Good Time Bad Boy (17 page)

Wade’s hand was warm, his brown eyes hotter. He tapped the dessert menu and said, “How about I get that tiramisu I was thinking about to go and we get out of here?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.”

T
hey fell in the door, barely managing to stay on their feet as they tangled together with limbs and tongues and frantic desire. Blood roared in Wade’s ears. He shut the door and dropped his keys and a takeout box on the floor. They stumbled against the wall. He pinned her, held her in place and Jesus
fuck
, it made her purr. His sweet, tough Daisy liked it just as hot and wild as he did.

Lust clouded his brain so much, he didn’t even pause over the thought of her as
his
.

“Be careful,” she whispered against his jaw. “You don’t want to skip the first time and go right to the second, do you?”

Wade pulled her leg up to wrap around his and pushed the bottom of her dress higher on her thigh. Her skin was silky smooth and warm. “Baby, we’re not skipping anything.”

She pulled him into a kiss, her sweet mouth fierce and demanding. He gave her what she wanted, meeting every glide of her tongue with a hunger of his own. She slid her hands between their bodies and went to work on the buttons of his shirt. She ghosted her hands over his bare chest, fingers rippling through his chest hair and teasing his nipples. He took one of her hands in his and drew it lower. Her mouth curved as she obliged, stroking him through his jeans.

Breathing heavily, Daisy tore her mouth from his. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the things you said. The one thing was so beautiful and the other so dirty.”

“Nothing wrong with wanting both.” He stepped away, holding on to her hand. “Come upstairs with me, Daisy.”

She smiled, and it was pure sunshine. They stood frozen for a long moment as something passed back and forth between them. Wade felt it, let it fill him up to the brim even though he couldn’t name it. Wasn’t sure he wanted to name it yet. He knew it was good, too good to ignore or push away. He knew he wanted to take her upstairs to his bedroom full of daisies and roses, carefully placed candles and a bottle of champagne, and keep her there as long as she would stay.

She took a step toward him and he thought his heart might burst from happiness.

“Daisy!” Someone pounded on the door. “Daisy, I’m sorry. I need you. Please.”

Daisy’s face fell in horror. “That’s Megan.” She rushed to the door and flung it open.

Megan slumped against her, sobbing. Daisy wrapped her arms around her best friend. “What happened? Meggie, what is it?”

Wade stood helpless, not knowing what to do. He was about to speak when Chris appeared in the doorway. Daisy moved Megan aside and Chris entered the house and went to stand by his brother.

Wade said, “What happened?” Chris had his uniform on, a fact that deeply unsettled Wade. Megan being so upset and Chris bringing her here like this could only mean one thing – something had happened with Mr. Hollister.

“I went to check up on her and her dad after my shift ended,” Chris said to Wade in a low voice. “They got his diagnosis.”

Megan said to Daisy, “I thought I could handle it. I’ve suspected for a while, so I thought I was ready to hear it. Oh God, Daisy, I was wrong. I was so wrong.”

Daisy folded her into a hug and smoothed her hair back. “Tell me.”

“Alzheimer’s.” Megan choked the word out through tears.

Daisy closed her eyes and leaned her head on Megan’s.

“The doctor said I should put him in a home. That I won’t be able to take care of him forever. That he’ll get worse and he might have days where he doesn’t know who I am.” Megan pulled free and looked at Daisy. “He’s always known me. Even when he gets confused and doesn’t know other people. He knows me.” She covered her face with her hands. “I can’t think about my daddy not knowing who I am.” A strangled cry escaped her lips and she dissolved into tears again. Daisy held her while she cried.

Wade said quietly to Chris, “Who’s with her daddy?”

“A couple from their church. They said they can stay a while. It was pretty obvious Megan was losing it, but she didn’t want that to happen in front of her father. Look, I know y’all were on a date but─”

Wade waved a hand in the air in the women’s direction. “That’s her best friend and she needs her.”

The worst of Megan’s tears subsided. Daisy whispered to her, then pulled away and approached the brothers. She nodded at Chris and took Wade’s hand. “Hey.”

“You need to go,” he said. “I know.”

“Rain check?”

“Damn right.” He kissed her cheek.

