Daddy Plus One: A Single Dad Secret Baby Billionaire Romance

by Brooke Valentine

  Within six months she had his ring on her finger, and all of her excited ideas for how to improve his business began to flow. Within mere weeks, she convinced him that he should invest some of his savings into making his four businesses into health spas, and even to build a couple more of them into the bargain.

  He thought she was just as excited about the work as he was, but in reality she’d only been thinking about ways to pamper herself. When he found out about her first lover, she whined and told him it was a mistake, that she was bored because they hadn't managed to produce any children. They redoubled their efforts for a while, but never managed to conceive.

  Aiden had even suggested a fertility clinic which Brynn declined. Having children was murder on a woman’s body anyway, right? The last thing she needed was the responsibility of raising a child.

  After just three and a half years of marriage, the sex declined. Brynn kept finding reasons to avoid him, which was hell for Aiden. He didn't like the idea of cheating to get his needs seen to, but he was pretty sure she must be getting her own itch scratched somewhere else.

  For the last four years now they'd been in a sort of limbo, just going through the motions. He'd begun leaving her in one city while he ventured off to take care of business concerns in the others. She now had pretty much made their residence near Fresno into her permanent home.

  But that was not the only tragedy to strike, though. Because next his father discovered he had lung cancer, and his health took a rapid declined. Even in his parting moment, the old man hadn’t forgotten about Aiden’s greatest desire.

  “Son,” he managed to tell him on a wispy breath, “I know how unhappy you are. I know you don’t want those old textile companies of mine, so I believe it’s time to sell. Take that profit and buy the land in Key Largo that I know you’ve had your eye on all these years. Knowing you’ll be happy in that, at least, will make it much easier for me to let go.”

  "I'll do it, old man," Aiden had agreed, hugging him, and kissing his forehead. When he moved away, his father was gone, but a slight smile remained on his lips. And that was how Aiden chose to remember him afterwards.

  Within weeks he sold the businesses and used that money, along with a great deal more of his own, to buy property at Rock Harbor and contract the building of a resort. For the past three years, he'd been eagerly waiting for the project's completion. The recent hurricane that had devastated the Keys had not slowed down progress at all, so he would be able to have his grand opening on time. Thank goodness for at least some miracles.

  But now that he was so close to fulfilling all his dreams, it looked like he might have hit another bump in the road. Brynn had recently had him served with paperwork asking for a divorce. And although she had signed a prenuptial agreement that prohibited her from touching any of his holdings prior to the marriage, she had hired some fancy team of lawyers who were going for some gold.

  His dream resort, as well as the two businesses he’d created after their wedding, were considered to be assets belonging to them as a couple because of when they’d been acquired. If Brynn had her way, he would either have to pay her off with cash, or all three of the properties would have to be sold.

  Aiden refused to give up his dream resort, but he’d sunk most of his money into having it built. And knowing Brynn, she’d timed her bombshell on purpose, just to make him suffer even more. If he’d ever believed he loved her, he certainly didn’t believe it anymore. The bloom was most definitely off the rose, as he father used to say.

  “Well, I’m sure not going to sit around here for the next week feeling sorry for myself,” he told his financial advisor, Tim Collins, over his cell phone. “The main portion of the resort’s interviewing event is scheduled for tomorrow, with almost one hundred potential employees settling in for their week-long adventure. I think I’ll just go down a bit early and maybe influence the final results.”

  “Hey, maybe you should go down there undercover, eh?” Tim chuckled. “Maybe have it filmed and get it put on that television show. I know how much you love dual purposes roles wherever you go.”

  “No way I’m doing that,” Aiden scoffed. “How would I explain being followed around by a camera crew? Although, the idea of going down there incognito has some merit. Maybe I could take a vacation of my own. I’ll just blend in with the potential staff and tell them I want to be on the diving instructor crew. You know, since that’s already what I’m going to go do.”

  “So you’re serious about going native, then? You’re really going to go live down there the whole year round?”

  ”These business trips I’ve been taking haven’t been necessary for a long time,” Aiden scoffed. “I’ve just been visiting all of the spas so often to avoid being on Brynn’s radar and keep to myself. Now that she’s openly declared that we’re breaking up, I don’t need to go through the motions anymore.”

  “But you’re not going to let her take away your resort, are you?”

  “No, don’t worry about that, I do have a few tricks of my own up my sleeves. Part of that pre-nup said that if she cheats on me, she’s entitled to nothing. And I’m not going to just sit back and pretend I don’t know about her infidelities anymore. Didn’t you tell me your brother’s a private eye, Timmy?”

  “Yeah, he is,” Tim replied. “If you want to hire him, I can set the whole thing up for you. Once you prove to the courts what’s really going on, it’ll be a whole new ball game.”

  “That’s for sure,” Aiden agreed. “I hate stooping quite so low, but Brynn’s the one who decided to force my hand. Go ahead and give him a call. You know what I need him to do.”

