One Shot At Love: A Billionaire Single Father Romance

by Weston Parker

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Dad said, sitting with Ethan at the kitchen table while I bustled around getting out everything that I would need.

  Ethan kept everyone laughing with stories about his sleepover. I made a mental note to thank Jake’s parents again, because it sounded like they had put up with quite a bit of mischief from the boys the night before. I couldn’t help glancing over at Bailey. Ethan’s birthday would roll around soon enough. Would she help me plan a party for him?

  But I knew the answer to that before the question had even fully crossed my mind. Of course she would. Bailey had made it clear that she was there. That she loved Ethan and I both, and that she wanted to be a family.

  I couldn’t help the goofy grin that crossed my face. Dad caught me looking and raised an eyebrow at me. I glanced at Bailey just as she happened to glance my way. She nodded, like she knew exactly what I was thinking.

  “Hey, Ethan,” I asked trying to sound casual, “if you found out that you were going to have a little brother or sister, how excited would you be?”

  Ethan’s eyes got wide as he looked back and forth between Bailey and I. Then, he got up on his chair and started jumping up and down and cheering. Bailey laughed. “Well, you asked,” she pointed out.

  “Ethan, you know we’re not supposed to jump on the furniture,” I chided, but I couldn’t help laughing as well.

  Ethan sat back down. “I’m going to teach them everything,” he declared. “Like how to draw and how to play PowerBox and how to shoot a BB gun and everything.” He continued babbling about all the things that he was going to do with his younger sibling, and I had to smile. Bailey was smiling as well, I noted, and it made something warm uncurl inside of me.

  Dad nodded at me. “Congratulations,” he said to Bailey. But he grinned, and suddenly he looked a lot less stodgy and formal. “I’m the luckiest man, getting to have my son and my two grandchildren so close by.” He looked over at me. “Of course if you need any help with Ethan or anything else, you just have to holler.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” I said gratefully. I knew that Bailey and I could handle things on our own if we had to, but it was definitely a relief to hear that Dad planned to continue being around to help out as needed. Not only that, but I knew that even though he and I had never been very close, he already planned on being just as close to this newest addition to the family as he was to Ethan. That meant a lot to me.

  I was nearly finished with the pancakes when Bailey’s phone rang. She frowned down at the screen and then looked up at me. Was that guilt in her expression? What was that about?

  “I’ll be right back,” she said, before I could ask any questions. She slipped out of the kitchen. Ethan barely seemed to notice, still chattering away about how excited he was to meet his new baby brother or sister.

  “It won’t be for a little while now,” Dad explained to him, shooting me an inquisitive look.

  I shrugged in response and tried not to worry. Maybe there was more to the story than just the pregnancy. Bailey and I still hadn’t talked about how her meeting had gone, I suddenly realized.

  I remembered what Dad had said before about how lucky he was to get to have his two grandchildren close by, and suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. Was that what Bailey was really worried about? Was she planning on moving back to Nevada? I knew that her job with the casino came with considerably less risk than owning her own company, especially a ski resort. I had always been lucky to live close to my dad; maybe Bailey wanted to raise her child closer to Ian. The two of them had always been close.

  I took the last of the pancakes off the stove and, without a word, headed after Bailey. I needed to know what was going on. I could barely imagine moving to Nevada with Ethan, trying to settle in to a new life while Bailey swelled with a child inside of her. But if that was what she wanted, then we would have to talk about things. Bailey and I had been pretty lucky so far, but I knew that relationships were all about compromises.

  I walked into the living room just as Bailey was hanging up the phone. “What’s going on?” I asked, and again, there was that guilty look.

  “There’s something else that I needed to talk to you about,” Bailey said, sounding nervous. “The casino guys have really liked the work I’ve been putting in. And they’re trying to expand to some new territory overseas. They offered me the position as head of the foreign casino.”

  I stared at her, trying to process the words. “So you’re moving to Europe?” I asked slowly, my mind whirling. That was even crazier than I had thought. Moving to Nevada was one thing, but moving to Europe would involve all sorts of changes. Changes that I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to force Ethan to go through. He was already going to have to get used to the fact that he wasn’t an only child; did Bailey think it was fair to force him to do that over in Europe, with none of his friends even on the same continent as him?

  “They put together a great offer and everything,” Bailey was saying. “You know, we’d get Ethan into a great international school, and there would still be skiing, and the salary was honestly absurd, plus they’d help with all of the visas and other relocation things.”

  “Right,” I said, the word coming out strangled. It sounded as though she was seriously considering this.

  But Bailey took a deep breath. “I turned it down,” she said.

  “What?” I asked blankly.

  “That was Ian who called just now,” Bailey said. “He wanted to talk to me about what I was thinking. He wanted to know if I had talked to you yet and all of that.” She shook her head. “And I just realized that when I picture a future with you, it’s here. In Park City. It’s what you talked about back in Vegas: chilly winter nights snuggled together on the couch. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

  I stared at her for another moment and then briskly crossed the room to her, pulling her into my arms and squeezing her tight. There wasn’t anything more perfect that she could have said. She wanted to be here with me, with us. This was the future that she had been dreaming about.

