Maximum Complete Series Box Set (Single Dad Romance)

by Claire Adams

  “Oh, how I want to,” I said.

  “Then, do it. January first. The start of a brand-new year and a brand-new journey.”

  He seemed certain, but I was still nervous. “You really think Jenna will be all right with it?”

  “I think she would love it,” he said. “Just like I love you.”

  “Oh, Jason.”

  I went to go kiss him, but he slowly pulled away. My eyes fluttered open as my body tumbled into his lap, but as soon as the confusion clouded over my face, his finger pointed above his head. I flickered my gaze up, my body lying on top of his, and I saw where he had hung mistletoe over the edge of the couch from one of the main beams in his house.

  “Mistletoe,” he said.

  “You’re such a cornball,” I said, giggling.

  “But you love it.”

  He was lucky I did. “Oh, god, do I ever.”

  I pressed my lips against his, and his arms immediately cloaked my back. His legs parted, allowing my body to fall into his where I could feel his cock slowly springing to life. The scent of cinnamon was getting stronger, causing Jason to break the kiss, and I whimpered at the loss of him as he sat us both back up.

  “We don’t want burnt cinnamon rolls, do we?” he asked.

  “I guess not,” I said. At the point we left off, I wasn’t sure I truly cared. There was always frozen chocolate chip waffles.

  But then, just as he got up to take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven, a shrieking cry came from down the hallway.

  A shrieking cry that sounded a hell of a lot like Jenna.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Jason

  Lucy sprinted down the hallway, and I was right on her heels. We rounded the corner into Jenna’s room, and the sight that unfolded stopped me in my tracks. The window was thrown open, and snow had fallen into Jenna’s room. A mass of red hair caught my attention before I recognized Megan halfway out the windowsill, trying to get away with Jenna. My daughter’s legs were flailing in midair as she tried to get away, and I heard Lucy gasp before she screamed with all her might.

  “Jenna!” Lucy exclaimed.

  “Get back!” Megan roared. “Just get back!”

  Jenna tumbled to the floor while Megan’s wrist twisted with a pop. I watched as my daughter scurried to me, and I scooped her up quickly into my arms. Megan looked absolutely wild, and I had to admit a part of me was rooted to the floor in shock.

  “Daddy! Daddy! She was under my bed! Why was Miss Megan under my bed?”

  “What the hell are you doing?” I heard Lucy growl. She’d stepped forward, blocking Megan from reaching Jenna as her body appeared in front of us.

  “Of course, the prim and proper blonde would get the only eligible bachelor in this damn town. Of course, you would bat your pretty little eyes with your petite little body and get exactly what you wanted. It’s how you snagged David, and it’s how you snagged Jason.”

  “Don’t you dare talk about David,” Lucy said. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “She said a bad word, Daddy,” Jenna said, whimpering.

  “It’s all right, princess. I’ve got you,” I said.

  I watched Lucy’s shoulders hunch, like a momma bear protecting her young. I kept my eyes on Megan, ready to rush out the door if she took a jump out that window, and my heart raged with anger as Jenna trembled against my chest.

  “What’s happening, Daddy?” Her voice, so full of fear, cut my heart.

  “I put in my time with David, and he chose you over me,” Megan said. “I was the one who was there when you two fought. I was the one who was there when you wouldn’t sleep with him right from the very start. I was the one who put it in his mind to take you on that fucking camping trip where you lost your precious little virginity. Little slutty Lucy. I bet you fucking gave it up to Jason on the trip you took with him as well. That what you do? Screw men in the woods and tell them their cock is just right for you?” Megan said, hissing.

  Lucy didn’t rise to the bait but stood there, ready to attack Megan should she choose to make a move.

  “I’m the one who deserves a husband and a child. Not you. David died, and that was your chance. Tough shit if you couldn’t have kids with him. Move over and let some of us take a stab at the men in this town.”

  I moved my hand to my back pocket and pressed the red emergency button on my cell phone. If I didn’t answer, but they heard the commotion in the background, someone would ping my phone and track us down.

