Daddy's Toy-Box (A Daddy's Best Friend Romance)

by Caitlin Daire

  We talked for what felt like a hundred hours, although it was only two, and I realized I hadn’t done something like this in years. I spoke to Mom on the phone regularly to hear all her neighborhood gossip, and I went back and visited both parents every few months, of course, but it was always for casual catching up and general conversation over lunch and whatever game was on TV. We never really talked, not like this.

  When all the serious stuff was out of the way, and it felt like we were all tapped out, I gave my parents a watery smile. “In the name of being honest about everything tonight, I should probably admit something to you. I kept something from you last time I was here. Well, outright lied, actually.”

  “What is it?” Mom asked, her forehead lined with concern.

  “Erm…well, Mom, you weren’t wrong about my boyfriend being an accountant whose name started with J. That was James. But we broke up, because he was a total asshole. An asshole who’s still harassing me, in fact. I was too embarrassed to admit it to you that morning when you called me, so I lied and said I had a boyfriend, and then…then I roped Jacob into pretending to be my boyfriend for the afternoon so I wouldn’t have to come clean. I’m sorry. I know it was wrong.”

  Mom looked at me for a long moment, and then she looked at Dad. For a second I thought they were going to frown and chastise me for lying, but they burst out laughing instead. “We’ve still got it, Anne,” Dad said, holding out his palm toward her for a high five. “Still sharp.”

  “Wait…what?” I said. “What’s happening here?”

  Dad grinned. “We had a feeling you were trying to trick us. Your mother was certain that you’d told us your boyfriend was an accountant, and I was certain his name was James. So when you showed up with Jacob Archer, of all people, we were more than a little shocked. But we played along.”

  “You sneaky rats! Why did you ask us to stay the night if you knew?”

  They looked embarrassed. “We were waiting for one of you to crack, to be honest,” Mom said. “But then neither of you did.”

  “And I really liked Jacob, anyway,” Dad added. “The way he looked at you, and the way you two got along…I had a feeling it wouldn’t be too long till he was really yours. And well, look what’s happened. You two are together now, aren’t you?”

  “I…”

  “Yes, we are,” Jacob said from the doorway before I could finish my sentence. He’d just walked in with the dog, and my heart leapt at his words. “And I’m sorry I helped Nora out with her scheming last time I was here. I felt bad for lying, really.”

  “Get us tickets to the premiere event for your movie when it comes out, and all will be forgiven,” Dad said.

  “Done.”

  “Speaking of that movie, we have to work on it tomorrow,” I said. “And it’s getting late. We should really head off. And don’t worry, it’s not raining, so we’re safe to drive. No need to trick us into staying over again.”

  My mom and dad both wrapped their arms around me for a long time before we left. “Thank you for trying to understand everything,” Mom murmured. “We’re so lucky you’re our daughter.”

  I gave her a tight smile. “Well, it’s still going to take a while to let it all sink in, but we’re okay, Mom. I forgive you. And Dad. You know that.”

  “And you know that I’ll be down in the city in a flash if this ex of yours keeps harassing you,” Dad replied.

  I smiled. “I know. But it’s okay. The police are on the case, and I’m staying at Jacob’s till it all blows over. I’m safe.”

  After saying our goodbyes, we got into the car with Oscar, and I leaned over and kissed Jacob on the cheek. “Thanks for being here with me tonight,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Of course. Now let’s get you and this golden boy home,” he replied, gesturing to Oscar, who was curled up on the backseat, already snoring.

  “Yes,” I said, before sitting up straighter. “Wait, you don’t mean my house, do you?”

  “Course not. I meant my place,” he replied. “Used to just feel like a house to me, y’know. But as long as you’re there, it’s feeling more and more like home.”

  My cheeks glowed with warmth. “Really?”

  “This is awkward. I was actually talking to the dog.”

  I giggled and poked him in the arm. “Oh, shut up,” I said. Then my face turned serious. “Did you really mean that, though?” I added shyly. “About it feeling like home with me there?”

  He looked over at me and winked. “Hell yeah.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Nora

  Bzzt. Bzzt.

  I groggily opened my eyes and rolled over to see my cell phone ringing. Sunlight was peeking through the blinds, and I knew it must be late in the morning, but I’d been planning on sleeping in until the phone rudely awakened me.

  Another week and a half had passed by, and my work on Fourth Down was finally done—all the main sports-related scenes had been filmed. There were still a lot of other scenes that needed to be filmed over the next few months, but I didn’t need to be around for them, as per my contract, so I no longer needed to be at Meridian Studios every day. I didn’t have any other contracts with Delos at the moment, either, so I was taking the time off to relax and sleep in late for a while until I got another one assigned to me.

  Too bad I hadn’t switched my cell phone to silent last night, though. My phone was nearly vibrating right off the nightstand. “Hello?” I said, trying hard not to sound too annoyed as I answered my phone.

  “Nora, it’s Detective Sinclair. I’m calling with an update on your case.”

  I sat up straight, immediately wide awake and alert. “Oh? You found something?”

