Page 10 of Controlled Burn

He had to be headed out on a date, or maybe to meet friends, because he’d taken extra time with his appearance, and I had to say, he looked damn good.

“Hey, Dad.” He set down Robert’s toolbox with a clunk. “You can’t build stuff without your tools.”

I stared at him, trying to figure out what was different, other than the clothes, of course. I was used to seeing him in his work clothes that were very proper and professional, but this afternoon, he was wearing a floral print button-up made of a satiny-looking fabric that clung perfectly to his shoulders and chest. He’d paired it with a pair of salmon-colored skinny jeans and white boat shoes, and he looked nothing like the prim librarian I was used to.

“Thanks, Caleb. I’m almost ready to get started. I just need to break down the pallets, and I’ll be good to go. So I appreciate you bringing these over.”

“It’s no problem. I was in the neighborhood anyway, so I figured I might as well get them to you.”

“What are you doing in the neighborhood?” Robert asked, and Caleb let out a sigh. The two of them had made a ton of progress on their relationship, but Robert still had a habit of treating him like he was a kid instead of the grown-ass man he was. And a mighty fine one at that. Not for you, Keith. Absolutely not for you. I had to remind myself of that. He was Robert’s son, and he wasn’t my type at all. He was way too sweet for me.

“Actually, I have a date,” he said. “We’re meeting at The Roasted Bean.”

“A date? Okay. Who is this guy? Where did you meet him?” Robert asked.

“This is our first date,” Caleb said, not answering the question.

And that was when it hit me what was different about him. He wasn’t wearing his glasses. “Are you wearing contacts?” I asked.

He turned puzzled eyes on me, like he’d just realized I was there. “Yeah, I am. Why?”

“No reason. I knew something was different, and it just hit me what. You look nice.”

A pretty pink blush spread up his cheeks, and he ducked his head. “Thanks.”

“Okay, but where did you meet him?” Robert asked, not letting it go.

“A dating app, okay, Dad? We matched on a dating app, and this will be our first date, and the first time I’ll be meeting him.”

That got my attention. I’d met my fair share of boys on various hook-up apps, and that was no place for Caleb. He was way too sweet to be meeting up with some stranger he’d never even met before. Especially when he looked so damn irresistible.

“Do you want us to check him out? We could call up Ricardo and have him run his name, you know, just to be safe,” I suggested. Ricardo was a friend of ours who just happened to be a cop.

“I’m almost positive that’s illegal,” Caleb said, rolling his eyes.

“Only if someone finds out,” Robert said.

“I’m not a child, and I’m not stupid. We’re just meeting for lunch.” He glared at his dad. “But if I do decide to take it further, that’s my choice, and none of your business.”

He spun around, gave me a nod goodbye, and marched his fine little ass right out the door.

“Well, that could have gone better.” Robert shook his head. “I swear every time I start making progress with him, I stick my foot in my mouth.”

Caleb

I was still seething when I pulled into the coffee shop parking lot. This was why I never told my dad anything about my personal life. I knew he meant well and that most of it stemmed from him not being there when I was a teenager, but I was a grown-ass man, and the days of needing a father to tell me how to live my life was long past.

The irony of how annoying I found my dad’s interference while finding Daddies in romance novels to be so appealing didn’t escape me. But having a man who viewed you as a partner while understating you needed someone with a firm hand to help you navigate life was totally different from having a parent who still viewed you as a child. Or at least it was in my imagination.

I was still about ten minutes early for my lunch date with Cole, which would give me a chance to calm down.

My friends liked to give me a hard time about always being early. They didn’t understand that with the way my brain worked, there were only two options. I was either early or I was late, and I hated being late.

From where I’d parked, I had a good view of the entrance to the cafe. It was a pretty busy place, so I killed time watching people go in and out. I thought I would be able to recognize Cole from his picture, but that was assuming the one he used on the app was both an actual picture of him, and that it wasn’t ten years old.

A few minutes later, a white Ford Focus pulled up next to me, and a guy I was almost positive was him, got out.

He looked just like his picture, and I released a sigh of relief. At least his picture was legit. That was reassuring. I sat in the car for a minute so it wouldn’t look like I’d been waiting for him to arrive, and then I got out and went inside.