Page 5 of Quid Pro Beau

“Okay, now that all of that is settled, can we get to the business we need to cover?” Liam asks.

But my mind is too busy thinking of Daisy and how I can’t fucking touch her.

chapter three

Beau

It’s been three days.

I’m not normally one to mark time like this, but the truth is, the day I met Daisy feels monumental in some capacity. So my brain has been keeping track. Three days since I met her. Three days since her brother—one of my best friends—told me she was off-limits.

Of course she’s off-limits. For so many reasons. Her being Flynn’s sister is just one of them. How about the fact that she’s pregnant. I don’t have anything against babies or single mothers. But I am not dad material. So there’s no reason for me to even pretend otherwise. Even without her impending motherhood, Daisy is a wife-her-up kind of woman.

I don’t have those skills either.

When you’ve never been a part of a functional family, you can’t ever cross that line. I’ve never seen a husband and wife in action. Okay, not like that kind of action. I just mean, I don’t know how to be a husband. Watching my buddies Dane and Jack do it just doesn’t count. They found their other halves.

Pretty sure men like me don’t get those. Hell, as scarred as I am on the outside and as fucked up as I am on the inside, I’m pretty sure I don’t have enough of me left to make up half of a couple.

So yeah, Daisy is a no-fly zone. A suicide mission you don’t expect to come home from. Even knowing all that, I’m drawn to her in ways even I don’t understand.

I tell myself I’m just being a good friend to Flynn. Checking in to make sure his sister is okay in this brand new town.

But that’s all a lie.

Yesterday I managed to just drive by the row of small cabins. Twice. Before I made my way back home.

Today I’ve parked my truck down the street and snapped on Mouse’s leash.

What are you doing, Stevens?

I don’t know. I only know that I can’t stop myself from doing it.

I’ve barely made it half of a mile from my truck when my phone rings.

I tap my earbud to answer.

“What are you doing, asshole?”

“Good morning to you to, Romeo. Why am I an asshole?”

“Where are you?”

That question gives me pause.

“Are you reconning me?” I ask.

Romeo chuckles. “Nope. I can see you just from looking out my front window, which is what I was doing.”

“Who were you looking for?”

“Irrelevant. The point is, what the hell are you doing over here on this side of town?”

“Saddle Creek is a small town, Romeo. It’s hardly fair to say it has sides.”

Silence comes from the other end of the phone.

I sigh. “I’m walking Mouse.”