The Hot Daddy Box Set

by Lexi Wilson

  There wasn’t anything between her and I. I knew that much for sure. There would be months if not years of hard work for her to convince me she loved me again. At least, that’s what I wanted to believe. I knew I loved Stella, but more important than how I felt was how Kellie felt, and that meant I was going to make things work with her mom.

  It would, no doubt, break Stella’s heart in the process, but I had to argue she knew she might get hurt when she started seeing me. There was no kind of guarantee in anything in life, and she had to understand that. I wanted to believe she wasn’t going to care, and I wanted to act like this would be easy, but I knew both were merely wishful thinking.

  I felt a knot forming in the pit of my stomach as I drove down to the office, and it only got worse when I walked into the building. My heart was pounding when I walked into the elevator, and by the time I reached the door to my company, I felt as though I would pass out.

  Stella was white as a ghost. She looked like she felt every bit as sick as me, and I worried she was going to break down and cry right then and there. She looked at me with a worried expression on her face, and I wanted to rush over to her, taking her in my arms and promising her everything was going to be alright.

  Of course, I couldn’t. If I was going to make things work with Maisie — as I had just promised her I would — then I wasn’t going to be able to continue things with Stella. Things just had to be that way, and there was nothing we could do about it. I took a deep breath, trying to find the words. This wasn’t going to be easy to get out, but I had to do it.

  She stood quietly as I spoke, looking down at the floor. I explained everything to her as best as I could, doing my best to pin the blame on Maisie, not on me. I didn’t want Stella to think that I had used her in any way, and I certainly didn’t want her to think that this was my plan. I had no control over this.

  “Kellie deserves to have both her parents in her life, and you know as well as I do that she deserves to have them try. I can’t tear us apart because of what I want, Stella. That’s not fair to my daughter. I wish it was, but it’s not.” I tried to smile, but I felt my words catch in my throat. I couldn’t think clearly, and it seemed that everything I tried to say wouldn’t come out.

  When I finished, I waited. I didn’t know what Stella would say. I didn’t know what I thought she should say. All I knew was that I wanted her to say something, but she only nodded.

  The more I said, the paler she looked, but she stood tall and proud.

  “Please, say something,” I said at last.

  “I’m going to need to find somewhere to stay,” she said. The words hung in the air, and I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.

  “No, don’t think that I’m throwing you out. We can make something work,” I said. She gave me a sick smile, and I knew it was as ludicrous as she did. She put her hands in the air.

  “Do you really think Maisie is going to like that idea? Not to mention, do you think I like that idea? How do you think I can go from sleeping in your bed with you every night to sleeping out on the couch, knowing that you are now with another woman? I’m sorry, Anthony, but that’s not how it works.” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. I could see the pain in her eyes, and I knew she felt used.

  “Stella…” I tried as she headed for the door to my office.

  I took a step toward her, but she took a step back, looking at me with hurt in her eyes. The interaction was enough to make my own heart sink, and once again I felt sick.

  “I deserved that,” I said quietly.

  She stood for a moment, and I knew she was debating what to do. Part of her clearly wanted me, but there was another part of her, a part that was much deeper, that was too hurt to even look at me.

  I deserved much worse. I had come down to the office for the pure and simple purpose of breaking her heart, and now we were both going to have to deal with the consequences. As far as she was concerned, I was going to go back to my ex-wife and daughter, and she would be left out in the cold.

  The only problem was, she was right.

  I wanted to take everything back. I wished I could have Kellie without Maisie existing. I wish I could have made it so Maisie never came back. I wished so many things, but I didn’t have control over any of it.

  All I could do was react to the situation I was dealing with now and hope it would all eventually work out.

  She walked outside, pushing past Jace. I wondered how much he’d heard, but judging by the look on his face, I could sense it was quite a bit. He looked first in the direction Stella had gone, then back to me. With a look of harsh judgment on his face, he turned and walked after her.

  “Hey! If you need a place to stay, I’m looking for a roommate!” Jace said. He was talking loud enough for me to hear, and the words felt like a knife being thrust into my heart. I didn’t know much about Jace, just that he was good-looking, close to her age, and often had nothing better to do than flirt with her. I knew he had something going on with Molly, but at the same time, I didn’t know how close they were.

  Molly didn’t strike me as the kind of girl to be conventional, and I worried Stella would find some reason to get involved with Jace out of spite. But it was out of my control, and it was something I had to deal with.

  “I have a little dog,” I heard Stella say out in the other room. Once again, I felt my heart twinge. I was going to have to tell Kellie that Bella could no longer stay with us and hope that the fact her mother was back in the family would be enough to make up for it.

  A strong part of me doubted it.

  With a shake of my head, I turned to head for the door. I didn’t want to stand and listen to Jace and Stella make plans of her moving in. I would find out about it when she moved out of my place and into his. I was dealing with a fractured family, and I had only managed to fracture the relationships in my life even more.

  It felt like a situation with no way to win, and I was trapped in the middle.

