DADDY ISSUES: A SINGLE DAD ROMANCE

by Morris, Liv

  I slammed the front door a little too hard, and my sister ran around the corner of the hallway into the entrance area.

  “Oh my God, Lucas.” She held her hand to her chest and breathed hard, blue eyes round as saucers. “You gave me quite the fright.”

  “Sorry, sis.” My words slurred, and her eyebrows raised to her hairline.

  “Let me smell your breath,” she demanded, her hands on her hips.

  “I have a daughter around here.” I glanced over the living area, not seeing Esmé anywhere.

  “She’s been asleep for a while. God, I love her. She’s so precious, and the best little thing too. But don’t change the subject, buster.”

  “Fine. I’ve been drinking on a boat with Captain Pete. We sailed around Manhattan today pretending to be pirates.”

  Captain Pete had an extra bottle of whiskey onboard. He charged me an obscene amount for it too, but it did the trick of keeping me numb.

  “You do smell like fish. Go take a shower and put some lotion on your face. It’s beet red. I’ll make you some coffee. We need to talk about Maggie.”

  “Maggie. Maggie. Maggie.” Why couldn’t I escape her name?

  I shuffled off to the shower and put on clean clothes that didn’t smell like cod liver oil. I’d have to burn this suit. I toed off my dress shoes, not bothering to untie them. My feet were red from the sun too. I’d lounged barefoot on the bow, wind whistling through my hair.

  I forgot about my responsibilities, my past, but not her. I ran out of booze before that happened.

  I followed the smell of fresh-brewed coffee into the kitchen after I’d cleaned up and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. My hair was still wet, but the hot shower helped wake me up. I was far from sober, though. I was at the classy drunk stage. Sober enough to still have manners, but unable to fully walk a straight line.

  Chloe poured a cup of coffee for us both, adding the perfect amount of milk, and carried them over to the dining room table. Since she was holding the coffee mugs, I figured I was supposed to join her at the table.

  I took a sip of my java, and so did she, but her eyes never left me. I could feel them like prickly pins over my skin. She wanted to talk, and I wanted to avoid all conversation.

  “Just spit it out,” I said into my coffee cup.

  “Lucas, you know I love you.” Oh boy, this was going to be some serious shit. “But there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for years, and it’s time.”

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I asked.

  “Esmé or Maggie?” I met Chloe’s eyes. She knew. She always did.

  “Both,” I confessed.

  “I’ve watched you go from one woman to another for years. I was too young to realize it at the time of mom’s accident…” I pushed back my chair, making a scraping noise on the marble floor, and rose out of it. As far as I was concerned, I wasn’t going to discuss the accident with her tonight—or ever. “Stop, Lucas. Just listen to me this once. I won’t bring it up again.”

  With my back toward her, I leaned over the counter. My coffee was no longer needed. Nothing like a brutal slap from my past to sober me the fuck up.

  “Please, sit down,” Chloe pleaded. I looked over my shoulder, seeing tears fill her eyes.

  I caved and plopped back down on my chair. Hell, I could never say no to her. I’d ruined her life, and she didn’t even know it. I owed her this one conversation at the very least.

  “Thanks.” She cleared her throat. This discussion wasn’t going to be easy for either of us. “I’m not a professional, but I think you stopped growing emotionally after the accident. You quit feeling anything but hate for Dad. It’s like you’re punishing yourself.”

  I was—and I deserved it.

  “All those emotions have been bottled up inside you for years, and now you’re unable to contain them because you’ve met someone who made you feel.” My eyes flashed up to hers. Everything she’d said was right and I couldn’t deny it. Not to her.

  The momentary freedom I felt on the day I met Peaches. The crack in my chest when I opened my heart to Esmé. I couldn’t stuff the feelings back inside or drink them away. Believe me, I’d tried.

  “What do I do?”

  “Quit fighting it and let yourself feel. Face your demons, no matter how painful it gets. You’re letting all those buried emotions out at once. It’s gonna hurt like hell.”

