Hot Daddy Sauce

by Angel Devlin

  “I am so sorry. This is the most awkward encounter I’ve had with a female in a long time.”

  That’s it, I’m gone. I laugh loudly, and I welcome it because it’s the first joy I’ve felt in weeks. “Now, I’m not going to complain about your magic fingers.”

  He holds a hand over his eyes peeping through them. “Stop, please. I’m so embarrassed.” He hands me a plaster. Quick, put this on. Sorry but it has to be a princess one; you’re not going to get away with anything less.”

  “You mean I have to place this on myself? No more magic fingers?” I pout at him.

  “Nope, I have to pace myself, or I’ll lose my magic touch.” He winks and this time it’s my turn to feel a little heat at my cheeks. Is this just banter to break an awkward moment or is he actually flirting with me?

  I don’t get time to think on it any further as a Disney Cinderella doll is more or less thrown at me. “See, it’s Cinderella, but I like to rename them and make my own stories for them, so this was Princess Sophie, but now she’s Princess Leah, and look she’s hurt herself in the garden.” Amelia points to where she’s drawn a red graze on the doll’s knee with what looks like felt-tip pen. “Now the prince can make the princess better later.” she tells me. “Oh, great, you have the princess plaster on. You’ll be better in no time, won’t she, Daddy?” Her little voice rambles on at a hundred miles an hour. “Now it’s time for pancakes. Do you want raspberry sauce and chocolate sprinkles?”

  “Erm, what else is there?”

  “Sugar, lemon juice, chocolate sauce, orange juice, maple syrup. I have to keep a supply of everything in with this young lady. Her tastes can be very demanding.”

  “I’ll have sugar and lemon juice on mine please.”

  “Coming right up. Amelia?”

  “Raspberry sauce done as a smiley face please, and chocolate sprinkle eyebrows and a moustache.” She giggles. “Daddy makes the best faces on pancakes. He’s so funny. Did your daddy make you pancakes when you were a little girl?”

  And just like that I feel sliced in two. Like an ice-cold wind has hit my throat on a cross-country run, I gasp. My hands going to my mouth.

  “Shoot, I’m so sorry.” Jenson asks.

  I breathe deeply. You’re okay, Leah, I tell myself. It will pass.

  “What’s the matter?” Amelia looks panicked.

  “My cut stung a little.” I lie. “But it’s okay now.”

  I watch as she scrambles onto her chair at the table, sitting next to me.

  “My daddy used to make me runny eggs with soldiers. Have you had those?”

  Amelia’s head nods up and down eagerly. “Oh yes, I love those. Come tomorrow and Daddy can make us them.”

  “I might be busy tomorrow…” I say, noting the disappointment hit her features once more.

  Pancakes are placed in front of me and Jenson offers me a coffee to go with it. I’d not had breakfast this morning and I hadn’t realised just how hungry I’d become. The pancakes are delicious: thin, crispy, and just the right amount of sweet and sour. I clear my plate in no time and then find yet another placed on my plate. I manage three before I shake my head at Jenson’s offer of another.

  “Wow, I think I’m going to burst.” I say rubbing at my stomach. I note Jenson’s eyes linger at my breasts for a second. Yeah, my ample rack looks like it could burst from my top any time. I might be short, but I’m stacked.

  Finishing up my coffee, I clamber off my seat. “Well, thanks for the breakfast, guys, and for treating my poorly knee. I’d better get back to work now. I have some men coming over later to help clear the house and do some repairs.”

  “So, are you moving in?” Jenson asks.

  I shake my head. “No, I’m getting the place ready for sale. It needs a little updating and then I can get it on the market.” I don’t explain about the debt I’d found my parents had got themselves in unknown to me. How they’d been ripped off by a scam. Now I needed to get the best price for the house to clear the debt because they’d no other money left to cover anything. I’d be lucky to walk away with a penny after all this; but selling the house would draw a line under it all. Then I could try to move on with my life.