  Chapter 26

  “I just hope you don’t mind the sound of Molly and I having crazy sex in the other room,” Jace said with a laugh as we walked into his apartment. I gave him a look as I set my bags down on the floor. I had intentionally cleaned my things out of Anthony’s place when they were out to dinner, getting everything I owned without having to say goodbye to Kellie or having to watch her say goodbye to Bella.

  There was a part of me that wanted to let her keep Bella for a while, but I knew the longer she had my dog, the more attached she would grow. I didn’t have the heart to part with Bella, no matter what. She was my best friend and had been with me through more shit in my life than I cared to admit to.

  Although I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure Kellie was happy, I knew that it was also time for me to back off. I couldn’t keep stepping in and doing things for the family when Anthony had made it clear he wanted me out. He had chosen to get back with Maisie, and there was shit I could do about it. Sure, I could feel sorry for myself, and I could wish things were different, but at the end of the day, there really was nothing I could do.

  “I really could have lived my entire life without that image in my mind,” I teased as he showed me to my room.

  “Hey, I had to think about you having sex with Anthony. How do you think that makes me feel?” he asked as he looked over his shoulder. I didn’t know whether to smile or cry. There was a part of me that wanted to tease him, but there was another part of me that was still hurting.

  I couldn’t bring myself to hate the man. I had grown to love him. I loved his daughter. I had allowed myself to stupidly think that we were going to be forever. I hadn’t thought Maisie would ever come back into the picture, and I certainly hadn’t thought he would let her back in if she did. None of the situation made sense to me, and I wanted to just forget about all of it.

  “Anyway, you’re going to be in here,” Jace said with a smile. He threw open the door to a room I was surprised to see was furnished. I looked at him with raised
eyebrows.

  “Why do you have a furnished two bedroom when you are here alone? I mean, I know it’s none of my business, but you’ve never really struck me as the kind of person who would do that,” I said. He shrugged, but I could see by the smile on his face there was a story behind it.

  “Come on, you can tell me. I’ve told you more about me than I ever thought I would, so it’s only fair!” I prompted. He laughed and put his hands up.

  “I didn’t ask you to tell me all that shit! That was on you!” he said with a grin. I punched him playfully in the arm, and he dramatically put his hand over it.

  “You know, I should have you reported for harassment!” he teased.

  I gave him a look. “And, who are you going to report it to? I’ve pretty much been the HR since Toby quit.”

  “Then I’m going to file a formal complaint about you and to you. Anyway, I had another roommate, but she was crazy, so she had to go.” He shook his head. I sensed that this crazy roommate was more or less an ex, but I wasn’t going to pursue it. I had enough talk about exes to last me a while, and I didn’t want to think about what unfortunate thing would happen to me if that one came back into the picture.

  But then, I didn’t think Molly would go for that. She seemed like the kind of woman who would throw a fit large enough to rid the world of any exes she didn’t want in the picture, and Jace seemed like the kind of guy who would back her. Of course, I had thought Anthony was that kind of guy, as well, and I had proven to be wrong about that.

  I shook my head, not wanting to think about it. Instead, I turned my attention to the room.

  “I hope you like it. I know it’s not much to look at, but it’s home to me,” he said. I gave him a look.

  “Actually, I would say that’s home to you,” I replied, pointing to the larger room behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. There was a sheepish grin on his face, and he gave me a smirk.

  “I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed if you were to come on in for the party. Molly thinks you’re hot, too. We’ve talked about this.” He crossed his arms and looked at me, and I gave him the most horrified look I could muster.

  “What on earth are you talking about? Gross! Stop it right now, or I’m going to be the one lodging a complaint about you!” I teased. He laughed and put his hands in the air.

  “I’m only kidding! Calm your tits!” he laughed. I gave him another look of disgust. It was so hard to know when he was serious or not; I didn’t know whether to laugh about the situation or reinforce the idea I would never be romantically involved with him and Molly. I chose to laugh it off.

  “Well, I’m going to order food, and Molly’s going to come over later on. Do you like pizza?” he asked. I gave him another look.

  “Who doesn’t like pizza?”

  “You’d be surprised,” he replied with a shrug. I laughed, though it was a hollow sound that lacked emotion. Pizza reminded me of Kellie and Anthony, and the thought of them alone was enough to make me burst into tears. I looked away from him, shaking my head and trying to smile. I wanted to control the emotions that were always welling up inside me, but I found it nearly impossible. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want to cry in front of him.

  “Hey, hey, hey. Come on! Easy there!” He ran over and wrapped his arms around me, running his fingers through my hair. My first impulse was to pull away. I didn’t like affection from many, which is why it was so much harder to have opened up to Anthony and have him pull away from me like he did. But, Jace was comforting.

  “Anthony is a real idiot; you know that, right? If you had any idea the kind of hell that woman put him and his daughter through, you would be just as horrified about this as I am. What the fuck was he thinking?” Jace smiled as he hugged me tighter, and his words did help, though I didn’t want to admit how much.

