Irresistible Daddies Series Box Set

by Katy Kaylee

  I couldn’t have made a place that was better suited for the both of us if I’d tried. It was like fate.

  We cleaned up together, splashing each other with water from the sink and stealing sips from each other’s wine glasses, and stealing kisses as well. I picked Veronica up and slung her over my shoulder to carry her up the stairs to bed as she laughed and told me she was going to have her justified revenge.

  By the time we collapsed into bed, I was certain that I had found the one person in my life that I needed, wanted, and that I’d never be satisfied with anyone else.

  I had to find a way to hold onto her, to be with her, no matter what assholes were trying to tear us apart. For the sake of Veronica’s happiness and her freedom, and for the sake of our relationship, I had to.

  At least for now, though, there was no Preston, or awful ex-husband, or society’s pressures, or anything. There was just the two of us, curled up into each other, and finally getting to fall asleep together. I got to fall asleep holding her in my arms, her face tucked into my neck, feeling the warmth and weight of her. Feeling like I could finally protect her, like two puzzle pieces were at last joining.

  I slept better than I had in years.

  Waking up, though, was a little less enjoyable.

  I hadn’t set an alarm, planning for us to sleep in, but I woke up around seven in the morning to the sound of… retching? I sat up, blinking slowly as I fully woke up. The bed was empty beside me, but the spot next to me was warm, as was the pillow. Veronica hadn’t been up for long.

  From the bathroom came the sounds of more retching. Oh, shit, poor Roni!

  I got up and crossed quickly to the bathroom, finding Veronica bent over the toilet, finishing throwing up. I held her hair back and gently rubbed her shoulders. “Hey, hey, you okay? Do we need a doctor?”

  “You’re a doctor, you know,” she replied with a strained laugh before she threw up again.

  “I mean a proper hospital,” I replied, smiling through my worry.

  Veronica shook her head. “N-no, no, it’s passing, the worst of it’s over, it was just… I think it’s just stress, honestly. I woke up and I had this awful feeling of nausea.”

  “Who could blame you?” I replied, quickly braiding her hair. I didn’t have a hair tie on me but braiding it would help to keep it out of the way while I got her a glass of water and a warm washcloth to wipe her face.

  After all that she had been through, no wonder she was letting it all out this way now that she was somewhere safe. I had learned about this from my therapist, when I had asked her why I hadn’t ever broken down, why now that I was at college I was flipping out over little things and crying and upset, but I’d never been that way around my dad.

  “Well, it’s because you’re safe now,” she had told me. “You weren’t in a safe place before, and so you had to be strong. You never knew what you had to be prepared for. Now you’re feeling safe, and so you can be vulnerable and let these emotions out. You don’t have to be on constant watch anymore.”

  That had made so much sense to me, and I had never blamed myself for crying again, after that. Now I could see Veronica going through the same thing, struggling with the same issues. She had gone right from an abusive marriage to a painful divorce and then to the struggle of rebuilding her life and now, now she had Preston.

  God, I’d love to rip the guy a new one for this.

  Veronica shakily got up from the toilet with my help, and I steadied her with a hand at the small of her back as she drank the water. “I think if I just have some crackers I’ll be okay,” she said.

  “No problem, let’s get you downstairs.”

  I helped her down, settled her on the couch, and got her some crackers and more water. We just sat together, and I grabbed a book. “Hey, you want me to read to you?”

  Veronica’s smile was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It was pure delight. “I’d love that.”

  It was just like old times her head in my lap as I read to her, our free hands interlocked. By the time the sun was high in the sky, around noon, Veronica declared that she was feeling better.

  “Well, I do love reading to you but… there’s a gorgeous beach right outside our back door…”

  “And I’d hate for your tongue to get too tired,” Veronica said, sitting up and grinning at me. “I’ve got plans for it later.”

  We had a simple lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so that Veronica’s stomach wouldn’t get too upset, and then she gargled was looked like half the bottle of mouthwash, and we changed and headed out for the beach.