  And it was the future that I had been dreaming about as well.

  Epilogue

  Bailey

  10 months later

  I smiled down at Carson as I rocked her to sleep, singing softly under my breath. Ethan hadn’t wanted to leave the room while his baby sister was still awake, and he had ended up falling asleep on the floor, curled into a ball, a smile on his face. I couldn’t imagine a sweeter picture of family than this.

  It only got more perfect as Adam walked into the room and carefully sat next to me on the loveseat. Carson looked curiously at her father, and I imagined that she smiled. Of course, she was still too young to really smile, but I could tell she was and always would be daddy’s little girl.

  She was perfect in every way.

  “Want me to take over?” Adam asked softly. He still looked chilled, having just come in from outside where he’d been grabbing another stack of firewood, but he was always there to help out, all through my pregnancy and through the first weeks of baby Carson’s life.

  I shook my head now, though. “She’s almost asleep,” I said quietly. Then, I nodded towards Ethan. “Unless you want to carry him upstairs.”

  Adam grinned and nodded, walking over and scooping our son up off the carpet.

  Our son. Over the past ten months, Ethan had really started to feel like he was as much my son as he was Adam’s. This felt like the family I had never really imagined I would get to have. I couldn’t get luckier than this.

  Carson’s little eyes finally closed, and I carefully carried her up to her crib, laying her gently down on the flannel sheets. Adam joined me there a couple minutes later, stroking my back and then following me out of the room. He gave me a big hug. “You’re amazing with her,” he said softly.

  “Mother’s intuition?” I asked, laughing. “Or is she just an easy baby?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” Adam said, shrugging. “Ethan was a pretty easy baby as well, so I feel li
ke I’ve just been spoiled.”

  “Guess we probably shouldn’t have another one, then,” I teased. “I don’t know if we could get that lucky again.”

  Adam grinned at me. “We’ll see,” he said. We had both talked about having another kid once Carson had grown up a little, but we hadn’t made any firm decisions yet. There were other milestones that Adam and I wanted to hit first.

  Like our wedding. I stroked a finger over the engagement ring on my finger. It was getting loose now that I was losing the baby weight and bloating from my pregnancy, but Adam had assured me we would get it resized. He just hadn’t wanted to wait any longer before proposing to me.

  I still remembered how excited he had been to ask me to marry him. About as excited as I had been to agree to it.

  It seemed like all of the earlier nervousness between us had disappeared. We were both so happy to be together, and we fit together so perfectly. There was no arguing with it. It was meant to be.

  “Do you ever regret not taking the job in Europe?” Adam asked suddenly.

  I blinked at him in surprise. I hadn’t expected to hear him say anything like that. “Do you regret me not taking it?” I asked, frowning. “I know the money thing has been kind of tight lately, but I’ll be back to work at the resort soon.”

  “I’m not worried about that,” Adam said immediately, shaking his head. “I was just wondering if you missed, I don’t know, the adventure of all of it.”

  I stared blankly at him and then laughed, shaking my head. “The adventure of all of it?” I asked him. “Adam, we have an infant daughter. And there’s you and Ethan. And the resort. I’ve got plenty of adventure in my life at the moment, believe me.”

  Adam looked unconvinced. “I know that you probably planned on, I don’t know, something more in your life,” he said.

  I shook my head, though, cutting him off before he could give voice to any more absurd thoughts. “Adam, I am so happy here,” I told him. “I was thinking earlier about how perfect this is. Our family. I don’t need anything more than this.” I paused. “But if you’re really worried about it, maybe we can take a trip somewhere. Next summer, when things aren’t so busy around the resort, and when Carson is a little older.”

  That would be a real adventure, I knew. Our first family vacation. I couldn’t imagine anyone I would rather share all of that with.

  Adam finally grinned at me. “All right,” he said, pulling me into his arms again and kissing the top of my head. “How’s that ring fitting you anyway?”

  “It’s getting a little loose,” I admitted. “I think I’m ready to trade it in for something else.”

  Adam looked surprised. “I thought you loved it,” he said, sounding worried.

  “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, after Carson’s face. Or yours. Or Ethan’s,” I said. I grinned at him. “But the reception hall called me today and told me that they had a cancellation. I already checked with Ian and your dad, and they’ll be able to make it. What do you say to getting married at the end of this month?”

  Adam looked shocked and then ecstatic. “I’d say, I do,” he said, his voice deep with emotion.

  “Good,” I said, nodding at him. “Because I do, too.”

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  About the Author

  Hey there. I'm Weston.

  I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker as we travel the United States for the next two years.

  You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Mafia and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone, hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.

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  Copyright © 2019 by Weston Parker

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.

  First Edition.

  Editor: Shauna Jones

  Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art