Page 18 of Protecting Love

Once his gun was off his ankle, it was put in his safe with his others and locked up.

He grabbed a change of clothes and walked into his bathroom in his underwear.

When he returned to the kitchen fifteen minutes later, there was beef on the counter.

“Burgers okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’ll get the fries out and put them in the air fryer. Can we put cheese sauce on them?”

“I guess, if I can find a recipe to make them and have everything.”

“I can do it,” Ian said. “I watched a video on it. I stopped and got what we need when I was coming home.”

“Then go right at it.”

He learned months ago his kid liked to cook.

It’d taken time for Ian to open up more and they were getting there.

He didn’t blame his son. The divorce was hard on everyone.

And Ian felt as if Fletcher had gone back on his word by not retiring when he said.

But paying for a divorce and supporting two households just was too much.

He needed something to ground him until things settled and he thought Ian understood.

Maybe not as much as he realized though.

While he formed the patties, he moved out of the way and let his son get out heavy cream and a block of cheese. God, he hoped his stomach could handle that.

It really bites to get old.

It reminded him of Paris commenting on a bellyful of chocolate and her stomach not appreciating it.

Not that she was old. Nope.

Thirty-one. Going to be thirty-two in a few months.

He knew those things about her, like she’d guessed. He wouldn’t lie about that fact.

What was the use? It was part of his job.

Part of looking into the twins’ careers when West was bringing them on.

Not that he thought West wouldn’t since the twins were first cousins. But he still made sure he got everything he could on them and how they operated.

That wasn’t cold. That was just business.

While Ian was busy whisking butter and flour in a pan, he grabbed another for the burgers, the two of them working side by side.

Normally he was good with the silence, but that wasn’t what his son needed.

“How is school?”

“It’s only the first week,” Ian said.

“I know. I asked how it was.”