Junkyard Dog(40)

“Well, all right then. This was a good talk.”

“Don’t pout just because I don’t see why you’d want an heir. You don’t like kids, and yours won’t live up to your expectations.”

“I worked hard to make my money,” I say, wanting someone to agree with me since I’m always right. “I want to leave my businesses to someone.”

“Like I said, your kid won’t live up to your expectations. You’ll want it to be like you, but no one is like you. “

I think back to my childhood and suspect Balthazar’s correct about me being outside the norm. At ten, I started a lemonade stand with a neighbor girl. We made okay money, but I decided our profits were taking a hit from the competition down the street. My solution was to threaten the other kids into shutting down their stand. Once they folded, my business doubled its profits.

I’d never considered that kind of thing was weird. My business partner did eventually quit, saying I wasn’t any fun.

Even if I was strange and my kid turned out normal, I didn’t see an alternative to having an heir.

“I’d rather burn my businesses to the ground than have the government take my shit when I die.”

“Then burn them. Of course, you probably won’t know when you’re going to die. Few people do.”

Irritated by his rational yet annoying responses, I walk to the door. “Have a good night. I’ll come by in a few days.”

“Good to see you.”

Balthazar is already focused on the TV before I open the door. He has no time for me anymore. He was a decent father when I was growing up. Even when I got taller than him and looked like another man, Balthazar Hayes did right by me. More likely he was doing right by the woman he loved. Once Mom died, he stopped pretending as much. He once told me “an old man doesn’t have time for lies.”

Balthazar isn’t wrong about why I came. I did want him to pat my ass and say life was about easy choices. I could have Candy and deal with her kids and still be me. I might even have a kid of my own and leave my empire to someone I trusted. I could have everything I wanted without any downsides.

Yeah, talk about an unearned ass pat.





TWENTY SIX - CANDY


I can’t stop thinking of Hayes. Why did we have to f*ck on a Friday, so I’m forced to go an entire weekend without seeing him? The tenderness between my legs is a welcome reminder during those two days. I also notice big purple hickeys on my breasts. Hayes left his mark on me, but my desire to see him is about more than f*cking.

I miss him and wonder what he’s doing. I saw him at his most vulnerable, and now I don’t want to look away.

I take the kids to the movies on Saturday. The entire time out, I keep hoping to run into Hayes. Or even just see him on the road. A single glimpse will sate my desperate need for him.

By Monday morning, I’m chewing on my nails in anticipation. Cricket notices me tapping my foot while we wait for our turn to drop off at school. She shakes her head.

“We’re not that bad.”

“It’s not you. I have to pee.”

Chipper frowns at me. “Girls are weird.”

“They really are,” Cricket replies.

They laugh at their comments until it’s time to climb out of the car. I watch them walk inside and then haul ass to the office. When I see Hayes’s truck in the parking lot, I cry for joy.

I hurry across the parking lot. After slipping on the gravel and nearly falling on my ass, I get to the front door and find the front office empty. Hayes is in the back, reading something on his laptop.

“Good morning,” I say with too much enthusiasm.

Hayes narrows his eyes. “Hello.”

I wait for him to show some sign that he missed me over the weekend. Hayes frowns and then returns to reading. I don’t storm out of his office. My retreat is more like moping.

We’re pathetic. Both him and me. Him for being an insensitive dickhead even if I already knew he was an insensitive dickhead and shouldn’t be shocked when he behaves like an insensitive dickhead. Me for, well, expecting him to be anything more than an insensitive dickhead. Ugh, what in the hell is my problem that I raced into the office as if he’d be waiting with open arms?

Sulking at my desk with a fresh cup of coffee, I give myself a pep talk. I have two great kids. I live in a nice house in a nice town and have a nice job with an insensitive dickhead for a boss who also happens to be super hot and lenient about my need to surf the internet for hours a day. Yes, I’m living the f*cking dream, and there’s no reason to be upset about anything ever. Cheer up, Candy!

By the time Hayes appears from his office, I’m wearing a fake, happy smile and thinking fake, happy thoughts.

“Hello, boss.”

“Hello, employee,” Hayes says, leaning against the wall near my desk. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. How are you?”

“My dick was tender over the weekend. I think you might have bounced too hard on it.”

“I regret nothing.”

Hayes smiles in an amazing way that ruins any progress I made with my internal pep talk.

“Are you hungry?” he asks.

“Not really. I had something to eat with the kids.”

“Wrong answer. Let’s go.”

I stand up too quickly and nearly knock into him. Realizing he planned to plant a kiss on me before our near collision, I grab his shirt and tug him back toward me.