  “You should be glad you’re not living with him anymore. I mean, do you know how awkward that would be?” he asked with another grin. He pushed me back to arm’s length and looked at me with his most charming smile. I had to admit, it was more contagious than I wanted it to be, and I smiled in return.

  But, it was short lived. As much as I wanted to believe this wasn’t as bad as it felt, I knew it was going to be a very long time before I was okay again. I sighed and looked down, trying to gather my thoughts. He looked at me with a new level of concern in his eyes.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “It’s just that, I don’t know what I’m going to do about work,” I said. He looked at me with a confused look in his face.

  “You guys stopped seeing each other; that doesn’t mean he’s going to fire you. I mean, I don’t know how that place would keep running at this point if you weren’t there. The last time that woman got involved, things got really bad. She wanted Anthony to keep leaving early and bow to her every whim.” He sighed, and I looked at him in surprise.

  “It’s true. This isn’t the first time she has come back and tried to sink her claws into his life. That’s part of the reason I’m so surprised that he took her back all over again. I mean, talk about a slow learner,” he said with a laugh. I raised my eyebrows once more.

  “Okay, you’ve got a point there, but that doesn’t change the fact they are going to try to make it work now. I guess it really doesn’t matter what happened in the past if they are going to get together now, does it?” I asked, he gave me a look of surprise mixed with disapproval.

  “Do you really mean you are going to pine after a man who did that to you? Stella, what happened to that girl who didn’t take shit from anyone?” he asked. I smiled, though once again I didn’t have much heart in it.

  “She fell in love,” I muttered. I didn’t know how else to say it. I didn’t know how else to explain it. That’s exactly what happened.

  There was a time when I had the world by the tail. I didn’t take any kind of crap from anyone, and I would go for what I wanted in life. I wasn’t scared of anything. I wanted to take the world and prove to them I was able to do anything.

  But my heart got involved. It started creeping in where it didn’t belong, and now I was dealing with the consequences. I had to admit, life was always better when I went through the motions without putting my heart into it. Passion, yes. But the number one rule I had lived by was not to get attached to anyone.

  “Well, what would happen if you were to bring her back without the love? Remember those suits you were rocking the first few weeks of you working there? Why don’t you bring those back, along with the attitude?” Jace looked down at me with another grin, and for the first time that night, I felt he was actually on to something. I still had the suits he was talking about tucked into my bags, and it would be possible for me to bring them back.

  Of course, I would have to forget about the conversation I had had with Anthony about them, and I would have to pretend that I didn’t care about what he thought. Not only what he thought about my suits, but what he thought about me.

  I looked up at Jace. My mind spinning, but for the first time since talking to Anthony, a feeling of resolution was forming in my chest. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I wasn’t going to let him beat me. I wasn’t the kind of woman he could use and dismiss. I was the kind of woman he’d have to deal with.

  I knew by the way he had handled things with me he wasn’t happy about the situation, but I didn’t care. He was the one who broke up with me, and he was the one who had chosen his ex-wife — again — over a situation that was perfect in every way.

  It wasn’t my fault.

  He chose to make a mistake, and now he was going to have to deal with the consequences.

  It was really as simple as that.

  Chapter 27

  Two days had passed, but it was before the first day was even over that I knew I had made a mistake. Talking to Stella had been one of the worst things I had ever had to do in my life, and I felt horrible. I tried to focus on the fact Kellie was getting to spend time with her mother, but had to ignore the fact that it always
came with a price.

  The fact of the matter was that I was miserable. Maisie had insisted she spend as much time as possible with us, which meant she wanted to stay. It had been a rather awkward meeting between her and Kellie when I told Kellie she was there to stay, but I had to admit, the two did seem to connect well once the conversation started.

  But then, I knew I couldn’t really expect anything different. Kellie and her mother got along like two peas in a pod when Maisie wasn’t being selfish or controlling. In fact, there was a time when I could see the two of them being the perfect mother and daughter as Kellie grew.

  But that was before.

  I tried to tell myself that was before a lot of things happened. That was before she got sick. That was before Maisie lost her mind. Or, should I think of it as Maisie deciding she was going to put herself first above everyone else — including her daughter.

  I could forgive her for leaving me. I had been married to my work more than I had been married to her. I wasn’t proud of it, but I could admit it. But, I couldn’t bring myself to forgive her for leaving Kellie like she had. Kellie had been innocent from the beginning. She hadn’t been asked to be born into this family, and she hadn’t asked to suffer from leukemia.

  She had taken it all in stride, dealing with what life had thrown her way without so much as a complaint. I hated what life had done to her. I hated what Maisie had done to her. I hated that there was nothing I could do to fix it. But, at the same time, I knew that I couldn’t be the one to stand in the way now.

  I couldn’t tell risk her finding out that her mother wanted to be part of her life once more only to find out I was the one who had stood in the way. It wouldn’t be something that I would volunteer, but at the same time, I still shared custody with Maisie. I had no real grounds to go in to the court and tell the judge that I wanted Kellie all to myself.