His Accidental Daddy

by Luna, David

  Asher smirked. “So, like, this is why you’re so successful, I take it?”

  Asher grinned when Thornton snorted out a laugh at that and shrugged. “I do okay.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Mmm hmm. You do more than just okay.”

  Thornton nodded, gaze turning serious. “I do. I also have a knack for knowing when a business venture is a smart investment, which I think The Glasshouse is, which is why I want to back both you and Madi financially.”

  “Daddy…”

  “This is what I do, Asher. I’ve built my entire career around it. Why won’t you let me help you?”

  Asher’s shoulders sagged, hearing Thornton’s frustration. “You are helping me. Thornton, you’ve spent countless hours working with us regarding marketing, business, and staffing strategies. You’ve done a shit-ton of research on what’s successful in this industry.”

  “Watch your language, Ash.”

  He couldn’t help but smile at that. “I’m sorry, Daddy.” He leaned forward and clasped Thornton’s face. “Look, you’ve been amazing. I can’t even believe how much time you’ve taken—away from your own businesses, I might add—to learn about ours in the hopes you can help us grow. You know more about cannabis than I do, and I grow it, for god’s sake.”

  “I want to do this for you, baby.”

  “I won’t have you buying the business for me and Madi.”

  “You act like I’m just throwing millions of dollars at you—”

  Asher raised his eyebrows and couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you?”

  “Boy.” Thornton narrowed his eyes at Asher, who frankly shouldn’t have been turned on by Thornton’s dominance but kinda was.

  Asher drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry for interrupting.”

  “I would be offering you financial backing in the form of business loans.”

  Asher huffed out an incredulous breath. “With ridiculous returns… basically no financial gain for yourself. If we get financing from the banks like we plan, we won’t feel like we’re price-gouging you or whatever. Don’t laugh.”

  Thornton smirked and rubbed his hand over his mouth as if to wipe it away. Asher continued before Thornton could argue again. “I know that’s not the right term. I don’t know what the heck it’s called. All I know is you’re getting the short end of the stick while we’re walking away with basically free money and a free business.”

  “What would you have me do—offer you the same terms as all my other clients?”

  Asher’s eyes popped wide because really, was he serious? “Yes!”

  Thornton sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. But Asher wasn’t going to change his mind. He wasn’t about to take advantage of Thornton like that. He and Madi were in agreement there as well. But he could see the hurt lying underneath the frustration, and it was breaking his heart.

  He knew how much Thornton wanted to help them both realize what had recently become their dream. It was never something he would have even imagined was possible, but now that they were in the middle of the process, it had quickly come to mean everything to them both.

  He could see Thornton’s mind working things out, turning things over, trying to figure out a way to make it work for all of them. He wasn’t against going into business with Thornton. Hell, he had a feeling it was a smart business move, and he and Madi would really do well with his guidance, but the fact was Thornton would give them his guidance regardless. But he wouldn’t have Thornton basically giving away a huge sum of money just so he and Madi didn’t have much interest to speak of. It wasn’t smart business for Thornton, and the only reason he was offering it was because of who Asher was to him.

  It wasn’t right, but he hated telling Daddy no all the same. He watched as a sad acceptance fell over Thornton, and he got up to grab their dishes. “All right, I’ll let it go for now. I’m going to get things cleaned up. Why don’t you go have some little time in your playroom or color in the family room? I’ll be out in a bit.”

  Asher’s shoulders slumped as he stood up. “Daddy, don’t be mad. Please. I’m just trying to make the best decision I can.”

  Thornton drew in a deep breath and let it out; the gentle smile that followed wasn’t fake and gave Asher a bit of a boost. “I’m not mad, baby boy. I understand your reasons. I just don’t like them. But I’m not done yet. I’ll try to come up with better terms for all of us once I talk to Trent and get his input.”

  Asher raised his brows. “You haven’t talked to your brother about this yet?” Thornton’s sheepish expression had Asher chuckling. “Daddy, you’re gonna be in so much trouble! He’s gonna lecture you all day and night about it tomorrow.”

