by Mia Kayla
Her curious eyes met mine. “What?”
“I hid under the bed.”
“Why?”
“Because I felt like the monsters wouldn’t get me there.”
When my mother had come home drunk, I’d hide, so she wouldn’t find me and yell at me. Under the bed was my regular hiding spot. It eventually became my comfort place.
I adjusted myself, so I was lying on the bed with her right beside me. “Why don’t you sleep? I’ll stay right here.” I pushed her hair away from her face and tucked an escaping strand behind her ear.
Both her hands lay under her cheek, and when she peered up at me, I could see Natalie in her. I’d obviously never met Natalie, but the house was filled with her pictures. In the main dining room, in the girls’ rooms.
She must have been a good person, maybe even feisty and stubborn at times. But no doubt, she was kind and full of love. I knew this because her children and Charles exuded those qualities, and she must have had a hand in that.
“Mary?” Charles peered in her room. His eyes widened, taking me in as I lay on Mary’s bed. “Her door was open.”
“Daddy, I had a nightmare.” She wiggled her fingers, her arm outstretched.
When he walked toward the bed and squeezed Mary’s outstretched hand, she tugged him toward the other side of the bed. “Sleep here, Daddy.”
When I inched away, getting ready to scoot off, Mary snuggled against my chest. “No, you too.”
“Mary.” My face was heating again as discomfort washed through me. “Your dad is here.”
“No. You. Too.” She peered up at her father. “Daddy, please. Sleep here.” Her voice was sweet, soft, sad from the nightmare.
The bed dipped when he lay on the other side, Mary now sandwiched between us.
My breathing accelerated, and I didn’t know what to do. Should I leave? But I didn’t want Mary to start crying again.
“Mary?” I whispered.
“Shh,” she said, all snuggled against my chest, her eyes pressed closed. “I’m sleeping.”
Charles laughed softly at her bossiness until she took his hand and wrapped it fully around her waist, his fingertips brushing against my waist.
“Closer, Daddy. I want to be in a bubble.”
Bubble of love.
He complied and moved closer, his hand fully on my hip. His touch was light, but I felt his touch everywhere. Pure heat rushed through me. It was so wrong, given that Mary was between us, yet I couldn’t stop my body from reacting.
I swallowed and counted the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. I could count a thousand sheep backward and forward or do breathing techniques, but I knew it would all be for nothing because there was no sleep happening tonight.
But I had been wrong.
The next morning, I awoke, drool down the side of my face. And alarmingly, I was in Charles’s arms, lying on his chest, still in Mary’s bed, sans Mary.
Goodness gracious, great balls of Zeus.
Because Charles’s erection was massive and pushing against my stomach.
My nipples pebbled against my thin white tank top and pushed against his chest. I hadn’t really noticed how thin it was when the only light in the room last night was Mary’s princess night-light.
I lifted my head, and with one hand, I swiped the dried drool from my mouth. On his shirt, I’d formed a small pool large enough for twenty ants to party in.
Gross.
I pushed my head off of his chest, and the slight movement had his one arm snaking along my lower back, locking me against him. I cringed. Now what? I’d rather not wake him, morning wood and embarrassing situation and all.
I tried again, slowly lifting my chest off of him. His sleepy eyes fluttered open before flying open. His eyes flew to my cleavage squished together at the position I was in, and instantly, his dick hardened even more.
I thought he was already hard. Good Lord!
I swallowed, and our eyes both moved to the tip of his dick peeking out from his boxers, wanting to make a statement.
“Fuck,” he grunted.
At that moment, Brad popped his head in. “Shit, please not in Mary’s room. Can’t you get water somewhere else? Damn it.”
After Brad slammed the door shut, I lifted myself off of Charles, but when he scooted out from under me, he fell off the bed.
He jumped to a standing position, his erection still pushing against the edge of his shorts. Our eyes both flew to his hard-on.
