Daring Desires: My daughter's ex-boyfriend
Running into Caden working at a seedy motel, and him giving me a connecting room to his, is not the way I saw my visit with my daughter going.
I had expected my daughter, Aurora, to be a mess after her boyfriend of two years ended their relationship. But she was fine. Apparently, it hadn't been going as well as I assumed.
The last time we spoke about Caden, they'd been in love, and living together was fulfilling every hope and dream they'd been nurturing since meeting in a first-year college Biology course.
Then, suddenly, it was over, with Caden saying he no longer loved her.
I knew how that felt. My wife had walked out on me six years ago with very little explanation other than she had fallen out of love with me. The kicker was that she had fallen right back in love within months of leaving me. Pretty sure she had been seeing the guy behind my back.
A fresh cloud of rain nearly obliterated my ability to see out my windshield. The last term of college was finished in a couple of days, and I had promised to drive the five hundred miles to pick Aurora up and take her home. She'd accumulated too much stuff in her apartment to fly.
I found the motel I was looking for in the rainy dark and pulled in off the road. Aurora had insisted I stay at her place on the sofa, but I needed more privacy than that. I was a terrible sleeper. Snoring and mumbling in my sleep. Never knew what was going to come out of my mouth.
I'd spent many years in the military, and I suffered from PTSD. Much of what I mumbled or sometimes shouted was related to some of the more frightening and ugly missions I'd been on.
I parked my car and took off across the parking lot on foot, lifting the back of my coat to try to stop the rain from soaking my hair and clothes through. I was unsuccessful.
The office I entered was dingy and precisely what I had expected of the cheapest motel in town. I tapped the bell a couple of times and waited for someone to emerge from the back.
Oh, shit.
A familiar face appeared, and then he approached the desk.
My pulse did a little dance.
"Caden … I didn't know you worked here."
"Only been here a few weeks. Since Aurora and I broke up."
"I thought you were working at the college pub."
"Not much to do there when classes wind down. I needed something more regular."
I nodded my head as my slow gaze wandered over him. Dark hair pulled back, and a face that could entice the chaste, I'd always thought Caden was a catch visually.
Correction.
The guy was beyond gorgeous. He was sex incarnate, and I'd had dreams about him that no dad should be having about his daughter's boyfriend.
The dreams, night and day, started when Aurora first introduced me to Caden. I'd nearly stumbled when he held out his hand to me to shake. Then I started sweating.
Aurora and Caden stayed in my house for four days and three excruciating nights. Knowing he was in the house, in a bed, maybe half-dressed—maybe nude, had done my head in.
I'd been a nervous, sleep-deprived mess their entire visit.
"Did you find a new apartment all right?" Why was I asking him that? He'd broken up with my daughter. I didn't really care whether he'd found new accommodation.
"I have a room here. One of the perks."
My heart sped up a little as I watched his lips form words. To my shame, I'd imagined those lips around my cock more than a dozen times. It filled me with guilt.
I cleared my throat. "I'd like a room. Two nights."
Caden tapped away at the ancient computer on the desk. "You picking up Aurora?"
"Yeah, she has a lot of stuff to bring home." Thankfully, the apartment came furnished, or I would have had to rent a moving van. Aurora had decided to finish her degree at our local college.
"I have the perfect room for you." Caden turned toward the back wall and lifted down a key with a massive plastic fob. No key cards here. I was really slumming it.
He set it on the desk. "That'll be fifty-five a night. I'll need your credit card details."
I dug my card out of my wallet and handed it to him. He manually typed it into the computer. I shook my head. I was frightened to see what my room looked like.
It was worse than I could have imagined. I hoisted my small bag onto one of the two double beds in the room. The covers had seen happier times, or maybe they'd bought them that old.
Beyond the threadbare material, a headboard straight out of the 70s. And a side table to match. Across from the foot of both beds, a dresser with a television on top that was fairly new.
I wrinkled my nose. There was an unmistakably musty scent that grew more prominent as I approached the bathroom.
Oh, my god.
The tilework in the shower appeared as if someone had given up trying to clean the grout lines. The toilet looked original to the building and probably was. I turned on the sink tap.