Daisy placed her hands on the sides of his face and pressed her lips to his. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” She let him go and turned to Chris. “Can you drive us to my place? We’re gonna talk there for a while, then I’ll get her home.”

Chris nodded. “Sure thing.” He made his way to the door.

Daisy brushed her hand against Wade’s and gave him a smile. He returned the smile and watched her walk out with Megan.

He stood there for nearly thirty seconds before the whiplash wore off. He picked up his keys and the dented takeout box from the floor and looked down at himself, seeing his shirt hanging open. Not the way he wanted the night to end, but it couldn’t have been helped. His heart ached for Megan and her father. The thought of either of his own parents not knowing him or his brothers, slowly losing themselves, their memories and personalities, made his gut clench.

He climbed the stairs wearily. His bedroom was heavy with the scent of flowers. All those candles he’d wanted to burn down tonight sat arrayed throughout the room. He sat on the bed long enough to pull his boots off, then went back downstairs. He picked up his notebook and his guitar and sat down on the couch.

There was no way he was getting to sleep any time soon. Might as well work on some songs.

***

“I
’m sorry I messed up your date,” Megan said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Daisy hung her black dress up and kicked her heels into the closet. She’d changed into shorts and a tank as soon as Megan had calmed down, which took a while. Every time the tears subsided, they’d start again in moments. They’d talked for over an hour about Mr. Hollister’s diagnosis. Megan still wasn’t entirely sure what all this meant for the long term. The doctor had been a bit vague. Daisy suspected that was because he knew they needed to get over the shock before being able to process details.

Megan wasn’t ready to do that. She refused to consider the possibility that she’d ever have to put her father in a facility. Daisy said nothing to that. Sooner or later, he would need full time care, and Megan had a job. She needed to work to help pay their bills, but her pay at the clothing store wasn’t enough to hire a nurse. Then there was the reality of her size relative to her father. Mr. Hollister was a tall, beefy man, like his sons. Megan, the only daughter, was petite and small-boned like her late mother and grandmother. Daisy had worried for a while now what would happen if Mr. Hollister fell and Megan couldn’t help him.

Plus there was the fact that Megan was a beautiful, lively twenty-six year old who should have been living her own life. Instead, she spent more and more hours of her life outside of her crappy job taking care of her father. That would only get worse.

Now was not the time to bring any of that up. Megan needed to come to terms with her father’s diagnosis and get to a point where she could ask the doctor detailed questions, and be able to process the answers. Right now, she needed to cry it out with her best friend. God knew Daisy had cried out a hell of a lot on Megan’s shoulders over the years.

Megan sat on the bed with her legs stretched out in front of her, one pillow behind her back and another clutched tight in her arms like a teddy bear. “I was pretty out of it when we got there. Did he have his shirt open, and should I regret that I can’t really remember what his chest looked like?”

Daisy laughed and shut the closet door. She bounced onto the bed and settled next to Megan. “We don’t have to talk about my date. But yes, his shirt was open. And yes, you should regret not getting a good look.”

“Aaw.” Megan laid her head on Daisy’s shoulder. “You were gonna get all slutty and I messed it up.”

“I’ll get another chance.” Her ardor may have cooled but thinking about Wade – his hand on her upper thigh, his bare chest sprinkled with soft hair, his lips and tongue and his kisses and words – ah, God, she had to stop. If she kept thinking about him, she’d be knocking on his door in the dead middle of night after taking Megan home.

Megan sat up. “Don’t you sound confident. Awesome.”

Daisy shrugged. “He likes me. I like him. It’s not complicated.”

Megan shifted to face Daisy, pulling her legs up to sit cross-legged. “So, it’s what? A summer fling?”

“Yeah.” Daisy shrugged. “I mean, I know what you’re thinking. I swore off men and dating and all of that. But I’ve been working my ass off and if I want to have a little fun, I see nothing wrong with that.”

“You’re right.” Megan peered at her oddly. “You’re absolutely right. But see, here’s the thing.”

“Oh, God, what? What? Don’t be my mother and ruin this for me.”

“I’m not your mother, I’m your best friend. So I have to be honest with you.”