  Thornton grumbled. “He’s not the boss of me.”

  Asher guffawed. “I’ll make sure he knows you said that. And while technically you’re the boss of him, he’s your financial advisor for a reason.”

  Thornton narrowed his gaze at Asher and pointed out of the kitchen. “Go, brat, before I give you a spanking for your impertinence.”

  He sucked in a startled breath before he could catch himself. But if that didn’t clue Thornton into the fact he liked that idea more than he should, the pink he felt warming his cheeks would have given him away. And from the way Thornton was looking in his eyes, he figured his pupils might have blown. Which, according to Daddy, was something that turned him on like mad. He bit his lip and then gave Thornton a flirty little wave.

  As Asher skipped out of the kitchen, he called back, “Maybe we can try that later and see how much we like it, Daddy.”

  He couldn’t keep a giggle in when he heard Thornton cursing his hard-on. As he sat down at the coffee table and turned the TV on, he couldn’t help but think about it. And think about it some more. And as he began to color, it was still right there, front and center in his mind, and his own hard-on didn’t seem to want to go away either.

  The next morning, they slept in after having tested out the spanking theory with much success. That was going to become a favorite thing to do together, that was for sure. Asher had to laugh, thinking about his life just a couple of months back. If he’d have told his past self where he’d be in two months, he’d never have believed it in a million years.

  They worked together taking out ingredients for the quiche Daddy was going to make for brunch. He pulled out the potatoes for the hash browns they planned on making. “Baby boy, let me take care of brunch. I want you to have some playtime before company arrives.”

  He turned to Thornton. “Are you sure, Daddy?”

  Thornton leaned down for a soft kiss that lasted longer than he’d expected. His dazed eyes met Daddy’s when he finally pulled back. “They could be here for hours, and I want to make sure you’re in a good headspace when they arrive. Go on, do as I say now.”

  “Okay, Daddy. Thank you.” Grinning, he leaned in for one more kiss before he skipped from the room. “Come on, Beauty and Beast, you can be the monsters coming to invade the town!”

  In reality, all Beauty and Beast would do was keep him company as they lounged around on their enormous dog bed together. He heard Daddy’s chuckle before he was out of earshot and found himself doing the same. Maybe he’d move their bed in the middle of the room and build the train track around them.

  Excited to do just that, he dragged their bed where he wanted it, and the dogs hopped on, ready to be part of the fun as they lazed about. He’d put away all his track the last several times he’d played, so he was going to start from scratch, which he loved to do. He’d gotten several new pieces since he’d moved in as well, so as soon as he pulled out everything he’d need, he got lost in his own creativity.

  He had no idea how much time had passed when he heard a knock on the playroom doorjamb. “Knock, knock. You want some company?”

  He grinned. “Hi, Trent! Sure, come in.” He made kissy noises. “Guinness, come join the puppy pile.”

  They’d gotten several of the biggest dog beds they could find to
put throughout the house just for this purpose. As Guinness joined Beauty and Beast on the bed, Trent joined him on the floor. The first time he’d joined Asher in his playroom to play, Asher had been worried Trent would judge him, but then they’d just started playing and building mega tracks, and he’d ended up looking forward to doing it again.

  They played for a while, working together to surround the puppy bed with track as their canine audience looked on, vaguely interested in what they were doing but more entertained by the inside of their own eyelids. Trent, focused on building track with him, asked, “So, how were your first couple of appointments with your therapist?”

  Asher sighed and paused what he was doing, trestle bridge in his hand, thinking about his appointments with his new therapist, Mark Miller. “It was hard. But I think it’s going well?”

  Why he said that as a question, he didn’t know, but when Trent only nodded, waiting for more, Asher continued. “Both times Thorn came in with me. So that was good. And Mark said he could come in whenever I wanted him with me. But he’s suggesting hypnotherapy, and that makes me nervous. I dunno.”

