Page 58 of Denim & Diamonds

I’d made it over the biggest hurdle—making the call—yet I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to come, to ask him to doanythingfor me.

Long seconds ticked by in silence, and eventually it was my dad who spoke.

“What time should I be there?”

***

“Hey.” I held the old phone up for a better angle and smiled at Brock’s naked chest. “Boy, I called at the right time. Are you naked?”

He chuckled. “Just came upstairs for a minute to change my shirt. Tossed out a drunk who was starting trouble, and the jackass spilled his beer all over me.”

“How about you set the phone down on the counter so I can get the full view from a distance?”

“You can have the full view, live and in person, anytime you want it, sweetheart. Just say the word, and my clothes will come off.”

“Is that a promise?”

“One you can take to the bank, Red.” He finished putting on a T-shirt and brought the phone closer to his face.

The abs had been nice, but this view wasn’t so bad either. “Sorry I couldn’t sneak out tonight to visityou. The maintenance guy was sick today.” I yawned. “Excuse me. That came out of nowhere.”

“Tired?”

“I think it’s more mental exhaustion than anything physical.”

“Oh yeah? Everything okay?”

I lay back on my bed and held the phone up to my face. “Ask me that at this time tomorrow, and I’ll let you know.”

“What’s going on?”

“I invited my dad for family day tomorrow. It was a last-minute decision. I called him this afternoon.”

“You haven’t really talked about your father. Do you not get along?”

I shook my head. “He screwed over my mom when I was pretty young, and I’ve never really forgiven him or gotten over it.”

“And now you feel like you’re ready to do that?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I think my relationship with him and my relationship with my ex have had far more of an effect on me than I allowed myself to accept before coming here. I think it contributed to my not wanting to get close to men or open up to anyone.”

Brock smiled. “I’m proud of you, you know that?”

Warmth spread through my chest. “Thank you.”

“I’ll have the truck gassed up and ready to go if you need to talk after you see him tomorrow.”

“I appreciate that.”

“So do you have anything you need to do for the rest of the night? Any counseling or stuff?”

“Nope. I think I’m going to take a nice, warm bath. I haven’t fully taken advantage of this ritzy place’s spa products and the big, beautiful tub in my bathroom.”

Brock was quiet for a minute. “What I wouldn’t give to be there while you’re naked in that bath.”

I smirked. “That might be able to be arranged.”

His eyes grew wide. “Oh yeah?”

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