Page 20 of Quinton's Quest

I nudged them back toward her. “Just black, thanks.”

“No worries.” She offered a soft smile.

“I’ll, uh, wait.” I tapped the menu. “Plenty of choices.”

“Best burgers in Mission City.” With a wave, she headed off.

I flipped to the page of the menu with the burgers and yeah, okay, plenty of choices. I scoured the menu for healthier options. Only to find there weren’t many. Ah well, if I wanted healthy, I could go home and make myself a salad. Truthfully, I didn’t feel like healthy. I felt like I needed something of substance.

My watch informed me that eight o’clock had come and gone.

Is he going to stand me up?

A text came through. A picture with Gideon—with a kid on each side—and he was reading them a bedtime story. Obviously Archer took the picture.

My lungs seized.

I’d been so busy the last couple of years that I’d rarely made it home for bedtime stories. I’d tried to make up for it when Iwasn’t working, but it had never been enough. Seeing Gideon with the kids made that so plainly obvious.

You did the right thing. Gideon needed to see how his actions endangered the kids. He needed time to sort out his shit. He needed—

“You okay?” Quinton slid into the booth across from me. “You’re looking incredibly serious.”

Without thinking, I handed him the phone.

He stared for a few minutes. Slowly, he handed it back. “I thought you said you didn’t have asomeone.”

“Shit.” I winced. “I don’t. I was serious when I said I don’t sleep around. That’s my, uh, ex-husband. With our kids.” My voice caught. “We share custody, and he watches them while I work.”

“He must see them a lot, then.”

“Yeah.” I tapped out a heart emoji, then put the phone on the table—face down. “He doesn’t have to send me the photos. He does it because he knows I miss them so damn much. And that I love them even more.”

“I’m sure they know—”

“Do they? All they know is Papa’s hardly around. That he’s always working. I work to provide for them, but is that really enough? Don’t kids just want love?”

“Here’s your tea, Quinton. Are you two ready to order?” Sarabeth put his mug beside his hand, then snagged her notepad and pen.

“I’ll have the waffles with strawberries. Extra whipped cream.” He offered her a broad smile.

“I’ll have the cheeseburger platter. With a Caesar salad.”

We handed her our menus. She smiled and then headed back to the front of the restaurant.

“Of course kids want love. I can tell you love them, and obviously your ex-husband does. Any regrets?”

His incredibly intrusive question caught me off-guard.

I had my cock in his ass about seventy-two hours ago…is anythingreallyoff-limits?

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

“Some of it’s not mine to tell.”

“I’m good at keeping secrets—so feel free to share as much or as little as you’re comfortable with.”