  And Megan wasn’t getting away. Not on my watch.

  “What in the world were you going to do, Megan. Hm?” Lucy asked. “Were you just gonna hold his daughter for ransom? Daughter for dick? Is that what was gonna happen?”

  “No,” Megan said as she stepped back into Jenna’s room. “I was gonna take her while you two idiots were camping. Couldn’t grow the balls then to do it, but boy did they ever spring to life when I saw the two of you curled up here, wrapping presents.”

  Holy shit, Lucy had been right. Someone had been outside last night, and that fucking footprint we found had been hers.

  “You saw us wrapping presents?” Lucy asked.

  “Like nothing fucking happened over Thanksgiving. I thought I had my chance, when I found out Jason dumped your ass. I saw my chance with the only decent fucking man in this town, and then you swooped right back in. Claiming what you think is yours,” she spat.

  Muffled sounds were coming from my phone, so I pressed my hand to the speaker, hoping Megan didn’t catch the sound.

  “The two of you looked so happy and put together, like some dysfunctional fucking family of misfits whose spouses didn’t wanna stick around long enough to deal with the two of you,” Megan spat.

  “Don’t you dare talk about David and Danielle that way,” I said, growling.

  “Daddy, please,” Jenna said, begging me while she pressed her tears into the dip in my chest.

  “You’ve come into this room on the most beautiful day of the year and scared a girl you claim to love. Everyone in this damn town knows you’re a kooky old bat, and that’s the reason why no one wants to be with you. You think I would’ve kidnapped this man’s daughter if I wanted him to love me, Megan? Do you think I would’ve tried to take the only thing that meant anything to this man, thinking I could force him to love me?” Lucy asked.

  “You know, Jason almost had me last night,” she said. “When he opened that fucking storage unit. I thought he really was gonna catch me.”

  I took a step forward, ready to knock her clear out of that window and land her on her ass. But Lucy held out her hand, beckoning me to stay with Jenna, and I wasn’t about to argue with the angry momma bear she’d turned into.

  “Guess you’re not the only petite little woman in this town, Slutty Lucy,” Megan said, smirking.

  I heard sirens up the road, and that’s when the smirk fell from Megan’s face. Her eyes grew wide with panic, and I turned around, running Jenna out of the room while I made my way for the front door. I wasn’t letting this girl out of my sight, nor was I letting her witness one more second of the insanity that was going on in her room.

  But out of nowhere, Megan began to scream before she charged.

  “That’s my little girl you're taking! I deserve your little girl, Jason, not her!”

  When I turned around, Megan looked wild. Her eyes were wide, her face bright red with anger. Her hair was dive-bombing around her face, and her clothes were wrinkled and disheveled. The slightly kooky woman I’d come to know had snapped, turning into this wild animal who felt her hypothetical territory had been invaded. She tried to lunge for Jenna in my arms.

  But before she could get any closer, Lucy reared back her fist, came around with a right hook, and cracked Megan right against her jawline.

  “You stay the fuck away from my little girl, do you hear me?”

  Lucy towered over this woman, her fists clenched and her eyes set in stone. Her chest was heaving, her body trembling with the wind whipp
ing through the open window, and Jenna soon wiggled from my grasp. She took off for Lucy, gathering herself in Lucy’s arms while the woman I loved cradled the little girl I loved. After that hit, Megan could only moan on the carpet while her jaw began to turn black and blue.

  “Police!” someone called out. “The door’s unlocked! Everything all right?”

  “Back here!” I roared.

  Jenna clung to Lucy, sobbing into her neck while Lucy picked up her foot and put it on Megan’s chest. Never in my life had I ever seen a woman with as much strength, determination, and fierceness until that very moment, and I knew I’d found the woman for my family. Not only was she beautiful, but also she was exotic and protective. She loved my daughter with the fire of a momma bear, and I watched her while she held her adoptive cub close to her body.