  I didn’t speak for a while. We sat in silence as her words soaked into my thick skull. In my heart, I acknowledged there was no turning back. But how did I move forward?

  “Maggie’s out on a date.”

  “So, she said. How are you feeling about that?”

  “Maybe I should go lie down on the couch and we can continue our session, Dr. Shaw.”

  “You’re a master at deflecting with sarcasm and a jerk at times.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair, sitting back in the seat. I had to laugh at how well my sister had me pegged.

  “All right. Here’s what I’m feeling.” I took a couple of deep breaths, wishing the discomfort away, but it didn’t help. “I want to go to the restaurant where she’s meeting this jerk and punch the shit out of him. Happy now?”

  My hands shook as adrenaline rushed through my veins. The other things I wanted to do revolved around fucking Maggie senseless, so I kept them to myself.

  “It’s a start. Good luck finding them in New York City.” My sister scoffed, totally underestimating me.

  “I don’t need luck.”

  I pulled my phone from my back pocket and entered my password. I brought up the same GPS tracking app Jared loaded onto Maggie’s phone and watched a little blue dot float around in the Meatpacking District. I widened the screen.

  “Bingo.” I showed my phone to my sister. “They’re at the Viceroy Hotel. Soon, I will be too.” My T-shirt and jeans wouldn’t get me in the door. I needed to up my game to something more club-worthy.

  “Wait,” my sister called out as I headed to my bedroom. I turned around, and her brows were drawn in worry. Did she really think I’d punch the guy out? “Don’t touch her until you fire her as your nanny. I mean it.”

  Well, that surprised me. Maggie was considered my employee, and that made her even more forbidden.

  “You make a good point. Never mix business with pleasure. Plus, I promised Barclay I’d keep my hands to myself.” It was a line I hadn’t crossed yet.

  I continued to the bedroom and changed into something appropriate for the bar. When I emerged, Chloe was still sitting at the table.

  “I have a couple favors to ask you.”

  “Let me guess. You’d like me to spend the night here with Esmé and tell Barclay that you, the perpetual bachelor, have fallen for Maggie and I approve.”

  “Yes to both. Thanks, Chloe.” She was two steps ahead of me.

  “I’ll cancel all my meetings tomorrow, but on one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  “Don’t break that girl’s heart. She’s too sweet to be hurt and I’ll never forgive you if you do.”

  “Duly noted. Remember, she’s on the date, and I have to convince her to be with me.”

  “Yeah, I saw the look on her face when she left. It reminded me of someone going to a funeral.” Chloe laughed at her own joke like she always did.

  I hugged my sister goodbye and texted my car service for a quick pickup. If the streets weren’t jammed with traffic, I’d be at The Viceroy Hotel in twenty minutes or less. I felt pretty sober, but I downed the rest of my lukewarm coffee for one last jolt before I headed out the door. I had a woman to win over and planned on keeping her up until the late-night hours.

  32

  Maggie

  After Thomas and I split the bill, I said goodbye with a quick kiss on his cheek. No doubt about it, any girl would be lucky to have him for a boyfriend. He was forever material, and I’d enjoyed meeting him, but his brown eyes made me wish for blue. His warm smile made me miss a sarcastic scowl.

  Thomas
told me about his life in Wisconsin before coming to New York City for his job. He was a happy, well-adjusted man with no baggage to explore. Being his girlfriend would be easy, perfect, but I didn’t want perfect. I wanted flawed and damaged—a man who needed healing.

  My desire to help others in life drew me to Lucas. I wasn’t crazy enough to think I could save him. I wanted to help him save himself. Hold his hand and walk next to him as he faced whatever was keeping him from living his life.

  I’d done all I could at this point. If we were going to be together, the ball was in his court. He needed to make the next move, since he was the one who’d rejected me while I’d held my heart in my hands, hoping he would take it. Sure, it had stung like hell, but something broken inside of him kept him from following his desires. He was the most tormented soul I’d ever met, and I was falling in love with him despite knowing heartache was likely ahead of me.

