“You did say that,” Rae said from her spot on Domi’s bed, amusement in her voice. Domi shot her a dark look.
“Are you going to pick out something similar for Aunt Rae?” Domi asked in an innocent tone, even though Rae hadn’t offered to let Ana pick. If Ana said yes, it wasn’t like Rae would be able to tell her no. It was Ana’s birthday, which was why Domi already knew she was going to end up wearing the purple dress.
“Aunt Rae looks fancy all the time. You never do.”
Ouch. That hit her where it hurt. Going by the way Rae’s eyes widened, her lips forming an ‘o’ even if she didn’t make the noise, she felt the same way. The brutal honesty of children could be unintentionally vicious.
On the other hand, Ana wasn’t wrong. Rae didn’t dress extra fancy for work, but she did have to wear business or business casual, which included dresses. Since Domi worked from home, she tended to go from her pajama pants to her yoga pants. She tried to remember the last time she’d dressed up—that wasn’t for Stronghold. Or her third date with Mitch since Ana hadn’t seen her then. Thankfully that dress was tucked away in a box at the top of her closet with her other super sexy clothes and fetwear—where her daughter couldn’t find it.
Damn. It had been a long time.
“Alright, birthday girl, you win.” Domi reached over Ana’s head to pick up the hanger. The little girl clapped her hands in excitement. She’d been clapping a lot lately, thrilled to no longer be hindered by the cast.
“Yay! Now you can look nice and get a boyfriend.”
“Excuse me?” Domi froze, blinking in shock at her daughter.
“Mama Julia says that’s how you get one.”
Domi’s jaw dropped open. She had absolutely no idea what to say to that. From the bed, Rae cackled madly.
Mitch
Making small talk with his dad was always awkward, even when they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. It was funny because his dad ran a bar and actually excelled at conversation with the strangers who came through there, but with his own son or his ex-wife…
“You look good,” Mitch said, giving him a hug, which his dad returned. Hugging was good, taking up time that didn’t feel like an awkward silence.
“So do ye, lad.” His dad thumped his back before releasing him. Stepping back, his dad looked Mitch over, grinning. “Chip off the ol’ block.”
Mitch snorted, but he couldn’t deny he could do worse than look like his old man. While he didn’t want to emulate his dad in other ways, his dad was what the women at Stronghold called a ‘silver fox.’ Only an inch shorter than Mitch, he was still in extremely good shape, and his mostly grey hair made him look more distinguished than when it had been dark brown. His blue eyes twinkled with good cheer ninety percent of the time. The silver beard was new since the last time Mitch had seen him, but it looked good.
Wearing jeans and a blue button-down that matched his eyes, it was no surprise when more than one woman gave him a second glance as they walked past, even those closer to Mitch’s age.
“Hope you’re hungry,” Mitch said, gesturing for his dad to precede him down the sidewalk. “Because I’m starving.”
“Enjoy the carbs while you can. Eventually you’ll need to slow down,” his dad said, patting his stomach as they walked to the front door of Pasta Plus. There really wasn’t much more to say as they entered the restaurant and were seated before busying themselves with their menus. Mitch delayed asking any questions until after they’d ordered and had the feeling his dad was doing the same. They needed to hold on to whatever conversation they could to get them through a whole meal together.
“So.” Mitch cleared his throat once their server walked away with their menus. “What brings you to D.C.?” Hopefully, some kind of project that would be long and involved.
“Oh, ye know, business.” His dad rubbed the underside of his beard, a sure sign he was being cagey.
“What kind of business?” Mitch didn’t really care that much. His dad had never really wanted Mitch around the Outlands, the bar and club he owned, as if he thought Mitch would either make trouble or would fall prey to bad influences if he were there too much. He’d even refused to hire Mitch as a server or bartender, even after Mitch turned twenty-one. At one point, Mitch had had a vague idea of them working there together until his dad eventually retired and turned the bar over to Mitch, but since he’d never been allowed to work there, that idea never turned into anything more.
“I’m meeting with another club owner down here. Later this evening, in fact, so I can take a tour of his place. We’re going to talk business. Trade some tips. You wouldna be interested. What’s new with you?” His dad shrugged, picking up his glass of water and taking a drink. The lilt of his Scottish brogue had seemed slightly more intense than usual, which was one of the few reliable indicators of his dad’s emotions.
Mitch narrowed his eyes. For some reason, the fact his dad didn’t want to talk about it just made him even more curious and determined to find out. He was an adult now, and his dad couldn’t keep him out of Outlands business forever. Unless he was planning on selling it?
“Are you planning on selling the Outlands?” He had trouble imagining that.
His dad blinked in shock, putting the glass down with a thud.
“Hell, no!” He shook his head. “I… No, it’s just to talk about a business venture and find out some more about a new space they opened. I’ve been thinking about expanding, and I want to know how it’s going for them.”
That made a lot more sense.
“What club down here?” Mitch asked. “Maybe I’ve been to it.”
His dad chuckled. “I doubt it.”
Rolling his eyes, Mitch sat back in his chair.
“I do go out, you know. What club?”
“It’s called Stronghold.”
Time skidded to a stop—except it didn’t. It was Mitch’s brain that stopped. Froze. Time, the rest of the world, it all kept moving. Their server appeared at their table with the crusty bread he loved so much and the beers they’d ordered.
“Here you go,” she said cheerfully while Mitch and his dad stared at each other across the table, his dad’s expression slowly changing as he realized Mitch knew exactly what Stronghold was.
“Stronghold? And Marquis?” Mitch’s voice sounded odd. Strangled.
Did his dad look paler? He nodded. “Aye. I ah… I take it you know of them?”
“I’m a member.” His brain felt as if it was exploding. Suddenly, his dad’s reluctance to have him anywhere near the Outlands took on a whole new meaning. “Does this mean… you and Mom?” Of course, his mom was part of it. His parents had owned the Outlands for years before Mitch was born. They’d gone out every weekend on dates before things started to break apart. Sometimes, even after things had started to break apart.
Back then, Mitch hadn’t understood why they kept going out together when they did nothing but argue at home. Now… fuck. He’d had more than one thought lately about how hard it would be to go back to vanilla sex. Not that he wanted to think about his parents getting their needs met, especially kinky needs, but… fuck. It all made sense—too much sense.