“And I’m going to find a new job Finn. I cannot work with a boss that has the emotional maturity of a five year old,” she stormed out of the door.
Could Bryce be right?
Could I really blame Harper for keeping silent, especially when after she found out that I’d been lying to her?
God, I made a mistake. I need to get to Harper. I need to show her how much I love her. And tell her that I don’t need any contract.
No contract will ever bind us, only love with bind us.
33
Harper
“But I’m feeling lazy and I don’t want to change, Carmen. I can go to this pre-natal yoga class next week,” I tried to convince Carmen as she persuaded me to go for the class.
“You’ll have to cheer up babes, you can’t be sad and gloomy all throughout the pregnancy. And the baby’s mommy and Aunt Carmen will leave no stone unturned to give it the best life possible. Don’t you worry.”
“Yeah…a jobless mom, who also breached her six month sugar daddy contract!” I sighed.
The bell rang and Carmen went to answer the door.
And exactly two minutes later, she was back.
“Now if this doesn’t cheer you up, nothing will,” she pointed towards Finn who was standing in front of me, looking as handsome as ever.
“And now I’ll excuse you two love birds,” Carmen said as she picked up her purse and walked out of the door.
“What do you want, Finn?” I asked.
“I want to apologize for making your life so difficult, Harper. I want to apologize for compartmentalizing my heart and not allowing you to enter, when that’s the only place you deserve to be in. I want to apologize to you for making you feel unloved, I want to apologize to you for making you feel like you couldn’t trust me with the baby. Will you forgive me, my sweet Harper?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “What did you say? You forgive me for getting pregnant during our contract? I know it’s not what you wanted from this. I don’t expect anything from you. I’m not even going to force you to get involved if you don’t want to be.”
“Was it that first night?” His voice was tender.
“Yes.”
“Wow, you’re right, it’s not at all what I expected. Thinking about children hasn’t been on my mind since before Emelia died.”
Harper cringed. “Yes, and I’m sorry. It’s not something that I intended either from my first time having sex. But I want to keep it. I know that’s not fair to you, but I love him or her already and I want to keep it.”
I nodded. I would never expect anyone to do away with a child that was growing right in their own belly. I had no idea what to say, I figured I was effectively still in shock.
“I don’t want to remain on the contract anymore. I’m pregnant now and the contract is just not what I want anymore. I allowed my heart to get carried away and now I have nothing. I will be raising a child on my own and I don’t even have my dream of the candy factory. I don’t want to be part of this sugar daddy arrangement anymore Finn, I feel so different now and I’m so hurt.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m in love with you. I think I always have been. I only agreed to the contract because I wanted to be with you and there was a part of me that thought that I could make you love me. But that was really stupid of me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She loved me, she actually loved me. And she was pregnant. She had my child growing inside her and there was something magical about that too. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I love you too.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
I laughed. “You heard me. I love you. I have for a while but I was filled with guilt over Emelia. I truly believed that I was dishonoring her memory by loving another woman but Bryce made me see that I could have you both. Emelia had my past and you can have my future if you want it.”
“What are you saying? You want to be with me? What about the baby?”
“I’m not going to lie to you, Harper. A baby wasn’t part of my life plan right now but the idea that my child is growing inside of you right now fills me with so much joy.”
I went over to her and cupped her belly even though she wasn’t showing yet. She looked up at me and smiled. Tears poured down her eyes.
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. We are really going to be together?”
“If you will still have me, of course. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the candy factory, I wasn’t trying to hurt you or even be dishonest with you. I didn’t see it as a personal thing for you. I figured you would just go after another project. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Yes, I will. Being with you makes up for everything. Having this baby with you will be my new dream, you are literally making my dreams come true right now.”
“No, I’m going to make all your dreams come true.”
She wiped away her tears and she looked as beautiful as ever. “What do you mean?”
“I will make sure that Axel sells me the candy factory, I don’t care if I have to pay him triple for the property. You will have your property to honor your parents because that is a beautiful story that we can tell our grandchildren.”
“Oh my God, stop, you are going to make me cry again. I’m hormonal, you know.”
I pulled her into my arms and held her tight. She was literally everything to me and now we were going to have a baby together. It was too amazing for words.
“I love you, Harper.”
“I love you, too.” She looked up at me and I placed my lips on hers feeling like I had finally come home.
“You have burrowed your way into my heart anyways, and I couldn’t be happier. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Harper.”
I let her go and walked over to my desk, pulling out a drawer.
“I meant for this to be far more romantic than at my office but here we go”, he walked over and presented in front of me a small velvet box. I looked up at him, knowing exactly what it was.
“Oh, my God.”
