Page 3 of Alec’s Dream

I peeked over my shoulder and I was right. There was Alec with his daughter Jocelyn perched on his hip. Good night, the man was sexy as hell holding his baby girl. I, of course, had the pleasure of seeing this on many occasions considering I worked at the daycare center where Alec dropped Jocelyn off every day.

“Macy,” Alec greeted.

“Hey, Alec,” I returned then looked to Jocelyn. “Hi baby girl, fancy seeing you here.”

Of course, Jocelyn had no idea what I was saying being as she was only nine months old. But she still lifted her cute, chubby baby arms in my direction and wiggled her baby body trying to throw herself at me.

“Daddy’s got you, silly,” I cooed. Then belatedly remembered we were in line and there were approximately fifteen people waiting to order. “We better get out of the way, Rory, so Mr. Hall can order.”

I started to gently push my daughter to get her moving toward her brother when she looked up at me and asked, “Do you know him?”

“Yeah, honey, but let's move. People are waiting.”

“Can I hold your baby?” Rory asked instead of moving.

“Not now, Aurora. Let’s move out of the way.”

Finally, my daughter did as I asked and glanced back at Alec to say goodbye, but he was staring at Aurora before his eyes came back to mine.

“It’s uncanny, she looks just like you,” Alec said and something flashed in his eyes. Something I didn’t understand because it looked a lot like anguish.

“I get that a lot. Have a nice night, Alec, see you in the morning.”

Thankfully Rory was silent until we made it to Caleb who was standing against the back corner.

“Who was that?” Caleb asked.

“A dad from work.”

Caleb nodded his boy/preteen head like my answer was acceptable but nothing else would’ve been and I sighed.

And for the millionth time, I wondered where my little boy had gone.

2

“Yo! You leaving to get Jocelyn?” Nixon asked as Alec passed by his office.

“Yep.”

Nixon Swagger had been Alec’s teammate, then his friend, and now his boss. Nix, Holden, Chasin, and Jameson had been smart—as soon as they’d left the Navy, they’d formed Gemini Group. Alec had chosen the path to easy money and accepted an offer with Homeland Security. Something he’d regretted three months into his tenure but had stayed as long as he could.

However, after his last case, Alec had had enough. He could no longer turn a blind eye to the bullshit. He’d never been a man who liked to play inside the lines but he was also a man with morality so there was only so far he’d push the boundaries. Alec wasn’t surprised his resignation was met with swift approval and his boss was all too happy to shove him out the door—corrupt bastard.

Thankfully, Nixon had been offering Alec a position in the company since the day it’d been formed. Accepting the job also meant moving from D.C. to the sleepy rural area. Something he was even happier about now that he had Jocelyn.

“McKenna needs your expense reports,” Nix reminded Alec.

“Shit. I’ll do them tonight after I get Jocelyn down.”

Nixon’s mouth bowed up into a smile and Alec’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s funny?” Alec asked.

“Nothing, brother.”

“Your shit-eating grin says otherwise.”

“I can assure you if I was eating shit I wouldn’t be smiling,” Nix returned.