Just Like That (The Kings)

I had really stepped in it.

After the family barbecue at the Sullivan place, Teddy begged to ride with me while Hazel drove the skoolie back to my house. I glanced up at him in the mirror, satisfied that he was safely strapped into the new booster seat I’d gotten for him. He rambled the entire drive home, asking about me, the town, why the farmers planted wildflowers near the blueberry bushes, and about a thousand other questions I didn’t have the answers to.

Why couldn’t he be curious about mergers and acquisitions again?

When we pulled into my drive, he was passed out cold, slumped against the door. Soft snores floated out of his open mouth.

I was grateful for the moment of absolute silence.

While I waited for Hazel to park the skoolie, I looked at him in the mirror. His bolo tie was askew, and his dark hair was poking up in all directions.

It sucked that the kid hadn’t gotten a fair shake—his mom was dead, he thought I was his dad, of all people, and he was clearly years ahead of his peers in terms of style.

At least he had a badass aunt who was more than likely a witch with a heart of gold.

Better shake than most of us got.

I climbed out of the car and closed the door as quietly as I could. I may be a heartless prick, but I didn’t want to be another adult in his life who made things more complicated.

Hazel locked up the skoolie and walked up to me with a huge yawn. In her hand was a small duffel bag of what I assumed were overnight essentials.

I gestured toward the back seat. “He fell asleep.”

Hazel hiked the bag onto her shoulder and pulled open the car door. “Can you grab him? He’s getting really heavy.”

I frowned and hesitated. I was out of my depth with no idea how not to wake a sleeping child. Being unprepared was not a feeling I enjoyed.

“Trust me, he sleeps like a log. Just unbuckle him and throw him over your shoulder.” Hazel didn’t wait for me and instead started walking toward my house.

Unsure of exactly how to manage it, I leaned in to unbuckle Teddy. His breath whooshed out in a soft, sleepy rhythm. He smelled like dirt and too much sugar.

As carefully as I could, I slid an arm around his back. Teddy slumped forward, and I caught him with my shoulder. True to Hazel’s word, he shifted and moaned but didn’t wake.

I stood, jostling him gently to get him adjusted. His limp arms hung over my shoulder, and his head rested against my chest.

My heart hammered beneath my shirt.

The sun was just starting to set over the lake, and the sky was splashed with inky blues and a riot of pinks. At the top of the stairs, Hazel leaned against the post with a soft smile as she watched me.

“You’re a natural,” she said as I approached.

I grunted in acknowledgment, ignoring the tightening in my chest as I carried him up the stairs. I carefully shifted Teddy to the other shoulder.

“Keys are in my pocket,” I announced.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You want me to fish them out for you?” she teased.

I exhaled, despite my traitorous dick perking up at her offer. “I got it.”

Her soft laugh floated on the cool breeze. With not much grace and an awkward shove, I managed to unlock and open the door, stepping aside to let Hazel enter first.

She quietly slipped inside, and I closed the door with my foot. I headed through the open living space toward the stairs in the back. Without waiting for her, I climbed the stairs and walked Teddy to the end of the hallway and into a spare bedroom. Originally intended to be an office, it was a corner room with built-in bookshelves and a reading nook I thought he might like. The bed was staged with a no-nonsense gray comforter and several pillows.

With one hand, I pulled the comforter back and gently deposited Teddy into the bed. He immediately rolled over and curled into a ball. The world dissolved as I stared down at him.

Could he really be my kid?

I hadn’t let myself even entertain the thought, but for a brief moment, with his black lashes swooped low over his cheeks, it was hard to not see the similarities. From his dark features to his serious personality, every interaction I had with him made me question it more.

Who had Olive Adams been? Where had we met? How could I have not known for so long that I’d fathered a child?

Frustration ate at me and I turned on my heels. My fist clenched as I thought of all the unanswered questions that swirled in my mind.

I was the man with the answers. This wasn’t at all how I’d built my life to be.

As I walked past, I peeked into another unused bedroom, surprised to see Hazel hadn’t followed me upstairs to claim a room for herself and turn in for the evening.

Of course she didn’t.

With a sigh, I walked back downstairs in search of her.

The house was quiet as I surveyed the living room and kitchen. I quickly peeked out a window and didn’t see her at the skoolie either.

I braced my hands against the counter and let my head hang. Stress had been building for weeks, and I felt at my breaking point. I had constantly been juggling it all—work, my dad, Hazel and Teddy’s arrival, my fucked-up family.

I could feel my chest cracking open, and I didn’t have time for a breakdown. I needed to keep my shit together and power through—like I had always done.

With a sigh, I looked up.

The breath was stolen from my lungs.