  “Well, if there’s anything I can do to help?” Jenson says. It’s the kind of empty gesture people make to you when someone has died. I’ve heard it aplenty the last few weeks and yet with Jenson, I feel it’s a genuine offer, that if I said right now that I needed the lawn mowing, he’d be there. But he has his little girl to take care of. I don’t know where her mum is, maybe at work, but I don’t see a ring on his finger.

  “Thanks, but I’ll let you get on.” I say. “Maybe I’ll meet Mrs Hale sometime?”

  God, I can’t help myself.

  “Oh no.” Amelia says. “Mummy doesn’t live here. She fucked off to New York, didn’t she, Daddy?”

  I watch as Jenson wipes his palms down his face and once more peers through his fingers at me with a look of horror.

  I place my own hand over my mouth stifling the giggle that threatens to unleash itself. I also note my inward pleasure at the fact that Jenson Hale is a hot single daddy. Suddenly, despite the shit going on in my life, there seems to be a rainbow appearing between the clouds. A six-foot muscular rainbow named Jenson.

  3

  Jenson

  I watch her arse sway as she walks through the French doors and back in the direction of her parents’ house.

  My mind drifts back over our short time together. Her reaction to me was impossible to miss. The catching of her breath when I first touched her, the darkening of her blue eyes and the unmissable tightening of her nipples that had my imagination running wild. With her soft floral scent surrounding me, I could almost imagine what it might be like to strip her out of the few clothes she was wearing and run my hands over more than just her grazed knee.

  “Daddy, do you have to go to work today?” Amelia’s words barely register, my mind still in the gutter.

  “Huh?”

  “Are you going to work today?” she repeats slowly like I might be hard of hearing.

  “Oh, yeah. Auntie Kaylie will be here soon.”

  “Aww, but I thought you were going to take me swimming.”

  “Not today, baby.” And definitely not when my cock’s still feeling the effects Leah had on it. “Maybe at the weekend.”

  Her soft pink lips curl into a pout and she lets out a sigh. It only lasts two seconds at best before she jumps up in excitement. “Can we invite Leah?”

  “Erm, I’m not sure she has time for swimming dates with you, madam.”

  “But... can you at least ask?”

  I should say no, it would be the most sensible thing to do, but as her hazel eyes bore into mine, I don’t have it in me. “We can ask.” Her little face lights up and her fists clench as she hisses a little ‘yes’ in celebration.

  The image of Leah in an itsy bitsy bikini pops into my head and I will it to go back down. It’s never going to happen.

  “Can you go and get your teeth brushed please so you’re ready for Auntie Kaylie?”

  “Okay, Daddy.” She skips out of the room with her princess doll swinging from her hand and my heart aches.

  Seeing her with Leah this morning just goes to prove how much she needs a mother. My sister does a great job babysitting whenever I need her to, but it’s not the same thing as having a female in the house. I hate to think I’m letting Amelia down in some way when my sole purpose in life right now is to make her happy.

  With Amelia happily playing in her room, I quickly walk into mine to change ready to head into work. I trained as a chef straight from school. Cooking was the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I remember begging my mum and dad for a little play kitchen when I was a kid and I’ve been obsessed ever since. The Grill was my first job as head chef. I was younger than most of the other guys and a lot of them made it very clear how they felt about a ‘kid’ coming in above them, but thankfully my skill spoke for itself and they soon accepted
my position. Fast forward a few years and The Grill is now called InHale and I’m no longer the head chef but the owner. When my old boss told me about his plans to retire, I saw it as a sign and after a good few meetings at the bank, along with some early inheritance from my parents, I was able to achieve my dream. It’s been hard work, really fucking hard work, but it’s been totally worth it. Although it meant that I was essentially hanging up my chef’s hat, it also meant that I could leave behind the unsociable hours and be around for Amelia. When she was first born, I’d miss putting her to bed at night and still be sleeping when she woke first thing in the morning. I hated it. But now, being the boss means that I can be much more flexible. I’ve employees who I trust to keep the place going in my absence, so not only do I have a job I love and pays well, but I’m also able to spend as much time with my daughter as possible.

  I’m just buttoning up my shirt when the doorbell rings throughout the house.

