Daddy Plus One: A Single Dad Secret Baby Billionaire Romance

by Brooke Valentine

  Watching the girl with her dogs amazed him. She was so controlled, so alpha.

  She looked his way. Green eyes met his, and he shuddered with the reaction to the contact. They were half a football field away from each other, and still, he felt the connection.

  When she looked back at the dogs, instead of him, Shaw felt the loss immediately. And so did the thing inside of him as its growl filled his head, “I want her! Get her for me!”

  “But you could kill her,” Shaw tried to stand his ground, but the full moon was coming, and the beast inside him was stronger than he was most of the time.

  Shaw’s feet began to move his body forward. He was going to get who his beast and Shaw both wanted.

  Shaw couldn’t help but silently pray, God help her.

  Chapter 2

  Robin Winters felt eyes on her and looked around to see if she could catch who was watching her. She found one guy. A tall, muscular man who didn’t even bother to cut his eyes away when she caught him.

  The air was cold, but when she locked eyes with him, it seemed to plunge at least ten degrees colder. Her mind whispered, He’s dangerous.

  Inclined to always believe her first instincts, Robin looked away, getting back to training the dogs. The husky, Sheba, had been a biter, and her owners begged Robin to help train her. They adored their dog, neither of them wanted to lose her due to her ill temper. They were shocked when they picked her up after her very first training session and found Robin had taken their dog’s leash off, and Sheba didn’t try to go after anyone.

  The Dobie, Mr. Fox, had a bad temper along with a tendency to pee anywhere he wanted to. An older woman had inherited the dog from her brother who’d passed in an auto accident. She didn’t want to have to get rid of the dog, but she was going out of her mind with Mr. Fox’s antics. It took two training sessions with him and two with the woman to get them both on the right track.

  Lancelot, the pit bull, had no real bad habits. His owner, a young teen girl, just wanted him to do things, like fetch and roll over, play dead, that kind of stuff. He wasn’t into it at first, but Lancelot came around after four training sessions. It helped to have other dogs around so he could see what Robin expected out of them and him.

  Training dogs had been a passion of Robin’s since she could remember. She was that girl at the party who lost her mind when she found a dog at it. Robin would ignore the humans to play with the dogs.

  So training them just kind of fell in her lap. It was friends who paid Robin to train their dogs at first, and it grew from there. At twenty-three, she already had a thriving little business, and a website helped her gain new clients all the time.

  She wasn’t rolling in the dough just yet, but had aspirations of that one day. With hard work and self-discipline, Robin thought she’d be able to become the success she strove to be. Someday, anyway.

  For the time being, she lived in a small apartment in town. What Robin really wanted was a home in the country. With time, she knew she’d see her dream come true.

  The outdoors was a place she truly loved to be. Robin had moved to Loveland from her family’s home in Pueblo because the place called to her. The town was just so pretty, and the surrounding mountains and forest drew her in like no place else ever had.

  It was tough at first, living so far away from her family. Being the youngest, not one of Robin’s three older sisters expected her to move out as early as she did, much less further away than any of them had.

  They called her the wild one. They told Robin she was like some old soul who had a special knack with animals, especially dogs. Her family supported Robin’s decision to move and to train dogs for a living. She would’ve never been able to do it without their support.

  The hour of training was nearly up, and Robin held up her hands to get the dogs to stand on their back feet. All three did, then they all fell back to the ground on their bellies, whimpering.

  “What the hell?” Robin looked up as she saw someone coming toward them.

  It was him, the guy who’d been staring at her. And for some unknown reason, he had the nerve to just come up to Robin. “I see you’ve got yourself some great dogs there,” his voice was smooth and deep.

  The man looked to be about thirty. His dark hair hung in waves to his shoulders. Piercing blue eyes never left Robin. Broad shoulders, a wide chest, narrow waist… She stopped looking any further down. Robin didn’t need to look at his crotch to know he was hung like a horse.