  “Yes. Our forensic computing guy was able to trace one of the messages sent to you online. Does the name Robert Quinto mean anything to you?”

  I frowned. “No. Why?”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “All right. That’s the name registered with the internet service provider. For the address where the message was sent from, that is.”

  “So someone named Robert Quinto is the one who’s been harassing me?” I asked, furrowing my brows with confusion.

  “Not necessarily. Someone—likely James—could simply be using his internet somehow. It’s possible to hijack other people’s Wi-Fi, or he could’ve simply gone to his house and used his computer. But obviously we needed to check with you first and see if you knew anyone by the name Robert Quinto, just to rule him out.”

  “Oh, of course. Well, I definitely don’t know anyone by that name. Have you spoken to Mr. Quinto?”

  “We’ve attempted to get in contact with him, but apparently he’s just gone out of the country on business. We’ll keep trying, though. This is good news, Nora. It’s a solid lead. It’s not often that harassment cases like this go anywhere, to be perfectly honest.”

  “I can imagine. Thanks for the call, detective.”

  When our call was over, I yawned and stretched before padding into the bathroom and showering. Now that I was awake, I figured I may as well get started on my day, which included finally clearing out my house in Ellesmere Circle. In our spare time over the last few weeks, Jacob had been helping me clear up the mess that had been left when James—or whoever—broke in and trashed the place, and last time we were there together, he’d stopped, looked around and then asked me when the lease was due to expire. It was coming up soon, and I told him as such, upon which he’d asked me to move in with him permanently. I was always at his house anyway, given the current situation, and it just made perfect sense for us to take this big next step in our relationship.

  So I said yes, of course.

  Now that I had so much free time between contracts, I was taking the time to clear out all the things I was keeping and take the rest to a secondhand furniture donation store. It was a bittersweet feeling, letting go of some of the things I’d held onto for so long, but at the sam
e time, I felt like I was also letting go of the past and starting a new chapter in my life. A chapter which included me living with Hollywood’s hottest actor.

  Not bad, Nora.

  I headed down to Brentwood, taking Oscar with me, and after several hours, my place was almost empty. All my remaining items were packed into bags marked as ‘keep’, ‘throw out’ or ‘donate’, and I sighed and sat on the back lawn, giving Oscar a belly rub as I looked out at the view across the hills.

  “We had a good time here, didn’t we, boy?” I said.

  Oscar panted, tongue lolling out of his mouth, and then he let out a short, sharp bark. I nodded. “Good idea. We need a pizza.”

  I called Angie to come over and have some goodbye pizza with us, and she arrived before the food did.

  “I still can’t believe you’re letting this place go,” she said, looking around longingly at the house. “The rent was so cheap, considering the neighborhood and all.”

  “I know. But there’s no point holding onto a place I never stay at anymore. It’s just a waste of money.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure you want to do this, though? I mean, I know Jacob is great and all, but don’t you worry things have moved a little too fast? It’s only been two months since you started dating. Slightly less, actually.”

  “You know that saying? ‘When you know, you know’,” I replied.

  Angie nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Well, I know. Jacob is the one for me, Angie. He’s done so much for me, and even though we’ve only been together for a little while, I feel like I’ve known him forever. He’s helped me through so much, especially with what I found out about my parents the other week. Honestly, I can’t wait to officially live with him.”

  She hesitated, and I knew what she was thinking. “I know you’re concerned and you think I’m being naïve, but I’m fine,” I said. “Even if it doesn’t end up working out, it’s not like I’m trapped there. I can just leave.”

  “Fair enough. You know I’m only looking out for you,” she said, ruffling my hair. “Hold on, I think the pizza’s here.”

  She went and retrieved our pepperoni and cheese pies, and when she returned, she laid out the two boxes in front of us. “You packed all the plates, I assume, so we have to eat with our hands.”

  “I’m fine with that,” I said with a laugh.

  There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as we ate, and then Angie wiped her mouth and turned to me. “This is the worst possible time to bring this up, seeing as you’re literally just about to move in with Jacob, but I have some news for you.”

  I wrinkled my forehead. “What is it?”

  “I had lunch with Bonnie the other day. She loved the work you put in on Fourth Down. Said all the scenes you consulted on are top-notch. Perfect. And she thinks you really helped Jacob in his performance so far. She wasn’t the one who decided to cast him as Simmons, so she was always a bit wary of him. Worried he might be better suited to acting on TV dramas. But she said he’s capturing Simmons perfectly.”

  “Oh, great. Glad to hear it. But what’s that got to do with me moving in with Jacob?”

  “I’m not done,” she went on. “Bonnie actually recommended you to another film studio. Hartwell. They want to meet with you.”

  I smiled. Hartwell was a huge production company. They’d produced six of the ten biggest blockbuster films in the last five years. “That’s great! I don’t have any contracts at the moment, so I’m definitely in the market for new work,” I said. “It’s all based here, right?”

  She hesitated. “Um. That’s the problem. They have offices and studios here, but for this project they’re mostly based in New York. The film they’re interested in hiring you for will be shooting there.”

