Just a Bit Dirty (Straight Guys #10)(10)

Caldwell didn’t fire him. He cocked his head to the side slightly, still looking at him with that unreadable, intense gaze of his. Staring. Again.

Miles drew in a deep breath. “Look, what do you want from me? What’s up with all the weird staring? Do you want me to suck your cock or something?”

Caldwell blinked before giving him a look of exasperation. “No, thanks. I don’t want you to suck my cock. I’m straight.”

Well, that was… a relief.

“Now I’m even more confused,” Miles said, crossing his arms over his chest. “What’s up with all the staring, then?

Caldwell sagged back in his seat, his expression unreadable. “I’ve been observing you, that’s all. I have an idea, and I’m still not sure whether it’s a good one or not.”

“What idea?” Miles said, walking closer to the desk before dropping himself into the chair opposite Caldwell’s without being invited to. He pretended not to see his boss’s unimpressed stare. “Well?”

Caldwell averted his gaze before looking back at him. “Are you aware that I have a son?”

Miles just nodded, waiting for an explanation.

“A year ago, he went through a… traumatic experience,” Caldwell said in a stilted voice. “Since then, he’s been very skittish, avoiding all social interactions. He’s… difficult. I think he’s scared of people.”

Miles frowned. “You think? You don’t know for sure? You can’t ask your son?” As far as he remembered, Caldwell’s son was three. Miles was far from being an expert on children, but he was pretty sure three-year-olds talked reasonably well. At least his nephews had at that age.

Caldwell glared at him. “He doesn’t speak yet.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Caldwell’s glare intensified, as if he wanted nothing more than to disintegrate him right there and then. “He’s a healthy child; all the doctors say so. They think it’s a psychological barrier, not anything serious.”

Miles nodded and finally asked about the elephant in the room. “Why are you telling me this?” He had an idea and he really hoped he was wrong.

“You look like my ex-wife,” Caldwell said tersely. “Maybe seeing you will help my son overcome whatever mental block he has.”

So much for that hope.

“Why don’t you just ask his mother?” Miles said with a pinched look. “The person the kid probably misses?”

Caldwell’s face became blank. “That’s impossible.”

“Why not? Is she dead?”

“No.”

“Then why not? Don’t you think your kid’s health is more important than whatever issues you have with your ex-wife?”

The look Caldwell shot him was positively withering. “You’re forgetting yourself. It’s none of your business.”

Miles met his gaze calmly. “You’re kind of making it my business,” he said. “If you want me to help you, you should actually answer my questions instead of being a tight-lipped prat.”

“She’s in a rehab center now. Heroin addiction.”

Oh.

“That… sucks,” Miles said uncomfortably. “How long is she going to stay in rehab?”

Caldwell shrugged. “Her addiction is serious, and I’ve been told she’ll need long-term care. I don’t know the exact time frame. She isn’t my problem anymore.”

Nice.

But Miles told himself not to judge the guy too much. Addiction was very hard on one’s family.

“Is that why you have custody of your son?” Miles said. “Isn’t it… cruel to take her son away too while she’s fighting her drug addiction?”

Something ugly and bitter flickered across Caldwell’s face, his eyes cold as ice. “Considering that she tried to use her own son to cajole more money out of me for her drugs, and abandoned him in an unfamiliar place for days while she was high as a kite, no, I don’t feel very sorry for her.”

Miles squirmed a little in his seat. Although Caldwell’s anger wasn’t directed at him, it still felt like a force, something cold and vicious. Suddenly, he felt sorry for the guy’s ex-wife. Being the focus of such intense anger and hatred must have been more than a little frightening.

“So, you want me to do what, exactly?” Miles said, changing the uncomfortable subject to one that was only slightly less uncomfortable. “To meet your son? How do you even know that would work?”

“I don’t,” Caldwell said. He didn’t say anything else, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

Miles bit his bottom lip, realizing what the other man wasn’t saying: that they had nothing to lose and Caldwell was desperate enough to try anything at this point. Maybe the guy did have a heart, after all.

“You said your son was difficult,” Miles said. “In what way?”

Caldwell averted his gaze. “He doesn’t talk. He goes into hysterics whenever he’s taken out of the house. He’s not much for physical contact. He cries a lot, and he doesn’t sleep well. He’s scared of loud noises and most people, me included. The doctors say Liam has some autism symptoms, but they’re not major enough to affect his behavior so drastically. They think he suffered some kind of psychological trauma while his mother had him after we split up. I got my son back as soon as I was able to prove that she was unfit to care for him, but it was too late at that point.”