“I’ve known I was going to do this ever since your birthday. You caught me off guard with your baby bombshell but we will be married before you start showing. If you will have me, of course.”
I opened the box and presented her with a 12-karat solitaire diamond that glittered all over the place. She gasped and I took it out of the box. I slipped it on her finger and she gazed at it adoringly.
“I would love to marry you but Finn, I could never replace Emelia.”
“I would never expect you to. I love you because you are you, not because you are like Emelia. I want you for you and no other reason. I will give you everything that you could ever want in life, including that candy factory.”
“Well, I do then,” she said with a laugh. She kissed me then and I couldn’t have wanted a better experience. It wasn’t the proposal that I was going for but it would do. In the end, all I wanted was her and I was getting what I wanted.
“I have one condition though,” she said with a wink.
“And that is?”
“Would you be my sugar daddy throughout my life? I love being your pretty baby, I love pleasing you and I love…” I was crying and I had no clue why. I was the happiest woman alive.
“Yes, my sweet Harper, I’ll be your sugar daddy forever.” Finn embraced me and started kissing me passionately. His hands found my sore breasts and I knew that we were now going to christen my tiny apartment.
34
Epilogue - Eighteen months later
Baby Sara was giggling as I bounced her on my knee. We were sitting in a rocking chair out front of the Healthy Grocers, a mom-and-pop general store in the complex where Finn and I lived. It was my complex, my dream, right on the land where the candy factory once stood. Axel decided to join our partnership too and we’d developed the land with my complex being the first project. It was still brand new, but people were responding positively to the neighborhood vibe.
“It reminds me of my parents place and I know they would love it here,” I laughed.
“Everyone loves it, and it’s all because of you, my darling.” I was blushing with pride.
Finn then showed me a newspaper article that talked about the impact our complex was making in the neighborhood. Other developers were already scouting for sites to build nostalgia complexes like ours
“And there’s more good news. The complex has just won a major architectural award for community impact. The Mayor is going to give her the key to the city,” Axel walked towards us smiling.
I couldn’t believe all the blessings raining on me.
“I’m so proud of you, wifey,” Finn said beaming with joy.
I told them both that it would not have been possible without their support.
“Don’t underestimate yourself Harper. You need loads of courage to sneak into a CEO’s office. And that’s what made this happen.” Finn winked.
“Well, in that case, fortune favors the bold,” I laughed.
Finn smiled and kissed me, as Axel picked up our daughter and twirled her in the air. She giggled, and Finn took her from Axel, hugging her to him.
“I can’t remember ever being so happy,” Finn smiled.
“And I am so happy for you my friend,” Axel said.
We walked to our townhouse within the complex and my heart swelled with pride and satisfaction. My life was perfect, and I was never more happier.
And tonight, I was going to give Finn another surprise.
After dinner, I called Finn and Baby Sara into the little balcony adjoining Sara’s room.
I had arranged a nice cake – the icing was half blue, and half pink.
And I wore a lacy red nightdress with a ‘question mark’ print on the tummy.
“So, what do you think? Boy or Girl?” I asked pointing to the question mark.
“ Oh my god…you mean…Oh my darling Harper. You are full of surprises…all good ones,” Finn kissed me. “You make me the happiest man alive.”
I heard Sara drop something and realized she had made a mess of herself. Her hands were smeared in cream and she had cake all over her pretty dress.
“Hold on. Let me get a picture before cleaning you up,” I smiled.
Life was perfect.
***The End***
Best Friend’s Daddy (Excerpt)
Description
I know it’s so wrong, but my best friend needs to know.
So, how do we say it?
Hey, I’m pregnant with your father’s child! You’re gonna be a big sister! Yay!!!
No, this can’t happen.
She can’t know. No one can know.
I always understood he was off limits,
But I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
In fact, I saved myself for him!
And working at his restaurant was…fun.
My ‘let’s seduce Michael plan’ was working,
And soon he was feeding me chocolate covered strawberries,
And I was tasting whipped cream off of his lips and…you know what…
But we screwed up…big time!
So, time for Plan B now.
Yep, when shit hits the fan, I do the easy thing and run away.
Will my Prince Charming come after me?
Or did I just ruin my only chance at a happily ever after?
Prologue
Stevie
It was The Day.
I remember that I had written it in all caps on my calendar hanging on the wall of my childhood bedroom. Mom and Dad assumed that I wrote it that way because it was the day of my high school graduation, and I let them keep thinking that. They would have lost their minds if they’d known what it really meant.
The thing was, I knew I was graduating high school. I had always had great grades, I was an active member in the drama club and the field hockey team, my teachers loved me – but in my head, graduation day was more for my parents. They got to see their baby girl walk across the stage and get her diploma. For me, all the hard work had already been done.
