One night stand with my daddy's best friend
83

Dane

It had been a hell of a week and the last thing I wanted to do was dress up in a tux and go mingle with the rich and snobby. But I agreed to take my mother to the charity event, and since part of my reason for returning home was to reconnect with my parents, I'd agreed to escort my mother.

Maybe it would be good for me to get out for an evening even if it was with people that I didn't know very well and many of whom I didn't respect very much. If I stayed home, my mind would just keep ruminating over Bridget. I'd done my damnedest to avoid her at work, thinking that if I didn't see her this annoying urge to be around her would go away. It was a sound theory but in practice it didn't work.

Although I didn't see Bridget very much this week, every time I went to the copy room or the staff room or walked up the hallways a part of me hoped I'd run into her. A couple of times I heard her outside my office door talking to Lane. She had that wonderful lyrical laugh. When I heard it, her face with her bright green eyes and her wild red hair always came into my mind followed by yearning to go out and talk with her and then kiss her senseless. It was like I was a sixteen year old boy having his first crush. I had the wet dreams to prove it.

It wouldn't have been so bad if she were a little older and of course didn't work for me. But I was her boss and almost twenty years older than her, so the yearning and carnal thoughts about her made me feel like a dirty old man. A night away from self-deprecating thoughts about being a leering boss

and cradle robber might do me good even if it meant having to spend the evening schmoozing with my mother and her elitist friends.

I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom looking myself over. I'd showered and shaved again so I looked fresh for the evening. I tied my bow tie, hating every minute of it. The truth was I didn't like wearing a tux. It was like the uniform for the rich and powerful. I wasn't a part of them.

I could have been had I followed my parents' goals for me, but I chose another path and everyone at the charity event knew it. They'd look at my mother with pity and wonder what my father was doing by letting me run things until he recovered.

I left the bathroom and headed out to the kitchen. I pulled out a bottle of whisky, pouring myself two fingers to take the edge off as I waited for my mother to pick me up in her limo. I didn't know why we couldn't arrive in a regular car except that my mother was all about appearances. The limo was like the tux, a symbol of wealth and power.

I'd just downed my whiskey and was contemplating pouring another when my phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, I saw it was my mother calling. "Hello mom. Are you on your way?"

"Good evening Dane. Your father has had a very difficult day today and I really don't feel right leaving him here alone to go to the charity event. "

Thank fuck. I reached up and tugged on the end of the bow tie relieved that I wouldn't have to go out tonight. Maybe I'd call Troy or Archer or maybe both to see if they wanted to go out tonight, so I wouldn't be staying home with my inappropriate thoughts about Bridget.

"But I have arranged for someone to go in my place, and they should be there shortly."

God no. "Maybe we should cancel, mom." Just as I said the word, a knock sounded on the door.

"It's very important to your father and me that you go to this event, Dane. I'm sure you're going to have a lovely time. Perhaps you can come over tomorrow afternoon and give us an update. I've got to go now. Have a good time." Groaning, I retied my bow tie as I headed to the door. I opened the door to see a middle aged man dressed in a dark suit. Clearly, he was a chauffeur but he wasn't my mother's usual driver.

"I'm here to drive you and Miss Francis to the charity event."

Aw hell. My mother had set me up on a date. Not just any date. She'd set me up with Anne Francis, the woman she was certain would make the ideal Mrs. Dane McLeod. It was too late for me to back out now, so I followed the chauffeur out to the limo. He opened the back door and I climbed in next to Anne.

"Dane, it's so good to see you," She cooed as she leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Anne, how are you? It's good of you to come in my mother's stead." God, I was now talking like them.

She waved a hand that had long fingers tipped with glossy red nails. "I was attending anyway and who better to appear with than the prodigal son, returned home from defending his country. You're looking fit and well."

"I'm pretty sure a tux makes everyone look fit and well." I resisted the urge to tug on my collar as it felt more and more like a noose.

She laughed but it felt forced since I wasn't very funny. "That's not actually true." She pressed her hand over my chest. "Even in retirement you look very fit."

I smiled even though I wanted to roll my eyes. "Thank you. You look lovely this evening."

