15.

A hot dog is really just a taco.

Dice

D ICE

“There shouldn’t be a problem at the shop because I don’t have anything scheduled there, but I need you to figure out how to get them to put off the photo shoot,” I explained as I pushed the grocery cart around the corner and then stopped at the beginning of the next aisle. I picked up the list I had written early this morning and glanced up at the signs telling me what I’d find on this aisle before I looked back at the phone screen again to find the three women who kept my life on track staring at me with various expressions of exasperation. “I want to stay longer.”

“Dice, this has been scheduled for ages. Your contract specifically states that you have to do the pre-filming duties along with everything else. We can’t just tell them you’re not going to make it.”

“Just delay it for a bit or . . . Fuck! I don’t know what to tell you except that I’m not ready to leave her. We’re slowly getting to know each other, and I’m afraid that if I take off and she gets back in the groove without me, she’ll . . .”

“Out of sight, out of mind,” Courtney mumbled.

“I guess.”

“I thought you made a deal with her that you’d stay a week, and then she’d come here for a week.”

“If that happens and she does come next week, then when am I going to find the time to spend with her? And I can’t exactly take her back on my bike, you know?”

“There’s this really cool new invention called an airplane, Dice. I’m almost positive you’ve seen one,” Chelle said sarcastically.

“My bike is here.”

Carrie laughed and said, “Leave it there. That will give you a good excuse to go back. Women do that all the time, by accident, of course.”

“I could ask her if she’ll let me store it in her garage,” I mumbled to myself as I chose some pasta for dinner. “Let me call you this evening after I talk to her, and then I’ll let you know when to book my flight.”

“While you’re at it, figure out when she’s coming here so we can make arrangements,” Chelle ordered.

“Yes, ma’am,” I confirmed.

“The final proofs for the spring line are next on the agenda. I checked your file and didn’t find them in there. If you emailed them, they didn’t . . .”

“I haven’t sent them, and they’re not in the cloud drive,” I interrupted Courtney.

“They’re due tomorrow.”

“I know that because you’ve told me the last three times we’ve spoken.”

“And yet the deadline is . . . This is me telling you again, ” Courtney said in a very over-the-top, obviously fake respectful tone.

“I’ll try to get to them some time this evening.” I picked up a jar of spaghetti sauce and asked, “Have you guys ever tried this brand?”

The three women stared at me, unblinking, for so long that I thought the screen was frozen until Chelle blurted, “Are you serious right now?”

“I mean, I know making it from scratch would be better, but let’s be real here.”

“If you miss the deadline for the artwork, then legal won’t have enough time to get everything in place before it goes to print. Once it’s out of our hands, we can’t protect it from theft and . . .”

“I know, Court. I know.”

“Then why are you asking us about spaghetti sauce when you should be asking how I feel about the bandana on the skull in print eleven?”

“What’s wrong with the bandana?” I asked.

“ There’s not a fucking bandana on print eleven!” Courtney yelled.

“Jeez, soldier! Simmer down. No need to get heated,” I mumbled as I stared at the angry women on the screen. “I’ve had some shit going on, and my head’s not in the game. Give me some goddamn grace, why don’t you?”

“Grace?” Carrie yelled. “You want us to challenge a multi-million dollar contract so you can stay with your girlfriend and you can’t even remember what the prints that you created look like because you’re thinking with your little brain? Really?”

Always the peacekeeper, Chelle calmly jumped in before I could respond. “Your girl is a businesswoman, Dice.”

“How do you know?”

“We have access to the internet and time on our hands since you’re not . . .”

“Carrie . . .” Chelle said in a warning tone. “At this point, I’m afraid that we know more about your girl than you do.”

“What does that matter?” I asked.

“She’s a businesswoman, so she will completely understand that you have responsibilities, Dice. Right now, while you’re getting to know each other, may be the perfect time to prove to her that you understand what responsibility means. This is your chance to show her that even though she’s the queen of your world, you’ve gotta make sure the kingdom is running like it should so that you can keep her and the baby safe and fed while dressed in the coolest clothes.”

“And by showing her that, you’ll also make the deadline for the prints and not fuck up a contract that’s going to make sure your baby never has to eat off-brand spaghetti sauce instead of Prego.”

“So you’re saying I should get Prego?” Right then, Carrie’s square on the screen disappeared, and I was left with Courtney and Chelle staring at me as if I’d lost my mind. I realized how frustrated they were, but I didn’t know how to fix it because Cyd and the baby needed to come first right now. “I promise that I’ll get to the prints after Cyd goes to bed tonight.”

