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I side-eyed my brother, wishing he would’ve picked any other topic.
“Oh?” Gramps asked. “The kids in town love that one. She’s a sweetheart. Little young for you, but women can’t get enough of us older men. I still have to beat them off the porch with a broom sometimes.”
“Didn’t expect to come here and listen to grandpa talk about the young people he beats off,” Zack mused.
I smirked and Gramps let out a hacking cough.
Silence followed our amusement, and I could feel Gramps’ focus lasering in on me. He stared harder, his clear blue eyes twinkling with an annoyingly perceptive glint. “Ahh,” he said.
I shook my head. Denying whatever they were trying to imply would only make matters worse, so I was forced to stand there and let them carry on.
“If you ask me,” Zack said. “This old man here had better hurry up and get back on the horse before his ancient bones won’t let him anymore.”
“Are we really having this conversation?” I asked.
But Gramps nodded to Zack. “How long has it been, anyway? Does he date out there in D.C.?”
“I do,” I said. At least I’d gone on two dates since the divorce, even if they hadn’t led anywhere. But it wasn’t technically a lie.
Zack laughed. “That’s not what Billy says.”
“Billy is nine.”
“And he’s a great informant. You have no secrets from me. I even know you still sing in the shower.”
I felt a sudden need to swallow. “I didn’t come here to talk about my love life.”
“Yeah,” Zack laughed. “Because it’s nonexistent. There’s nothing to talk about.”
With effort, I went to Gramps and gave his hand a squeeze. “I’ve got to get back. It was good to see you. I’ll try to come out as much as I can.”
He waved me off. “Don’t bother yourself. A phone call is just fine. I know you hate these places.” He gestured to the room. “Can’t say I blame you. Course this is nothing compared to what you went through, but I’m already set to burn this whole place down.”
The nurse was fiddling with his machines and gave him an unappreciative look.
“You get back home. And for what it’s worth, I think Harper Halladay is exactly the kind of woman you need in your life. She’d bring a little sunshine to that gloomy life of yours.”
“She’s twenty-three,” I said plainly. “And my kids bring me plenty of sunshine.”
“A man needs more than just his children. He needs a partner.”
“And when I decide to find one, I’m not going to start looking in the kiddie pool.”
That got a laugh from Gramps and Zack. I smiled a little, too. I was obviously exaggerating. She wasn’t that young. She was just too young for me, was all.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway,” I said, bending to give him a one-armed hug. “I’m going to get out of here. It was good to see you.”
“I see that look on your face, Greyson,” Gramps said.
“What look?”
“You’ve got one foot out the door like you always do. But I don’t see why you fight it so hard. Fairhope isn’t a bad place to end up. It can be a great place.”
“For some people, maybe,” I said. I left the hospital room before he could say more. Part of it was because I never spent a minute longer in a hospital than I had to. The other part was that I didn’t like thinking about what Gramps had said. I’d built a life for myself in D.C. I had my work. I had my kids. And I had… Well, I had my work and kids. What else did I need?
8
HARPER
My dreams were haunted by a tall male form. Okay, haunted might’ve been the wrong word. That tall, muscular man in my dreams had a way with his hands. And his mouth. He’d let himself in through my window–gravity wasn’t a concern for him, and he didn’t care that I was on the third floor. A night of delicious, toe-curling pleasure followed. It had been one of the most vivid dirty dreams I’d ever had.
I woke up with sweat plastering my hair to my forehead and unable to catch my breath.
When I tried to remember the face I’d gazed so passionately into, it started to slip away. I tried harder to focus on the memory of my dream and my attention only seemed to make it retreat further into my subconscious.
I sighed and got out of bed to get myself ready. I had a huge day ahead of me and didn’t need to let myself get distracted by a stupid dream.
But it was hopeless. I got through my shower and went to my bed still wrapped in just a towel with my hair wet. I bit my lip, then opened the fun drawer on my nightstand and pulled out my old faithful dildo. I had a philosophy about horniness. Nobody made good choices when they were horny. Occasional masturbation was a civic duty, especially in times of high libido.