  “Why does that make you nervous?” Trent continued to put track together rather than focusing on him, making it easier for Asher to talk about everything.

  “I guess because I know there’s a lot I’ve kind of blocked out, and I don’t know if I’m ready to remember it all.”

  Trent hummed as he started setting up the town. “Yeah. That would be scary.”

  Trent’s understanding allowed him to show a bit more of his vulnerability. “I guess I just don’t understand how remembering will help. But he said he could focus more on my anxiety symptoms at first to help me when I’m around too many people or have to ride in a car. If Daddy can’t drive me, Madi usually can—”

  “I can too.” Trent’s voice sounded timid and perhaps a bit like Asher’s when he was in little space.

  Asher’s gaze slid up to meet his, and he smiled. “Thank you.”

  Asher had kind of gotten the feeling his new friend had really enjoyed playing with him whenever he came over, that maybe it was more than just Trent hanging out with him. Perhaps Trent needed to be little sometimes too. That made him happy. He liked having someone to play with that understood him and didn’t judge, and if he could be a part of making Trent feel less anxiety, all the better. They could help each other.

  Trent smiled a shy smile that had Asher shaking his head. They might not have been related by blood, but both Hayes brothers were ridiculously handsome. They got back to building, all talk of therapy forgotten. It wasn’t long before they heard a squeal and the pitter-pattering of little feet down the hallway. The puppies’ ears perked up, turning towards the door, definitely interested in that familiar sound. “Puppies!”

  Gigi ran in the room and gasped. “Oh my gosh, it’s puppy island! I wanna do that.”

  Asher grinned. “Do what?”

  Gigi bounced on the balls of her feet. “Be a prisoner on the island!”

  Trent laughed and stood up, holding his arms out for Gigi, who looked at him with narrowed eyes. “You’re a stranger. I have to know your name before you’re allowed to pick me up.”

  Asher snorted as Trent got down on one knee and held out his hand. “My name is Trenton Hayes, but you can call me Trent. Thornton is my older brother. And who might you be?”

  Gigi grinned and clasped his hand. “I’m Gianna Girand, but you can call me Gigi. Madi Girand is my mother.”

  “I’ve heard great things about you both. You wanna join the puppy pile now?” Trent stood and held out his hands.

  Gigi nodded and practically jumped into Trent’s arms. He lifted her over all the track and added her to the huge dog bed. The dogs adjusted so she was in the middle, and she sat and petted them, chattering away about how much she’d missed them.

  “Well, what do we have here?”

  Asher turned to smile at his closest friend. She leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed over her chest, a wide smile on her face as she took in the scene before her. Trent stood like he’d been prodded with a hot poker. Wiping his palms on his pants, he approached Madi, who was dwarfed by his large size, yet somehow looked the more dominant of the two as she stepped forward.

  “Hello, I’m Trent, Thorn’s brother. You must be Madi, Gigi’s mom.” As they shook hands, Asher noticed the blush on Trent’s face and couldn’t help but smile.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” When Trent pulled away, he put both of his hands in his pockets, suddenly bashful. Madi reached up, patting his shoulder. “Don’t let me interrupt playtime.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t…” Trent lowered his gaze to the floor, obviously embarrassed.

  Madi stepped towards him, her hand still on his shoulder. “Oh, I’d hoped you were. I like that my friend has a playmate.”

  Trent’s head snapped up, surprise written all over his face. “You do?”

  “Yeah. I really do. Why don’t you guys play for a bit longer while Thornton and I finish up with brunch? We’ll call you when it’s time to eat, and maybe we can get to know each other better.” The motherly smile Madi had on her face made Asher grin. Oh, he couldn’t wait for this to play out.

  “Oh, y-yeah. I-I’d like that.” Trent’s endearing stammer had Asher grinning at Madi as she glanced his way and winked. Trent turned back towards the toys, enthusiasm renewed as he sat on the floor again and started to play.

  They continued as they were for another twenty minutes before Madi came to get them. “Okay, kids. Time to eat.”

