Bumbled Love by Lila Rose

Chapter One

Brooke

Reagan and I had been best friends for a long time. We considered each other family, and I would honestly be lost without her. I was a little miffed that she was gaining the attention of Carter Anthony, quarterback to the Wolves, because it meant I would be seeing less of her. However, my happiness for her outshone anything else.

I wished I had something like what Carter and Reagan had. Not that they were together yet, the chase was still happening, but I could see the lovey-dovey gazes they shot each other. Even if they were oblivious to the other’s attention.

It was sweet, soft, and so cute.

Something I wanted to find.

Then I’d met Dustin Grant. He was at the bar with Carter, because they were friends and teammates, and I’d thought there was a connection between Dustin and me when we’d made eye contact… or it could have been just me being a sex-depraved hussy since Dustin was Fine with a capital F. But he was sweet, funny, and charming. Also, he hadn’t seemed fazed by the talk of sex toys, and I’d thought he could make me smile and be giddy like Carter made Reagan.

So, days later, when I saw him down the street one night and we started talking, I’d let my mind consider that something could spark between us. It didn’t matter he wasn’t my usual type, since I loved men in suits and who had the smarts to take on the world, but there was something about Dustin and his carefree, cute attitude that appealed to me. Hence, when I’d asked him what he was doing the next night, I hoped he’d get the hint and ask me out. He’d told me he was in a bind, that he had some lunch event he had to attend with a date but wasn’t sure he could go because he had other commitments.

Of course, I played it cool and said I could help out. He had smiled, which had my nipples perking up from their deep sleep when he told me my help would be fantastic. After our discussion, I’d floated away in a daze without gathering more information besides how to get to his house and each other’s phone numbers.

The next morning, full of those butterfly feelings about the date with Dustin, I rang my nana on the way to let her know.

“What?” she answered.

“Good morning to you too, Nana Bev.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s too early to be chirpy.”

It was early, but Dustin had said it was a lunch charity event that was an hour away. “But I have good news.”

“Please, pray Jesus, tell me you’re knocked up and I’m finally gettin’ a great-grandbaby?”

“Well, no—”

“Then I’m goin’.”

“Nana Bev, this could lead to having a baby.” Okay, I was thinking way ahead of myself, but the thrill of knowing I was going on a date made me say it.

“All right, I’m listenin’.”

“I’ve got a date.”

“Boy or girl?”

My nana knew I was bisexual, and it didn’t faze her as long as I was loved and she got a great-grandbaby out of it before she died. Those were her words exactly.

“A guy.”

“All righty. Now tell me you’ve tidied up your probably-grown-over bush since you haven’t seen any action in a damn long time.”

“Jesus, Nana. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Fine, fine. But do you need advice on how to find your G-spot—”

“I’m hanging up now, Nana.”

She cackled like the crazy lady she was. “Love you, boo, and good luck.”

“Love you too, and thanks.”

Taking one last look in the rearview mirror at my subtle but classy makeup, I then checked my new short black dress and heels. Everything was still in order, so I climbed out of the car and headed for Dustin’s apartment.

After I knocked, the door opened quickly, and I smiled warmly at the sight of Dustin in his fancy suit. A sigh slipped past my lips as my gaze traveled over him.

“Hey.” He grinned. “Thanks so much for doing this. Come on in.” His words confused me a little, so when he walked off, I quickly stepped in and shut the door before following him down the hall and into the living room.

Then froze.

“Benjie, this is Brooke.” Dustin curled his hand over a boy’s shoulder, who was Dustin’s mirror image.

“Brooke, this is Benjie, my six-year-old son.”

Son.

His son.

A boy from his loins.

“Benjie, Brooke’s here to look after you.”

I was there for Benjie?

My stomach twisted at my own stupidity. Seriously, where had I gone wrong in that conversation on the street?

Still in my state of shock, I slowly turned when I heard footsteps approaching.

“Hi, baby. I’m a little early, but I thought since it’s far away, you never know how traffic will be.” A gorgeous woman eyed Dustin over my shoulder as she swayed her hips our way. Her gaze snapped to me and ran over my body before a smirk lifted her lips. She strode by me and curled herself around Dustin. “Who’s this?”

“Letta, this is Brooke. She’s taking care of Benjie for me.”

An urge to punch Dustin in the balls, or myself in the tit for reading the conversation wrong, hit me. What stood in front of me was nothing like I thought would happen.

The woman ran her eyes over me again and giggled. I wanted to rip her tits off at the patronizing sound. Like she really knew I had read the situation wrong. But how could she?

You’re wearing heels and a slutty little black dress, idiot.

