“As much as I would like to, I have to go. Can I borrow a pen and paper so I can leave Tawny a note?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure,” she said and left to get what I needed.
I wrote a quick note and gave Tawny my number in case she wanted to get hold of me.
“She said I wouldn’t get anywhere with you. You really are a good guy,” Lyric said.
I gave her my sexiest smile.
“I can be bad, too. Take care,” I said and left.
I took the stairs down to Hayden’s apartment. On a hunch, I tried the door, and it was unlocked. I would bet that if I lived in LA, that would never happen. I found Tim and Wolf sleeping on couches.
“Get up!” I barked.
“Shut the frick up,” Tim complained.
“Where are Manaia and Cassidy?” I asked.
“Cassidy is in Hayden’s room, and Manaia’s in the other bedroom. I can’t believe the three of you got lucky, and we struck out,” Wolf complained.
“We just talked,” I said.
“My head hurts too much for your bullshit,” Tim said. “There’s no way you would have been able to keep your hands off her. She was smoking hot, even by your standards.”
“That she was, but she made it clear she didn’t sleep with anyone she met at the club.”
They dismissed me.
“Go get your security and take us to breakfast,” Wolf said.
That sounded like a good plan.
I walked over and opened the door to Hayden’s bedroom.
“David!” Cassidy yelped.
“If you want privacy, you have to give me the same consideration,” I said and smiled at Hayden.
“Dude. Not cool,” he complained.
“I’m buying breakfast. If you want some, you have five minutes,” I warned.
When I got to Manaia’s room, his door opened.
“I’ll go get the car,” he said as he blocked my view into the bedroom and softly closed the door.
“You don’t want to invite her?” I whispered.
He gave a little shake of his head to tell me ‘no.’ It was hard to believe that when we first met, I couldn’t stand him. With Manaia as my security and Lexi as my PA, I had the dream team working for me.
◊◊◊
“Did Mercedes work her magic and talk you into coming to OU?” Hayden asked.
“David claims he wasn’t able to close the deal last night,” Tim shared.
There was a flicker of what looked like relief on Hayden’s face. Cassidy caught it and didn’t look happy. I can’t imagine why she would care since I assumed she’d just hooked up with him.
“Would I tell you if I did?” I asked Tim pointedly.
“No, probably not,” Tim admitted.
“It’s hard for me to believe that all you two did last night was talk,” Wolf said. “If it were me, I would have been trying every move I have to get with her. I mean … damn, man. I’ll be jerking off to the memory of her dance last night for years to come.”
After he blurted the last part out, he seemed to suddenly realize he’d said that out loud. That brought a chuckle to the table.
“She did invite me for a sleepover,” I said, and got a faraway look.
I’d learned that one in Acting 101.
“Dick! You
“You slept with her?” Hayden asked, sounding distressed.
“Settle down, everyone. Emphasis on ‘slept.’ It was like two in the morning, and we just crashed. No big deal,” I said.
“She let you into her bed?” Hayden asked for clarification.
“Yeah, she did, because she trusted me to be a gentleman.”
“Huh,” Hayden said as he contemplated what I’d said.
“Like I’m sure you and Cassidy just slept together,” I said.
Hayden suddenly realized that she was sitting next to him and at least had the decency to blush. From the look he got, I was sure the bloom was off that relationship.
◊◊◊
After breakfast, we collected our dads and flew back.
As soon as I got through the door, I was informed that I was watching all the little ones for the afternoon.
Duke and I had them pretty much corralled in the living room when there was a ring at the front gate. I checked the video, and it was Mitch, Little David’s father. I buzzed him in and met him at the front door.
“David.”
“Mitch.”
We stared at each other. Finally, Mitch decided to tell me why he was here.
“I want to see my son.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Come on, man, don’t be like that. I have a right to see him.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t. My question is why you are here. To my knowledge, you’ve never set eyes on your son. Why the sudden interest?” I asked.
“Just let me see him.”
“Does Peggy know you’re here?” I asked.
“What does that have to do with anything? He’s my son. I can see him whenever I want to. Now let me see my son.”
Judge Mom would have disqualified his argument because he kept repeating himself.
“Are you only here to cause trouble, or is it something else?” I asked and then had a thought. “Do you need money?”
“If you’re offering.”
I thought about throat-punching him, but realized my first reaction was probably wrong. Then why was it my next three options? I sighed.
“Wait here,” I said as I closed the door in his face and locked it.
We kept cash in the office that our housekeeper/cook had access to for household expenses. It had a couple hundred bucks in it, so I grabbed that. I opened the door and handed him the money.
“Thanks.”
“Mitch?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t make this a thing.”