Of course, the water pressure was horrible.
A part of me wished I had brought surgical gloves on my trip. I was afraid to touch anything in the room. It would have to do. Fifty-five dollars a night was all I could afford.
I sat at the end of the bed and tried to convince myself it wasn't that bad. I hadn't noticed before, but beside the dresser was a door to what I assumed was a connecting room.
I went to check it out. When I turned the handle, I was satisfied it was locked. Even when I twisted the locking mechanism on the handle to its other position, the door stayed locked from the other side. No one would be getting in here.
I relocked the door and lifted a pamphlet outlining the restaurants that were within walking distance. I looked out through the window past the stiff orange curtains. It had stopped raining.
Deciding to try the nearest diner, I set out to get a late dinner. Aurora and I could go out for a meal tomorrow night. Right now, I needed comfort food at a bargain price.
I was led to a well-worn booth. Red pleather that had indents where thousands of bums had probably sat. I was sipping on a cup of decaf coffee when I heard my name.
"Hey, Mr. Fisher, you're eating late."
Caden placed both his hands on my table and leaned on them. Where his arms had been bare in the office, he was now wearing a black leather motorcycle jacket with steel buckles.
It was a look I liked.
"I didn't stop for dinner on the road," I replied.
"Their meatloaf is good here." Then he dropped down onto the seat across from me for reasons I could not fathom. I was his ex-girlfriend's dad. He'd broken up with her.
On any planet, that meant I was the enemy.
"Also, their pancakes are good if you're into breakfast for dinner." He folded his hands, set them on the table, and smiled at me with those pouty crimson lips of his.
I stared at his mouth, imagining kissing him, and at the thickness of his dark lashes surrounding his deep brown eyes that could seduce the coldest of men like me.
It wasn't until Aurora brought Caden home that I was forced to acknowledge my growing attraction to men. Sure, it had always been there, but it was ravenous now.
Caden scooted closer and dipped his head down.
"Did you notice the connecting door in your room?" he whispered.
I furrowed my brow and hesitantly answered, "Yes."
"My room is on the other side of that." Then he winked at me, sending my sudden, rapid, thundering pulse to occupy my ears. I wasn't sure I'd seen what I'd seen.
I swallowed.
"Sometimes, I don't lock my door," he added.
Okay, that was a definite pass. I leaned back and adjusted my pant leg. My cock had decided it was time to play. My brain had other ideas, but my body wasn't listening.
A perky young woman approached my table. "Decide on what you'd like to eat?"
My cheeks felt tight and hot. There was plenty I wanted to eat right now, but none of it was on the menu. He was sitting across from me and had invited me to a taste test.
I cleared my throat. "I'll have the meatloaf."
"Good choice." She scribbled on her little notepad, then sashayed away, headed for the passway into the kitchen. I clutched the table when Caden rose to his feet.
"I'm just here to pick up." He was almost past me when he stopped and put his hand on my shoulder. "The invitation is open … up to you."
He squeezed my shoulder and walked away. I turned in my seat to watch him. He was flirting with the server, making her laugh and blush. She passed him her notepad, and he wrote something on it. Probably his cell number. I grunted and returned to my coffee.
It was ten at night by the time I returned to the motel. I had trouble taking my attention off the door that separated my room and Caden's. Had he been serious?
I stripped down to my underwear in preparation for going to bed. Aurora wanted to meet me for coffee before her last exam. I'd need to be up by seven to shower and be there on time.
It wasn't as dark in my room as I liked. The sign from the motel shone a neon light into my room that cut through what darkness there was. I sat up. And illuminated that damned door.
It was like a beacon, calling me.
I whipped the blanket off and walked over to the door. Not sure how long I stared at the handle. I touched the cool metal, then took a deep breath and unlocked it.
It didn't make a sound when I turned the handle and opened it. Caden had kept his promise and unlocked his side of the door. His television was on, and he was sitting on his bed, his back against the headboard, holding a remote, flicking through the channels.
Jeezus.
He was naked, his knees bent, his cock hanging semi-hard between his legs.
Caden smiled at me. "Wasn't sure you'd be brave enough."