Daddy Plus One: A Single Dad Secret Baby Billionaire Romance

by Brooke Valentine

  Cat looked at her sympathetically. “Well, I can’t promise to fix that issue, but I’ll see if there’s anything else I can do to help.”

  She found Aiden and told him, “I think if you want to keep your reputation solid, you may want to make friends with Mr. Wilson and invite him to watch football with you tomorrow afternoon, Aiden. At the moment he’s at the front desk threatening to check out.”

  “God, why can’t he just go to a bar in town with the others,” Aiden grumbled.

  “Here’s an even better way to get brownie points,” said Cat. “Invite all ten of them. Make it into a party or something.”

  “Come on, Cat, have a heart,” he complained.

  “I do have a heart,” she replied. “And I’m using it to help save your hide.”

  TWENTY-TWO

  “The things I do to stay afloat,” Aiden sighed the following Monday morning as he got off the phone with the satellite company, who said they’d have a representative out within the hour. “I shouldn’t have to give up my private time just because of a faulty connection.”

  “Come on, admit it, the party was a blast, and thanks to the security guys we were able to pull the whole thing off without any troubles here at the resort during our absence,” Cat scolded him. “You really ought to lighten up a bit, I think. Now at least you’ll earn the reputation of being friendly and understanding, and word of mouth is going to do a whole lot more good than any reviews ever could.”

  “Yeah?” he scoffed. “Well, it’s at least a good thing that Mr. Stanworth doesn’t arrive for his free three night stay until the end of the week. Maybe we’ll have ironed out this whole mess before he sees anything negative to write up in his report.”

  “One can only hope,” Cat agreed. “Well, I need to hit the little girl’s room and check in on the front desk. Maybe we can hash out some way to catch the perpetrator when I get back. We certainly can’t allow this nonsense to go on forever.”

  “I hear that,” Aiden agreed, enjoying the view as he watched her depart.

  The door opened only a few moments later, startling him. For a moment he expected to see Cat returning briefly before she ventured down the hall, but instead Brynn stepped through the door and shut it behind her.

  “I thought I’d never manage to get you alone for a moment, Aiden,” she complained. “Why won’t you answer any of my calls? Can we not even begin to talk about things?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” Aiden snapped. “And you are not a member of the staff. This office is off limits to you. If you’ll kindly leave, you’ll save me the trouble of having you removed.”

  “Oh, Aiden, why must you be so cruel?” she complained, sighing as she stepped over to his desk and grasped him by his tie. “Being this close to you after so very long, I’m reminded just what it was that drew me to you in the first place. I’m so sorry about pushing you away as I did. Can you not give me one last chance, Aiden? Please?”

  Aiden sprang to his feet and moved away from her. “I’ve given you more chances than I care to count, Brynn. Why don’t you just leave me be?”

  “I’ll do better than that,” she replied, throwing her arms around his neck. Aiden blanched, trying to avoid her as she tiptoed to press her lips to his own. With a wrenching motion he shoved her away just in time to see Cat coming back through the door. Her jaw literally dropped as she stared at the two of them.

  “What’s going on here?” she demanded hotly.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Brynn smirked. “I’m reclaiming my husband.”

  Without another word, Cat spun on her heel and ran back down the hall and into the main entrance, sobbing uncontrollably.

  Ellen sprang up from her chair and took three steps toward her. “You two keep the desk. I’ll go and find out what is going on.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said each of the women who had been sitting there with her. “Take your time. We’re not expecting any arrivals today.”

  Aiden came running out with Brynn following right behind him. He said to the women behind the desk, “Whoever let this woman down my hall had best not do so after this. She is not welcome to barge into my office and cause all this trouble. Brynn, feel free to return to your friends, you have nothing more to say to me.”

  “How can you treat me this way, even now?” she complained. “I felt sure getting you away from that woman was all that it would take, and I’m still convinced it’s true. The little wench is a controlling shrew, isn’t she?”