  “What’s going on?” the police officer asked as he rounded into the room. “Wait a second. Megan?”

  “She tried to kidnap Jenna, officer,” Lucy said.

  “Then why is her jaw broken?” he asked.

  “Because I punched her,” Lucy said.

  Her eyes finally peeled away from the woman on the floor as the officers went to cuff her, and for the first time since Jenna had screamed, our eyes locked with one another’s. I watched as the adrenaline slowly faded away from her face, and what replaced it was nothing short of fear and worry.

  “Oh my god,” Lucy said as the blood drained from her face.

  “Lucy, it’s all right. Everything’s fine. You were fantastic,” I said.

  “Oh. Oh, my gosh. I-it was her. She was here l-last night.”

  “I don’t like Miss Megan anymore,” Jenna said into Lucy’s neck.

  “Well, you’ll never have to see her again,” I said.

  Lucy trembled with greater intensity, so I wrapped my arms around both my girls. I pulled her close to my chest while she cried, and Jenna clung to both of us as I slowly moved us to the hallway. There was no need for us to be in the officers’ way while they took care of this debacle, and Jenna had witnessed enough.

  “I don’t wanna see her again,” Jenna said, whispering.

  “Good. Because you never will,” I said.

  I took my girls into the living room while the police officers hauled Megan’s battered body away in handcuffs.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Lucy

  “So, what’d they say?” I asked.

  “Well, it’ll be an easy process,” Jason said.

  “Did she confess?”

  “Yep. Confessed to the break-in and pleaded guilty to the attempted kidnapping charge in exchange for the chance for parole halfway into her five-year sentence,” he said.

  “Holy crap,” I said. “I mean, Megan was a bit, I don’t know, weird around the single guys, but I just can’t believe it.”

  “I’m just glad my girls are okay,” he said.

  He wrapped his arm around me and kissed me on the top of my head before we picked up two more boxes. Jenna came running down my stairs, throw pillows in hand, and dashed out the door as we stepped out onto the porch.

  “Miss Lucy’s moving in! Miss Lucy’s moving in! Miss Lucy’s moving in!”

  “Are you excited?” I asked.

  “Woohoo!” Jenna exclaimed.

  I carried my plastic tub of clothes over to Jason’s house while he carried a suitcase full of shoes. I couldn’t believe I had finally gotten the family I’d always wanted. I watched Jason wheel my shoes into his room and set them down, and all I could do was smile. I was moving in with a phenomenal man who loved me with everything he had. His daughter adored me, he loved me for all my pieces that were still broken, and I could feel his love every time he looked at me.

  My heart fluttered when he set my shoes down and caught my gaze.

  “You ready for lunch?” he asked.

  “Oh, I can always eat,” I said, grinning.

  “Jenna,” he called out. “Want some lunch?”

  “Can we have sandwiches?” Jenna asked.

  “We can have whatever you want, sweet cheeks,” I said, smiling.

  “It's mind-boggling, the stuff you have in that house,” Jason said.

  “Well, maybe you should’ve moved into my house instead. It looks small, but it packs some serious space inside,” I said.

  “No, no, no. You gotta live with us,” Jenna said.

  “And why’s that? Huh?” I sat beside Jenna at the kitchen table.

  “Because we’re already moving your stuff. It would take too long to put it all back,” she said.

  “Preach,” Jason said.

  “I don’t have that much stuff,” I said.

  “Yes, you do,” Jenna and Jason said.

  “So, what kinds of sandwiches do my girls want?” Jason asked.

  “Peanut butter and apple jelly,” Jenna said.

  “Oh, that sounds good. Make that two,” I said.

  “Two peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches, coming up. I’m gonna eat like a grown-up though,” he said.

  “Men,” Jenna said, shaking her head.

  We laughed at the bubbly little girl while Jason got to work on the sandwiches. Jenna pressed her body into mine, and I wrapped my arm around her back, kissing her on top of her head, happy to feel her warm, unscathed little body against mine. Images of Megan holding her at her neck flashed through my head, and I drew in a ragged breath, trying my best to keep my emotions at bay while I pulled her closer to me.