“We’ve all got a lot invested in this, Dice. Remember that, okay?”

“Noted. Now, can you please tell me what sauce Debbie uses?”

Courtney and Chelle winced when Carrie’s voice came over the line, probably because she was standing in one of their offices listening to the conversation now, and she yelled, “Prego, you fucking idiot! It’s fucking Prego!”

“And on that note, we’re going to let you go. Love you!” Chelle said cheerfully before her square disappeared.

“I’ll do better, Court.”

“I want you to find the love you deserve just as much as they do, but I don’t want you to burn down everything you’ve worked so hard for in the process.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

Without another word, Courtney disappeared from the screen and the conference ended. I blew out a breath as I slipped my phone back into my pocket and looked down at the list in my hand.

This wasn’t going nearly as well as I’d hoped, but I still had a few days with Cydney before I had to get back to life. It wouldn’t hurt me to look over a few files tonight, but I’d have to make sure it didn’t interfere with our time together.

I had never juggled so many balls at once, so this was a trial by fire. I hoped like hell I didn’t drop the ones that mattered.

◆◆◆

CYDNEY

I picked up my phone when it rang, not surprised it was the office since I’d just sent an email that was sure to cause a few waves.

“This is Cydney.”

“Miss Mason, you have a video conference call from Chelle Turner. She insists that this is an emergency and needs to speak to you immediately.”

“Chelle Turner?” I asked, searching my mind for who that could be. I kept drawing a blank, so I asked, “Do you know who she is?”

“The email she sent a few minutes before she called listed her as the Executive of Marketing and Logistics, but I can’t remember . . . Give me one second to pull up her email again.”

“Don’t worry about it, Ginny. Just patch her through.”

“Yes, ma’am. Stay on the line.”

When my camera turned on, I checked my image on the small screen in the corner of my laptop to make sure I looked presentable since professional had flown out the window along with my ability to take a deep breath or brush my own hair.

Since there wasn’t anything I could do at this point, I readjusted myself against the pillows propped against my headboard and waited for Ginny to transfer the call so I could find out what the big emergency was. If it was something I had missed, which I sincerely doubted, considering my assistant was a goddess who I didn’t deserve, I could always blame it on emergency surgery and just work to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

The screen turned black right before a gorgeous woman with dark blonde hair appeared on screen. I was happy to see that she was wearing a T-shirt instead of buttoned-up business attire and that she was smiling at me instead of frowning.

“Miss Mason, I’m Chelle Turner. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hello,” I greeted pleasantly. “I'm at a disadvantage somehow. I don’t have anything on my schedule today and . . .”

“It’s not you, it’s me,” the woman said with a sigh. “I’m sticking my nose where it probably doesn’t belong so I can talk to you, woman to woman, about a man who is very important in both of our lives.”

My first thought was that this woman had some connection to Kenny. She was probably his wife. No, his estranged wife. And she was raising five of his kids all by herself after he abandoned her to be with me and play the role of doting father. She probably had . . .

“I’m not sure if Dice has mentioned me . . . or us . . . but I don’t just work for him. I’m part of his family.”

I narrowed my eyes before I said, “He told me he didn’t have any family.”

“He would say that,” Chelle said with a laugh. “He’s wrong, though. He’s a huge part of our family, whether he wants to admit it or not.”

“And you work for him?”

“Yes. My sisters and I do. We’re part of his executive team, so we’ve got our fingers in all the different aspects of Dice’s business except the tattoo shop.”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly, wondering now if she was calling to warn me off for some reason.

My emotions were all over the place, and I could have kicked myself for doubting him. I would have already known if he had a wife and kids somewhere because I knew that my friends had done a deep dive on him once I told them his name and announced that I was pregnant with his child.

“I probably shouldn’t have called. The only reason I did was to make sure that Carrie didn’t because that woman, I swear, I love her with all my heart but the urge to choke her out at times . . .” Chelle cleared her throat and smiled again before she said, “I’ll put the intrusive thoughts away for now and get to the reason for my call. Are you okay?”

“Give me a second,” I whispered as I took a few deep breaths and then pinched the bridge of my nose as I whispered, “Bell bottoms. Low-rise jeans. The rise of AI. Fringe. Leather fringe. Hundred-dollar aluminum mugs. Neon spandex. Animal print in neon colors. Neon. That whiny bitch who always writes songs about her exes.”

When I opened my eyes, I found Chelle with her hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. I winced, and she burst out laughing before she said, “You just listed out things that make me want to puke.”

