“Talk to your brother lately?” I asked after we’d finished dinner. Janice had forgiven me, but Ret wouldn’t be so easy.

He was too much like me for that to happen.

“I talked to him yesterday. I told him I was coming here for dinner.”

I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off Janice. She looked so much like Jackie that my heart ached. It was bittersweet. At least a piece of my wife lived on in our girl. “What did he say?”

“He wished me luck.” She laughed softly and wiped her lips.

“Funny guy,” I whispered and shifted in my chair. “Where’s he at?”

“Near Miami, but he’s ready to make a move as soon as he finds the job of his dreams.”

“What’s he doing now?” What kind of shitty father am I? I didn’t even know what the hell my kid did for a living. After he got out of the military, we lost touch.

“He’s a bounty hunter.”

My entire body rocked back in the chair. “No shit?”

“Yep. He’s been doing it for a few years. He gets restless though and moves around a lot.”

My kid, the bounty hunter. “Is he married?”

“Well,” she said with a grimace. “He lives an…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked at Fran. “Alternative lifestyle.”

“He’s gay?” My mouth fell open.

Janice snorted. “No, he has a girl.”

“A girlfriend?” Fran asked, saving me the awkwardness.

Janice scrubbed a hand across her face, but she couldn’t stop her laughter. “Yeah, I guess you can call her that.”

I looked at Fran, and she shrugged. “Well, what is she?”

“They met at a club.”

I held up my hands. “Stop.” I couldn’t discuss this with my kid, no matter how old she was.

“Like Izzy and James?” Fran asked me.

I nodded. “Just tell me he’s the boss, at least.”

“Yes.” Janice snorted again with the rosiest colored cheeks. “She calls him sir. It’s kind of sickening.”

“I like the sound of that.” My fingers tangled in my beard as I stared at Fran.

“Never going to happen, big boy,” Fran replied quickly and swatted my arm.

“A guy can wish.” I smirked.

Janice placed her hands on her belly and stared at us. “It’s nice to see you’re at peace, Dad.”

“I am,” I said with a smile and placed my hand over Fran’s on top of the table. “For the first time since your mother died, I am.” Fran sucked in a breath and made a weird, throaty noise. “She’s a good woman.” I clutched her fingers tighter.

“You’re an amazing cook, Fran. Thanks for a wonderful meal.”

“Isn’t she, though?”

“Oh, stop. All I did was make lasagna. It’s not a big deal.” Fran blushed before leaning over to kiss me.

Warmth flooded me. Having Fran and Janice with me felt better than I could ever dream. I finally felt at peace with my daughter. So much of her life I’d been gone, but I wasn’t going to let that happen again. I had a lot to make up for, and I planned to be around to be the father I never had been to her.

“When are you due?” Fran asked as she started to clear the table.

“Three weeks, but I’m hoping it happens sooner. The Florida heat is killing me.”

“Three weeks?” I felt sick. I knew it was irrational to worry that she’d meet the same fate as her mother, but I couldn’t stop myself from worrying.

“I’ll be fine, Dad. Calm down.”

“I can’t be calm. In three weeks, I’ll be a grandpa. Jesus, fuck.” Suddenly I felt dizzy. “Oh, God.”

Fran turned around from the sink and rolled her eyes. “You’re such a baby.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” I held my stomach, trying to wrap my head around that little nugget of truth. Grandpa. I was going to be a motherfucking grandpa.

I wasn’t ready for it.

When I looked in the mirror, I saw an older version of myself, but not a grandfather. Those men were hunched over, half-crippled shells of their former selves. I wasn’t that. I still had life. I still had strength. Fuck, my dick still stayed hard without the help of that little blue pill.

“Bear, snap out of it.” Fran waved her hand in front of my face as I sat there like a zombie. “For shit’s sake,” she muttered before touching my cheek with her hand. “You’re still you, babe. You’re still my Bear.”

“Grandpa Bear,” I whispered, my eyes bouncing between Janice’s belly and Fran’s tits. “Grand. Pa.”

“Maybe we’ll get the baby to call ya Pops,” Janice said.

“Pops. Fuck.” I hung my head and thought about it. It wasn’t as bad as Grandpa and hell, maybe people would think the kid was mine. I sighed heavily. “It’s fine. As long as its healthy and you’re okay, I’ll be just fine.”

Janice stayed for a few more hours and left just before dark. I insisted on her leaving because I didn’t want her on the road and driving in the sticks. It wasn’t safe, and she had precious cargo on board.

