“Mason, you are a bona fide idiot.”
Chapter Two
Michelle
I scurried out to the car, simultaneously worried and elated. This was it. I had gotten the job.
We were actually going to eat tonight. Not one cup of soup to last the whole day. Real food.
“Paton, honey, guess what?”
My daughter sat up from the back seat where she was reading a book. She loved reading. And as soon as we could afford a place, the first thing we were doing was getting her a library card.
Her shiny, strawberry blond hair was mussed. I reached out to rumple it even more.
“You got it?”
“I got it!”
She squealed and bounced up and down on the seat. I noticed she was eating crackers from a diner we’d been to a few days ago. We’d gotten soup and stuffed the crackers in our pockets.
We were in survival mode.
I tried not to think about that. About what a bad mother I was. About how brave she was being.
How brave she had to be.
“I start right now, and guess what?”
“What?”
“They are going to feed us.”
Her eyes got huge as I slid in beside her, pulling off my jacket and slipping into the new shirt. It was black with a cute graphic that matched the neon sign out front.
“Now. I won’t get my break for a while. I haven’t read the menu yet but I’m thinking they have burgers for sure.”
She handed me back my jacket.
“No, you keep this. It’s cold out here. I wish…”
“Stop it, mom. It’s not your fault. I will be fine.”
“No matter how cold it gets, you got to keep the window open. Get out and do jumping jacks. No radio. Okay?”
She nodded. I swear, she was nine going on forty some days. My precious, strong, brilliant girl.
“Everything is going to be okay, isn’t it mom?”
I nodded, brushing her hair away from her face. Her nose was cold so I rubbed mine against it. She giggled and laid back in her cocoon of blankets, pulling my jacket over top of her.
“Maybe I’ll make enough for a room.”
“That would be amazing. I’m so proud of you mom.”
I tucked my purse on the floor, swiping on some lipgloss and shoving my phone and gloss into my jeans pocket.
“How do I look?”
“Like a fallen angel.”
I laughed, blinking back sudden tears.
We were going to get through this.
We had to.
Chapter Three
Mason
I stared out the one way mirror into the bar. The new girl was down there. And she was motoring.
I watched her working. I had been for hours, all the while getting slowly and progressively more shitfaced.
She was a hard worker, I’d give her that. She didn’t seem the type to flirt or court confrontation. She was evading all the men who looked at her.
And they were all looking at her.
Especially me.
She was the first woman who’d caught my attention in years. Not just years either. Almost a damn decade.
Fucking perfect.
She was beautiful. Not just a little bit beautiful, either. She was exceptionally beautiful.
Never mind the stunning figure that was sinfully wrapped in the t-shirt and jeans she wore. The apron showed off how trim her waist was. I rubbed my jaw, almost wishing she’d kept her ratty coat on.
The woman had curves that wouldn’t quit. But it was her face that had my mind spinning. Those huge golden green eyes of hers should be illegal. Her pillow lips looked like they were made for kissing, and other, more intimate activities. Her cute little upturned nose made her look slightly mischievous and her chin was just a little bit too determined.
But the way it all worked together… it was magical.
I stared at her, taking it all in. Her dark reddish hair was pulled back in a ponytail, giving me a perfect view of her profile as she bent over a table. She was utterly focused on what she was doing.
Jesus, the woman really looked like an angel!
I was in trouble. I knew it without a doubt. I hadn’t noticed a woman in so long I’d forgotten how it felt. And I wasn’t just noticing little Miss Michelle.
I was drooling. A wild animal clawing at the bars of his cage. A fucking beast who wanted to toss her over my shoulder and carry her back to my cave.
I forced myself away from the one way mirror. It was there to watch for trouble when I was upstairs but right now? I felt like a creep. Usually women threw themselves at me in droves, but this girl hadn’t so much as flirted with me. Not even when she was trying to land a job.
Meanwhile here I was, watching her work and having impure thoughts.
Very, very impure thoughts.
I paced around the office a few times and threw back another glass of bourbon. It was busy down there, and it was hours to closing.
I should go home and sleep it off, but I couldn’t leave without paying the girl. She’d looked hungry. Down on her luck. And I’d noticed that even while being completely distracted by my cock waking up after a ten year hibernation.