  After gulping a few times to get her head together, she said, “They’re not mine. I just train them.” Robin looked at the dogs’ demeanor. They weren’t moving, staying so still it defied imagination.

  “You’ve done well.” He stepped right up on the seat of the picnic table that was behind her then took a seat on the tabletop. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

  “I haven’t been around,” Robin didn’t say anything else. Something was nagging at her to get away from the man.

  Everything about the man was designed to intimidate. From his height, which was about six foot three, to his motorcycle gang clothing, and even his chiseled features told Robin that he was a man who loved to exercise his control over others.

  An alpha.

  And it seemed he wanted something to do with her. A thing she wasn’t about to allow.

  “So, you’re not from here then.” He leaned back on his elbows, stretching out his lean, muscular body. His legs were as big as tree trunks, and the trainer in Robin had no choice but to admire his physique. “So where was home before this?”

  “Pueblo,” she said then walked over to the dogs who were acting so differently. It was as if some major predator was around and they were assuming submissive positions to appease it. She looked around, thinking maybe they’d caught wind of a bear or something.

  “Why’d you leave?” He looked up at the sun and took a deep breath. His dark hair fell across his massive shoulders, and Robin stifled a sigh.

  Yes, he was breathtaking. But he was dangerous. She had to go with her first instinct. “I came to Loveland with a friend last year on a little vacay. I loved it and worked hard until I had saved up enough to move here.” She wasn’t sure why she was telling this stranger so much about herself. A part of her felt comfortable with the man, but the biggest part of her wanted to get the hell away from the danger.

  She thought, I need to stop.

  The man caught her ogling him when his head moved back down, and he smiled at the fact. “That’s pretty brave of you. A young girl.” He paused. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three,” popped out before she could stop herself.

  He licked his smiling lips. “Young.” His eyes moved away from her face to her tits. “Firm.”

  Robin crossed her arms in front of her breasts and turned around so he couldn’t look at them anymore. “Jeez.”

  His next word came from right behind her, “Round.” He was too close, and she stepped away from him hastily.

  His proximity had the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight up. “I need to go.” She snapped her fingers. “Come on, guys. Time to go.”

  After taking three steps, Robin noticed the dogs hadn’t gotten up. They lay perfectly still as the dangerously sexy man stood in front of them. “You sure you have to go already?”

  She nodded. “Class is over,” then clapped her hands, “come on, guys. Let’s go. Your owners will be here soon.” She took a few more steps.

  He chuckled. It was a deep sensual sound that made her tummy flip.

  Okay, he’s sexy. So what? she thought.

  “They don’t seem to want to go. You should stay. Talk to me. I’m not as bad as I seem.” He wiggled his finger at Robin with a come hither gesture.

  She shook her head slowly. “I’ve got to go.” Their eyes were locked, and she found it hard to think.

  His caramel colored lips parted. “Why?”

  Why do I have to go? she thought.

  Her brain kicked in, telling
her, Because he’s dangerous!

  Oh, yeah, Robin thought.

  “Because it’s time to.” Robin leaned over and clapped her hands on her legs. “Come on, guys.” Still, they lay there. She looked over her shoulder when she heard the sound of someone honking their horn. “It’s your momma, Sheba. Come on, girl.”

  “Where you going after this?” the man asked her, and it sparked something inside of her.

  Robin wasn’t the kind of girl who got scared of people like him. Some switch flipped inside her. Her eyes landed on his as her inner alpha rose to the surface. “That is none of your damn business. I don’t know what made you think that you could just walk up on me and start talking.” She held her hand up, as if to stop him from moving forward. “I don’t care what made you think you could do that, so don’t bother trying to explain yourself to me. You’re in some kind of a gang; your jacket tells me that. You’re nothing but trouble, not a thing I’m interested in at all.” She clapped her hands together loudly. “Come!”

