice the blood dotting his jeans at his knee and realize he must’ve tripped. On his other side, I drop down next to him and fish out a small first aid kit from my backpack. Sloane watches me with interest and allows me to do my thing. Carefully, I roll up Kaden’s pant leg to reveal his scraped-up knee.
“Let’s get this cleaned up first and then we can go,” I assure him. “I’ve fallen more times than I can count on this trail. Sucks ass when you hit this gravelly patch.”
“Totally sucks ass,” Kaden agrees.
“Don’t say ass,” Sloane adds with a smirk my way.
I grin at her and then set to cleaning up Kaden’s scrape with my supplies in the kit. After putting on some antibiotic ointment and a giant Band-Aid, I roll his pant leg back down and offer my fist.
“Thanks,” he says as he bumps my fist. “I’ll try not to fall again.”
“We’ve got five more Band-Aids, so we’re good.” I shake the first aid kit and the contents rattle inside the plastic case. “If you fall after that, I’m just going to feed you to a bear. You’ll be beyond help at that point.”
“Come on,” Gemma says, offering her arm to Kaden. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall. Let’s keep going.”
They continue along, once again leaving me with Sloane. I can feel her curious stare on me as we walk. When I find my balls, I glance back over at her.
“What?”
She shrugs. “You.”
“What about me?”
“You’re really good with Kaden. That means a lot to me.”
“He’s a cool kid.”
“And you’re a good man, Dempsey.”
Her words, though plain and simple, have life and joy racing through my veins. She called me a man. Not a boy or kid or troublemaker. A man.
“You’ve seen my record,” I joke, voice gruff. “I’m anything but good.”
“I see a lot more than you think I do,” she agrees, side-eyeing me. “I’m surprised, honestly. Pleasantly so.”
As we make it the rest of the way to Park’s Peak, I mull over her words and let them replay in my head over and over again.
You’re a good man, Dempsey.
But she’s wrong. Good men don’t obsess over their mom’s best friend. They certainly don’t con them into dates and draw the object of their affection’s tits every damn night.
This man is anything but good.
And a woman like Sloane deserves all the goodness in the world.
I hate that I’ll never be a part of her world.
Sloane
If I’m going to be expected to go on more dates, I’ll need another dress. This same boring blue one is going to be obvious if I wear it to every special event.
Is that what this date is?
It certainly feels monumental considering I never date. I’m nervous, which is probably normal. I feel like Jamie would save me if he looked like a toad, so he’s probably good-looking on top of being successful. Better yet, he’s around my age.
Unlike Dempsey.
This morning was fun. I felt awkward after how we left things the other night, but today nothing was amiss. In fact, I really enjoyed myself. Dempsey is easygoing and makes me laugh. His smile is pretty too.
Ugh.
Don’t think stuff like that, Sloane.
He can grin his alluring movie star smile at me all he wants. I can’t get caught up in it, though. I won’t ever hurt Jamie like that. Plus, despite my confusing attraction toward Dempsey, he’ll always be the little turkey I watched grow up.
Gross.
I feel like some kind of pervert.
That’s how Jamie would see it if I ever allowed anything to happen.
Which I won’t. I won’t.
“Sloane Thurman?”
A deep voice from the parking lot at the pizza place jerks me from my inner turmoil. A gorgeous man in his late thirties with dirty-blond hair and a dashing grin strides over to me. He’s dressed in dark gray slacks that hug his muscular form and wears a white button-down that he’s rolled up to his elbows. He’s cut in a way that says he spends an insane amount of his free time in the gym. Green eyes flicker with appreciation as he approaches.
“Oliver Howell.” He offers a hand for me to shake. “Pleased to meet you.”
I shake his hand and offer a smile. So far, he’s nice, handsome, and appropriate for someone my age. “So you know Nathan?”
“I see him sometimes at the country club, but I actually work with Hugo. All the Parks are pretty much carbon copies of each other, though, am I right?” He winks at me as he ushers me to the front door. “You know one and you know them all.”
I force a smile to be polite, but it’s not true. The Parks are all different. Yes, they’re all maddening in the same sort of way but definitely all different.
“So, lawyer, huh?” I ask, changing the subject as we seat ourselves at a booth near the window. “You like your job?”
“Sometimes,” he says with a chuckle. “Sometimes it’s a total pain in the ass.”
“Sounds like mine.”
