The Paradise Problem (51)
And now every shift we work together I’m like
Sir I know she left your bed as soon as she could
Like the body wasn’t even cold
And he knows I know
And it is all very awkward
Ok but real talk: Dad is ok?
David is great.
He said he might be up to coming to dinner at the cafe this week.
I almost can’t believe the words I’m seeing. Dad eating? Dad getting out of the house for a meal? I’m not always good at managing the white-knuckling fear of losing him, and hearing this makes hope expand inside me until it seems to push every other feeling aside.
But then I look up and see West jogging back down the beach toward me and another feeling shoves its way back in: predatory lady hunger.
West is jogging on the beach near me.
Vivi replies with a gif of Whoopi Goldberg saying You in danger girl, and she could not be more correct.
OK gotta go actively resist this.
Love you.
LYB
Footsteps pad along the bridge, and then West is there, turning the corner onto the balcony. “Hey,” he says, wiping a forearm down his sweaty face, and I have the intrusive thought that I wouldn’t even need to be dared to lick his chest right now. His nipples are… well, I enjoy them. I would like to touch them. Maybe with my boob again.
“Hi.”
He walks over, pulling a towel from where it’s drying on the railing, and uses it to wipe down his torso.
I’m momentarily devastated but soldier on. “How was the run?”
“Pretty good.” He motions to my abandoned paints. “What’s this?”
“I was painting the sunrise but got distracted.”
“Ah.” He rubs the towel over his sweaty hair. “By the way, I wanted to thank you for that.”
“For what?” I ask.
“What you’ve been doing for Regs. I think she often gets lost in the shuffle. I just wanted to tell you, I really appreciate you spending that time with her.”
“Are you kidding? She’s so much fun. I remember how much it sucks being a preteen. How universal is the experience of life sucking when you can feel like you’re missing out even when you’re on a private island.”
“Yeah.”
“So how’s it going with your dad?” I say, standing and stretching. West was pretty shaken up after Ray blindsided him in front of the Forbes editor. I can’t imagine what it’s like wanting to avoid your own father.
West hops up onto the railing, sitting with the ocean behind him. It’s a glorious view. “He’s trying to back me into a corner.”
“What I don’t understand is why he has such a boner for you being CEO when you clearly don’t want the job. Let him give it to Alex. He clearly wants it.”
“This has been his plan for as long as I can remember. It’s all about his legacy, and what Ray wants. He doesn’t want Alex. He obviously thinks my being here at all means I’ve had a change of heart.”
“Oh, sure.” I grin up at him. “I mean, why would you be at your own sister’s wedding unless it had something to do with him?”
The side of his mouth twitches up. “Sounds like you’re now fluent in Weston.” His expression straightens. “Speaking of… sorry about what my mom did the other night. I guess we haven’t talked about it yet.”
“You mean about the anniversary party I inadvertently asked for?”
He nods, grimacing. “Yeah.”
“I just remind myself I’m here doing a job. I don’t ever have to see her again after this.”
West swallows and then nods. “Good.”
“What about you?” I ask. “If everything goes the way you want this week, will you ever see them again?”
“Occasionally,” he says. “But not regularly.”
“Not even Jake and Charlie?”
He shrugs a muscly shoulder. “I’ll see them, sure. My parents and Alex… no.”
I study him, trying to piece out what sent West running for the hills after his internship.
“Trying to read my mind?” he asks after a few moments of silence, lifting one side of his mouth in a smile. “Just ask.”
Just ask. The two sexiest words ever spoken by an unreadable man.
“You said your dad did something shitty about ten years ago.” West nods, his expression turning guarded. “And then you had an internship that cemented that you did not want to come work for the company.” He nods again. “Will you tell me more about what happened between you two?”
His brows flicker down as he turns to look out at the water, and I take the opportunity to memorize his profile again. This damaged, hot man. Maybe Vivi is right and sex is the answer for everything.
But when he turns back, his eyes seem so troubled that all sexy thoughts evaporate. “He was a really shitty dad. That much is probably obvious. There are a million stories, of course. Him kicking Lego sets we’d painstakingly built because we did it in the hallway in front of his office. Alex wet the bed until he was maybe thirteen or fourteen, and Dad would make him hang his wet sheets outside in front of the house because he thought the shame would fix it. Jake broke his ankle during a soccer match and Dad made him walk through the gravel parking lot to the car because he’d let a goal pass and they’d lost the match.”