  The dogs all jumped up and hauled ass to get to her and off they went. Robin wasn’t about to look back. But she felt piercing blue eyes on her the whole time.

  As she walked up to the first car and opened the door to let Sheba jump inside, Robin still felt his presence. “Here’s Sheba. Same time next week?” The owner smiled and nodded as she hugged her excited dog.

  Then Robin closed the door and went on to put the other dogs in their waiting owners’ cars. Finally she made her way to her car, not bothering to hurry. She didn’t want the guy to think she was afraid of him in the least little bit.

  Once she got into the car, Robin put on dark sunglasses and looked to see where the man was. And there he was, sitting on the same picnic table, leaning back on his elbows with his eyes cast to the sky.

  So he wasn’t looking at her the way she had thought he’d been. Well, so what, it wasn’t like she cared.

  Robin drove away, and just as she pulled out of the parking lot, a shiver ran through her. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw him walking into the woods.

  Why is he going into the woods all alone? she thought.

  Chapter 3

  Every waking moment filled Shaw’s brain with thoughts of the girl. On the night of the full moon, something happened. As he and his pack brothers hunted, Shaw’s wolf took to doing a bit more after filling his belly with freshly killed deer.

  When the wolf took over, Shaw got left in the far reaches of their mind. With only the slightest bit of control over his beast, Shaw’s reprimanding had gone unheard by the wolf as he started hunting the girl.

  Shaw found him going back to the park where he and the girl had met. He circled the picnic table they’d sat on and sniffed every last inch of the ground she’d walked on. The wolf ended up in the parking lot where the girl had gotten into her car, and that’s where the trail grew cold.

  Furious, the wolf howled for much too long. Shaw grew worried his whining would get them caught. The wolf didn’t leave that parking lot until the pack caught up to him and urged him to go back into the woods to play while they still had time. When Shaw woke up, naked in the snow, the girl was the first thing on his mind. Not just the wolf’s mind. Shaw’s too.

  Making himself busy with anything and everything he could, Shaw tried like hell to put the girl out of his mind. She’d never make a good female for Shaw in any way. Not purely sexual, the way he’d take a human female from time to time. And not as a mate, the way his wolf wanted.

  When you made a human your mate things got out of control. Shaw hated for things to get out of control.

  It was his mission to keep things in control at all times. Himself, his pack, their lives. And no human female was going to make Shaw do things any differently than he always had. Or so he kept telling himself.

  All along, Shaw kept looking for her. Seeing her gorgeous face on every woman who passed him, he found himself sniffing their scents. It was the only thing that would bring him out of his hallucinations, letting Shaw know it wasn’t his girl.

  He scoured the internet, looking for anything he could find on dog trainers in the Loveland area. And that’s where he found her. The elusive beauty who wanted nothing to do with him.

  She thought Shaw was some hoodlum gangbanger, not the man he was in reality. If she met Shaw in a different state, would she like him then?

  He had to know. He had to find out if she could like him. Not that he had any intention of losing control by taking her, making her his own in any way. But he just had to know if she’d like him.

  He’d never cared if anyone liked him. Not ever. And he kept telling himself that all the time. For four days, Shaw recited that over and over again to himself, I don’t care who likes me and who doesn’t.

  But it couldn’t change the actions Shaw took. Once he had found her website, he sent her an email, the only form of contact she had on the site.

  Robin Winters,

  My name is Shaw Lykan, owner of Luna Enterprises. My company owns most of the spas and resorts in Colorado. The hospitality industry isn’t the only thing Luna Enterprises is into. That said, I’d like to meet with you to discuss another venture I might be interested in. Guard dog training is a thing I’d like to talk to you about. I saw your website and the reviews of your work with dogs are off the charts. I’ve attached my business card. I’d love it if you’d give me a call so we can set up a meeting.

  He ended the email there, not sure what else to say. He’d sent that to her more than twenty-four hours ago and had yet to receive a call. It had him pacing and hating the fact that she wouldn’t do so much as make one phone call to tell him she wasn’t interested.

