Page 106 of Mr. Flirt

Shep smiled and nodded. “I’d imagine she’d be there since it’s her house. I bet she’d even use the same chef from this weekend.”

Even though every nerve was on edge, I grinned and nodded. “Then, you’ve got a deal.”

Shep backed up teasingly. “I don’t want another deal. I want a date.”

I couldn’t wipe the happiness from my soul as I nodded quickly. “Fine. You’ve got a date.”

Shep moved slowly toward me and caged me in with his arms, softly running his lips across mine right when a loud thud crashed through the hall. He shot up from the bed and reached for a pair of joggers.

“Stay there. I don’t know who would be in my house.” His eyes locked on mine for a brief second before he left the bedroom. I quickly scanned the room and found a T-shirt of his that I slipped on and a pair of boxers in the top drawer of his dresser since all of my clothes were strewn about the great room.

My pulse pounded with every second that Shep was gone. We were essentially in the middle of nowhere, and since he wasn’t expecting anyone, my mind raced wildly with frightening scenarios. He’d said no other woman had been here before, so if that was true, it shouldn’t be a crazy ex out there, but Shep wasn’t coming back, either.

A sharp male voice drifted down the hall, and my heart stopped. I dashed over to my phone to call 9-1-1 before sneaking out to the hallway.

I didn’t see any sign of Shep, but I finally heard his voice. His tone was extremely agitated and heated. A side I’d never heard or seen before.

With each step closer to the voices, my hands trembled until I reached the end of the hallway, where I could peek around the corner.

I drew a deep breath and slowly craned my head ready to see a shirtless Shep arguing with a man who looked exactly like him, only older. My eyes strained to see the stranger closely as Shep’s arms flailed in the air in disgust. I kept my phone steadied in my hand to call emergency services.

The man stopped looking at Shep and saw me immediately. A cocky smile spread across his lips as Shep stopped talking and turned around to follow the man’s gaze.

Shep’s expression turned from anger to worry in an instant.

He rushed over to me, attempting to smile, and scooted me back down the hallway.

“What’s going on?” I asked, shaking my head and frowning. “Why are you pushing me away? Do I need to call the cops?”

Shep stopped himself, realizing we were far enough away, and shook his head. “No. Sorry. It’s not like that. It’s my father.”

Shock registered through me. That explained the strong resemblance.

“Okay,” I said slowly.

“I’ve never invited my dad here, but Winter did once.” He ran his hands along his temples like a pounding headache had just invaded his brain space. “Apparently, he remembered how to get here, and the lady he’s been sharing his home with kicked him out.”

“Oh, no.” I bit my bottom lip and stared at Shep. “I should probably get going, then. I don’t—”

Shep reached for my shoulders and squeezed them gently. “No. I’m not letting my dad ruin my perfect weekend with you. Everything was going right, and then this. I told him he had to find somewhere else to crash. This is all too common for him, but he’s never tried this before.”

“You can’t do that to him.”

“I’m pretty certain I know why his girlfriend kicked him out, and I’m not going to be around to help him out and enable his bad behavior. It’s like a slap to my mom.” Shep groaned and rubbed his temples. “I can’t believe this happened.”

“How did he get in?” I asked since he wasn’t ever welcome here.

Shep rolled his eyes. “I forgot to close the garage door, and then I got so swept up in you...”

I smiled, feeling the memories from last night flood me.

It suddenly seemed like a long time ago.

“Anyway, just hang tight, and I’ll get my dad to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Shep.” His dad’s voice crawled up my spine. He reminded me of someone I’d face in court while the ex was left to pick up the pieces.

I peeked around Shep’s broad shoulders to see his father standing at the end of the hallway. “We’re all adults. You won’t even know I’m here.”

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