So for me - for me, the big day wasn’t about graduating.
It was about the afterparty.
I was finally eighteen, and I was out of high school. Two very important distinctions when you’ve got a huge crush on a man who is old enough to be your father.
Nobody knew about my crush, of course. I wasn’t an idiot and I knew what everyone would think. But all through high school I was just so… done with all the boys my age. Even the college age boys that I met at parties or through my older brother Andy. They were immature, and inexperienced. They didn’t know what they wanted out of life, they were thoughtless and honestly wouldn’t know how to get a girl off if their lives depended on it.
I wanted someone with class, someone who had his life together, someone with maturity and brains and compassion. And someone who knew what he was doing in bed. Someone who could take charge and make me beg for him.
And that man was Michael Madison.
I met Michael through his daughter - my best friend Brooke. Brooke was… not the sharpest knife in the drawer, bless her. But she was kind, so very kind and thoughtful. She had a smile for everyone. She was always one of the most popular girls in our school and not because of any machinations on her part, shockingly, but because she was genuinely such a lovely person that everyone wanted to know her and be her friend.
Everyone always said I was lucky to be her best friend, and I was. Brooke was there for me no matter what, and I was happy to be there for her too.
I was just also lucky in another way.
Michael - he insisted I call him that rather than Mr. Madison—was tall, fit, and so very handsome. He had this light brown hair that curled a little when it got humid or when he’d been working in the hot kitchen all day, and these soulful green eyes that sucked me in, like an ocean. I often found myself accidentally staring into them for too long, just… lost in them.
But more than just being handsome as sin - he was such a good person. He never spoke to me like I was a child but talked to me like I was the same age, like an adult. It was so refreshing, after dealing with everyone still treating me like I had no idea what I was doing with my life. He would teach me how to make fancy dishes when I slept over at Brooke’s house while Brooke watched us, making jokes. He never chastised me when I used swear words - which I used a lot. I’d always had a problem with cursing.
He gave me my love of cooking, my love of food. He was the reason I had decided to go to culinary school instead of a proper four-year college. My parents didn’t mind, thank God. I thought they might protest, but instead they thought a vocational college was an excellent idea and they were grateful to Michael for his mentorship.
If they knew all the things I thought about Michael fantasizing alone in my bed at night, touching myself, whimpering into my pillow as I imagined him inside me, pulling my hair, biting my neck and telling me stay quiet, that’s a good girl.
He was the reason why I hadn’t had sex yet. Oh, sure, I’d fooled around a little, but just a make out session with a guy was enough to tell me that just as I’d suspected, they didn’t have what I wanted. And I listened to Brooke talking about her experiences and… no thanks. I was going to wait for someone who knew what he was doing, who knew how to get me actually turned on and desperate and needy.
Now I was eighteen, legally an adult, and out of high school. Also about to leave for culinary school and be away for three years.
There would never be a better time for me to make a move on the man starring in my fantasies for years.
Of course, all this would be a moot point if he was married, but Michael’s wife left him last month for another man.
That was… that was hard. Brooke cried on my bed for hours. She and her mom had been extremely close. Brooke had always looked up to her, as well as her father,
even as she’d admitted from time to time that her mother was focused on the wrong things in life—the material things, money and clothes and objects instead of people. But Brooke loved her and they would go shopping all the time, hanging out, friends as well as mother and daughter. She told her mom everything, and she said her mother was always very patient and understanding about things like high school parties and fooling around with boys.
Then the other shoe dropped, and Brooke was left to wonder if the mother she’d known and loved all this time had been a lie.
Virginia - that was her name, broke her daughter’s heart. I don’t think I would ever forgive her for that.
But hey. It meant that Michael was single and in need of some sweet, sweaty, sexual comfort after the shock of his wife leaving him. Right?
Right.
We even had the perfect setting: my joint graduation party with Brooke at Michael’s restaurant.
Michael insisted on hosting the party and making sure it was perfect for Brooke and me. He went all out, putting up streamers and balloons and getting a big sign. Brooke and I talked for days about exactly what kind of cake we wanted (alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla) and Michael insisted he’d make it for us, don’t even worry about it. I know my parents were grateful not to have to plan anything. I thought it was incredibly sweet of Michael… and I hoped I’d get to reward him the way I wanted to.
For my plan to work—to finally get to have him touching me, kissing me, the way I’d been dreaming of for years—I had to make sure that he saw me as an adult, and not a child. It would be difficult, sure, I was his daughter’s best friend and this was my high school graduation party. But I’d always been told I was mature for my age, and then I had those curves…and moves…I’d like to think so at least.
Sugar Daddy: The Forever Daddies Series Page 20