Luna rushed toward him with her arms wide open like she was a bird about to take flight. Just before she tackled his legs, he bent down and she launched herself into his arms.
“Hi, Luna Luna. What are you doing here?” His question was directed at my daughter, but his eyes were trained on me.
“We’re gonna get a job!” she enthused.
“You are, huh?” Hank’s lips were curved up in a half-smile that had my heart and hormones doing backflips.
“I saw the sign outside, I didn’t know…I had no idea that you were…that you’d be…” I looked away from him because I was scared that I might spontaneously combust from the heat that his hotness was radiating.
When I looked over at Billy, I saw his eyes were bouncing between Hank and me, as he wore an amused smirk. “So you three know each other?”
“Mr. Hank lives with us,” Luna chirped.
“Next door,” I quickly clarified. “We just moved into my grandfather’s house. Bernard Thompson.”
“Bernie’s your granddaddy?” Billy appeared amused at that discovery.
“He is,” I confirmed.
“Really?” Billy’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know he had people.”
“I, um, actually never met him.” I wasn’t sure why I was embarrassed about that fact. It wasn’t my fault that my father wanted nothing to do with his family. I’d begged my parents to meet my grandparents, just like I’d begged them to have Ashley. I suppose if I was going to have one of my wishes granted, I was glad I got Ashley.
“Wow! Old man Thompson’s place, huh? How’s it lookin’? No one’s lived there for, well damn, how long?” Billy asked Hank.
“About five years,” Hank replied as he set Luna back down on the ground.
It didn’t escape my attention that even when Luna was on the floor she stayed glued to his side. She was forming quite an attachment to Mr. Hank. Normally, I was wary of strangers. But for some reason, one that I couldn’t explain, I wasn’t with Hank. I trusted him. Something that didn’t normally come easy for me.
And that scared me even more than my over the top hormonal explosion when I’d seen him last night which had scared me more than coming home to find my furniture cut into pieces and my TV broken.
“Well, if I can just get that application or…”
“Are you in a rush?” Billy asked as he reached behind the counter and pulled out a slip of paper.
“Um…no, I was just, we were just going to the grocery store.”
“And the trolley,” Luna piped in.
“Right, and the trolley.” I pointed at my daughter.
“Well, if you have the time, I could interview you now,” Billy suggested.
“Oh, um…” I looked down at what I was wearing. Faded blue jeans with holes in the knee and a tank-top weren’t exactly the professional image I wanted to present, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity for gainful employment.
“Do you want to help me fix a pigpen, Luna?” Hank asked.
“A pigpen?” Luna’s eyes lit up.
“Yep, Kevin Bacon’s pen needs fixin’. If it’s alright with your mama, I could use an assistant.”
I had a million questions swirling in my head.
Why there was a pigpen at a bar?
How was Hank connected to this place?
How was it possible that he looked even sexier today than he had last night?