One More Time (10 page)

I jumped and placed my hand over my heart as if he had frightened me. Then I put on an award winning show. “Oh! You scared me! Where did you come from?” I asked.

His eyes scanned over my face before answering, “The bedroom.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, shrugging.

He patted the top of Brutus’s head. “I’m heading back to Dragonfly for a bit. Don’t wait up on me.” He said this as if I had waited up on him every other night this week.
Big jerk.

Smiling brightly, I said, “I wouldn’t dream of it.” His eyes narrowed and I really wanted to stick out my tongue or give him the middle finger. Instead, I simply said, “Have a good night.”

With a silver eyed glare and a backward wave of his hand, he was gone and I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew. Shrugging it off, I finished making my dip and waited for Piper to call with directions.

Dillon

‡

I
sabella’s sugar sweet,
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Have a good night,” stuck in my craw like a festering mouth sore.
If I didn’t know better, I would think she was up to something.
I debated whether or not to go back inside and ask, but was already late for work.
Damn.

Tonight was supposed to be my night off. Right as I was about to jump in the shower, Polly called and told me her aunt was sick and she needed to cancel her shift. I was tired. Ever since Piper’s kidnapping, I hadn’t slept well and it was starting to catch up with me. All I wanted was a night in front of the television with a cold beer and a large pizza. A part of me wanted to hang out with Isabella, but another part of me wanted her gone. She had already taken up enough space in my life.
What if she is screwing with my head?
I wanted her. Who wouldn’t? She was, hands down, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
That doesn’t mean she’s not a liar and a manipulator.

“Fuck!” I shouted, slamming my hands on the steering wheel. I really did not want to go to work.

The past four days had been a complete shit show. We were short staffed at Dragonfly and then I not only learned Isabella wasn’t happily married, but also that I might be a father. In a matter of moments, my life had turned into a fucking mess.
I am handling it poorly
. I realized this even as I was doing it, but I just couldn’t figure out how else to handle it.
I’m not husband material and I sure as shit am not father material
. I watched my parents destroy each other.
Who the fuck needs that?
Not me and certainly not Isabella.
Still… every time I looked at that baby girl my fingers itched to touch her. With a head full of fuzzy black hair and big blue eyes, she is the spitting image of her mother.
Ibby
. Sexy-as-hell-Ibby, with her pink lips, raspy voice and lush body was killing me and it was turning out to be a slow, painfully erotic death. Take earlier tonight, for example. After my shower, I sat on the bed for a second to regroup before getting dressed and all I could smell was her flowery citrus scent everywhere. The next thing I knew I was parked in the middle of the bed jacking my cock as if my life depended on it.
Who the fuck does that?
At one point, I could swear I felt her standing outside the bedroom door. Instead of being embarrassed, as I should have been, I was so turned on I shot my load all over my chest and had to shower all over again.
Yep, seriously messed up shit.

As I pulled in to the parking lot at Dragonfly, it hit me that Amelia might be my child. The thought I could be a dad ripped my insides apart. I know nothing about how to be a father and, even if I did, would Isabella expect me to marry her?
Run the fuck away, Dillon.
Taking a deep breath, I swung myself out of the jeep and headed inside.

Three hours later as I was in the back finishing inventory, I heard Lena yell from the bar.

“D, Cas is on line one!”

“Got it!” I shouted and picked up the phone. “What’s up, my man? Did you get the information on those two townhomes for sale?”

“No, I’m calling to tell you your gorgeous friend from Charleston is here at MMG and Dana just walked in looking for you.” Cas responded.

“What?” I asked, wondering if I’d heard him right.

“You heard me, now what do you want me to do about it?”

“Is the baby with her?”

“Yep.”

Fuck!

“Don’t let Dana anywhere near them. I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone and snagged my keys off the desk. Dana was a problem I did not need right now.
A repeat problem.
“Lena!” I shouted, as I made my way toward the bar.

“Here, boss!” she called out.
Thank God tonight was a slow one
.

“Can you handle closing on your own?”

“I’ll be here with her,” some dude drinking at the bar said.

I gave her an, Are-you-okay-with-this, questioning look. She gave me a smile and a wink.

Good, one less thing to worry about.

I made it to the garage in record time. The whole way there questions pinged through my head. How did Isabella find out about MMG? What was she doing there? What would Dana do if she ran into Isabella before I got there? The whole Ellie incident had me on edge and I had learned Dana Harkins was not a nice person…especially when she felt threatened.

I could hear Johnny Cash singing
Folsom Prison Blues
as I pulled in. The volume was jacked up way too loud for a baby’s sensitive hearing. This irritated me. I made my way around back in search of Ibby. Right as I spotted her, Dana pounced.

“There’s my big man! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she purred. She reached for me but I pulled back before she could get her hands on me.

Rolling her eyes she let out a huff. “Don’t tell me you’re still mad?”

Her flippant attitude hit me wrong. “What are you doing here?” I coldly asked.

“I’m here for you, silly,” she snorted.

“I see that, but who invited you?”

She paused for a second, probably to think up some bullshit lie. Not in the mood, I answered for her. “No one invited you, Dana. Funny how that keeps happening…and yet, you keep showing up.”

Placing her hand on her hips, she poked out her fake tits and rolled her overly large bottom lip down into what I assumed was supposed to be a pout. Once again, I wondered what I ever saw in her. I couldn’t help but glance over at Isabella, who was laughing at something Cas was saying. She had on jeans that highlighted her ass in ways that brought to mind any number of inappropriate thoughts. You would never suspect she was a new mother. Amelia squawked from her car seat, which was stationed at Cas’ feet. I started to go get her but Cas beat me to it. When he leaned down and lifted her out, something twisted deep inside me.
What the fuck?
Without missing a beat, Cas rocked Amelia in his arms, as if he had done it a thousand times before. All the while, he smiled and carried on with Isabella. Suddenly I felt as if a seventy pound weight was sitting on my chest, making it hard for me to breathe.