As soon as Fran closed the door, I slammed her against the wall, using my body as the ram. “I want you,” I said against her neck, running my lips up the side.

“What got into you?” She wrapped her arms around me, tipping her head back to give me better access. “Have something to prove, old man?” She laughed softly before moaning when I sank my teeth into the corner of her neck where it met her shoulder.

I pulled back, staring into her dark brown eyes. “This old man can still fuck until you pass out.”

“I was just tired—”

I pressed my lips to her, devouring her words and her bullshit. I knew I still had it. Her lips opened, giving me her sweet softness as I kneaded her breasts in my palm. When she moaned, I knew I had her.

When our lips disconnected, she stood against the wall and panted. Backing away, I narrowed my eyes and took in her beauty. “Strip, Franny. I need to be in you.”

“Right here?” she asked, using the wall as an anchor.

I pointed to her and motioned to her clothing. “Right here. Get naked.”

She swallowed hard and nodded. Slowly she pulled her shirt over her head, exposing her red lace bra and beautiful tits, and tossed it to the floor.

I drew in a shaky breath, but I kept my eyes pinned to her. “Pants too.”

Without hesitation, she yanked off her skintight pants, letting them pool near her feet before kicking them away.

I turned my fingers in a circle. “Face the wall,” I told her, taking in all of her beauty and softness as she moved.

“You sure you don’t want to go in the bedroom?”

“I’m sure, sweetheart. Stop talking and put your hands against the wall.”

I took off my clothes at warp speed, giddier than a kid at Christmas and needing to prove my virility—still not over the fact that I was about to become a grandfather.

Pressing my front to her back, I placed my mouth close to her ear. “Who’s your daddy?”

“Tom,” Fran said with a bit of chuckle.

But her laughter died when I tangled my fingers through her raven hair and pulled her head back. “A smartass and greedy, but I know how to shut you up.”

My lips crashed against hers, stealing her breath and her words. My hand drifted down her body, cupping her ass gently in my rough palms before sliding between her cheeks and checking her readiness for me.

She moaned softly in my mouth and pushed her body against my hand. My fingers moved to her front, coated in her need, and slowly rubbed her clit in a circular motion.

Breaking our kiss, I growled. “Do you want me?”

“Yes,” she said in an airy, wanton tone.

“Bend over and touch your toes.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “Do you know how old I am? Fuck me, Bear. I haven’t been able to touch my toes for twenty years.”

“Fran,” I said, trying to hold in my laughter. I hadn’t even thought about her age as a factor in the scene I had playing out in my mind. “Bend over and hold the door handle.”

“That, I can do.” Gripping the door handle tightly, she bent at the waist, pushing her ass against my body.

Wrapping my hands around her hips, I pulled them out, bending her farther to give me better access. Before she had a chance to say anything else, I pushed my cock inside and shivered in ecstasy.

“I love your greedy pussy. So fucking good,” I growled, pushing myself deeper until there was nowhere else to go but pull out and ram back into her.

“Fuck me,” she moaned and met my thrust with enough force that she caused me to rock backward on my heels.

My hands tightened, stilling her movement as I controlled her motions and mine. I thrust into her with such force that her head tapped the wooden door, making a light knocking sound.

Neither of us cared.

We were too lost in the moment to laugh about it and too close to the precipice to stop. My fingertips dug into her flesh the closer to the edge I came. She hunched over, standing on her tiptoes and arching her back higher in the air to make me dive deeper and stroke her in just the right spot.

When Fran reached between her legs and touched herself—I lost it. My eyes blurred before fuzzy fireworks filled my vision, my body trembling through the orgasm that stole the air from my lungs. She followed me, moaning, and pushed against me, making my dick slide deeper inside.

“Jesus,” I said, holding on to her for fear of falling.

“You did good, Grandpa,” Fran said, yanking my proverbial chain and laughing.

I backed away, my cock coming with me, and slapped her ass. “Not yet.”

She jumped, her hand coming around to touch the very spot my hand just landed. “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “You still fuck like a champ.”

“Fran.” I started to laugh too and stroked my semihard dick. “I may be old, but I can fuck you into oblivion.”

She turned around with the naughtiest grin I’d ever seen. “Want to find out?”

I took a step forward and twisted my hand in her hair. “You and your greedy pussy are going to be the death of me, woman.”

“You’d only be so lucky to go that way.”

She was right too. I’d tempted fate half my life, and with my record in the good and evil columns, I was sure I wouldn’t be lucky enough to go out inside a woman. With my luck, I’d be hit by a semi or some crazy-ass shit—something agonizing as payback for being a pain in the ass my entire life.