  They all got up, including the dogs, and headed towards the kitchen: Gigi running after the dogs; Asher following the smell of bacon; and Trent and Madi bringing up the rear, murmuring to each other. They all ate brunch together, talking over each other and laughing when Gigi kept feeding the dogs people food.

  “Gigi, stop that. We don’t know what the dogs can eat without getting sick.”

  Trent leaned closer to Madi. “She’s okay. She hasn’t given them anything they can’t have.”

  “Okay.” Madi smiled at him, causing Trent to blush.

  Everyone continued to talk as they ate, Trent and Madi getting along with ease as they got to know each other a bit. Talk inevitably turned towards The Glasshouse and Madi and Asher’s plans.

  “Mama, I’m done. Can I go play with the dogs outside?”

  “Sure, as long as that’s okay with Thorn and Trent.”

  When both Hayes men said they were happy for her to go out and play with the pups, Madi and Asher excused themselves to chat business. Asher knew Thornton and Trent had a discussion they needed to have as well, so he was happy Gigi had something to occupy herself with. They headed into the family room and sat on the sofa, which reminded him of the time he sat with her there weeks ago, when he’d admitted Thornton was a Daddy and he was a little.

  “Okay, so what’s up? You wanted to talk about work stuff?”

  Asher sighed and nodded. “Yeah. So Thorn, being Thorn, realized that maybe you’d actually enjoy being business manager instead of floor manager. And me, being me, didn’t even think about it. So he suggested I ask you and we talk about it, so here we are.”

  She laughed and poked his arm. “You know, we lucked out that Thorn, being Thorn, fell in love with you, being you. Because your Daddy is pretty smart.”

  Asher sighed, all heart eyes. “He is, isn’t he?”

  Madi rolled her eyes. “Lord save me from besotted boys.”

  “Pfft. Says the ‘Mommy’ with a besotted boy blushing all through brunch at the attention she was lavishing on him.”

  At Madi’s narrow-eyed glare, he shrugged. “I’m not that type of Mommy.”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, he raised his brows. “You sure about that? Because it sure seemed like it earlier. And he’s like perfect for you.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “He’d obviously let you lead. He’s very gainfully employed. He’s become a really great friend to me. He’s loyal and
funny and charming and is so gentle with Guinness and Beauty and Beast and was really sweet with Gigi today. I just think you should give it a chance.”

  She met his gaze for several moments and then shrugged. “We’ll see. And about the business manager position, I’d thought about it and figured with everything we’re taking on, it might be best for us to stay in the roles we are in now because there’s going to be so many other things that are new. I’m not against it. I just didn’t know if it was the right time.”

  “Well, think about it. I won’t pressure you either way. I want you to be happy, and if being the floor manager is what makes you happy, that’s what I want for you. It’s not something I have any interest in, personally. The thought of it gives me high blood pressure.”

  She shook her head and placed her hand on his knee. “That’s not for you. The whole reason this works is because you know one side of the business and I know the other. You need to work with the plants. It’s what you’re passionate about.”

  “Yeah. I want you to do what you’re passionate about too. Thornton said you’d be great at it. He also reminded me you’ve covered for Jenn when she’s been on vacation and know what you’re doing already, so it actually wouldn’t be that new for you. But, if it’s not something you think you’d really enjoy, then that’s that.”

  “He thinks I should do it?”

  “He wants both of us to be happy and for our business to thrive.”

  “But?”

  “No buts. He said it would be a smart business decision. Having one of the owners managing the business itself would make sense because we’d have a very personal stake in making things successful. But he also said we could find someone that would take it seriously if that’s what needed to happen, and he’d help us.”

  Madi leaned her arm on the back of the sofa, head in her hand. “I mean, he’s not wrong. It would be a smart business decision. And I’ve done it before several times. I haven’t had to take care of everything because Jenn’s always taken care of a lot of things before she’s left on vacation. But I’m confident I can learn it. I love being the floor manager, but it would definitely be easier to fill that position.”