“Uh, Becky.” He covered his package with both of his hands.
When his face turned all shades of pink, I started laughing.
He shook his head and turned to the door, but he swiveled around to face me again. “It’s a natural morning reaction in men. It would have happened even if I wasn’t attracted to you … um … yeah.” His eyebrows scrunched together before he walked out. “I mean … I know you already know this.” The color from his cheeks moved to his ears before he about-faced and walked out the door.
When he left, I fell back in a fit of laughter because hellooooo, uncomfortable. I’d just woken up in bed with my boss, where he’d sported a so huge that I’m afraid it won’t fit erection.
The laughter ceased when I realized one thing. In Charles’s arms last night, I hadn’t had a nightmare. It was the first time since the accident that I hadn’t had one.
Chapter 17
Charles
Walking downstairs that morning and facing Becky at breakfast was awkward, to say the least. I made the girls breakfast and ignored Brad’s snickers and straight-on smirks, as though he knew something was up, when he obviously didn’t.
I couldn’t even look her in the face, given what had happened earlier.
When I sat at the table with my morning coffee, Sarah tilted her head, assessing me. “You’re late this morning. You’re never late.”
Of course, she was the most attentive.
“Daddy probably had to poop,” Mary said, head deep into her cereal, analyzing the marshmallows. “Sometimes, his poop takes a long time.”
My gaze flickered around the table—to Brad and Sarah laughing and to Becky, whose smile widened, stare focused on her plate.
“There’s no poop talk at the table, Mary,” Brad said.
I sighed. There was no way this day could get any more embarrassing.
“But it’s true. Daddy sits on the toilet for a long time.” She giggled. “While his long vagina just sits there with him.”
Brad laughed so hard that he coughed up his coffee, and it was coming out of his nose.
“Mary,” I cautioned her. “Eat your food. Stop talking until your food is eaten.”
She giggled. “I’m just telling the truth, Daddy.”
I swallowed and downed all my coffee, taking the cup to the sink. “Mary, that’s enough. If you don’t finish your breakfast, you’ll be late to school.” My face warmed, and I didn’t dare look in Becky’s direction, not wanting to take this embarrassment to the next level.
That was what happened when you had three men raising all girls. I never kept my bedroom or the bathroom locked. When I showered, they would come in and sometimes take their Barbies in there to play. When I wasn’t working, they always wanted to be with me—understandably so.
“Charles,” Brad called out, forcing me to look at him. If he spouted out with a smart-aleck comment, I might have to hit him. “Don’t forget, I have the photo shoot for that magazine spread today. Just keep the long vagina covered.” He barked out a laugh and stood from his seat, meeting me at the sink, placing his mug in the dishwasher.
“It’s for that single and ready to mingle bachelor billionaires under thirty.” His smile was smug. “The girls and everyone should be there. It’ll be an impromptu shoot.” He shot Becky a look. “Can you make sure the girls will be ready after school? The photographers will be coming to the house.”
“Sure thing.”
My eyes swung her way. “Becky, I’ll take the girls to school today.” My gaze flick
ered back to the door. “Girls, meet me in the car.”
We had a good five minutes before we needed to be out the door, but with all the talks of poop and swinging long ones, I’d had enough embarrassment today. I didn’t do well with situations I wasn’t in control of, and the situation with Becky and me was out of my control. I couldn’t rein in my feelings toward her. I couldn’t control how my body reacted to her. I couldn’t control what I was going to do next around her.
So, right now, I headed to the car.
Throughout the day, Becky filtered through every one of my thoughts. Her citrus scent followed me everywhere I went. Maybe I was conjuring up the smell of her shampoo. All I knew was that I was going a little bit crazy.
Fuck, it is going to be such a long, awful day.
And now that the embarrassment of waking up with a hard-on next to her and the poop situation had died down, I wanted to see her again—be in her presence, drown in her laughter. Yes, it would be awkward, seeing her again, but the need to see her trumped that.
