Park Avenue Player by Vi Keeland
Chapter 22
Elodie
Benito was funny.
I’d forced myself back to one of the online dating sites I’d used before, and he’d been the first guy to message me. Seeing his picture pop up on my phone, my immediate thought had been Ugh,I’m done with pretty boys. So I’d told him that. Which led to him sending me photos of his toes and an entire conversation about how ugly his feet were. Honestly, they really were pretty damn fugly.
But he’d made me laugh with his self-deprecating humor, and over the last few days, he’d sent me photos of his other flaws—a jagged scar on his abdomen from a mountain biking accident (though I really only noticed how defined his abs were), a birthmark shaped like Australia on the top of his ass (that was pretty damn defined, too), and a section of his arm that oddly didn’t grow hair.
But the overall package was an attractive one, small flaws and all. Not to mention that I’d stalked his Instagram and watched a video of him dancing some Latin dance—those hips don’t lie.
My phone buzzed with an incoming message.
Benito: I sliced my finger using a table saw this morning. Needed a few stitches. It looks pretty gnarly. Do I need to send photos to continue pleading my case?
I smiled and had started to text back when Hailey came out of her room. She stretched her arms over her head, and her eyes dropped to my phone for a moment. “Who are you texting so early?”
“First of all, it’s ten o’clock, sleepyhead. And second of all, it’s personal, so none of your beeswax.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s a boy.”
“Well, if it were a member of the opposite sex I was talking to, it would be a man, not a boy.”
She shrugged. “From what I can tell, most men just grow taller and wider. They’re still little boys.”
I shook my head and chuckled. Wise beyond her years.
It felt sort of awkward to admit I was talking to a man. But if I expected her to share things about boys with me, I couldn’t be that closed off.
I set down my phone and picked up my coffee mug. “His name is Benito.”
She frowned.
“What? You don’t like the name?”
“No. It’s not that.” She avoided making eye contact and walked into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she spent a few minutes hanging on the door and staring into it.
I walked over. “Are you waiting for something to magically appear in there? Want me to make you banana nut pancakes?”
Her stomach growled loudly, and I laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes. Go sit. You can peel the bananas and mash them for me.”
I grabbed two bowls from the cabinet and took out the flour, sugar, baking soda, eggs, and cinnamon. Setting one of the bowls in front of Hailey, I handed her three bananas and a spoon to use to mash.
“So what’s the deal? You made a face when I said I was talking to a guy named Benito. Does the name remind you of someone you don’t like or something?”
She peeled each banana and let them drop unceremoniously into the bowl. “Are you dating the guy?”
I watched her expression. “No. Well, not yet. But I might. I’m thinking about it, I guess.”
She frowned again. “I thought you thought my uncle was cute.”
I froze. “Why would you think that?”
She started to mash up the bananas with the back of the spoon. “You guys are always looking at each other.”
“Well, he’s my employer, so of course I’m going to look at him.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You looklook at him, and he looks looks at you. You both do it when you think no one is watching. But you’re so obvious.”
There was no point in trying to escape the truth. “Your uncle is a nice-looking guy. It’s hard not to notice, Hailey. But it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Why doesn’t it?”
I sighed. She asked good questions—hard ones, but good. “Well, just because two people are attracted to each other doesn’t mean they’re right for each other in a couple sort of way.”
“Is Benito attractive?”
“Yes.”
“So what does he have that Uncle Hollis doesn’t?”
I shook my head. “It’s not that your uncle is missing anything. We just don’t want the same things, so we’re not compatible as a couple.”
“What does he want?”
Uh…how do I extricate myself from this one? I couldn’t very well say, your uncle just wants to dirty fuck me, like most asshole men. Though—I looked at her—she was a really beautiful girl. It was probably a lesson she should learn to save her some naïve heartbreak. But that was a conversation best had a few years from now.
I poured flour into a measuring cup and emptied it into the bowl, then slid everything to the other side of the counter so I could sit on the stool next to her.
“I told you I was married before. As much as I was sad about the way my marriage turned out, I’m still hopeful that maybe the right guy is out there for me. For a long time, I wasn’t. But that’s changed lately. And I think that a lot of it is because of you, actually.”