“I know it’s just for the summer. He’ll be back on the road or back in Nashville or wherever. I’m okay with that. I don’t have any expectations.”

Megan pursed her lips and nodded. “You may not have any expectations but you do have a glow.”

That sounded ridiculous. “I have a what?”

“You get all glowy when you talk about him. There’s this look in your eyes I’ve never seen before.”

Daisy swung off the bed and stood. “There’s no look in my eyes. You want something to eat before I take you home?”

“Okay.” Megan gathered her hair and held out her hand. Daisy plucked a ponytail holder from the dresser and tossed it to her. Megan said, “We can do this your way. Just call me, okay?”

“You know I’ll call you. I always call you.”

“I mean if this thing with Wade gets to be too much. I don’t know if I’ll be able to be around much for a while. Daddy may need me to stay home more while he adjusts. He was pretty angry about the diagnosis.” She stopped and looked away. “I’m just saying, call me when you want to talk about Wade.”

“I’ll call you, but there’s nothing to talk about where Wade’s concerned. This is just a little summer fling, that’s all.” Daisy laughed. “Who knows, maybe he’ll write a song about me. Wouldn’t that be a great thing to remember the summer by?”

Megan gave her an odd pinched look. Daisy turned away and picked up her purse from the floor by the door. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

One way or another, they would not be talking about Wade during the drive.

D
aisy was sitting in her lawn chair enjoying a glass of iced tea, her library book about Johnny Cash, and the early afternoon sun when her mother arrived. She gritted her teeth. She’d managed to avoid Alice successfully for a while now. Too bad her good luck streak couldn’t have lasted longer.

Daisy made no move to go inside as Alice approached. Her mother could sit in a lawn chair too. “Hello, Momma.”

“We need to talk. It’s important.”

“It always is.” Daisy found her bookmark and tucked the book against her side.

Alice sat in the other lawn chair. “I know you don’t want me meddling.”

“But you’re gonna do it anyway.”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Maybe you don’t want to see it, but you sure will tell me how it’s all my fault after the fact.” At least her mother wasn’t going to torture her with small talk.

“I’ve heard about you and that country singer going on dates. Daisy, don’t do this to yourself.”

Daisy blew out her breath. This promised to be entertaining, at least. “Go on. Get it out of your system.”

“You think this is a joke but I’m serious. You’ve got to stop making a fool of yourself with that man. He’d never want someone like you.”

Daisy counted to ten before answering. “He doesn’t care that I’m a waitress. He’s a nice man. Not some shallow guy who only cares about image and all that crap.”

Alice shook her head. “You don’t even know, do you? I’m not talking about your job, honey.” Scorn twisted her features. “Though I’m sure a man like that’s dated his share of waitresses.”

“Momma, you need to stop before you say something you can’t take back.” Though God knew it wouldn’t be the first time for that.

“Do you know anything about him? About his music?”

“I know what I need to know. What’s his music got to do with anything?”

“You need to look him up, Daisy. That record that won him all those awards, that song,
Empty Rooms
. Have you listened to it?”

Unease prickled along Daisy’s spine. “No.”

“Him and his ex-wife lost a child. It was a miscarriage. That’s what the song is about.”

A heavy weight pressed down on Daisy’s midsection. She could feel her mother’s next words coming before Alice spoke.

“He lost a baby that he wanted. How’s he going to feel about the fact that you threw yours away?”

Something snapped inside Daisy, and broke so hard and so deep she knew there would never be any fixing it. She slammed her fists on the arm rests of the chair. “God damn it!”

Alice reared back. “Don’t you─”

“No, don’t you! Don’t you fucking dare! You’ve been doing this to me for eight years. I’m done. I won’t take this from you anymore.”

“I’m your mother. You owe me respect.”

Tears stung Daisy’s eyes. “I gave her the best chance at a good life that I could. I gave her to people who could give her a damn sight better life than the one you gave me.” The tears fell and she swiped them away angrily. “Your drinking and your men and your running around. One dump after another. Bills not getting paid. Charity meals from churches at the holidays. God damn it. I gave her up for adoption because I didn’t want her to be me and I didn’t want to be you.”

Alice stared, aghast. But silent. For once, she kept her mouth shut.