The only thing I could do was pretend that I didn’t make a fool of myself by thinking Dustin wanted to go on a date with me.

Forcing a smile, which I hoped wasn’t scary, I said, “Benjie, it’s cool to meet you. I don’t usually dress like this for fun, but I had to pop into work early for a meeting before I could have the day off and didn’t get a chance to change.”

Benjie shrugged and gripped his dad’s pants. He looked unsure, which I didn’t blame him for, since I was a stranger to the poor boy. Did Dustin have strange women mind his son often? If yes, it was bad form. Anyone could be a crazy lady.

“Hey, how about we go for a drive for some ice cream, and we can stop at my place so I can get changed? We could even go to a park.” I pulled my gaze up to Dustin and ignored the tart near rubbing herself over him in front of his son. “If that’s okay with you?”

“There’s a booster seat in the garage you can take. But what do you think, buddy?” He smiled down at Benjie.

Benjie shrugged. “I’m okay with it.”

Dustin chuckled, and I wanted to throat punch him, disgruntled it sounded nice and deep. “I’m sure you’re okay with ice cream and the park.”

Really, could I blame Dustin for the whole mix-up? I wanted to—boy, did I want to—but it wasn’t completely his fault. I’d been dazzled by his looks and charm.

Dammit. It would have been easy to blame Dustin wholly.

Benjie’s lips twitched. “Maybe?”

Hopefully, I could make this day better—even when my skin itched with a flush of embarrassment—by spending time with a six-year-old kid and having fun. I would make the best of my day off.

What could also help my mood was punching Dustin in the balls. Then again, Dustin and I would have probably been terrible together. Really, this saved me from a crap date.

“Great. Let’s hit the road, kid, so we can get the fun started.” I held my hand out and hoped Benjie trusted me enough to take it. He looked up to his dad one last time, who smiled and nodded, before he walked across the floor and took my hand.

His was so tiny in mine.

A pang of want hit me in the chest.

For a while now I’d been thinking about having a family to call my own. While I had Nana Bev and Reagan, even her family, I wanted children. I wanted a man or woman who I had a connection with and could call my own.

“Thanks, Brooke. You two have fun and we won’t be late.”

Turning, I waved over my shoulder. “No problem.” If I hadn’t been petty, I would have told him to have fun, but I wouldn’t have meant it and Nana always said lying was a sin.

By the time I got Benjie in his booster seat, Dustin and his date were already outside ready to take off. Ignoring them, I climbed into the driver seat and looked over my shoulder to Benjie. He was frowning while looking out the window at his dad.

Starting the car, I asked him, “What’s your favorite ice cream, Benjie?”

“My real, real favorite?”

Smiling, I nodded. “Yep.”

“Chocolate.”

“Hmm, I do like that, but mine’s caramel from the store where you can add mix-ins.”

His eyes widened. “Like candy?”

“Exactly. What to try it?”

“Yeah! My friend told me all about it, but I haven’t tried it yet.”

“Today’s your lucky day then. We’ll get one of those and go to a park close to my house. I’ve heard it’s pretty good, but you can be the judge of it.”

He gave me a big toothy grin. “Okay.”

By the time we reached the park, ice cream covered Benjie, but he’d managed to finish it. Of course I’d eaten mine back at the shop, since I didn’t know kids took forever and a day to eat them. The mess didn’t bother me, since I didn’t have the best of cars and I’d also changed into tracksuit pants and an old tee. All things could be cleaned. My mood had lifted a lot, happy to see Benjie smiling as he talked about his LEGO and the things he liked to build with them.

“Okay, a few rules before we play.”

He looked up at me and nodded, holding my hand tighter.

“First, we make sure we can see each other at all times.”

“Got it.”

“Second, we don’t talk to strangers.”

“My dad tells me that one.”

“Good.” I smiled. “Lastly, we have fun.”

He giggled. “Let’s go.” He wiggled my arm up and down before I dropped it and took off running, glancing back to see he followed and was laughing louder.

We went on the swings, slides, across the fort a million times, and even played in the sandpit. I hadn’t had so much fun in a long time. Benjie was such a cute little kid.

“Hey.”

Turning from Benjie on the swing again, I smiled at a man who seemed in his forties. “Hi.”

“You look like you’ve had fun. Not many mothers get out there and play with their kids.”

“Oh, he’s not mine. I’m minding him for someone.”

He nodded, and I didn’t miss the way his gaze dragged slowly over my body. Even in my old clothes, a flash of heat lit his eyes. I found it slightly sleazy at a park when there were kids around. I mean, maybe people picked up in parks, but I knew I wasn’t going to be one of them.

“I have a daughter. She—”

“Stranger danger. Stranger danger,” Benjie shouted as he came running up and pointing to the man beside me.