  I had never really been to the beach, growing up. It would’ve meant my dad put in the work to actually get me there, and God forbid he ever do that. The first time I went was with Veronica when we were teenagers, and I’d been terrified. I knew how to swim thanks to the community pool, although I’d never had a membership and had always snuck in to join. I think that some of the workers there had known that, actually, but they’d never reported me.

  Now, I loved the beach. I wasn’t the strongest swimmer so I couldn’t go too far out, but I loved the water, loved how it seemed to calm something inside of me. I loved making sand castles, and taking a nap in the sun, and watching the waves during sunset.

  Veronica was full of energy, apparently extra eager to make up for her nausea earlier, as if it was her fault, something she could control. She dragged me down to the water right away, and we played in the waves for a while, dunking each other, trying to trip each other up, and eventually falling over laughing and kissing before going back up to the sand.

  We did, in fact, make sand castles. At first we were kind of competing to see who could make the better one, but then we just joined forces. I made sure to take pictures when we were finished, and during the process as well, so that I wouldn’t forget it after the castle inevitably fell down or was hit by the waves.

  It was a private beach, like a lot of the beaches on the island, and so we were alone the entire time. It felt almost like we’d found a way to step into our own private universe. We didn’t see another human being for hours, and when we finally did, they were far away, just small specks a ways out, unable to bother us.

  Part of me - the selfish part - never wanted us to leave. Wanted us to stay in this house, on this island, forever, never seeing another soul. Just getting to goof off, and relax, and be together.

  I knew that it couldn’t last forever, of course. We had to deal with this Preston business, for one thing. But even if we didn’t have the Preston issue, we had our regular lives to get back to. And I did like my regular life. It wasn’t like I was trying to run from that.

  But right now, in this moment… I wished it could last forever. Just the two of us.

  If only.

  26

  Veronica

  The day was perfect. I honestly couldn’t think of a single thing that could’ve gone better or been more enjoyable.

  By the time we got to a bonfire on the beach at the end, I almost wanted to cry with joy and relief. Here I had been, freaking out all of this time, wondering if I was going to be able to handle this relationship, freaking out… and it turned out that it all fell into place so naturally, it felt like I should’ve been doing this my entire life.

  If only we could’ve been doing this the entire time. If only I hadn’t had to go through those eight years. But we had today, and we had the future. There was that, at least, and I was determined now not to let it go out of fear.

  Because the thing was… the truth was stealing into my heart like a cat on soft paws, settling in and purring. I had always thought it would be like a hurricane, a tsunami sweeping me under. But instead it felt soft and warm, just like Ted’s arms around me as we sat against a driftwood log in front of the bonfire. I had always wanted to do a bonfire, in high school, but that wasn’t something that upper-class people went to. Bonfires were for the hicks, the white trash, the wrong kind of crowd.

  Ted hadn’t said anything to
me about that, but I knew that he was thinking of that when he’d suggested the bonfire and had shown me how to do it, letting me light the pile and set it ablaze. Just like he was letting me set the pace on everything else.

  Without even asking, he was remembering things from high school and giving me what I couldn’t have then, what I’d been too scared to go for because of my parents. When else had I ever felt so known, so understood, so cared for? Never.

  Without a doubt, like the sun rising and banishing the shadows and cobwebs of sleep, I knew that I was in love with him. It was still a bit scary. I couldn’t deny that. But it was less scary than it had been. It felt right. All this time I had been terrified of just ending up with another Chad, stuck in a loveless marriage where I was dominated by my husband, manipulated, ignored at best and abused at worse. But I knew that Ted would never do that. I couldn’t see our relationship becoming loveless, and I couldn’t see myself ever becoming afraid of Ted, or seeing Ted try to control me. He had never been anything but honest with me. In fact, I was the one who had once lied to him when I had broken up with him, pretending that I didn’t care and telling him that I didn’t think he would amount to anything when I hadn’t really cared about that.

  As we just sat together, his arm around me, I felt more at peace than I had in years. Perhaps since even before I married Chad. It wasn’t just the romance. It was that I was with one person who had proven to me, time and again, that he would never leave me, that he would never judge me, that he would always look out for me and put me first. Nowhere else in my life had I ever gotten that.