“Park Mountain PD. I hear you’re a tough cookie in this town.”
“Just doing my job,” I mutter and dart my gaze to the menu. “Jamie said you’re recently divorced?”
He chuckles. “Damn, and I thought the interrogation skills of dating other attorneys were intense. I’ve never dated a cop before.”
Just answer the damn question.
His smile vanishes when he realizes I won’t be blown off. Wrinkles form at the corners of his eyes as he narrows them at me.
“We weren’t compatible any longer.” He sighs and rubs at the back of his neck. “Neither of us wanted kids. Our careers were our babies. Then, two years ago, she changed her mind. Put the pressure on me ever since. We both grew resentful and ultimately, it’s what split us apart. Nothing exciting like torrid affairs if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Defensive.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I utter as the waitress comes to our table. “I’ll have Pepsi and a large deep dish meat mountain. Oh, and a side of garlic knots.”
The woman then turns her attention to Oliver, who is watching me with slightly widened eyes. “Uh, I’ll have water. Add a side salad for me and we’ll share the rest.”
We’ll share?
A shroud of awkwardness cloaks around me. This is another reason why I don’t date. I don’t know what’s proper or what’s expected of me. I’d planned on getting a big pizza so I could bring the rest back to Kaden later. I even planned on paying for dinner tonight.
“Not hungry?” I ask when the waitress leaves to put in our order.
He tilts his head to the side, studying me again as though I’m an endangered animal behind glass that needs figuring out. “I figured there was enough for both of us.”
“I suppose,” I say tightly. “I was going to bring the rest back home, but I can always order it to-go. Don’t worry. Dinner is on me tonight.”
“What? Oh, shit. I just thought you were one of those women who liked to take charge and order. I was being nice. I think I already fucked this date up.” He shoots me a pleading look. “This is the first real date I’ve had since the split. You’re different than the others. I apologize if I’m screwing this up.”
“You can’t touch me, Sloane. I can’t…I won’t be able to handle it.”
He releases my hand, letting it drop, and then sidesteps me to head for the window. I’m left reeling from his words.
You can’t touch me, Sloane. I can’t…I won’t be able to handle it.
Not because he’s angry at me or Trevor. Not because I’m some cop and he’s the town bad boy. Not because I’m his mom’s best friend.
No, he can’t handle it because it would be torture.
He glances over his shoulder at me. Pain is written all over his handsome face, tugging his full lips into a sad frown that breaks my heart.
Why is he hurt?
Why do I feel like I’m responsible for his anguish?
“Dempsey,” I whisper. “I…I’m…”
“It’s fine. It’s nothing. Forget it ever happened.” He shakes his head, teeth grinding together. “See you Saturday.”
But I can’t forget.
It did happen.
Dempsey likes me. His joke about a date wasn’t a joke at all. He really actually likes me—so much, in fact, that my mere touch would have done something to him. What? I have no idea, but I do know he was worried about the outcome.
Holy shit. This is an actual problem.
A big one.
One that I’m going to have to deal with before it escalates any further.
Dempsey
Fuck, I’m going insane.
Sloane is slowly driving me to madness and I don’t know what to do about it. Several days have passed since the weird admission of her effect on me while in her bedroom and I’m still obsessing over it.
I shouldn’t have said anything.
I should have let her comfort me.
But I was barely hanging on by a thread. Seeing her in her pajamas, her pert nipples peeking through the nearly transparent fabric of her shirt, killed me. I was thinking of everyone and everything just to keep my boner at bay.
If she’d have touched me, I might have touched her back.
Fuck.
It would have been heaven, but it also would have meant risking this budding thing between us. At least, as it stands now, she’s opening up to me and agreeing to spend more time with me.
“You’re so quiet and it’s kind of freaking me out.”
Jerking my head to my right, I meet Gemma’s concerned stare. “What?”
“You’re in la-la land. Maybe I should drive.”
I scoff at that. She’s in charge of the shitty music and directions while I’m in charge of getting us there in one piece. “I’m fine.”
“Is it because we’re going hiking with your crush?”
I nearly swerve off the road at her question. “What the hell are you talking about?”
My voice is high-pitched, and I sound guilty as fuck.
“Oh, give me a break, dummy. First, you invited her for dinner, then you brought her coffee, and now we’re going on a hike with her. What exactly am I supposed to think?”
Not this.
