Chapter 3: Sunrise

A ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are for. – William G. T. Shedd

Reese was running through the park and saw the Navy recruits doing their morning work out. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he had done that. His ear bud chirped and he glanced at his watch to see a message from his niece. 

'It’s too damn early to be ducking running. hey autocorrect - it's NEVER ducking'

Chuckling to himself, he hit the button on the screen to call her. She answered on the second ring. “Language young lady.”

“Sorry, I’ll fucking enunciate next time.” She grumbled with a sleepy voice. “Had to catch a ride home last night. My car is dead.”

“Your mom gets home, we’re having a long talk about that piece of shit.”

“Language old man.” She teased back. 

“Let me finish my run and I’ll head home.” 

“Too early for all that.”

“I haven’t been to bed yet.” He pointed out at he turned to do another lap. “Have to go see the accountant today.”

“Find me some money.” She said as she always did.

“If I find you anything, it’s going to be a new car.” He replied and then muttered something under his breath. 

“Did you just say cheeseburger?” Dean laughed. 

“Too damned skinny.” He said. 

“For someone who spends so much time working out, you have a strange obsession with thick women.” She laughed at him and he could hear her moving around and the shower turning on.

“What can I say, I like to know I’m not going to break my toys.”

“Gross.” She said with a gag as emphasis. 

“Finishing my last lap.” He told her as he passed the recruits as they began to run. “Morning.” He told the recruiter. 

“Morning, sir!” the woman called back and then she had her platoon echo her.

“Go flirt.” Dean said and the call ended.

“Mind some company?” the woman in the yellow Navy shirt and blue PT shorts asked as she fell in step with him. 

“Nearly done, but why not.” He replied with an easy grin.

“You run here, often?” She asked. 

“Today is late for me.” He admitted. “I’m usually back home by now. You do this often?”

“Every Wednesday.” She smiled. 

Yeah, she was flirting. He was willing to play the game. But he was willing to bet that she was around the same age as his daughter. That made it a no go. 

“At least with the recruits.” She added. “I come more often by myself.”

There it was. I come here by myself. I need a strong man to protect me. Which if he opened that door would lead to the sex kitten. Or the pissed off I don’t need no man lioness. He didn’t want to play with either. 

“Maybe I’ll see you again.” Reese said as he motioned to the parking lot. “This is me.” He smiled down at her and then turned to the recruits. “HOO-YAH!”

He pulled off the path to do his stretches as the dozen or so teens continued on their run. He went through his routine before getting into his restored 1969 Impala. It didn’t take long to pull into the shared driveway between his house and his younger sister. 

Dean met him in the kitchen of his house. “Was she hot?”

“Not bad, probably around Cheryl’s age.” He kissed the top of her head as he passed. “Let me grab a shower and we’ll go. Order coffee.”

“You’re my favorite uncle!” the sixteen year old yelled down the hall. 

Less than ten minutes later, he returned with damp hair and fresh clothes. He wore black slacks and a white short sleeve Oxford shirt that was tucked in tightly. His muscles strained the cotton across his shoulders and chest. The leather and camo belt with the Navy Seabee buckle emphasized his trim waist. He slipped on his boots that he kept by the door and looked over at Dean.

“You ready?”

She looked up at him from her phone. Grinning she aimed the phone at him. “Good morning, fam. This is my uncle Owen, everyone calls him Reese, because that’s his last name and the military is weird like that. He likes thick girls and freaky sex.”

“You post that and I’ll turn your phone off.” He warned. He knew she wasn’t filming because he could see her phone in the mirror behind her. But he wasn’t going to tell her that.

“I wasn’t even filming.” She smiled and turned the phone around to show him her home screen. “I don’t want freaky women messaging me.”

“Good.” He grabbed the keys off the hook and they left. 

After getting coffee, he dropped her off and headed to the Cooper Stone office building across town. Reese was not looking forward to the TRAAC receptionist. She was a cute little blonde that thought she was what every man wanted. 

Personally, Reese preferred natural curves over surgical ones.

He was disappointed when he walked into the lobby of Cooper Stone and discovered that the cute brunette had been replaced by a touchscreen kiosk. There were times that he hated technology. He was frowning as he took the elevator to the twelfth floor. 

And pleasantly surprised when he opened the door to the accounting firm and saw said brunette. 

“Hi, Mr. Reese.” The fake blonde with the fake boobs said in a fake sultry voice. “I’ll let Mr. Thompson know that you’re here.”

“Donna, we talked about this. This is Helen’s job now. If you can’t stay in the data entry area, we may have to rethink your employment.”

Frank Thompson stood behind the two women at the reception desk. His gray hair was short and his blue eyes cold and piercing. He wore a dark gray suit with a bright teal tie. The angry look on his face made the blonde slink away quietly. 

“Helen, I know that Donna has been training you for the past week, but I would ask that you not share the appointment calendar with her.” Frank said kindly. “You’re doing great.”

Reese saw the Dom traits in his friend in the way he handled each of the women. The blonde was disciplined while the brunette was praised. The thought of her in submissive pose had his cock hardening. Never before was he so glad he took the extra eleven seconds and not gone commando.

“Thank you.” She said with a small smile and blush.

His cock twitched and he bit back a groan.

“You’re welcome.” Frank said before turning towards Reese. The look on the older man's face told Reese that they shared similar thoughts about his new receptionist. “Come on back and we’ll see about me stealing more of your money.”

“Between you, Uncle Sam and my girls, I don’t have much for you to steal.” Reese laughed as they went down the hall. 

“But you do have some more for me to steal?” Frank joked as they went into his office.