The truth of the matter was she looked stunning. Any man would be happy to have Anne Francis on their arm. She had thick long blonde hair that had the right amount of windswept waves to make her look sexy without overly done up. She had gray eyes that sometimes made her seem cold and calculating. Right now, in those eyes, I saw a woman on a mission to get a husband.

Her head tilted down, and I swore to God she was batting her eyelashes. "Thank you, Dane. It's always so much work to get ready for these charity events."

"I'm sure you didn't have to work very hard."

She had a natural beauty, although I imagine she'd spent all morning at the salon for tonight. It was too bad. I think she would have been more beautiful without all the enhancements.

She smiled wide and slipped her hand into mine clearly thinking the compliment was an indication that I was attracted to her. While I could appreciate that and she was a raving beauty, she wasn't my type.

I tended to gravitate towards women who were grounded and down to earth, and who understood the workings of the real world, not just the bubble

of money that they lived in.

Although I'd never had a serious relationship once I joined the military, the few women that I did spend time with were enlisted or local women in town. They were women who knew how to laugh loud and speak their minds. They weren't fabricated like Anne and my mother. They were real.

A woman like Bridget.

I turned to look out the window as the image of Bridget with her flaming red hair and sharp green eyes that looked at me like she could see into my soul came to mind. I did my best to push the image away. The whole purpose of going to this shindig was to have a moment where I wasn't thinking of her. We arrived at the event and as Anne and I walked into the charity gala, Anne threaded her arm through mine. She leaned in close to me and I could smell the scent of her expensive perfume. It was ironic that just about every man in this room would likely envy me, but for me this night was going to be more of a chore, not just to mingle and make nice with the people in my parents' social status but also with Anne, who was treating me more as her

boyfriend than an escort.

"Everybody here is going to be curious about Dane MacLeod. I bet your life was so fascinating in the military," Anne said in a low voice, her lips only inches away from my ear.

"I suspect they're going to be more curious about whether or not I'm driving my father's business into the ground."

She laughed but it sounded like something that she had practiced to make her sound sophisticated. It wasn't the loud and free laugh from Bridget that distracted me during the week. "Your being here is going to show them that you are a force to contend with. Now that you're back and fully into the family you're going to get all the respect that you deserve." "How about we get some champagne?" Drinking probably wasn't a good idea but if I was going to make it through the evening that whiskey I had earlier definitely wasn't enough. "I'd love some champagne." Her eyes glinted and she bit her lower lip.

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Did I miss something? Was offering champagne innuendo for sex? "Champagne makes me feel sexy."

Shit. I saw a server with a tray full of flutes, and made my way over to him with Anne still on my arm. I reached out to grab two glasses, handing her one.

She looked at me with those yet calculating gray eyes. "We should have a toast. To new beginnings with old friends."

I wondered if she'd already picked out her wedding dress. Maybe even our children's names. Or maybe I was just being a jerk and projecting my irritation at my mother onto Anne.

"To new beginnings with old friends." I clicked my glass against hers and sipped the champagne even though I wanted to down the entire glass and then go find the bar.

She tilted her head to the side as she studied me. "You don't look like a fish out of water Dane, but you act like that's how you feel."

"Bingo."

"I can assure you that you fit in very well." She reached out with her long fingers adjusting the lapel of my coat, an act that was designed to have her touching me, perhaps even claiming me, more than fixing my coat.

"I'm sure having you in my company will help with that." My mother felt Anne would be a good wife, but I suspect my father was on board as well, but his agenda was to have me fit in with this crowd.

She smiled like I'd given her a gift and thread her arm through mine again. "You and I need to stick together, Dane. We have a lot in common."

I couldn't imagine what we had in common except rich and powerful fathers.

"I'm going to help you look good and get everything that you want."

I imagined that she saw herself the same way my mother saw herself with my father; the woman that helped make the man. A lot of times people underestimated the power and influence of wives in the success of their husbands. The only problem of course was that Anne believed that everything I wanted was my father's company and a wife. When she said that she would help me get everything I wanted, Bridget flashed in my mind.