Laughing, I took Benjie’s hand and told him, “Benjie, it’s okay.”

His brows pinched together. “But you don’t know him, right?”

I couldn’t lie. “No, I don’t.”

His eyes widened. “Then he might take you to his car and kill you. You have to be careful, Miss Brooke.”

Miss Brooke. I loved it when he first said it at the ice cream parlor, and I loved it now.

Biting my bottom lip to stop my smile, I nodded down at him. “This is true.” I looked to the man. “Sorry, the plan was to not talk to strangers. I have to stick to it.”

The guy snorted out a laugh. “How about I get your number—”

“No!” Benjie yelled and started pulling me away from him. Grinning, I threw up a hand to the guy, as if to say, “What can I do,” and followed after Benjie.

Besides, I was happier spending time with Benjie than talking to douches who hit on women at parks.

After some more time playing, Benjie and I walked back to the car. I shook Benjie’s hand in mine. “Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“You hungry?”

“I could eat.”

This kid. All day he’d made me smile. “How about we get some takeout on the way back to your place, since it’s getting late?” We’d eaten lunch at the food truck not far from the park but had gone back since I promised Benjie some more time on the slides.

“Can we get chicken nuggets?”

“Chicken nuggets are a must.”

“Yay!” he cried, jumping into the car.

This kid had so much energy, I wished I could steal some. By the time we got back to his house and had eaten, though, he was finding it hard to keep his eyes open on the show we were watching in the living room.

“Do you need a bath or shower before bed?”

“Nah, I’m not stinky.” He quickly looked away, which made me think he was supposed to wash before bed.

“How about I start the shower for you, get it to the right temperature, and you have a quick wash before hopping into your pajamas.”

His lips thinned as he thought it over. “No thanks.”

Ruffling his hair, I laughed. This kid was awesome. “Okay, what do you want to trade for a shower?”

“Huh?”

“You can ask for something, but as long as you have a shower for whatever it is you want.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” I nodded.

“Okay, let me think.” He tapped his chin a few times. “I’ll wash if you come back another day to play?”

Damn.

Well, I couldn’t really say no to those bright eyes, and I was sure Dustin would need help another time for one of his other dates. I ignored the dip to the belly over that thought and reminded myself Dustin and I wouldn’t be good together anyway. “Fine, but I’m just not sure when it’ll be.” I held out my hand. “Deal?”

He took it and shook. “Deal.”

After he showered and dressed in Spider-Man pajamas, Benjie yawned and looked over at me on the couch. “Can you read me a story?”

“Of course. Want to do it while you rest in bed?”

He nodded, and together we made our way down the hall to his bedroom, which was decked out with everything a boy could think of. There were more superheroes, LEGO, and Transformers than I’d ever seen in one room.

Benjie hopped into bed and pulled the covers up. He held a soft bunny toy under one arm and looked up at me. I helped tuck him in before moving over to the shelf that held books. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Anything.”

“All right.” I picked one out and moved over to sit beside him on the bed. My heart warmed when he curled into me and rested his little head on the side of my arm. “Ready?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the p.

It didn’t take long for his eyes to close as I read about a wizard called Harry Potter, which I was sure I’d seen a movie of. Even after he’d fallen asleep and started drooling on my arm, I stayed there reading because I wanted to enjoy myself with this little monster.

“Hey,” I heard, and I let out a little yip as I looked to the doorway.

Dustin stood there with a smile on his face. For a moment I’d forgotten where I was and whose child I’d been taking care of. I quickly adjusted Benjie to lie down and stood from the bed, leaving the book on the bedside table. I snuck on my tippy-toes to the door and pushed Dustin out of the way.

“He’s asleep.” Why I had told him the obvious, I didn’t know.

Dustin chuckled. “I can see that. Sorry I got back so late.”

Waving it off, I walked back down the hall and into the living room. “It’s fine. Benjie’s a heap of fun to hang out with. I may have promised to do it another day to get him in the shower.”

Another chuckle from Dustin sounded, and I still wanted to throat punch him for the way it caressed over my skin.

Why did I like the sound of his voice?

“Anyway, I better go. See you around.” I grabbed my bag and started for the door. Along the way, I happened to notice the woman he took wasn’t around.

Unless she’s in his bedroom waiting for him.

Shut up, brain.

“I really appreciate this.” Dustin stopped at the door when I stepped out.

I nodded, then when I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and since I didn’t want to look at him any longer because he still looked good, I made my way down to the car.

I headed to my cold, quiet home and wallowed about having no one there to fill the rooms.

God, I was pathetic.

But at least I had found a new friend in Benjie.