  “Not nearly as controlling as you. Excuse me, I’ve got to go find Cat and explain what you’ve done.”

  “You may know better than I do, but I’ll bet you anything she won’t believe a word,” Brynn snickered. “Not when evidence to the contrary already met her eyes. I’m not worried. She’s going to dump you like yesterday’s news, and you’ll come crawling to me. I’ll give you the rope you need to hang yourself.”

  “Is that how you’re supposed to be winning me back?” he scoffed, then stormed out the front door and down the steps three at a time.

  Wherever the two women had gone off to, they were nowhere to be seen. Aiden’s first thought was to head for the employee housing units and see if Cat had gone there to start packing her things, but he thought she would have more sense than to do such a thing. He would hope that she would be sensible enough to actually talk to him about all of this rather than to do anything on the spur of the moment.

  As he turned in the direction of the housing units, however, Aiden’s attention was caught by the sudden appearance of Declan, who was heading for the main hotel.

  “Aiden, there you are,” he said with a frown. “You’re needed at the diver’s hut right away.”

  “Can it not wait, Dee?” Aiden sighed. “I’m right in the middle of something now.”

  “No, sir, I’m afraid there’s no waiting on this,” he insisted. “We found that the shed had been tampered with, and now the equipment is all compromised until we can make sure of each and every piece.”

  Aiden’s eyes went wide. “The diving shed too?” he growled. “This gets better and better. Come on, let’s go find out just how bad this is. My own troubles will just have to wait.”

  Several hours later, when every piece of equipment had been checked, Aiden and Declan returned to the dining hall. Cat was sitting with Ellen, and when she saw him come in her face went very red. She refused to even look in his direction.

  When he approached them, Ellen preempted him from sitting down with the comment, “Cat’s not ready to talk just yet, sir. I’d give her a bit more time if I were you.”

  “This is Mr. Whitney’s resort, he may sit wherever he pleases,” said Cat, getting to her feet. “I’ve lost my appetite anyway. You all have a good evening.”

  “Cat, come on!” Aiden called after her.

  She turned to look at him, her face a mask of indifference. “Mr. Whitney, my first thoughts when we began was that I shouldn’t, that I should have waited for the divorce you told me you were about to have. I will, of course, continue to do the job for which I’ve been hired. At least I will until your wife decides to have me fired. Good night.”

  “Cat, would you listen to me? She kissed me, and then you came in,” he defended himself. “I had no part in it. I was trying to get away. You’ve got to believe me.”

  “Whether it’s true or not isn’t the point,” she replied, exasperated. “The trouble isn’t if you wanted to be kissed, it’s the fact that I don’t even have the right to be jealous. I don’t have any claim to you, except a foolish one I’ve allowed to take root in my heart. Deal with your demons, Aiden, and if you end up back with her, I’ll just have to deal with it, and forget you.”

  “You—I’m not—oh, I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you,” he grumbled. “I am not interested in getting back with Brynn. She is not the woman I love.”

  “I’m going now,” Cat insisted. “Don’t follow me. I need to be alone right now.”

  Aiden rolled his eyes. “
After the day I’ve had, sweetheart, I couldn’t run after you if I tried. Perhaps when you decide we’re speaking again, I’ll tell you all about it,” he replied as he turned to settle into one of the chairs and put his head into his hands.

  Moments later, he heard footsteps. When he looked up at the sound, he saw that Cat was gone.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Cat was sitting sullenly at her desk a couple of days later, while Aiden was just as silent at his own, doing something on the computer. It was certain that he’d be off soon to another day of diving, leaving Kellen and Cat to deal with yet another day of annoying mishaps and the constant barrage of Brynn’s insistent attacks and snide remarks whenever she thought she could get away with them.

  If the woman sneered at her one more time, she would make quick work of the remaining fifty-three days she had remaining in her marriage, whether she and Aiden ever managed to make up with each other or not. The dislike she now had for her had little to do with him, and everything to do with Brynn’s attitude. The more she knew him, the sorrier she felt for Aiden that he’d tolerated the woman as long as he had.

