It wasn’t that he was looking at this situation through sex goggles—although the sex was so freaking good that he knew he’d be sporting a hard on all day—he was finally looking at his life a little more seriously.
Asher’s arrival on his doorstep did that.
It was finally time for him to grow up and stop goofing around, time to start thinking about his future. He had a son to consider, and if he were brutally honest, it had been a long time since meaningless hookups and no-strings-attached relationships were fulfilling. To the rest of the town he might be a shameless flirt, but what most of them never knew was that most of the time, things never went beyond that. He hadn’t really dated anyone in months.
Since Jenn.
And it wasn’t because there were any lingering feelings there—because there weren’t. It was more because it was the first time a breakup didn’t go the way he wanted. They didn’t part as friends and it wasn’t smooth and it left him feeling uneasy.
More with himself than anything else.
What would have happened if he had found out sooner that she was pregnant?
He’d like to think that other than knowing about Asher’s arrival, not much else would have changed. He never would have asked Jenn to marry him, but he supposed it would have been nice to have a little more advance notice about becoming a father.
The bedroom door opened and Fallon walked in with the baby. She’d put her robe on to cover her sexy attire and all he could think was how that was a damn shame.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, sitting up.
“Just making sure you didn’t fall back to sleep,” she said with a knowing smile. “I know neither of us got much sleep last night.”
“And it was well worth it.” Kicking the blankets off, he walked over and kissed the top of his son’s head before giving Fallon a kiss that was borderline dirty, and he groaned. “You have no idea how much I want to say screw it and stay home all day. You and I could take advantage of Asher’s naptime.”
“As tempting as that sounds, you know it’s not the right thing to do. Not on short notice. Maybe see about arranging for a day off another day so we can plan something and play another day.”
He pouted. “But I want to play now.”
She playfully patted his cheek. “Aww…poor baby.” And with a sassy wink, she walked out of the room.
With no other choice because she was right, he turned and went to take a shower.
It was going to be a long day.
The lunch crowd was thinning out when Patrick walked in, looking about as tired as Jamie felt.
His brother never looked tired.
Ever.
Something must be up for him to be out in public looking less than put together, he thought.
“Rough night?” he asked with amusement when Patrick pulled up a stool at the bar.
“I need coffee and a bowl of chowder,” Patrick murmured before resting his head on the bar.
“Dude, what is going on with you? Are you sick? Because if you are, take your ass out to your car and I’ll bring the food out to you.”
Lifting his head, his brother glared at him. “I’m not sick. I never get sick. You know that.”
Sadly, it was true.
“Then what the hell is going on with you? You look like hell.”
“I was up all night.”
Me too, but I sure as hell look better than this, he thought to himself.
“And?
“And what? That’s it. End of story.”
“Most guys who say they were up all night tend to sound braggy, not bitchy,” he commented, pouring the mug of coffee and sliding it over. “I’m guessing maybe this story doesn’t have a happy ending?” And that just made him crack up. “Get it? Happy ending?”
Patrick took the mug and gave him a hard glare.
“O-kay…c’mon, Pat. Just spit it out because you know I’m gonna hound the shit out of you until you do.”
“It’s none of your damn business, Jamie. Just drop it.”
“No,” he countered, feeling more than a little annoyed. “You never drop anything when you want answers, so deal with it.” And, crossing his arms over his chest, he waited.
Taking a sip of his coffee, Patrick looked defiant. But it didn’t take long for him to open up.
“Marissa’s got a shitty family situation going on. Her mother’s an alcoholic, her father’s out of the picture, and I’m pretty sure her brother is abusive.”
“Holy crap…”
“Exactly. She showed up at the office last night after hours and I guess she didn’t think I’d still be there. We kind of surprised each other.” He shook his head. “It was obvious that she’d been crying and I think she was planning on crashing there.”
“She still lives at home?”
He nodded. “Yeah. She claims she does it because she worries about her mom; something about keeping her drinking under control and making sure her brother doesn’t come in and steal everything.” He muttered a curse under his breath. “I asked why she didn’t go to her boyfriend’s place if she needed a place to go and she just sort of waved that off without giving me a direct answer.”
“Pat, that’s messed up. What did you do?”
“I brought her back to my house and ordered us some takeout and tried to get her to let me help her. But…you know Marissa; she’s stubborn.”
Actually, Jamie didn’t know that about her. Any time he’d ever been around Patrick’s assistant, she’d been bubbly and cheerful and possibly one of the friendliest people he’d ever met. On top of that, she was crazy organized. On some levels, she reminded him a lot of Ryleigh, but even more efficient.
And that was saying a lot.
“So what happens now?”
Sitting up a little straighter, he stretched. “I stayed up all damn night trying to think of a solution—some damn way to either fix this problem or to get her the help she needs and I came up with nothing. I can easily help get her mom into rehab, but it doesn’t sound like she’s willing to go.”
“That’s not unusual, but maybe if the two of you sat down with her mom…”
Patrick shook his head. “Not gonna happen. Marissa made it abundantly clear that she doesn’t want me interfering or trying to talk to her family.”
“Damn.”
“I know.”
“So, again, what happens now?”
He shrugged. “My hands are tied. I’m not going to behind her back and talk to her mother. The brother, however…” He paused and took another sip of his coffee. “I’d pound that little shit into the pavement if I ever find out he laid a hand on Marissa. He’s nothing but a punk. I’ve only met him a handful of times and you can just tell he’s worthless.”
“You know, there are times we’ve all griped about one another or about Mom and Dad and then you hear something like this and realize just how lucky we are.”
Nodding, Patrick gave him a weak smile. “I totally agree. I’d much rather just think of you guys being mildly annoying than have to actually live in fear of you doing something that would hurt me.”
With a nod, Jamie took a moment to study his brother. “So, um…was it weird having Marissa stay the night?”