Far in the distance, she was walking along the beach. Much like the night I’d seen her in her nightgown, Hazel looked like a ghost. This time she walked along the water’s edge with her sandals in her hand, gently kicking her feet as the waves lapped over them.

Something deep and feral coiled in my gut. For the briefest moment I enjoyed watching her—imagining what it would be like if she were mine, if we hadn’t stopped that kiss.

But it was impossible.

Her nephew was very likely my kid, which meant, at some point, I’d been intimate with her sister. Shooting my shot with her would affirm I really was the asshole I’d worked so hard not to become.

The breeze that floated through the kitchen window was cool. I watched as Hazel wrapped her arms around her middle and I shook my head.

Rifling through my liquor cabinet, I pulled out a bottle of Blanton’s single-barrel bourbon and two glasses. On my way out the door, I draped a long-sleeved flannel jacket over my forearm.

With only the light of the setting sun, I walked across the lawn to the bluff. Using the wooden staircase, I climbed down the dune and made my way toward the beach. Hazel had turned and was walking up the beach toward me.

She kicked a small wave and smiled as I closed the distance between us.

I lifted my arm to gesture toward the flannel jacket. “It got chilly.”

Hazel’s smile widened as she grabbed the jacket from my arm. “Thanks. I was under the impression it was still summer, but man . . . sure feels like fall tonight.”

I nodded and herded her toward a large piece of driftwood. “Around this time, evenings get chilly. It’s that slow transition into fall that lets us know summer is pretty much done with.”

Hazel leaned against the tree trunk that had fallen and been stripped of its bark by the tide. “Mmm,” she hummed and looked out onto the indigo waters of Lake Michigan. “That’s okay. Autumn’s my favorite anyway.”

“Me too.” I balanced the two cups on the tree trunk. “Bourbon?”

“Sure.” She smiled and I poured two fingers in each glass.

Hazel lifted one glass. “To roommates?”

I lifted my glass. “Uh.” I shook my head. “Sure. To roommates.”

Hazel took a deep sip, and I watched the muscles in her neck work as the alcohol coated her throat. “Didn’t want to run that one by me first?”

I sheepishly smiled like a kid who’d just gotten into deep shit. “About that . . . I just didn’t like people thinking I was okay with your current, possibly unsafe, living conditions. But if you want to stay in the skoolie, that’s fine with me.”

“And break Teddy’s heart? I couldn’t possibly.” She took another sip. “It’s okay. In all honesty, it will be nice to have a dishwasher again.” Her eyes moved to me. “You do have a dishwasher, right?”

I chuckled. “Yes, I do. Two, in fact.”

Her eyes rolled playfully. “Of course you do. You’re so extra.”

I scoffed. “What? There’s a scullery kitchen for prep behind the main one. It just makes sense. Is my home not up to your standards?”

Hazel scrunched her nose. “I mean, it is ridiculously fancy, but . . .”

“But what?” I prodded.

“It’s very . . . sterile.” She looked at me, daring me to disagree.

Trouble was, she was right. I conceded with a shrug and sipped my bourbon. “You know, it also has a hot shower and a toilet that flushes.”

A gentle laugh crackled out of her as her hand came to her collarbone. “Oh . . . you spoil me.”

I leaned against the driftwood, both of us facing the water.

I could see it—what it would be like to spoil her. Like it would be the easiest thing in the world.

If only it weren’t so complicated.

We both stayed quiet, watching the rolling tide lapping at the beach. It was calm and peaceful as night descended and tiny sparks of starlight overtook the vast sky.

“Thank you for trying to get to know him,” she finally said.

I nodded. “He’s a neat kid, but man, does he not stop asking questions.”

Hazel giggled. “You have no idea. On the way here, I swear I was doing everything in my power to avoid the question game. It doesn’t help that I think he might actually be smarter than me.”

I smirked, a chuckle pushing through my nose. “I think maybe you’ve got more going for you than you give yourself credit for.”

She shifted, dramatically blinking in my direction. “JP King . . . was that a compliment?”

I rolled my eyes and covered my sly smile with a sip of bourbon. “Hardly.”

Hazel’s eyes narrowed on me. “Are you sure you aren’t going to fall in love with me if we move in?”

I shouldn’t have liked the way our playful banter made me feel. It was as though the stress of work, my family, her—none of it mattered. For a split second, I was just a man sharing an intimate moment on the star-soaked beach with a gorgeous free spirit of a woman.

A woman whose presence I had no right enjoying as much as I did. But for a moment I could be the kind of man I always hoped to be.

“Please. I make my living assessing risk and reward.” I sighed and stretched my legs out in front of me. “Trust me, this is just business.”

It amazed me how easily the lie rolled right off my tongue.