  I wasn’t ready to head back to Lucas’s apartment yet. I’d had one strong, dirty martini and was feeling relaxed for the first time today. The restaurant was on the eighteenth floor of the hotel with a rooftop club above it called Soirée.

  When I approached the bank of elevators to go back down to the lobby, I heard and felt the vibrating beats of music coming from the club. The place was jamming out for nine o’clock on a Wednesday night. The kinetic energy spoke to all the frustrations whirling inside me, so I decided to go upstairs and dance my cares away. Another drink wouldn’t hurt either.

  The club was a short, one-story elevator ride up to the top. The entrance was roped off and guarded by a huge guy. He resembled one of those Smackdown WWE wrestlers stuffed in a suit. I stood and waited behind a line of people. The beefy guy scanned the line for the next person who would go upstairs. I wished I’d worn something sexier.

  When I finally caught the bouncer’s eye, he nodded, giving his head a sideswipe toward the elevator, silently saying I was in.

  When the elevator door opened, my eyes adjusted to the flashing colored lights in the dark club. People moved and danced like the place had a pulse. I spotted a bar in the back and weaved through groups of people to get to it. A few men leered at me as I passed them by, so I kept my eyes straight ahead, aiming for the target.

  The crowd circling the bar was two deep. The chances of ordering a drink at my height were nearly impossible, unless I set my hair on fire or flashed someone. I tried to maneuver between two people who already had drinks in their hands. Couldn’t they find a better place to talk? Apparently not, since I was met with a brick wall and a curled lip. No one dared to give me an inch.

  I huffed and placed my hands on my hips. The impossible wait for a simple vodka and soda didn’t help me escape my already stressful day. I decided to head back home and face the blond, blue-eyed beast. My chest tightened at the thought of seeing him again at the apartment. I resolved to be brave for Esmé’s sake, but I wasn’t sure how long I could stay as her nanny with all the tension in the air. It wasn’t good for anybody, especially an infant.

  When I turned around to leave, I stumbled into a solid mass of a man. I knew he was tall because my face was level with his chest. Clumsy me, I didn’t realize someone was so close behind me. He grabbed ahold of my arms to keep me upright as I tottered on my heels. I glanced up to see who I needed to thank for keeping me upright and gasped, my hand flying to my throat.

  The same beast I dreaded seeing tonight stood in front of me, but his usual icy blue eyes were dark, almost navy. His blond hair was tousled in its usual sexy disarray. He was so breathtakingly beautiful, I forgot how angry I was with him and stared at him with goofy heart eyes. The man was dangerously delicious.

  “Um, what are you doing here?” I stammered.

  “Stalking you thanks to the new app, and keeping you from falling flat on your ass,” Lucas said with a wicked smile.

  He leaned down, his lips grazing the skin behind my ears like he had this morning. I felt his touch to my toes.

  “Just like the day we met, but this time, I’m not letting you go.”

  “Please don’t say that unless you mean it.” I pushed the words out, past a lump in my throat. He had the power to break me if I let him. “I can’t play your games anymore.”

  “No more games. I want you. I always have.” Lucas reached for my hand and laced his fingers with mine. I glanced down at our joined hands. I wanted to believe he’d let go of whatever had been holding him back. “Come with me. I have a private VIP room reserved where we can talk.”

  I hesitated as he started to walk away. He stopped when I didn’t move with him, his brows raised. It’s strange how life works out. This time, I was the one who wasn’t sure about us. I didn’t want to give him my heart until I believed the sexy bastard was worthy of it.

  “I want to talk to you in private.” He stood by my side again, trying to get me to follow him, but my feet didn’t want to move until I heard more. “If you don’t like what I have to say, you can leave at any time. I’m an asshole, not a predator.”

  He made a good point. I never felt unsafe around him physically, just emotionally.

  “Lead the way.”

  Lucas flashed me a mega-watt smile. It reminded me of the one he gave Esmé when he played the grab-my-tie game with her, but tonight’s smile looked even bigger. Still holding hands, I followed him to the VIP room, scrambling on my heels as I tried to keep up with his long strides. He walked like a determined man on a mission.