“Dillon!” Dana snapped her fingers in my face. “Why do you keep staring at that woman with Cas? Who is she?” The tone of her voice caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up.

“You need to leave,” I told her.

Stepping back, she dramatically placed her hand over her chest. “You’re being so mean. Is it because of that woman?” She clicked her tongue and let out a huff of indignation. “Just look at those thighs. If that were me, I wouldn’t be caught dead in such tight jeans after squeezing out a kid.” She announced this right as the music stopped and was loud enough for everyone to hear. The hurt look on Ibby’s face gutted me, not to mention the glares from all of my friends.

“That’s it, you’re gone,” I said and, before she could say or do anything else, I grabbed her arm and marched her around the garage to the parking lot.

“I don’t want to leave!” she screeched, as we reached her car.

“Why would you say something like that?” I shouted. “You don’t even know her!”

“You were staring all goo-goo eyed at her!”

“So what? That gives you the right to insult her?” Before she could answer, I held up my hand. “You know what? I don’t care. The last time we talked, I politely told you we were done. I’m now thinking polite is above your level of intelligence, so I’m going to spell it out for you. I do not want to see you anymore. I do not want you showing up at my place of business, my house, or my friend’s houses. We are done, Dana. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“You don’t mean that,” she protested.

Not willing to waste any more time, I simply replied, “Go home.”

“B-b-but Dillon,” she whined.
Here come the waterworks.

Needing to cut this off, I shook my head and repeated, “Just go home.” Without another word, I left to go find Isabella.

As I rounded the corner, I thought I heard her yell, “We’ll see about that!”
Yeah, yeah, whatever,
I thought, as I made my way back to Cas and the girls.
My girls.
I was shaking the thought from my head when Piper, Ellie and Joss cut me off at the pass.

“You okay?” Piper asked, threading her arm through mine.

“Yep.” I answered. I glanced around for Ibby but couldn’t see her.

“You done with Dana once and for all?” she asked.

“Yep,” I answered, still searching.

“Cas took Isabella and Amelia inside,” Ellie said.

I was starting to rethink my friendship with Caswell Ashford. Piper squeezed my arm and I looked down at her. “Were you ever going to tell us?”

“Tell you what?” I distractedly asked.

“That your good friend Isabella and her daughter were in town visiting for the week.” She reared back and raked her eyes over me, as if something was wrong. “What’s up with you?”

Needing to check on Isabella and get her away from Cas, I stuck my hands under Piper’s elbows, lifted her off the ground and set her back down next to Ellie and Joss. With an “excuse me,” I bolted for the kitchen.

Isabella was standing in the doorway. Amelia was unhappily strapped in her bucket and letting everyone know what she thought about it. “She’s really cranky tonight. I think I should get her home,” Isabella said between wails.

Taking the car seat from her, I held out my hand. “Give me your keys. I’ll take you both home and come back for my jeep tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out or anything.”

“I can take you ladies home, if you like? This way Dillon can stay and…enjoy the rest of his night off.” Cas announced from the doorway. His eyes caught mine and he gave me a wink and a smile.
Fucker.

“Thanks. I’ve got it,” I started for the car with a screaming Amelia, while Isabella said her goodbyes.

Halfway to the car, she shouted for me to hold up. I stopped and waited for her to catch up. As soon as she reached us, she whipped out a pacifier and plugged it in Amelia’s screaming mouth. Like hitting an off switch, Amelia stopped crying and started making those sweet sucking noises, the exact same ones she makes when she is attached to Ibby’s breast. My dick twitched.
Don’t go there buddy.

Once we got Amelia situated, I started the car and headed for home. Two minutes in, the pacifier stopped working and Amelia started wailing. Being that the radio worked last time, I decided to give it another try. Lifehouse’s
Between the Raindrops
was the winning song this time. It worked like a charm.

“Drive fast but don’t break any laws,” Isabella commanded and I couldn’t help but laugh. Our eyes met and held as the music swirled around us. “Who was that…woman?” she quietly asked.

Deciding to play dumb, I stared at the road ahead. “What woman?” I made sure not to look back over at her or she would see I was fucking with her.

“The Elvira looking woman you were talking to when you first walked in tonight.”

Elvira looking woman?
It took everything in me not to laugh at this. Instead I calmly answered, “No one important.”

“You looked unhappy to see her. Were you?”

“Jealous?” I asked.

“Hardly,” she scoffed.

I countered with my own question. “How did you found out about tonight?”

She paused briefly before responding, “Ummm, Piper stopped by earlier today.”

Fucking Piper and her so-called cramps.
“Uh huh, and what exactly did Piper have to say?”

“That some guy named Max was having a party at a gas station.” Her dry tone made me laugh.

“She actually said it was at a gas station?”

“Well, no. She said a garage, but I thought they were the same thing.”

“And now?” I asked.

She laughed. “That was the nicest looking gas station I’ve ever been to. You are lucky to have so many good friends. Piper is great. They all are.” She said the last part so softly, I had to strain to hear her over the music. Yet, I couldn’t turn it down or Amelia would freak. I glanced over and Isabella was staring out the window.

She looked so lost. Wanting to give her something, I decided to answer her question from the other night. “I went back to Charleston because I wanted more.” The second it was out, I wanted to take it back.
What the hell am I doing?