  THREE

  Her father’s hotel was not in a livable condition so his girlfriend Tilly let Cat crash at their place, which seemed to be in a lot better shape. Cat spent the rest of the night quietly contemplating her fate. Since she’d been unaware that she was about to apply for a job she hadn’t gotten a chance to buy some new clothes, and most of the shops and businesses in Marathon were shut down until people could get some of the devastation under control. That being the case, she supposed she’d just have to make do.

  Luckily, her tastes already ran to stylish clothing, and also she’d packed her suitcases and brought almost all of her belongings up to the shelter in Miami when they’d been evacuated a couple of weeks before. And she certainly hadn’t brought them back in and unpacked them at the hotel after they returned. It looked like for the most part she was ready to go.

  Well, physically, anyway. But preparing herself mentally for an interview was something else altogether. Especially one that might take a whole week just to get through—if she was lucky enough to last that long. Of course, she had done well in school, and she knew she was capable of doing any job they’d ask her to, it was just that her nerves didn’t think so.

  Still, she was ready to go by noon just as she’d been instructed, and waited at the hotel for the car to arrive. When it pulled up and she got a look at the thing—a white sedan complete with the Whitney emblem on its side—her nerves kicked into overdrive. She almost decided not to get inside.

  However, she knew that her father was right. There was no way of knowing when, or if, his old hotel would start making money like it used to, and she needed to get on with her life. And if she was going to have to leave, what better company to leave for than one like Whitney? Their spas were among the best in the entire United States, and well worth the price of admission from what she’d heard.

  “Good afternoon, Miss Addison,” said the driver. “Make yourself comfortable. This trip should take a little less than an hour, as the traffic seems to be moving quite well today. There’s a bottle of champagne chilling for you, ma’am. It may take the edge off of those jangled nerves—although I don’t recommend drinking the whole thing.”

  Cat giggled and smiled at him as she slid inside. “Well, not unless I planned to give a bad first impression of myself, anyway,” she commented.

  “Exactly,” he said, givi
ng her a little wink through the rearview mirror. “I’m Chris, by the way. One of Mr. Whitney’s drivers from upstate. And now that I’ve seen the view, I’m seriously considering taking his offer to move down this way. Have you lived in the Keys long?”

  “Me?” she shrugged as she fastened her seatbelt. “Not nearly as long as I would like. I first came down here when I was fourteen because my father bought this hotel, but my mother didn’t like the place, so she left him to it and dragged me back to New Orleans. That’s where I’ve lived most of my life. At least until I graduated two years ago and came back here to help him out. This old hotel’s a great place, but it sure could use some polish.”

  “It doesn’t look as though that hurricane did it any favors,” he commented as he started the car. “Seems to have lost almost the entire east wall on that far end, and half the roof is gone as well. I guess that must be why you’re headed out to the resort.”

  “It is,” she agreed.

  “Well then, here we go,” he said with a friendly smile, and then they were on the road. They took the Overseas Highway northeast, passing mobile homes, condos, hotels, businesses and stores all along the road. Finally they reached the Rock Harbor area, where the new resort was tucked away on the end of a dead end road which had once been zoned residential. Whitney must have been forced to pull strings and grease palms to get permission to build his dream resort right there.

  The place was beautiful. It was set on what looked to be a three acre rectangle of land, complete with some palm trees scattered here and there and a building at the center marked simply ‘the bar’. The main structure, and in fact all of the structures there, had been set on top of concrete stilts as one way to guard against flooding or other types of damage. A set of wide, concrete steps led up to the entrance, and Cat was obliged to use them to go check herself in for the event.

  “Thanks for the ride, Chris,” she said to her driver with a smile. “It was good company.”

  “Anytime, miss,” he replied. “I’ll deliver your things to your room, if you’d like. You’re not going to want to haul them around with you all day.”

  “Sure, thanks,” she agreed. “See you around?”

  “Yes, most likely. I’ve been driving candidates up here over the last few days, so I’ve seen the competition, Miss Addison. I don’t think you need to look so worried.”

  Cat blushed. “Thanks.”

  She turned and bolted up the steps, smoothing her hands over her pencil skirt along the way. She started to wonder if her sensible flats would draw any notice from the interviewers as she stepped inside, but quickly crushed the thought even as it came into her mind. She was dressed just fine. This was an island, after all, and flats on an island was the norm. This building might be large and fancy, but it had better not be too stuffy if this wing of the Whitney business hoped to survive.

  Glancing at the front desk, she saw three women seated close together in deep gossip mode. It wasn’t difficult to figure out they were discussing some of the applicants who had already come through the door. However, when they spotted Cat, they all three smiled, she was relieved to note.

  “Hi there, missy,” said one of them. “What job are you here for?”

  Cat blushed. “Oh, administrative or housekeeping. My degree is in hospitality.”

  “Okay, then go ahead and put your name on one of these corny nametags, and put ‘hospitality degree’ right underneath,” she replied. “Kellen is using the tags to sort people out, since we’ve got about seventy-six of you all told.”

  “That’s quite a turn-out,” Cat replied, smiling back at her as she began to write.

  “Cat? Is that a nickname? You really should use full.”

  “Oh no, it isn’t,” she shrugged as she pulled the back off and slapped the tag into position. “It’s my birth name, I assure you. I’ll just follow the noise. See you around.”

