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“Here.” He plopped a chunk of cheese into the glasses and slid one very dirty martini in front of me. “It’ll put some hair on your chest.”
“Oh, good. That’ll go great with my wedding gown.”
“Which I bet you haven’t even purchased yet.”
I twisted my lips, confirming his suspicions, and lifted my glass to take a sip. “Here’s to passion without pain.”
He chuckled. “Cheers.”
The cold, briny concoction went down the hatch like a sword on fire. “Zoiks!” I wheezed and sputtered a cough. “That’s…something.”
“Keep going. A few more swallows and you’ll learn to like it.”
Where had I heard that before?
Remington was the kind of man who liked to sit in silence with a good cocktail. He once told me too much talking spoils the taste. I couldn’t see this martini tasting any worse, so I asked, “Where’s Marta?”
“She has the night off.”
“No Odette?”
“Not tonight.”
“How are you two do?—”
“Did you find me lingering around your living room fishing for advice? No, that was you. So let’s keep the focus where it belongs.”
“Jeeze. Touchy much?” I sipped my martini. My mouth puckered and my eyes instantly watered.
I planned to ask Myles about Odette the next time I saw him. It had been a while since she’d visited and I sure hoped she and Remington were doing okay. “For the record, I wasn’t fishing for advice?—”
“Yes, you were. You’re just not allowed to say it.”
I drew back and frowned. “Allowed?”
He gave me a pointed look. “Don’t get your feminist panties in a twist. You said yourself, Hale has trust issues. Let’s not pretend that he likes it when you confide in me.”
“That’s not why?—”
“Sure it is. He doesn’t want you to come to me with problems because he feels threatened.”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
It was a lot to unpack. I blew out a vodka-scented breath, convinced once again I was a tequila girl.
Remington was the closest thing I had to a father. Unlike his real children, I craved his input.
He told it like it was, even if his views weren’t always kind. I’d never met anyone who viewed the world with such singular and impersonal cynicism. He cut right to the heart of matters and that sort of directness worked for me.
But he was also incredibly self-serving and critical, especially where his children were concerned. I wasn’t exempt from his criticism, but I also didn’t take it as personally as his kids because I wasn’t starved for his approval.
When he betrayed Hale, he broke something that might never get mended. It would take a lot of therapy and time for Hale to reach a place where he no longer wanted to punish his father for what he’d done.
Hale accepted my relationship with Remington, but disapproved whenever I confided in him about personal business. It made sense that his father would assume that stemmed from Hale’s trust issues, but it had more to do with Hale’s need to protect me than anything else.
In his eyes, Remington was untrustworthy, and that made him dangerous to me along with everyone else. Hale knew I loved the crotchety old bastard and he didn’t want me to get hurt.
