Page 72 of The One for Forever

“We’re having sex,” Quinn blurts out. “Get it now?”

My son goes from confusion to shock to rage in a moment. “Thefuck?”

I grip his shoulder and march him toward the patio doors. “Let’s discuss this outside.” If Cliff needs to vent, I don’t want Quinn to hear it.

She starts to follow. “I’m coming too.”

“No, you’re not,” I say firmly. “We’ll be back.”

I slide open the patio door, push my son through, and close it behind me. It’s a gorgeous morning. Or midday, really. The sun is high. Bright enough I have to squint.

Cliff is glaring at me with disgust. “Please tell me she was kidding.”

“No. It’s true.”

He explodes. “You hadsex with Quinn? What the fuck, Dad? What fucking universe is this?”

I flinch, resting my hands on my hips. I figured this could be bad, but no. It’s worse.

Cliff is digging his fingers into his hair, pacing the patio. “I don’t get this. Why? What possessed you? She’s young enough to be your daughter!”

I’m ready to accept his ire, but he’s going a little far. “She’s twenty-eight. We’re both adults. We have feelings for each other.”

“Sincewhen? How long has this been going on?”

“Not long at all. I’ve had romantic feelings for Quinn for close to a month, I guess. We got together only recently.”

“So it’s about you being her bodyguard? You thought that’s what I meant when I asked you to look out for her? Or was it just convenient?”

Ouch. I suppose I deserved that. But Quinn doesn’t. “This is serious for us. Protecting her brought us closer, made me see what I’d been too dense to realize before. That I care for her very deeply. Quinn means so much to me.”

He scoffs. “Only you could make sleeping with your client sound heroic.”

“What does that mean?”

Cliff shakes his head. “Forget it. So you’re her boyfriend now? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? What do you have to offer her? She wants to have a family. You’re suddenly going to start over? Try to get it right the second time around?”

It’s nothing I haven’t thought before myself. But hearing Cliff say it is pretty brutal. “All of that is between Quinn and me. I understand that you’re angry, and you have a right to be. I should have warned you. But you’re reacting emotionally and?—“

“Of course you would say that. I’m the fuck-up, and you’re the stoic warrior. The chivalrous hero. Even now, after what you’ve done,I’mthe problem.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Do you know how obnoxious it is to have Rex Easton as my father? I’m constantly compared to you, and I always come up lacking.”

“What are you talking about?” I have no idea where this is coming from. “I don’t see you that way.”

“Never mind. It’s nothing.” He starts to walk toward the beach.

I follow him onto the sand. “Cliff, if you need to say something to me, do it. I want to know what you meant. Please. I want to understand.”

He whirls around. Cliff’s jaw clenches a few times.

And then, the floodgates open.

“Do you have any idea what it was like when I was a kid? You were deployed somewhere on the other side of the world, and I was supposed to get on the phone with you and act like everything was fine. Like Mom and I were doing great without you. You expected me to be as strong and perfect as you were, and I was constantly failing. It sucked when you were gone. Okay? I know how selfish that sounds, but I hated it.”

“Son, that’s okay. I didn’t expect perfection of you. You were a little kid.”

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