  A woman wearing a black bodycon dress that barely covered her butt greeted Lucas by a closed door.

  “Good evening, Mr. Shaw. My name is Diamond.” I rolled my eyes. Her name was anything but. “I’ll be at your service tonight. What would you like to start with?”

  She hadn’t made eye contact with me once. I might as well be invisible, so I answered her question first. “Grey Goose vodka soda for me, with a lime. Make it a double.” Lucas chuckled beside me.

  “A bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue and a glass. I drink it neat, so no ice needed.”

  “Yes, sir.” The woman walked away, still not acknowledging my existence, but then again, I wasn’t paying the bill.

  “After you,” Lucas said to me, opening the door to the VIP room.

  The walls were painted the darkest gray with black-tinted windows that ran along the wall next to the door. Dim lighting lined the baseboards, giving the room a subtle glowing effect.

  “Can people see inside or are we hidden?” I asked.

  “We’re invisible to everyone else in the club. We have complete privacy.” I shivered at the thought of us alone together, though Lucas stood over an arm’s length away from me.

  “I can barely hear the music.” I strained to recognize the song the DJ was playing.

  “I can turn the volume up with the surround sound in the room, but I want to talk to you first. Please, have a seat.”

  He pointed to a sectional covered in dark purple velvet. When I sat down, the soft fabric caressed the backs of my thighs. Between the dedicated service and posh interior, this room had to cost him a small fortune.

  Diamond returned with our drinks, placing them on a black glass table close to me. She opened the bottle of Johnnie Walker for Lucas, pouring him his first glass. Surely he didn’t plan on downing the entire thing tonight.

  “Anything else, sir?” Diamond purred at Lucas. At least she didn’t hump his leg.

  “I’ll let you know if we need anything else.” Lucas closed the door behind Diamond, and I heard a distinct click as he turned the lock.

  “Are we going to talk with our clothes off?”

  “No one’s clothes are coming off in this room.” I might’ve been more than slightly disappointed, which made me a hypocrite for asking him in the first place.

  Lucas picked up his glass and downed half the contents. Maybe he was going to drink the whole damn thing. I sipped on my drink. One of us needed to keep our wits about us, as my mother would say.

  “I need to talk about your employment as my nanny.�
�� Lucas sat down in the club chair across from me. The distance, along with the way he spoke to me, seemed way too formal. Was he going to fire me? It made no sense, but it wouldn’t be the first time Lucas had confused me.

  “Help me understand. You reserved a VIP room to talk about me being your nanny?” He nodded and downed the remainder of his drink. He set the empty glass down on the table but didn’t refill it.

  “Yes, I did. You see, I have a rule when it comes to people who work for me. My employee relationships are and always will be professional. The contract Jared gave you to sign was a formal employment contract making you off-limits to me.”

  Oh. Oh. “You and I can’t be together as long as I work for you.”

  “Correct. It creates an ethical dilemma and will end with both of us on Page Six under a scandalous headline. I need to know what you want to do under these circumstances.”

  I’d always dreamed of landing on Page Six, but not as a nanny who slept with the child’s billionaire father. Lucas would recover, but I’d never live it down, especially in my small hometown where people thrived on juicy gossip.

  “I want to be with you so bad it hurts, but who will take care of Esmé if I quit?” I worried my hands in my lap. I couldn’t abandon that sweet child. I’d grown to love her like my own.

  “A beautiful woman I met a few weeks ago in a coffee shop. I can’t pay her for helping me out. Do you think she will do it?”

  I had no clue where I would get the money for rent, food, and my Starbucks addiction. I wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t blow off my responsibilities. I had to be honest with Lucas if we were going to make this thing between us work.

  “I have a maxed-out credit card. Apartment rent I split with Tessa. At least one Starbucks trip a day. I want to say yes, but I don’t see me surviving without a paycheck.”

  “I thought this might be an issue for you, so I have a proposal. First off, tonight, I instructed Jared to direct deposit ten thousand dollars into your account for professional services rendered with an added bonus.”