Not the actual truth.
“Gemma,” I growl in warning, gassing it to get us through a yellow light in a hurry. “Back off. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her vicious black fingernail stabs in my direction. “Do not gaslight me. It’s so obvious!”
“I’m not gaslighting you—whatever the fuck that means,” I bark out in frustration. “I’m just saying mind your own damn business.”
“No.” She crosses her arms over her chest, scowling my way. “You will tell me. I won’t let it go until you admit you like Sloane.”
I don’t make it to the next light in time and end up having to slam on the brakes as it turns red. While we wait, I shoot my twin a withering glare. “Enough.”
“Okay, Dad,” she snips back. “You say it’s enough and I’ll back off.” She snorts out a laugh. “Seriously, you don’t get to do that to me and it works. Try again.”
Unbelievable.
How is it that I’m so obvious?
Do I walk around with fucking hearts in my eyes for all to see?
“You like her,” Gemma accuses, “because she’s hot and it’ll piss Mom off if you sleep with her!”
The light turns green and someone honks at me to go. I peel out, grinding my teeth to hold in mean words, but eventually, they burst out anyway.
“Fuck off. You and everyone else always think I’m out to ruin the world. Fuck you and fuck them.”
Gemma huffs and then starts rapid firing texts to someone. Probably Mom or Willa. Whatever. It’s not like I care if she tattles. Boo-fucking-hoo. I stood up for myself. I’m tired of everyone treating me like I’m rotten trash. My sister doesn’t get to demand to know my life and then throw a tantrum when I don’t tell her.
We drive the rest of the way to Sloane’s in pissed-off silence. When we reach her neighborhood, I start to panic. Will Sloane feel the tension between me and Gemma? Will she think it’s because of her?
Fuck.
I pull over just inside the neighborhood and put the vehicle in park. Turning in my seat, I try to meet my sister’s furious stare.
“Hey. Yo. Womb mate.”
Her lips twitch at one side. “Don’t call me that. Sounds incestuous.”
I do know what that word means. “Hardy har har.”
“I’m not trying to be a bitch, you know,” she says softly, not looking at me. “I just care about you. What I said was mean and uncalled for. I’m sorry.”
The tension in my shoulders eases up. “She is hot,” I admit with a stupid grin, “but I’m not going to sleep with her to make Mom mad. I would never do that to Sloane.”
She snaps her head my way, big blue eyes darting all over my face. Then she frowns at whatever she sees. “Oh, Dempsey. You don’t like her. You’re in love with her.”
My heart aches at her words. “Stupid and pointless. I know.”
She reaches one of her clawed hands my way and clutches my forearm. “I’m guessing she doesn’t know how much you like her?”
“Nope.”
“And you don’t want to tell her?”
“Fuck no,” I growl. “It’s humiliating enough that you know.”
“Unrequited love. Such a tragedy.”
“I don’t know what the hell unrequited means, but a tragedy seems fitting.”
“I’m going to find you someone sweet and perfect when we start PMU this fall,” she assures me. “Someone who’s going to love you right back.”
I have no doubt that Gemma will do her best to make that happen.
Unfortunately, I won’t be interested.
The thing about love is you can’t just wish it away even if you know you’ll never have a chance with the other person. No matter how much you want to deny it, it just won’t fucking go away.
Now that my secret is out, I continue driving us through Sloane’s neighborhood and park in her driveway. It’s hard to believe just a few days ago I was climbing into her bedroom window, craving a helluva lot more than just one sweet touch that would’ve been the death of me.
“I won’t say anything to anyone,” Gemma assures me. “Promise.”
I give her a nod of thanks before climbing out to face the woman I’m all in knots over. Before I reach the porch, the front door opens and Kaden races out.
“Duuuude, this is going to be awesome!”
I grin at him and we fist-bump before he heads for the car. Sloane turns her back to me as she locks the front door. She’s wearing jeans that hug her ass, showing off each and every sinful curve. Fuck, this is going to be difficult.
“Ready to get hot and sweaty?”
She swivels around, revealing her owlishly round eyes. “W-What?”
“Hiking,” I tease. “In the summer. We’re basically going to die.”
Her body relaxes and she laughs. “Just be thankful I forced that kid to put on deodorant. He actually tried to get out of it.”
“Thank God for women. Us males would be so fucked without you.”