  When the phone on Aiden’s desk rang, Cat and Kellen both glanced up as he answered. “You’re kidding!” he gasped, making both of them wince and look worriedly at one another, rolling their eyes at those familiar words. His next words, however, had them both sitting up with alarm. “There’s no way this could possibly be an accident. I’ll be right out.”

  When he slammed down the phone and got to his feet, both Cat and Kellen sprung up in alarm. Kellen asked, “What’s going on, Aiden? You look upset.”

  “The lifeguards just arrived to open the pool, but the family pool won’t be opened anytime soon,” Aiden replied as he headed for the door.

  “What are you talking about?” Cat called after him, beginning to follow behind him.

  “Stay inside, Cat, I’m not having you anywhere near that pool right now.”

  “Why not?” she demanded, exasperated, though she stopped in her tracks and threw up her hands.

  “Crocodiles. Two of them. Apparently nasty, big ones,” he called over his shoulder. “Luckily, both Declan and I are trained in handling them. We should be able to capture them ourselves.”

  Cat would have started to run after him, this time to stop him from doing something crazy, except that Kellen caught her by the shoulders and held her back.

  “He’ll be all right, you know,” he reassured her. “He has wrestled a croc or two before.”

  “Seriously? When?”

  Kellen grinned. “I’ve known the man for almost twenty years. Do you expect me to recall the exact times and places where those adventures occurred?”

  “You’re teasing me, Kellen,” she complained. “Has he really wrestled a crocodile?”

  “I do not tease, Miss Addison,” he insisted. “It’s not in my nature.”

  “Well, at least the guests need not know much about this,” Cat sighed. “Most of them are still sleeping.”

  “A good thing, too,” Kellen replied. “If this bit of nonsense gets into the papers nobody will want to come to the resort at all.”

  “Well, unless they want a crocodile encounter,” Cat added dryly.

  “Touché, Miss Addison,” Kellen chuckled. “Shall we see if we can catch a glimpse of the extraction?”

  “He doesn’t want me anywhere close to that pool, remember?”

  “No, though I daresay he wishes he could throw Brynn right into it after the effect she’s had on the two of you over the last few days,” said Kellen as they began walking up the hall. “Must you be quite so hard on him, Cat? It really wasn’t his fault.”

  “Told you everything, did he?” she surmised.

  “Just as you told Ellen,” he said, chuckling. “What an interesting pair of confidants! Kellen and Ellen—help when you need it.”

  “You’re just as crazy as Ellen,” she told him as they headed down the stairs.

  “I know,” he chuckled, and the two arrived just in time to find Aiden and Declan loading one of the crocodiles into the back of the SUV. Cat could clearly see that somehow they’d managed to tape shut its jaws, but the creature was making its best attempt to writhe free of their grasps, and very nearly succeeded.

  Unfortunately, a small crowd had gathered to watch. Aiden cautioned them, “Folks, you need to stand back. There’s nothing here to see, somebody must have left the gate unlocked and a few of the locals decided to take a swim. We’ll have it cleared up directly. The best thing you can do from now on is to ensure the gate is not left open anymore.”

  The flash of a camera left Cat feeling quite concerned, and she looked around trying to see who had taken the shot, but it was impossible to tell. She worried at her bottom lip and stopped the moment she realized Brynn was watching her. The woman smirked, and Cat scowled at her in return. If only she knew how she could wipe that smug look off her face.

  “Aiden, why don’t you let me drive these two up north and release them at the preserve?” Declan suggested, glancing over at the two women. “It looks to me like you’ve got other problems.”

  “There’s no way I’d endanger you in that way, my friend,” Aiden insisted. “These two animals are pretty big. I don’t want you harmed on my account.”

  “Fine, then, let’s get this over with,” he sighed. “We’re meant to take out a boating group in another hour, and I’d rather not disappoint them.”