  “Auntie Kay’s here,” Amelia squeals before the sound of her little feet thundering down the stairs fills my ears. She really loves my sister, much to Kaylie’s delight. While I spent my time pretending to make meals out of plastic food, Kaylie was nurturing her dolls and nothing’s really changed for either of us. She’s now a primary school teacher so while she seems to be forever single with no chance of a family of her own anytime soon, she still manages to surround herself with kids most of the time.

  “Mornin’, Kay,” I say when I find her barely inside the house with Amelia chatting away about something she saw on TV last night.

  “Will you at least allow Auntie Kaylie past the door before you make her ears bleed?”

  “Daddy,” Amelia huffs, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed in my direction. “Auntie Kay was the one who asked me about it.”

  “Okay, sorry,” I say, backing towards the kitchen with my hands up in defeat.

  The sounds of them chatting filters through to me as I collect up all the samples I made last night. I’m currently knee deep in our autumn menu planning. The restaurant has always done well, but since we had a very well-respected critic give us rave reviews in the earlier part of the year things have gone from strength to strength. However, menu planning that I used to find enjoyable has suddenly turned into something full of stress and pressure. We’ve now got a reputation and I’d like to keep it for the foreseeable future.

  “So... how are things?” my sister asks, walking in and immediately going for the coffee machine.

  “Things are... good.” My words falter slightly as I’m reminded just how good things were only this morning while I had my hands on the girl next door.

  “I can’t believe you let her have pancakes for breakfast again,” Kaylie scolds like I’m the child.

  “What? They’re her favourite and it’s the holidays. Mum used to make us pancakes in the holidays.”

  “She’d also insist we had fruit with them.”

  “And how do you know Amelia didn’t?”

  “Because she already told me she had raspberry sauce and chocolate sprinkles.”

  “Remind me to be this annoying when you have a child of your own.”

  “Chance would be a fine thing,” she grumbles, pulling the fridge open to find the milk.

  “It’ll happen, Kay. You’ve just got to wait for the right guy to fall into your lap.”

  “Yeah that plan’s not really working out for me, if I’m being honest.”

  “It’ll happen,” I say again, confident that there’s someone out there for her. As much as I love her spending all her spare time here babysitting, I hate to stop her living her own life. “Why don’t you go out this weekend?”

  “Don’t you need me to look after Amelia Friday and Saturday night?”

  “I’ll sort something.” I’ve no idea how but I need to start thinking about her life as well as mine.

  “Are you sure?” I can see in her eyes that she wants me to say no, that really she’d rather be here hiding than out trying to find a guy, but I won’t allow it.

  “Yes, positive. Call up the girls and get a wild weekend planned.”

  “I’m not sure I’ve ever had a wild weekend in my life.”

  “Well there’s no time like the present. If you need a table to kick off the night, let me know.”

  “Will do.”

  “I’ll only be a few hours,” I say, picking up the pile of tubs and paperwork from the counter.

  “Let me take those.” Kaylie takes the files from the top and follows me towards the door.

  “Thank you.” Turning towards my sister, I take the files from her hands and place them in the boot along with the tubs. I’m just shutting it when a van pulls up on next door’s drive and a guy gets out. I watch as he goes to knock, but the door’s pulled open before he gets a chance. Leah’s still in the skin-tight vest and almost non-existent shorts. Even from behind I see his head drop to check her out. My blood boils and an unwelcome feeling that I don’t want to acknowledge twists my stomach. I’ve spent less than an hour with her, there’s no way I should be feeling like this knowing she’s about to let a man into her house.

  Just before she goes to step back to allow him to pass her, our eyes connect over his shoulder. Electricity like I remember all too well from this morning passes between us and I feel it all the way down to my cock. My fists clench as I fight the need to go over and ensure that whoever he is keeps his hands to himself. My teeth grind as she smiles at me and closes the front door.

  “Is everything okay?” my sister asks sceptically.

  “Perfect,” I seethe through gritted teeth.

  “Your new neighbour’s hot.”