“Those are things that make me stop laughing,” I explained. “God knows I’ve puked more in the last few weeks than I have in my entire life, so that’s at the top of the list of things I don’t want to do. Laughing is a very close second at this point.”

“I never even thought about how much it would suck to laugh,” she said with a grimace. “I promise to keep my intrusive thoughts to myself. It’s probably a good idea anyway so you don’t think I’m a psycho.”

“I have a sister named Tad . . . Gracy, and I’ve wanted to kill her more times than I can count. We work together, too, you know.”

“I only know because I looked you up after Mom told us you were pregnant.”

“Dice didn’t tell you?”

“He knew he wouldn’t have to after Mom found out because she’d be floating around on a grandma-high for weeks.”

“Dice said he didn’t have any family, but he’s obviously part of yours.”

“He is a major part of our family and has been since . . . He didn’t tell you anything about us, did he?”

“I guess not.”

Courtney sighed before she said, “That’s his story to tell, and I’m going to let him do it.”

“Even though it’s been very enlightening talking to you, I am curious as to why exactly you called,” I admitted.

“Enlightening how?” Courtney asked.

“It just drove home how much I don’t know about Kenny.”

“It’s early yet, and you guys have all the time in the world to discover everything about each other. He mentioned that you were coming to Vegas soon.”

“I am. I will. I mean, yes.”

“You don’t sound very sure about that.”

I thought about it for a second and realized she was right. Even though I had hesitantly agreed with Kenny’s suggestion, I’d never set the plans in stone. That made me feel horrible since he’d put his life on hold to be with me through one of the toughest times in my life.

“Shit. Yes, I’m coming to Vegas, but I’m not sure when. I’ll have to make arrangements with my assistant to work remotely for an extended time. My sister has been covering my ass for over a week already, and I hate to ask her to continue, but I did make a deal with Kenny.”

“So you understand work obligations,” Courtney murmured. Her demeanor suddenly brightened, and she said, “Of course you do!”

“Yes. Even though my father is still officially the head of the company, my sister and I have taken steps to transition into his position as soon as he’s ready.”

“Let me tell you why I called. Dice is probably going to kill me, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Right now, he’s got you and that baby on the brain, so he’s letting things that he’s worked so hard for years to accomplish fall to the wayside. I know he’ll be kicking himself for that in the future if these things fall through, so I felt like I should call you and talk - woman to woman.”

“Go for it.”

“He might not seem like it when you first meet him, but Dice is very driven. He’s one of the most hard-working people I know or will ever know, I’m sure. When he gets his teeth into something, he’ll hold on and never let go - whether that concerns business, family, or helping his friends. He’s the guy you can count on, but he often doesn’t realize that it’s his turn to be taken care of.”

“I’m not very good at that either,” I admitted.

“But your sister helps rein you in, doesn’t she?”

I rolled my eyes before I said, “Yeah. She does.”

“Well, that’s what I’m trying to do, and I think you’re the perfect person to help me.”

◆◆◆

“How is your stomach? Is the food settling okay? I was worried that the red sauce might be too acidic, but from everything I read, the Parmesan isn’t like other cheese that might make you . . .”

“You’re very good at taking care of me.”

Kenny stared at me for a second before his face lit up with a smile. “Thanks. I’m new at this, so . . .”

“Are you really?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve never taken care of anyone before?” When Kenny shook his head, I asked, “How is someone who has no family so good at being part of one?”

“Your family has been great. I can only imagine what your father wants to do to me, but he has resisted so far, and I’m thankful for that. Honestly, your mom is the one that worries me. She seems so sweet and innocent, but I have a feeling that she’s got some darkness hidden somewhere.”

I cleared my throat so I wouldn’t laugh outright, but I nodded as I said, “She might.”

“That’s a vague answer.”

“Did my father tell you that my mom was pregnant with Gracy when he met her? I was a little kid and barely remember life without him.” I couldn’t suppress a shudder and said, “I remember a few things from when they first got together, but not much.”

“I feel like there’s a story there.”

“Let’s just say that as much as I like the fall season, I’m not likely to ever go willingly into a corn maze.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“My dad has always been a dedicated worker. When he met my mom, he actually had three jobs. He worked as a mechanic during the day, moonlighted as a bouncer at a strip club, and spent late nights and early mornings working to learn how to run the company my Tata started.”

“My dad was a bum,” Kenny said without any emotion. “You learned dedication and drive from your dad. I learned that a gambling addiction doesn’t just fuck up your life, but the lives of everyone who cares about you too.”

