Hard Bastard(140)

It was all fun and games until I met Cole. Then it was much, much more.

Later, much later, his strong body pressed up against mine in the cool white expanse of my bed, our bodies sweating, pleasure rushing through my skull. Is that how you like it, little wife? he whispered into my ear.

Yes. Please.

His fingers moved down between my thighs and did things I’d never felt before.



“Are you kidding me?” Lacey said, exasperated. “Your dad got married again?”

“Yeah, and this time he didn’t even bother telling me about it.”

I stood with Lacey in line at Starbucks, my backpack heavy from my last day of class. Finals were over and done with, which meant I was headed back home for the summer.

Junior year was finished. I was pretty sure I already had senioritis.

“Typical Frank. Always thinking with his dick.”

“Gross,” I said, laughing. “He’s still my dad, you know.”

“Sorry, but it’s the truth. Your dad is the biggest horndog I’ve ever met.”

“Okay, that’s enough.”

“I know it’s hard to hear, Alex, but it’s the truth. Your father is a grade-A player.”

I sighed, shaking my head. Nobody likes hearing about their parent’s sex life, but unfortunately, in this instance, everything she was saying was the truth. My dad, Frank Miller, was on his third marriage, plus however many girlfriends he’d had over the years. He seemed to constantly go from one “true love” to the next with no real regard for anyone else around him. He insisted that it was different this time, that things were going to last for a long time, but he almost always said that.

I was pretty used to it, though. These new women appeared in my life like a hurricane, trying to be my friend, sometimes trying to be my mom, but they never lasted long. Frank didn’t have “commitment” or “monogamy” anywhere in his vocab, no matter how hard he tried otherwise.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t even met this one yet,” I said.

“Seriously? He got married again and didn’t even invite you to the wedding?”

“Supposedly it was a low-key thing. She’s this high-powered CEO of the company that just bought him out.”

We got to the front of the line and ordered our coffee. As we moved over to wait for the drinks, Lacey gave me a look.

“Her company bought his, and now they’re married? Seems pretty weird.”

I sighed, nodding. “Yeah. It’s some big scandal in the business community or something.”

“Classic Frank.”

“What I don’t understand is why this woman would want to go through all this for him. Don’t get me wrong,” I said quickly, “I love my dad. But who’s worth that much trouble?”

“What a cynic.”

“Like father, like daughter, I guess.”

Lacey laughed as our names were called. We gathered up our caffeine-and-sugar beverages and headed out into the warm afternoon.

I really wasn’t looking forward to going home for the first time in a long time. In years past, going back to my dad’s house in San Francisco was usually pretty great, but for some reason I was dreading meeting his new wife.

I’d heard bad things about her. They were both CEOs of up-and-coming tech firms, and Cindy was supposedly something of a hard ass. Everything I knew about her was either from the mouth of a PR firm or from some gossip rag online, but so far nothing seemed to really paint her in a flattering light.

And yet when Dad called me to tell me about the nuptials, he sounded really happy. For the last few years, his life had been all about work and more work, with the occasional girlfriend of course. But that never seemed to make him happy, just more and more stressed. He needed something in his life to brighten up his days, and if Cindy was doing that for him, well, then I couldn’t get in the way of it.

Still, I didn’t have to be excited to meet another woman that was going to want to be my replacement mother. Or maybe this one was going to want to be my best friend instead. You could never tell until you met them which direction they’d take.

“You’ll be home this summer, right?” I asked her.

“Of course. What else would I do, pay rent?”

I laughed. “Solid point.”

“Between prostituting myself for cash and living with my parents for a few months, I choose parents.”

“Not an easy choice, though.”

“Not at all.” She paused, looking thoughtful. “You get to make your own hours as a hoe. On the flip side, free food is a big bonus.”

We both laughed, and I shook my head at her. I was pretty sure she was genuinely considering becoming a prostitute to avoid going home.