She rolls her eyes at me. I’d expected things to be cringy as fuck after our last encounter, but she’s pretending it didn’t happen. I can definitely play along with her.
When we reach the car, Gemma climbs out of the front seat. “I’m going to sit in the back with Kaden.”
Sloane doesn’t argue or beg to sit with her nephew, so I take it as a good sign. I wait for Sloane to take Gemma’s vacated seat and then shut her inside. Gemma discreetly gives me a thumbs-up as I pass by her window. My sister is an idiot.
Everyone’s chattering by the time I get back into the driver’s seat. Sloane sitting next to me feels good. Really damn good. Like I could almost pretend we’re a couple and going on a real date.
Nah, she’s doing that later.
With someone else.
The ache inside my chest hurts so fucking badly.
Will it ever stop hurting?
“Keep going,” I bark out to the three people trailing behind me. “We’re almost to Park’s Peak.”
“The coffee shop?” Sloane asks hopefully.
“Later, princess. I’ll reward you for your efforts later.”
She flips me off and this sets both Kaden and Gemma into a fit of giggles. When Sloane kneels to tie her boot, I motion for my sister and Kaden to keep going while I wait.
“I’ve never seen you exercise or run or anything,” she grumbles. “How are you not out of breath right now?”
“Like I said, woman, I’m full of mysteries. Be a good girl and I’ll tell you all my secrets.”
“You’re relentless, Demps.”
I hold out my hand for her to take. Surprisingly, she does. The small touch of her sweaty hand in mine sends jolts of awareness down my spine and straight to my dick. She releases my hand once she’s standing upright, but I don’t miss the pink on her cheeks.
“Water break?” I don’t wait for an answer and instead fish out a new bottle from my backpack. “It’s hot. You need to stay hydrated.”
“I need a shower and a nap.”
“Definitely both if you plan on enjoying your date.”
She laughs as we continue our hike. “Enjoy? Your mother damn near forced me into it.”
The tightness in my chest eases at knowing she’s not exactly eager for her date.
“Come on, Officer Do-Good. I bet the dweeb will take one look at you and fall in love. Free food and a fan for life. Sounds like a good time if you ask me.”
Before she can respond, Kaden yelps up ahead. I pick up speed and make my way to a rocky landing where Gemma looms over where he’s seated.
“What happened?” I demand.
Sloane squats down next to him, eyes flickering with worry. “Are you injured?”
“I’m fine,” he utters, a clear lie considering the slight quaver in his voice. “We can keep going.”
I notice the blood dotting his jeans at his knee and realize he must’ve tripped. On his other side, I drop down next to him and fish out a small first aid kit from my backpack. Sloane watches me with interest and allows me to do my thing. Carefully, I roll up Kaden’s pant leg to reveal his scraped-up knee.
“Let’s get this cleaned up first and then we can go,” I assure him. “I’ve fallen more times than I can count on this trail. Sucks ass when you hit this gravelly patch.”
“Totally sucks ass,” Kaden agrees.
“Don’t say ass,” Sloane adds with a smirk my way.
I grin at her and then set to cleaning up Kaden’s scrape with my supplies in the kit. After putting on some antibiotic ointment and a giant Band-Aid, I roll his pant leg back down and offer my fist.
“Thanks,” he says as he bumps my fist. “I’ll try not to fall again.”
“We’ve got five more Band-Aids, so we’re good.” I shake the first aid kit and the contents rattle inside the plastic case. “If you fall after that, I’m just going to feed you to a bear. You’ll be beyond help at that point.”
“Come on,” Gemma says, offering her arm to Kaden. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall. Let’s keep going.”
They continue along, once again leaving me with Sloane. I can feel her curious stare on me as we walk. When I find my balls, I glance back over at her.
“What?”
She shrugs. “You.”
“What about me?”
“You’re really good with Kaden. That means a lot to me.”
“He’s a cool kid.”
“And you’re a good man, Dempsey.”
Her words, though plain and simple, have life and joy racing through my veins. She called me a man. Not a boy or kid or troublemaker. A man.
“You’ve seen my record,” I joke, voice gruff. “I’m anything but good.”
“I see a lot more than you think I do,” she agrees, side-eyeing me. “I’m surprised, honestly. Pleasantly so.”
As we make it the rest of the way to Park’s Peak, I mull over her words and let them replay in my head over and over again.
You’re a good man, Dempsey.
