Page 81 of Mr. Infuriating (Mister #1)

Gabe

Monday morning, I decided I couldn’t keep showing up to the shop bleary-eyed with the stench of alcohol seeping from my pores.

I was the owner of a successful business—I needed to step up and start acting like it.

So, Monday and Tuesday, instead of going home and drinking to keep my mind off Gretchen, I stayed at the shop and worked until I was ready to drop from exhaustion.

That way avoiding my feelings was at least making me money, and I wasn’t racking up ride share charges.

Wednesday morning, I woke up feeling energized. I was going to see Gretchen for the first time in nine days.

Nine, painfully long days.

The hours seemed to drag until finally it was time to pick Brayden up from lacrosse practice and Britt from Becky’s. My daughter had jumped at the chance to “watch” Jake while I put the final trim on Gretchen’s cabinets and Gretchen tutored her brother.

“I wonder how they’ve been,” Britt mused on our drive.

Brayden responded, “I’ve seen Ms. Kelly in the hall. To be honest, she looks tired.”

I knew the feeling.

“I’m sure the end of the year is as stressful for teachers as it is for students.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Brayden murmured as he looked out the window .

Britt chimed in from the backseat. “What’s your excuse, Dad?”

I caught her eye in the rearview mirror. “What are you talking about?”

Her mouth turned up in a devilish grin.

“Why do you look so tired?”

Little shit.

“I’ve been working a lot. I got a little behind when I was installing Gretchen’s cabinets.”

“Well, I’m excited to see them.”

“The cabinets or Gretchen and Jake?”

“I guess both. Although I meant Gretchen and Jake.”

Me too.

I didn’t say that out loud, but I was excited.

Until I pulled up to her house and saw the same red Jaguar from last week sitting in her driveway.

****

Gretchen

I left work the soonest I thought I could without being hauled in front of Samantha McClung, then hustled to pick up Jake.

I wanted to make sure the house was tidy, Jake’s hands, face, and diaper were clean, and there was no mascara smudged under my eyes and my hair was brushed. Okay, I’d put on a coat of lipstick, too.

I wasn’t about to open the door looking like a woman who’d been pining over the man on the other side of my threshold. Even though that’s exactly what I’d been doing .

But he hadn’t bothered to call or text, so there was no way I was going to let on how miserable I’d been.

I decided not to tell Jake they were coming, just in case it fell through.

I’d certainly never said anything about his dad wanting to see him. Partly because Jake probably had no idea who Troy even was, but in the event he did, I didn’t have a lot of faith my ex would follow through with seeing him.

Especially since Troy had yet to reach out to schedule a time to come over.

It was probably just as well.

I didn’t want Troy floating in and out of Jake’s life.

But if he really was serious, I was all for the two having a relationship. Maybe we’d even get to a point where we’d share custody.

Yeah, talk about putting the cart before the horse.

The guy hasn’t even called back. Slow your roll, Gretchen.

I think I just wanted Jake to have a father-figure in his life. He hadn’t stopped asking about Gabe, so I knew it was important.

The doorbell rang, and Jake streaked toward the door squealing, “Bandit’s here!”

I wasn’t sure how he knew, or if it was just wishful thinking on his part.

Except it wasn’t Gabe and his kids standing on my porch when I opened the door.

I adjusted Jake on my hip and stammered, “Wh—what are you doing here, Troy?”

He stepped inside without being invited .

“I wanted to see you, Gretch.” With his arms extended, he made his eyes wide and his voice go up an octave when he said, “Hey, Jakester! Come here and say hi to your dad!”

Jake buried his face in my shoulder, refusing to look at Troy, and the man dropped his arms to his sides with a scowl.

I tried to keep my tone even when I said, “This isn’t a good time. I’ve got a tutoring client who’ll be here any minute.”

“Well, let me take Jake while you work.”

“No, Troy. I told you to call and schedule something. You can’t just show up unannounced and expect to take Jake. It doesn’t work that way.”

His lips were set in a firm line when he bit out, “Fine.”

I opened the door wider and reiterated. “Call me and we’ll set up a time to get together. Maybe we could meet up at the park or something.”

“How about we take Jake to Mickey’s Friday night?”

I glanced at my watch. Gabe and the kids were going to be here any minute. I knew if I told Troy no, he’d argue and wouldn’t leave, so I found myself saying, “Fine.”

His face broke into a wide grin.

“I’ll pick you up at five-thirty. Maybe after we finish at Mickey’s, we can drop Jake off at your parents’ so we have some alone time to… talk.” He waggled his brows at me with a salacious grin.

Yeah, that was never going to happen.

“My parents are out of town.”

I think he recognized he was pushing his luck, because he mumbled, “Oh, okay,” as he stepped out the door. He added, “I’ll see you Friday,” and without a word to Jake, he headed toward his car.