Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“Thank, honey,” she murmured.
“Your back hurting?” he asked.
“I had a bit of a fall caused by a spasm in my back. But I took some pain pills.”
“Did you eat with them?” he asked worriedly.
Turning, she wrapped her arms around him. He stiffened, then he awkwardly patted her back. He wasn’t big on hugs anymore. She missed six-year-old Brooks, who’d hugged her all the time.
Letting go, she leaned back to look up at him. “How’d you get so tall?”
“It’s all that spinach you made me eat.”
“Gag. We don’t even say that word in this household, you know that.”
He grinned down at her. Then, that grin slowly faded. “I know things are bad money-wise since you lost your job.”
“Brooks, that’s not for you to worry about.”
“Hard for me not to worry about when I know you’re going without just to make sure that I have enough.”
Fuck. She should have known he’d catch that. Her boy was smart and observant.
“I’m going to quit school and get a job.”
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “You are not.”
“We need the money. It’s not right that you’re not sleeping and stressed because we’re running out of money. And I don’t like that strange men are bringing you home at night.”
“Okay, let’s just take a moment to talk about this. I’m going to get into my pajamas and take off my make-up. You make the hot chocolates.”
“There’s no whipped cream.”
“Which is a huge tragedy, but I’ll be able to buy more. Because I have a job now.”
He didn’t look much happier, but he nodded.
After she got ready for bed, she came out to find he’d already folded the sleeper sofa out into a bed for her.
Damn, he was a good kid.
He handed her a hot chocolate as she walked up to where he stood at the end of the bed.
“I just want to help.” He gave her a stubborn look.
“I know you do.” Reaching up, she put her hand on his cheek. “Listen to me. You are the smartest, kindest, best kid I know. And you’re pretty damn mature for sixteen. But you’re still the kid and I’m the adult. It’s up to me to provide for you. Got me?”
“Not if you are putting yourself at risk or doing something you shouldn’t do.”
“I’m not doing anything I shouldn’t be doing.”
He eyed her.
“I’m not. I really am going to be working as a personal assistant to a guy called Thomas Grady. And . . . all right, one of the bars he runs is a strip club called Pinkies.” She wasn’t sure if that was the smartest parenting move. But when you were a thirty-five-year-old with a tendency to eat too much junk and you slept with a sloth soft toy and were raising a super smart kid who was sixteen going on forty, you had to do the best you could.
And she’d learned that honesty often worked best.
“Strip club?”
“Yes. Among other businesses.”
“That’s why you’ll have to work at night?”
“I’m not actually sure of my hours,” she admitted. “I’m having dinner with him tomorrow night to discuss that.”
“Dinner?”
“Just dinner.”
“He doesn’t expect anything else?” he asked.
“No, honey.”
He nodded solemnly. “I’m not going to be here tomorrow night. I’m going out.”
“Oh, yeah?” she asked with a teasing grin. “Got a date?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, you have fun. Treat her right. I hope she knows that she’s going out with the sweetest, smartest, most handsome guy at school.”
He rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Aunt Effie. You have to say that shit.”
“I say it because it’s true. But enough mushy stuff, let’s move on.” She said that last part because she knew that despite being mature for his age, he was still a teenage boy.
And teenage boys didn’t like mushy stuff.
“You’re going to need money for this date. I’ll put some in your bank account.” That would hurt, but she wanted her boy to have everything she needed.
“I’ve got money, Aunt Effie.”
“You do? How?”
“Logo work.”
She nodded. Her boy was smart and artistic. A while back, he’d set up a webpage to sell his graphic skills. “That’s good.”
“I’ll give it all to you, if you need it.”
Her gaze hit his. “You need it for your date.”
“I can bring my girl back here instead.”
“Thanks, darling. But you don’t want to bring your girl back here. You’ll scare her off.” If she went to Brooks’ school, that likely meant her family was well off. Well, unless she was a scholarship student like he was. But there weren’t many of those.
She sipped her hot chocolate.
“If I stayed here, I’d be able to meet your new boss. Make sure working for him is a good idea.”
Darn it. Definitely an alpha male in the making. So protective.
“I’ll be fine, darling. I promise. Besides, I’m a good judge of character.”
“Surprised you can say that with a straight face.”
“Hey, brat. I can still ground your ass.”