  As she stepped away again, Cat saw the three women get back into their huddle. She heard one of them commenting on how unique her name was, and she smirked. That reaction, as least, she was used to. People commented about her name all the time, and the reaction was usually favorable.

  The sound of many voices down the hall culminated within a room beyond a set of double doors, both of which were thrown wide open, allowing her to easily step inside. A man at the front of the room was already speaking, but he paused and looked up at her.

  “I believe you’re the last contestant, Miss Addison,” he commented before she got too far. “The late arrival, if you will. Could you please close the doors on your way in? Much appreciated.”

  “Certainly,” she agreed. “I had no idea I was running late, though. Sorry about that.”

  “It’s not a problem. You’re not the party responsible, there just weren’t enough cars on hand,” he explained.

  Cat nodded and shut each door, then stepped more fully into the room with its seventy-five other ‘contestants’. It felt like every eye was on her now.

  “The seats are all reserved,” Kellen continued in his obviously British tones. “Up here, third row on the right.”

  “Yes, I see,” said Cat, smirking. “The empty one.”

  Kellen gave her a wink. “Not anymore.”

  Blushing, Cat took her seat. She wondered if every Whitney employee of the male persuasion tended to flirt, or if she was looking a bit cuter than she’d intended to be.

  FOUR

  When Aiden came down to Key Largo, he told all of his employees not to acknowledge who he was. He’d spent the last couple of hours talking shop with some of the hopefuls, and only had to take aside two applicants who already knew him to explain that he was laying low.

  The situation with not having enough cars had been disheartening, and it had thrown off the day’s itinerary. It wasn’t that the cars were not in the resort’s possession, but one of them which had been working just fine this whole time had chosen today not to start at all. So far, Aiden hadn’t gotten back the mechanic’s report to explain the reason why.

  Still, the sight of the lovely Miss Addison made it well worth the wait, as far as he was concerned. Not too tall, slim but curvy, and a cheerful disposition. He certainly couldn’t complain as he watched the redhead enter the room.

  Yet he knew he shouldn’t be concentrating on her, rather than paying attention to Kellen. Just because he had already told the guy what to include in his little speech today didn’t mean that he was supposed to ignore him completely. If he was supposed to behave as an applicant, that’s not what he’d be doing right now. It didn’t help that he was seated in the fourth row, and just three seats to the right of Miss Addison, though. He knew he shouldn’t be concerned with her in the middle of his current situation with Brynn, but he just couldn’t help himself.

  “All right, everyone, I’ve talked your ears off long enough for now,” Kellen said, looking at his watch. “We’ve arranged a lovely buffet in the dining hut, and then you’re all free to settle into your rooms. Tomorrow’s schedules have been posted near each of your phones. And, as this is my only interaction with those of you who may soon be weeded out, I’ll take the opportunity to wish you all well. Good afternoon!”

  Aiden was stuck in the middle of his row, while the object of his desire was able to easily escape from hers and head down the aisle toward the door. Lucky for him, though, there were about sixty people blocking her escape, so he was able to elbow his way over to her. However, his antics in doing so probably appeared far from casual to anyone who was paying attention.

  He ‘accidentally’ bumped Miss Addison’s elbow with his own. “Oh, sorry. Pretty crowded in here, huh? That’s one of the things I hate about these hiring events, you know?”

  Her lips quirked. “I wouldn’t know,” she told him, her face still pointed toward the door but her eyes glancing toward him. “I’ve never been to one before.”

  “You haven’t?” he asked, glancing down at her chest. “But it says hospitality degree on your nametag. I would have though
t you’d been through the mill at least once.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, but I got hired straight out of the university,” she said with a casual shrug, still not turning around.

  Aiden moved in a little closer, leaning toward her ear. If that didn’t get her attention, he doubted his intentions to engage her in conversation were going to be successful. “So, you’re that good? Then you should get hired on for this place easy. I’m going for a diving position myself.”

  “Yes, so I see,” she said, glancing backward at his nametag now. “Do you always wear a tie to show off your swimming skills?”

  Aiden laughed. “Well, you know, I would have come in just trunks, but my hot, muscular bod might have been too distracting for the ladies.”

  “You think so?” she scoffed. “You must not live around here, then. We local girls see muscles all the time. I can’t speak for all of them, but I’d rather look for a guy who possesses a bit more than just a nice pair of biceps.”

  “What, you mean like a PhD?” he replied with a playful pout. “Well, I’ve got one of those too. I majored in oceanography and ecological studies.”

  “Really?” asked Miss Addison curiously as she turned to look him in the eyes. “Then what are you doing here? I’d have thought you’d be on some science vessel with credentials like that.”

  Aiden grinned, glancing at her tag a second time. “Cat, huh? That must be why you’re showing me your claws. Is that short for Catherine or something?”

  “No way,” she told him, starting to move forward with the crowd. “My mother aspires to become a crazy old cat lady someday, and apparently she started with me. If you think that’s weird, you should know that she named my brother Sol.”

  “What’s weird about the name Saul?”