  “Miss Lucy, can I ask you something?”

  “Of course, you can, sweet cheeks. What’s up?” I asked.

  “Are you my new mommy?”

  I looked over at Jason, who had stopped his movements. His eyes slowly panned over to mine with a shadow of a grin playing upon his cheeks, and for the first time since Christmas, I was absolutely speechless.

  “Is that what you want, princess?” he asked Jenna.

  “Yeah. I really like Miss Lucy. I want her to be my new mommy,” she said.

  I felt a tear cascade down my cheek before I pressed another kiss to the top of her head. My heart sang out with joy and elation at the beautiful words coming from the lips of this little girl. Jason brought over her sandwich and carrots, and then he caught my gaze again. He winked at me before he answered his beautiful little daughter.

  “If you want her to be, then she is,” he said.

  “Yep. If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll get,” I said.

  Jenna jumped up into her chair and wrapped her arms around me before reaching out for her father. Jason came in as Jenna threw her little arm around his neck, and we both put our foreheads against his smiling little girl.

  Our smiling little girl.

  “I love you, Daddy and New Mommy,” she said.

  “I love you, princess,” Jason said, kissing her cheek.

  “And I love you, sweet cheeks.”

  Epilogue

  Jason

  I sighed, tossing my jacket onto the couch as I went in search of my family. Work had been rough the past few weeks. The garage was operating at full capacity all the time now, especially with the influx of young families to the area. Even with all the new business, the garage still didn’t have competitors because of the small-town feel, so late nights were a regular thing in our household these days.

  But I told my boss I needed a break. I missed my family, and he understood that.

  I heard giggling coming from the backyard, so I made my way to the porch. Lucy was lying on the ground, wrestling with Jenna, while our son, Jason Jr., ran around them. He was only a year old, but he was already up and racing around, and he had sweat pouring down his face while a massive smile donned his cheeks. I leaned up against the porch door and smiled, taking in the smells of the Washington summer while I watched my family roll around in the grass.

  Jenna got off Lucy before picking Jason Jr. up and swinging him around. She had been ecstatic when we’d told her she was going to be a big sister, and she was a wonderful sibling to have aro
und. She was always so cautious around her brother and always wanted to take him out to play, which meant Lucy could send the two of them outside when she needed a break and would know he was taken care of.

  “Jason!”

  Her voice ripped me from my trance, and she came trotting over to me. She brushed the grass off her while her little paunch from her pregnancy bounced along with her, and all I could do was stare in awe. She was absolutely radiant, like the first day I’d met her, and she threw her arms around me while I held her close.

  “You’re home early,” she said into my neck.

  “Surprise,” I said.

  “Well, I hate to throw more at you on your first early day in weeks, but we need to talk,” she said.

  “Everything all right?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, pulling back. “But we really need to talk about this house situation.”

  Jason Jr. slept in our room in his crib for the first year of his life, but when my snoring started waking him up at night, we moved him into Jenna’s room. She was a good sport about sharing her room, but Jason Jr. was getting exploratory, and Jenna was getting upset that her brother was always getting into her things.

  “Jenna’s becoming more independent, and Jason Jr. needs his own space,” she said.

  “I know, I know.”

  “We really need to go look at houses,” she said.

  “You’re wanting to do this now, aren’t you?” I asked.

  “I’ve got it narrowed down to two. Both have all we need plus all the things both of us wanted, and all we need to do is walk through them to see them in person,” she said.

  “Just two?” I asked.

  “Just two,” she said.

  So, we packed up the kids and went on an adventure. We walked through both the houses with the realtor Lucy had apparently been talking with, and it made me realize how much I had truly missed. I had blinked, and Jason Jr. was walking, and then I blinked again, and we were ready to buy a house. That was the upside to all the business I was being handed, but I felt I was missing out on my kids’ lives.

  “Could we afford both of these if I took a pay cut at work?” I asked.