“Me?”
I nodded. “I want a family someday. You reminded me of that. So while I’m a little scared to go back out there into the dating world, I think I need to do it now. It’s sort of time.”
I’d thought I’d explained it so well, but one look at Hailey’s face told me I hadn’t. Her shoulders slumped, and she stared down at her hands. “So Uncle Hollis doesn’t want a family?”
“Oh God, no. That’s not what I meant at all. He wants you. I’m certain of that. You heard him the other day when he said he would do everything in his power to keep you or stay in your life. He loves you and wants you to be his family.”
“I don’t understand, then. You want a family. He wants me. Why can’t we just be a family?”
The fear in her voice made my chest hurt. “It’s complicated, sweetheart. And I think I’m muddying things up by explaining stuff wrong. But the bottom line is, I adore you. Your uncle adores you. And my dating someone else will have no bearing on any of that.”
Luckily, that seemed to satisfy her—either that or she’d grown bored of the conversation. Hailey finished mashing the bananas and moved on to asking if we could go ice skating today. It was summer in New York City and going to be in the eighties this afternoon. But I was so anxious to change the subject, I’d say yes to just about anything.
“Sure. Let me see if I can find a place.”
***
“What’s up, bossman?” After work, I decided to stop by my old job. I walked into Soren’s office and planted my ass on the other side of his desk.
He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back into his chair. “Well, look what the cat dragged in. Did Richie Rich figure out you’re nuts and fire your ass already?”
“No. Well, yes.” I shook my head. “I mean, I’m pretty sure he knows I’m nuts, but he didn’t fire me.”
Soren squinted. “He knows you’re nuts and hasn’t fired you? So he’s trying to get in your pants, then?”
I sighed. “I wish.”
His brows jumped. “Hot for the new boss?”
“I think I really need to get laid.”
Soren wrinkled his nose and waved his hands at me. “Don’t tell me shit like that. You’re like my sister.”
“Well, that’s sort of why I’m here. I want my big brother to do a little background check on a man I’m thinking about going out with.”
“Your boss? The Hollis guy?” He scraped his boots off his desk and sat up in his chair. “No problem.”
“Thanks. But actually, it’s not Hollis I want you to check out.”
“No?”
“No. His name is Benito. I met him online. He seems nice enough, but you know… He could be a serial killer.”
Soren picked up his reading glasses and shook his head. “What the hell are you meeting men online for? Meet them the old-fashioned way.”
I arched a brow. “You mean hire them to be my secretary and not tell them sucking my dick is part of the job until after they start?”
“You got some mouth on you.”
I tilted my head toward the door. “I noticed Bambi has been replaced. I’m guessing things didn’t turn out well. Again.”
He grumbled something under his breath.
In the two years I’d been with Soren, he’d had at least a dozen secretaries, most of whom he’d slept with.
“This Benito got a last name, or what?”
“Del Toro.”
“Benito Del Toro. Like the actor?”
“No, that’s Benicio. I know. The name is a little unfortunate. But he’s a few years older than me, so his mother named him before the actor became famous. Could be worse though. His name could be Jeffrey Dahmer.”
“He live in the boroughs?”
“Brooklyn Heights.”
“I’ll take care of it. Give me till morning.”
I smiled. “You’re the bestest boss…and since I’m here…why don’t we order from that Chinese place I love? I miss the food. And I miss you buying it for me even more.”
Soren shook his head. “You expect me to buy you dinner even after you quit on me?”
“You miss buying me food, and I know it.”
He opened his drawer, reached in, and tossed a menu at me. “Call it in. I’ll take my usual.”
***
“He was literally a fucking boy scout. Even has a credit score in the eight hundreds.” Soren called the next morning just as I walked up the stairs from the subway.
“Oh, wow. Okay. So no skeletons, then?”
“Nope. One car accident—ironically, while parking a few years ago. So you two should probably stick to public transportation. Owns his condo and his car outright. Same job for nine years. One sister—lives in bumfuck Nebraska. Mother died last year, and up until then, he’d been paying for her nursing home.”