  “That’s okay. If they just need a quick consulting job like I did with Fourth Down, I can go and stay over there for a few weeks. It’s no problem.”

  “It’s a six month job,” Angie said. “They want a full-on consultant for the whole film, not just for one aspect of it.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. And you’re just moving in with Jacob, so it might be weird for you to take off for six months. You guys have only been dating for two, so suddenly switching to long distance for such a long time…I don’t know. Do you think you guys would be able to make that work?”

  I chewed on my lip as I considered it. I wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t speak for Jacob. I knew he’d be supportive of me and my career—he knew how much it meant to me, and he was just wonderful like that—but I wasn’t sure how things would turn out if I had to move several thousand miles away for half a year. Of course I wanted us to work out, but I’d seen a lot of strong relationships crumble and dissolve under the strain of a long distance setup. Were we unbreakable, or could we crumble too?

  “I hope so,” I ended up saying.

  “I hope so too,” Angie said. “This could be huge for you, Nora. I know you’ve been wanting to branch out from Delos for a while and start your own consultancy business. Working for Hartwell on this could seriously help with that.”

  I nodded slowly. “Yes, it could.”

  “I know it’s a hard decision to make, with Jacob and all.”

  “How much time do I have to decide?” I asked.

  Angie sighed. “Not long. They already had a guy, but he dropped out at the last possible minute. So they’re looking to meet with you and any other possible consultants as soon as possible.”

  “How soon, exactly?”

  “Tomorrow. And if it goes well, you’d need to fly out in a week.”

  I almost choked on my slice of pizza. “A week?”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  What was I supposed to do? Say no, and ensure that my relationship with Jacob kept sailing on smoothly? Or did I take a chance and say yes to the project and leave in a week, possibly putting us in jeopardy?

  The first thing I needed to do was obvious—I needed to speak to Jacob about it. But how would he take the news?

  I guess all I could do was wait and see.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Jacob

  “Jacob Archer, you’ve been served.”

  Ina handed a file to me over the table, and I grinned. We were having an early dinner at an Italian-Vietnamese fusion restaurant called L’Amio while Nora was finishing off the job of clearing out her old place with her best friend Angie. I couldn’t wait for Nora to officially live with me, and now that Ina was moving out soon, we would have the whole place to ourselves. Everything was falling into place perfectly.

  “So what do I need to sign?” I asked, opening the file and leafing through all the paperwork.

  “The lawyer has marked it all out. So just sign it whenever, and send it back. We have to be separated for a certain period of time before it’s all processed by a judge, but once that’s done, we’ll officially be divorced.”

  “Great. It was nice being married to you.”

  Ina smiled. “Yes, it was. I don’t know how I can possibly even begin to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Jake. You saved my life. Literally. And you could’ve gone to jail if anyone ever found out.”

  “Well, we pulled it off, didn’t we?” I said, patting her hand over the table.

  “Yes, we did. But really, Jake, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. You didn’t just stop them from sending me back, you also took me in, gave me somewhere to live and helped me start my own business. I’m in your debt forever.”

  “It’s fine. I was glad to help,” I replied. “And you aren’t in any debt. You paid me back the money for your business as soon as you turned your first profit.”

  Ina was currently heading up a small gin importing business with a friend of hers—they imported relatively unknown brands of gin from overseas and sold them on to boutique bars. Gin seemed to be the fashionable new drink at the moment, so things were going swimmingly for her in that department, and they were going to expand to other liquors soo
n. I’d initially helped her out by lending her the seed money to start things off, but she’d paid me back years ago.

  “I meant I’m in your debt figuratively. At least let me pay for dinner tonight,” she said.

  “Sure. Your business seems to be doing well, so it’s not like you can’t afford it,” I said with a wink. “Maybe you can even pay me alimony.”

  Ina laughed and picked up her wine glass. “Cheers.”

  I clinked my own glass against hers. “Cheers.”

  She took a sip of her drink, then cleared her throat. “When is Nora going to be finished moving her things in?”

  “Soon. She’s just grabbing the last of her stuff from her old place now. I was going to help, but she texted me saying she’s having a girly pizza night with her friend.”

  Ina nodded slowly. “I honestly never thought I’d see this day, Jake.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She gave me a sly smile. “Don’t pretend with me. You know what you used to be like. A different woman every week. Sometimes there would even be more than one in a week. But now…now you have Nora. You’ve settled down. I think it’s wonderful.”

  “She’s wonderful.”

  “Yes, she is. Far too good for you,” Ina said with a giggle.

  “Wow, you’re turning into a vindictive ex-wife already, huh?”

  She stuck the tip of her tongue out at me. “You know what I mean. How many other women would be as understanding as her? If I was dating someone and they told me they were already married…hell, I think I’d run like the wind. But she stayed. She listened, and she understood.”

  “She sure did.”

  “You’ve found yourself someone really special in her, Jake. Don’t do anything to screw it up,” she said, a note of warning in her voice.

  “I’m trying my best.”

  She was silent for a second, and then she snorted with laughter. “I still can’t believe she ever spoke to you again after that first date you took her on.”