The Brick Wall

Chapter 20

Curtis POV

  "I feel like I need to be honest about something, ya know upfront and all since you're letting me stay at your place for a couple days."

  Collins opens the back door of my truck, dropping a couple of shopping bags from Target onto the floorboard, pausing just long enough to tickle Lennox under her chin with her fingernail.  When she's finally climbing into the cab of the truck I put the gear into reverse and pull out of the parking lot. 

  She had agreed to watch Lennox for the next couple of days for me.  My mom honestly sounded relieved but assured me it had nothing to do with not having her grand baby around. Her body is becoming more and more exhausted as she fights her cancer battle. I told her not to worry, reminded her that I know she loves the little girl more than me.  She laughed and told me how correct my statement was. 

  So the three of us have spent the last hour running around town grabbing up whatever items Collins may need, on my own dime, since she's locked out of her apartment for a few more days. I'd thought about offering up my closet for her, but most everything would fall right off of her. It's possible that if she rolled the band of my sweats a few times they may stay up over her hips. 

  Might  not even have to roll them more than once. The moment I had earlier in my kitchen, watching her sway her ass caused me to realize she's actually got nice hips, the kind that would be easy to hold on to-

  For dancing, I urge a different thought forward rather than envisioning other things about the random woman.

  Idiot. Technically she's not exactly random anymore. 

  "What kind of skeleton's have you got hiding in your closet?" I ask, taking a sip of the coffee I brought with me, prodding her along to tell me whatever secret she's hiding so that my brain can refocus on something other than her nice behind.

  "I am not calling you Daddy."

  Coffee goes flying out of my mouth, landing all over the steering wheel, dash and windshield when I slam on my brakes in the middle of a busy street.  Horns are honking all around me while my wide eyes stare at the woman next to me.  "Come again?"

  "I am not calling you Daddy."

  "Why the hell would you?"  Another honk of a horn as I realize I'm just close enough to a stoplight that's now changing from green to yellow. 

  "I mean, I'll refer to you as daddy for Lennox but ya know, she's your real baby."  She nonchalantly passes me a stack of napkins out of the glove box, leading me to clean up the mess her off the wall commentary created. "You've got a little," she's motioning towards her chin. I don't bother with a napkin, instead rubbing the back of my hand over my beard. 

  She huffs a heavy, irritated breath before snatching a napkin from my grasp. "It's right," she's leaning over the console between us now, reaching towards my face which leads me to jerk my head away from her.  "Seriously?"

  I take the napkin that's already in my hand and make a big to do with wiping at my entire face. "How about you try and make some sense with what you just said."

  "About the mess on your face?" she asks quizzically.

  "About that Daddy sh- crap," I catch myself when I hear Lennox babble from the backseat of the truck. 

  "This," she starts waving her hands around the truck, grand gestures made towards the bags at her feet from the grocery store and the shopping bags in the back. "You buying me this stuff. I am not your Sugar Baby, understood?"

  "A what?" 

  This woman exacerbates me.

  "A Sugar Baby," she repeats.