I attempted to cross the street at a green light but had to stop abruptly when a cab made a sudden turn and nearly ran over my toes. The jerk blew the light only to get stuck in the crosswalk.
I banged on the trunk of his car. “Watch where you’re going, asshole!”
Soren chuckled. “Not sure why we bothered to check out this guy’s background. Pretty sure if he pisses you off, you’ll kick his ass.”
“Thanks for looking into him, Soren.”
“Anytime, kid. Better safe than sorry. And stop by more often, even if it’s just to bum a free meal. Office isn’t the same without you torturing me.”
I smiled. Such a softie behind the badass. “I will.”
I managed to navigate the two-block walk to work without getting into any more fights with cabs. While I waited for the elevator, my phone buzzed in my purse. I dug it out again and smiled seeing the name on the screen.
Benito: Good morning. Might today be the day she says yes?
There really was no reason not to go out with Benito anymore. Anyone Soren couldn’t find dirt on was squeaky clean. Plus, he was funny and handsome and seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me. Unlike a lot of guys, he asked me questions about myself, rather than telling me how great he was. Yet I still couldn’t bring myself to say yes to a date for some reason.
Though I didn’t want to say no anymore either. So I put off responding for now. I slipped my phone back into my purse and stepped onto the elevator.
Hollis’s apartment was quiet when I walked in, except for Huey’s greeting. Baaa! “Anna’s home!”
I still cracked up every time he made that sound. “Hi, Huey!”
He nodded his head rapidly. I swore he understood me, though no one else seemed to agree.
Hollis walked out of his bedroom and down the hall, taking long, rapid strides. At first, I assumed he was running late and in a rush. But the stony glare he flashed when he saw me made me second-guess that.
“Is…everything okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” he snapped.
“Okey dokey, then.” I dropped my purse on the dining room table and went to the kitchen to get myself some coffee. I kept a discreet eye on Hollis through my peripheral vision.
He struggled to close the cuff on one arm of his dress shirt, and I could see he was getting angrier by the second. Eventually, he gave up and let out a string of curses. He grabbed his suit jacket off the back of a chair, swiped his wallet and keys from a bowl on the kitchen counter, and marched toward the front door without another glance in my direction.
I just couldn’t help myself sometimes. I called after him in a sing-songy voice. “You have a fabulous day, too, Hollis!”
He glanced back with a hardened face and opened the front door. I sipped my coffee, expecting to hear the door slam shut, but instead he stopped in the entranceway. He stood in silence, looking up at the ceiling for a solid sixty seconds before turning around. If the moment he took was supposed to cool him off, it definitely hadn’t worked. Because the look on his face now was almost murderous.
“It’s inappropriate for you to be talking about your dates with Hailey.”
My brows furrowed. “What dates?”
His jaw ticked. “Benito?”
My mouth formed an O. That date.
If eyes shot daggers, I’d be pretty damn holey right about now.
“She’s eleven and impressionable. The last thing she needs to hear about is you sleeping around.”
Sleeping around? How dare he assume? I set down my coffee, and my hands flew to my hips. But before I could rip into him, he walked out and slammed the door shut behind him.
Un-freaking-believable.
So un-freaking-believable.
That man had some balls insinuating that I would discuss anything inappropriate with Hailey. Someone had obviously pissed in his Cheerios this morning. I needed to give him a piece of my mind. The jerk could’ve still been waiting at the elevator, so I headed for the door. Of course, the elevator that normally crawled had to be fast when I wanted it to take its sweet time. Hollis was already gone, though the hallways smelled like his aftershave. Which only pissed me off more because my damn body reacted to the scent.
Fuming, I went back into the house and in search of my cell. I thumbed off a four-paragraph angry rant, telling Hollis exactly what I thought of him and his accusations. But as my finger hovered over Send, a thought crossed my mind. Why send a text when I could do something much more vengeful?
I deleted what I’d typed and, instead, called up the last incoming text I’d received.
Benito: Good morning. Might today be the day she says yes?
I typed back.
Elodie: Today is absolutely the day. I’d love to go out with you, Benito. How’s Friday night at seven?