  Turning towards her my chin drops. “Maybe that’s why you don’t have a man, if you spend your time checking out girls?”

  Jutting one hip out, her eyebrow quirks up. “Just making an observation in case you hadn’t noticed. I’m not the only one standing here who’d benefit from a little attention from the opposite sex.”

  “I’m not standing here having a conversation with you that involves the word sex. I’ve got work to do.”

  “Don’t you always.”

  I go to respond but deciding it’s pointless, I head for the driver’s door instead. I start the engine and begin backing off the drive as my sister heads towards the house. Reversing off, I tell myself to keep my head down, but just as I put the car into drive my eyes find their way to Leah’s large bay window. I immediately find her staring right back at me. The man she let inside is standing in front of her talking away but there’s no way she’s listening to him. The moment she realises I caught her, she drags her eyes away, but not before I catch the blush that covers her cheeks.

  My fingers tighten around the wheel as I fight an urge to pull back on the drive, march into her house and take exactly what I need.

  Sucking in a large breath, I pull my eyes away and slam my foot down, ensuring my car takes me away from temptation as fast as possible.

  4

  Leah

  Trying to garden with an injured knee is not fun. I decide to abandon thoughts of weeding flowerbeds given I’d need to be on my knees or bending over which would hurt my neck. Instead I’ll start a bit of painting. Painting my room will also be painful but for an entirely different reason. My mum had this room decorated in my favourite colours of cerise and baby pinks. Today I’m going to use magnolia to wipe away all traces of my personality from my bedroom while Carl continues plastering the walls of the living room, now the years of wallpaper have been stripped from them.

  I throw myself on my bed and sigh. Looking around, I try to fix my room into my memory bank. Except instead thoughts of the hot daddy next door come into my mind. Between my thighs I feel my knickers soak once more as I think about his fingers stroking my knee.

  Closing my eyes, I take my own fingers and stroke at my knee just as he did, imagining it’s his own. God, I’m a sad cow, but I’m also mega turned on now and seeing it’s a rare time at the moment with no one else in the house, I
intend to make the most of it. My fingers become Jenson’s and they trail up my thighs. In my fantasies Amelia has gone to stay with mummy and we are definitely home alone.

  Dipping my fingers to my sweet spot, I groan as I flick my fingertip at my nub. Self-love is usually just a means to an end for me, but now, imagining Jenson touching me intimately, I am on fire. My fingertips sweep over my clit again and again and then I take two fingers of my other hand and push them inside me, now imagining Jenson’s throbbing cock pushing in deep. Before long I’m bucking over my fingers as my body trembles with an explosive orgasm.

  And then my face flushes as guilt hits about what I’ve just done. How will I look him in the face now? I rush to the bathroom and shower as if I can wash off all trace of my masturbation session. The water makes my princess plaster come loose and fall into the shower tray and makes me feel even guiltier.

  I dry myself off quickly and get dressed as the plasterer will be back again soon and then heading to the kitchen I make myself a coffee. Despite my recent orgasm, a feeling of general frustration seems to have seeped into my bones. Hearing voices outside, I spy through the edge of my curtain and see Jenson with another woman. Fuck. With him saying he had an ex-wife, I’d presumed he was single. My stomach suddenly feels lined with lead and if I didn’t want to risk a broken toe, I’d probably kick the wall. They are carrying tubs and files to his car and I wonder what they are. The plasterer’s van turns onto the street and I get excited that I have an excuse to get to the door, an opportunity to say hi to Jenson again.

  What about the woman? Sure she’ll be impressed if you start waving and simpering at her man. God, my inner thoughts are a party pooper.

  I quickly run my hands through my hair like a sad bitch before opening the door to let Carl in. As I greet him and step back to let him pass, my eyes meet Jenson’s. His gaze is steely and focused and I can’t work out his facial expression. He seems a little pissed with me, but I’ve not done anything. Oh, he’s probably off to work and late, stressed. I need to stop being so paranoid all the time. I’d always been confident and scared of nothing until my parents unexpected deaths. Now I feel constantly on edge, wondering if anything else wants to turn my life upside down.