“I’m sorry you had to learn that,” I said honestly.

“I’m glad you have a good family you can depend on.”

“And you don’t have any family?” I saw a flicker of something in his eyes before he shook his head. “You know, the majority of the people I call my family aren’t of any relation to me at all.”

“I’ve noticed that.”

“Do you have anyone like that? I know you have Tank and Tiny and there are probably some other guys that you can depend on, but is there anyone else?”

It took a minute, but Kenny finally said, “Debbie and Frank Turner. Their daughters, sons-in-law, and their grandkids, too, I guess.”

Kenny took my empty plate and stacked it with his on the coffee table and then put his arm over my shoulder before I asked, “Will I get to meet them when I come to Vegas?”

“Of course. They’d kill me if I didn’t bring you around.”

“You’re leaving next week, right?”

“I asked the girls . . .”

“The girls?” I asked innocently.

“Courtney, Chelle, and Carrie. They’re my lifeline at work. They run the place, and I’m just the face on the posters.” I hummed in acknowledgment, and he continued. “I’m trying to get them to figure out how I can stay a little longer.”

“What if they can’t?”

“They don’t have any choice.”

“That’s not really how business works, Kenny.”

“Some things are more important than business.”

“I agree, but I am a firm believer that with enough hard work, a person can have it all. They just have to learn to juggle things and bend sometimes.”

“I’m not leaving you right now, Cyd. We’re just getting to know each other, and to be honest, I’m afraid that if I leave when I’m supposed to, it will be like taking three steps back.”

Without any hesitation, I said, “The majority of what I do is mobile, Kenny. With my laptop and Wi-Fi, I can work from anywhere.”

“But you can’t travel yet. Between the pregnancy and your surgery, you’re . . .”

“I called Roscoe, and he said that such a short flight from here to Vegas won’t be a problem. He suggested I wait until five days post-op and keep taking the low dose of aspirin he prescribed when I left the hospital. Other than that, he cleared me for flight.”

“And you’re willing to go?”

“Tata has already put her foot down right next to my dad’s and said I’m not to come back to the office for three weeks minimum, so I’d be working from home anyway. I can just as easily work from your home as mine.”

“You’ll do that?”

“Yes, I’d love to come to Vegas with you. I’m so glad you asked!” I said sarcastically.

“The girls told me that I should, but I didn’t want to pressure you.”

“You’re going to have to stop tiptoeing around me, Kenny. I’m not made of glass.”

“I know, but I’ve found a new hobby that I just can’t put down.”

“What’s that?”

“Pampering you and making sure you’re taken care of.”

“You can take care of your other responsibilities at the same time just like I can.”

“When I’m this close to you, I can’t remember what other responsibilities I have.”

“You should try,” I whispered a second before my lips touched his. I gave him a heartfelt and passionate kiss but then pulled back and asked, “Will you sleep in bed with me tonight?”

“Fuck, yes!”

“I’m not quite ready for any hanky panky but . . .”

“Really?Hanky panky?What are you?Seventy?”

“Shut it, Hawkes,” I said with an insincere frown. “What I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted was that I have some work I need to do this evening and a deadline I have to meet. I’d like to just chill on the couch with my laptop while there’s something mindless on the television for background noise. Do you have anything you can do while I work?”

“Actually, I do have some things I need to get to,” Kenny admitted.

“Then let’s make it a date,” I told him. “I’ve already got my laptop ready, so I’ll find something to watch while you get yours set up.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Kenny, you had a life before you knocked me up, and so did I. Other than the logistics of me living in Rojo and you living in Vegas, working around our busy schedules is going to be our biggest problem.”

“You’re right.”

“So we don’t let it. We figure it out together as a team.”

“You are more unique and wonderful than any woman I’ve ever met, Cyd,” Kenny said before he gave me another kiss. “I’ve never thought I was a lucky man, but I realize that’s exactly what I am. I’m lucky that you’re willing to give me a chance to prove to you that I can be the guy you depend on and maybe even the guy you love someday.”

“If you keep treating me the way you have been and saying things like that, someday may get here quicker than either of us ever imagined.”

Kenny’s slow smile was sexy as hell, and all I wanted to do was curl into him and kiss him until we were both too weak to move, but that would have to wait. I’d used the same tactics my mom always did to get my dad to come around to her way of thinking, and if I kept kissing Kenny, all of that work would fall to the wayside.

And besides, everything I’d said was true - I respected his drive and dedication. and hopefully, he respected mine. If that was the case, then this was going to be much easier than I could have imagined.

“Let’s get to work.”