  Aiden cast an apologetic look in Cat’s direction, but she simply nodded and sighed heavily. For a while now, she’d been more than willing to forgive him, but she just didn’t know where to begin. Before he was able to drive out, though, Brynn stepped in front of the vehicle and leaned in.

  “We still need to talk, Aiden,” she insisted. “Don’t disappear on me when you get back this time. I promise you I’m not going anywhere. Understand?”

  “Get off the hood, Brynn,” he told her. “You’re being childish.”

  Brynn moved away, standing aside so he could start driving again. Cat frowned and shook her head. It reeked of a certain desperation to throw oneself on top of a car just to get somebody’s attention. What else might the woman do in her desperation?

  The glare Brynn gave Cat as she returned to her cabin was far from reassuring. Cat turned to Kellen and asked, “You did see that, didn’t you, Kellen? I want to make sure I didn’t just imagine it. My eyes aren’t playing tricks or anything?”

  “Not even a little,” Kellen replied. “Brynn looks ready for a fight. If I were you, I’d run and hide. The woman has taken kickboxing lessons, and she’s as ruthless as they come. If she’s got you in her sights it won’t be pretty, right?”

  “Thanks for the warning, but I almost wish she’d try something so I could have her arrested and removed,” Cat told him, visualizing the fantasy in the back of her mind.

  “I think you’re the one who sounds crazy now,” said Kellen. “And I also think we ought to find out if our two security guards saw anything unusual going on last night.”

  “Yes, you’re right,” said Cat, warming to the subject. “And we can also check the video feeds. You did say that the cameras were finally online.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Kellen agreed. “I’ll get Max on the phone too. Aiden told me he’s been keeping an eagle eye on cabin number four. If anybody from there got out of line, he’ll be the one who knows.”

  “Max, as in room thirty-two?” Cat smirked. “So he’s the detective, eh? I never would have figured it out in a million years.”

  “Yes? Then I probably was not supposed to tell you,” Kellen sighed. “Oh well, it can’t be helped now. With any luck, we’re about to bring all of our troubles to ground. Will you call in Denny and Boris?”

  “You bet I will,” she agreed. “Let’s go.”

  Interviews with the security guards and detective both revealed the same thing. Brynn’s reporter friend, Art, had been skulking around near the pool last night. With a grim expression, Kellen asked the two me
n to bring him into the office so they could ask him questions. And, after a bit of time, the man finally broke.

  “Reviewing a resort that is no more interesting than any other in the area would make for a boring article. So I decided to stir up some trouble to make the piece a bit more sensational. I know it was a cruel joke, but I can assure you that Brynn was not involved. It was all me, guaranteed.”

  “If that’s so, I believe you’ll be writing that article from inside a jail cell,” Cat told him, smiling. “Vandalism is a serious crime, sir.”

  “I’m willing to endure,” he told her stoically. “They may do their worst, and it cannot affect me too much. I knew I was doing wrong, and now I’ll simply have to pay the penalty.”

  When they were alone, Cat asked Kellen, “What did you think of that?”

  “He was obviously lying,” he said. “But if he’s willing to take the fall for Brynn, there’s nothing we can do about it, to be sure. I say we should just let it go, and tell Aiden exactly what we observed. And Cat—I really think that you should be the one to make the call.”

  “You’re right,” she sighed. “I’m going to have to start somewhere, it may as well be there.”

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Not one hour after he’d drove away, Aiden returned to the resort soaked with mud and numerous scratches and learned of the interrogation while it was still happening. Incensed, he would have barged right in to ask Art some questions of his own, except that he also learned that Mr. Stanworth had arrived and already begun taking photos and asking questions.

  Unfortunately, one of the first photos the man had taken involved the crocodiles. Aiden was worried that the only story that would be printed about his resort would be one warning the guests away from danger. The man was currently in the hall heading for his office door when he came up behind him.

  Turning around, he snapped a photo of the grimy resort owner and shook his head. “Mr. Whitney, I’d love to hear your explanation for all of this.”