  Was she even trying to be successful? he wondered.

  Looking out the glass doors that led out to a back patio, Shaw saw the first few flakes of snow falling. Night was near, and it seemed there would be a fresh blanket of snow when he woke up. He’d been pacing, so he took a deep breath and took a seat on the overstuffed leather sofa that sat right in front of those giant glass doors.

  Shaw loved the outdoors and made sure almost every room of his estate had a clear view of the land the massive home sat on. The ten acres went all the way to the forest. A place he’d end up a lot of nights, taking his wolf form at times, staying in his human form others. In both forms, he loved being outside.

  Shaw dropped his head back as the young woman filled his mind. Her curves were astonishing, so supple yet firm. He knew her skin would feel like satin under his hands. Her heart would race, he knew it would when his lips grazed hers.

  “Ugh!” Shaw shoved his hand through his dark hair and started to get up. But his cell rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. He didn’t recognize the number but swiped the screen anyway. “Shaw Lykan.”

  “Mr. Lykan, this is…”

  Shaw didn’t let her finish; he knew who it was, “Robin Winters.”

  Her breath caught in her throat, “Yes, how did you…”

  “I sent you an email,” he cut her off once more. “Left you my number.”

  “Yes, I just saw it. I hope I’m not too late in calling you. I’ve been away from my computer,” she said with great haste. Shaw could tell she was mad at herself for making him wait.

  Inwardly, he thought, Good girl.

  “I understand.” Shaw sat up, stroking his dark beard. “I’d like to meet with you tomorrow.”

  “Oh, I’d love the chance to meet with you. I can meet you tomorrow. It would be an honor to get to talk to you.” She paused. “I looked your company up before I called you. I wanted to make sure it was legit. And boy is it!”

  Shaw smiled and leaned back as he thought, She looked it up. Smart girl.

  “Thank you. Since you’ve checked me out, would you feel comfortable meeting me at one of my spas in Loveland? That is where you live, right?” His thick, long fingers drummed on top of his wide thigh as he waited for her answer.

  “Yes, it is. I can certainly meet you anywhere you’d like, sir.” Sh
e took a shallow breath. “This is my dream career. If I had a contract with your company, well, I could really make this thing happen for me.”

  “It’s good to know your heart is in this. I’ll send my driver to get you. He’ll bring you to the spa, and we can make a day of it. Can you free up your entire day, maybe your night too?” Shaw couldn’t believe he was crossing his fingers like a damn fool. But he was, and they refused to uncross, no matter how hard he looked at them.

  “All day? And night?” she sounded a little apprehensive.

  Shaw got up, pacing again as he thought he might’ve scared her off. “It’s just because I want to go into great depth about everything. Every little aspect of what you can do and what I can do. The idea has been in my head for a while,” he lied. He’d barely come up with the idea when he had found her website.

  “Oh, well, then yes, of course, I can free up my time tomorrow. It’s nice to know you’re considering this and want to talk so extensively about everything.” She sighed, and it sounded so damn sweet, Shaw’s cock thumped in his jeans.

  What will her sexual sigh sound like? he wondered. He shook his head as he silently scolded himself, No, Shaw, you can’t have her like that.

  If Shaw couldn’t have her in any way at all, then what the hell was he doing?

  His mind must be playing tricks on him where the human female was concerned. Or was it the mind of his wolf? The creature who lurked inside of Shaw could access his thoughts the same way Shaw could do to his wolf’s. The wolf had a minimum of power. Until the moon was full, Shaw had control over everything.

  But could his wolf’s desire for the girl be overriding Shaw’s ability to make good decisions where Robin Winters was concerned?

  “Um, you still there, Mr. Lykan?”

  He’d been lost in thought too long. “Yes. Can I have your address?”

  “I’ll text it to you, so there are no mistakes. When can I expect your driver, sir?”