But she’s wrong. Good men don’t obsess over their mom’s best friend. They certainly don’t con them into dates and draw the object of their affection’s tits every damn night.
This man is anything but good.
And a woman like Sloane deserves all the goodness in the world.
I hate that I’ll never be a part of her world.
Sloane
If I’m going to be expected to go on more dates, I’ll need another dress. This same boring blue one is going to be obvious if I wear it to every special event.
Is that what this date is?
It certainly feels monumental considering I never date. I’m nervous, which is probably normal. I feel like Jamie would save me if he looked like a toad, so he’s probably good-looking on top of being successful. Better yet, he’s around my age.
Unlike Dempsey.
This morning was fun. I felt awkward after how we left things the other night, but today nothing was amiss. In fact, I really enjoyed myself. Dempsey is easygoing and makes me laugh. His smile is pretty too.
Ugh.
Don’t think stuff like that, Sloane.
He can grin his alluring movie star smile at me all he wants. I can’t get caught up in it, though. I won’t ever hurt Jamie like that. Plus, despite my confusing attraction toward Dempsey, he’ll always be the little turkey I watched grow up.
Gross.
I feel like some kind of pervert.
That’s how Jamie would see it if I ever allowed anything to happen.
Which I won’t. I won’t.
“Sloane Thurman?”
A deep voice from the parking lot at the pizza place jerks me from my inner turmoil. A gorgeous man in his late thirties with dirty-blond hair and a dashing grin strides over to me. He’s dressed in dark gray slacks that hug his muscular form and wears a white button-down that he’s rolled up to his elbows. He’s cut in a way that says he spends an insane amount of his free time in the gym. Green eyes flicker with appreciation as he approaches.
“Oliver Howell.” He offers a hand for me to shake. “Pleased to meet you.”
I shake his hand and offer a smile. So far, he’s nice, handsome, and appropriate for someone my age. “So you know Nathan?”
“I see him sometimes at the country club, but I actually work with Hugo. All the Parks are pretty much carbon copies of each other, though, am I right?” He winks at me as he ushers me to the front door. “You know one and you know them all.”
I force a smile to be polite, but it’s not true. The Parks are all different. Yes, they’re all maddening in the same sort of way but definitely all different.
“So, lawyer, huh?” I ask, changing the subject as we seat ourselves at a booth near the window. “You like your job?”
“Sometimes,” he says with a chuckle. “Sometimes it’s a total pain in the ass.”
“Sounds like mine.”
“Park Mountain PD. I hear you’re a tough cookie in this town.”
“Just doing my job,” I mutter and dart my gaze to the menu. “Jamie said you’re recently divorced?”
He chuckles. “Damn, and I thought the interrogation skills of dating other attorneys were intense. I’ve never dated a cop before.”
Just answer the damn question.
His smile vanishes when he realizes I won’t be blown off. Wrinkles form at the corners of his eyes as he narrows them at me.
“We weren’t compatible any longer.” He sighs and rubs at the back of his neck. “Neither of us wanted kids. Our careers were our babies. Then, two years ago, she changed her mind. Put the pressure on me ever since. We both grew resentful and ultimately, it’s what split us apart. Nothing exciting like torrid affairs if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Defensive.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I utter as the waitress comes to our table. “I’ll have Pepsi and a large deep dish meat mountain. Oh, and a side of garlic knots.”
The woman then turns her attention to Oliver, who is watching me with slightly widened eyes. “Uh, I’ll have water. Add a side salad for me and we’ll share the rest.”
We’ll share?
A shroud of awkwardness cloaks around me. This is another reason why I don’t date. I don’t know what’s proper or what’s expected of me. I’d planned on getting a big pizza so I could bring the rest back to Kaden later. I even planned on paying for dinner tonight.
“Not hungry?” I ask when the waitress leaves to put in our order.
He tilts his head to the side, studying me again as though I’m an endangered animal behind glass that needs figuring out. “I figured there was enough for both of us.”
“I suppose,” I say tightly. “I was going to bring the rest back home, but I can always order it to-go. Don’t worry. Dinner is on me tonight.”
“What? Oh, shit. I just thought you were one of those women who liked to take charge and order. I was being nice. I think I already fucked this date up.” He shoots me a pleading look. “This is the first real date I’ve had since the split. You’re different than the others. I apologize if I’m screwing this up.”