“Charles?” Selena said, shifting in her seat to get my attention.
My head flipped up to our head of marketing sitting in the chair in front of me in my office.
I straightened in my seat and swallowed, unsure of how to answer because I hadn’t heard the damn question.
“What do you think, Charles?”
I cleared my throat and tapped my fingers against my desk.
She tilted her head, assessing me. She lifted her mock-ups and waved them in my direction. “You don’t like it, do you?”
I released a silent breath of relief, noting the mock-ups were of the packaging for the Colby Chocolate endeavor, one of the contracts we had with the biggest chocolate and candy factory in the nation.
“I like it. Seriously, it’s clean, and the branding is on point. Email it to Connor. Have him approve it, and then we can start printing their labels at the end of the month.”
Selena smiled, and her shoulders relaxed, fully satisfied with my answer. She stood and playfully saluted me. “Sounds like a plan, boss.”
As soon as she left and the door shut behind her, I rubbed at my brow.
Get a grip, Charles.
The door swung open, and Brad sauntered in like he owned my office. In typical Brad fashion, there had been no knock on the door. He sat in the seat that Selena had just vacated.
“You like my tie?” He unbuttoned his suit jacket and lifted his tie. “It’s new. It’s for tonight’s shoot. When I asked Sonia, she ignored me. Seriously, I can’t get an answer from that woman when it’s not about work.”
Which is exactly why Mason and I’d brought her on.
“It’s fine,” I said.
“This is the thing. I need a great tie, not just an it’s fine tie.”
My face was steady, my mouth slipping into a grimace. I had work to do, and given that my thoughts were on Becky, there was not enough time in the day to finish all I needed to do.
“It’s a great tie,” I deadpanned.
“Now, you’re lying.” He dropped his tie and rested his elbows on his thighs, leaning in. “Did you know that Mason is bringing Janice tonight?” His face scrunched, as though he had eaten something sour.
“You did say the whole family has to be there,” I pointed out.
He glared at me. “She’s not family.”
I threw my hands up. “They’ve been together for years. She’s on the way to being—”
He shot up on his feet. “Don’t say it. I mean, can we just be in denial and hope for the best for a little bit? Seriously, do you want that thing to be part of our family?”
I threw him a pointed look. “Be nice, Brad.”
He huffed like he was two. “All right, all right. Fine. Anyway, see you at the house later.” He stood and was almost to the door when he turned around and held out his tie again. “Fine tie or great tie? Tell the truth. This tie might be the difference between wife or death.”
I couldn’t help myself; I laughed, raising an eyebrow. “Wife or death?”
“Yeah. Finally finding myself a wife I can spend the rest of my life with or dying a lonely death by myself.” His eyes flickered to behind me, focusing on the skyline beyond my floor-to-ceiling windows.
With Brad, I never knew if he was serious or kidding. But in the brief silence, there was this look in his eye, a vulnerability that I never saw.
“At least I have the girls,” he said, erasing all the vulnerability I’d just seen moments ago. He smiled then. “They can change my Depends diapers. I changed their diapers for years, cleaning up poop and puke and all other bodily fluids a man of my age should not have to deal with yet.” With a wave of his hand, he was out the door. “Payback is a bitch, baby.”
When the door shut behind him, I rested my ankle on the opposite knee, my eyes traveling the length of my office, the bookshelves holding all the awards that our company had won throughout the years, gifts from clients and from suppliers. I swiveled my chair and stood, staring out the window, at the buildings as high as ours in the horizon, some even higher. At this height, it would seem as though I were on top of the world, a king on his throne. But as I rested my forehead against the glass, looking at the people, like tiny ants moving across the streets, Brad’s words rang loudly in my head.
“Wife or death.”
It was crazy, downright silly, but also true. What was the point in having it all when you didn’t have someone to spend it with?
If there was a difference between wife or death, I’d pick wife.
Chapter 18
Becky
“Mary, honey, get in the tub.” I had fifteen minutes to get this poor child dressed and changed and downstairs, ready for pictures.
Talk about dilemma.
When Mary had gotten home, she had decided that while I was doing laundry and while Sarah was calmly helping me neatly fold clothes, she would bake a cake … all by herself … and melt the chocolate in the microwave.
I hadn’t even known that the kid could use a microwave.
But no doubt, she was a genius, and she’d hoisted herself up onto the counter all by herself, shoved the chocolate morsels for chocolate chip cookies in the microwave, and pressed the minute button multiple times.
Too bad the chocolate morsels were still in the Nestlé bag. Too bad it almost caught on fire after the bag exploded.
Bless Mary’s heart as she tried to clean up everything with the dishrag, only to drop the chocolate morsels and get it all on the floor. Then, the smart kid had used her hands to clean it up and licked her hands clean in the process.
Now, not only was chocolate on her, but it was all over the house, and since I’d carried her upstairs, it was all over me.
Goodness gracious.
“Becky?” Sarah said, walking into the bathroom, me on my knees as I tried to get the water to run faster.
The smarter thing to do would have been to give her a shower and wash her clean, but Mary hated showers, as she said the water got in her eyes.
“Mary, Uncle Brad will be here soon. He called to see if we were ready.”
Mary licked her fingers. Chocolate was on her face, on each cheek, on her nose, and just above her brow where she had probably scratched an itch with her chocolate-smeared fingers.
In any other situation, this would have been comical. But not when photographers would be here any minute to shoot this family, and my one job was to get these kids ready, which they were not.
“Honeys, I’m home!” Brad said, calling from downstairs.
Anxiety spiked within me as I quickly undressed Mary and gently placed her in the tub.
Mary had no sense of urgency. I guessed no kid did really.
“What the hell?” Brad said, stepping into the bathroom. “What happened? You guys are supposed to be ready. The photogs are here and setting up downstairs.” He ran one hand through his hair and made it stand on end. In the next second, he was in front of the mirror, fixing it.
“There
was a little accident,” I said, exasperated. “Mary decided to bake a cake while I was doing laundry.”
I poured some shampoo in my hands and ran it through Mary’s locks. She continued playing with her Barbies in the water.
“The chocolate was yummy!”
Brad slapped his head. “Sweet Mary, why today?”
“They’re already here and set up downstairs,” Charles announced, walking in. His expression pinched as he took in the scene. “What happened?”
Sarah filled her father in as I continued working in fast mode.
“Stand up, baby girl. Let’s get you rinsed.”
“Let me help you. What do you need?” Charles asked, unbuttoning the sleeves of his dress shirt and rolling them up.
“What is going on here?” Mason said, stepping into the bathroom.
Even though the bathroom was pretty big, having the whole family inside was excessive.
“Oh. My. God.” A high-pitched voice sounded behind him. A tall look-alike Barbie figure scrunched her face. This must be Janice. “All right, it seems like you all have this handled. I’ll make sure the team downstairs has everything they need.” She about-faced and walked out of the bathroom, leaving the Brisken men and Sarah in with me and Mary.
“Look at my pool,” Mary exclaimed, getting back into the bubbles and filling her Barbie pool in the tub with more water.
I lifted the drain. “You’re done. Let’s get you changed.”
She visibly pouted and splashed around, getting water all over me. “I’m still playing.”
“Okay, you guys handle this. I need to go downstairs to check on the crew,” Brad said, finally leaving, followed by Mason.
Honestly, we didn’t need that many people in the bathroom. I had this handled.
“Mary, you’re done. Get out.” Charles’s voice was stern, brooking no argument, but it was as though Mary hadn’t heard him. “Mary,” Charles said, voice heightened.
I couldn’t even rinse the girl because she had the bucket and she kept filling up her mini pool for her Barbies.