  I didn’t know how to say that, any of it, so I just kept quiet, putting my head on his shoulder as we watched the bonfire die slowly down. It was peaceful. Comfortable. Neither of us had to say anything. We could just sit there together, and exist, and that was all that we needed.

  When we went up to bed and made love again… it felt like the tide sweeping me under, pulling me in, surrounding me, and this time, I willingly let myself drown. I didn’t know how to say the words just yet. I hadn’t said those words to anyone in so long, not when I truly meant them. Of course to Layla, and my other friends, but that was different. This was… this was a different kind of love, and the words held a weight that they had lost in all the time that I’d been with Chad. I hadn’t said it for years while I was with him, and he hadn’t said it to me, but before that, at the beginning of our marriage, we had said the words. His had always felt like… like he was reminding me that he possessed me. When I had said them, I had felt like I had to. Like it was my duty.

  Now I felt them, truly, but didn’t know how to say them. So I just… gave Ted all that I could in my kisses, in my body, holding him and taking him inside of me, begging him for more, and hoping that he understood.

  The next morning I felt rejuvenated. Best sleep I’d had in ages. All of my stress was gone, and even the thought of Preston wasn’t as terrifying as it had been. I felt relaxed. Ready to take on the world.

  I got up a few minutes before Ted, which didn’t surprise me. We’d never had the privilege of spending the night together in high school but I had always known, and was being reminded now that we were together again as adults, that he was a night owl and I was a morning person.

  He looked so handsome, even in sleep. I resisted the urge to wake him up and instead slipped into the bathroom to freshen up for the day. I think Ted planned for us to go on a walk to some of the cute little shopping areas that dotted the island.

  Humming to myself, I got out my toothbrush and the toothpaste…

  …and a wave of nausea hit me, just like yesterday.

  I dropped the toothbrush and toothpaste and dove for the toilet, making it just in time. Shit, this was awful. I thought I had taken care of this stupid stomach bug. What was wrong with me? Surely it wasn’t just stress, right? I wasn’t stressed anymore, and I felt fine other than this morning vomiting. I had a healthy appetite—startingly so—I was sleeping well…

  Ted came in while I was throwing up, and I could feel my cheeks heating up from embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” I managed to gasp out.

  He got me a glass of water, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it, you’re fine.” I could see worry lurking in his eyes, though. “You don’t have a fever? No sore throat or clogged sinuses?”

  “No, nothing, in fact I feel great.”

  “How long has this throwing up been going on?”

  I shrugged. “Um, a few days?” Preston caused this nonsense, I was sure of it, he was the person making me so damn stressed.

  Ted stared at me for a moment longer, then went out into the bedroom to rifle through his suitcase. I wondered if he had some kind of stomach pill on him that would help me to settle. In the meantime, I drank my water and flushed the toilet to get rid of the, ah, evidence. Ugh. I felt so gross after that and began brushing my teeth immediately after I finished the water.

  “Here you go.” Ted had a small medical bag with him and pulled out a box. Huh.

  “You always are prepared, aren’t you?” I teased, opening the box—and only realizing what it was when I saw the stick inside.

  It was a pregnancy test.

  “Ted.” I looked up at him. “Do you… you don’t really think… I could be… omg… ”

  Ted’s face was dead serious. Solemn, even. Pensive. “We’ve been having sex without protection for weeks now. You and I are exclusive and we both know the other is clean so no STIs and I know we’ve used condoms sometimes but not every time. And you’re not on any kind of birth control to prepare you for the insemination process. I should’ve… been more careful, more aware… ” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I think it’s best you give that a try.”

  “It’s probably just some stomach bug,” I replied. Panic and confusion welled up in me, and I had to struggle to speak without my voice sounding strangled. I would know if I was pregnant, wouldn’t I? I would already suspect, I would… get a feeling for it, right? I wouldn’t just be blindsided by my own body like this, would I?

  “Maybe,” Ted said. “But it’s best that we make certain, don’t you think?”

  I swallowed. The air suddenly felt thick, charged, and not in the usual sexy way that it was between us, but in anticipation and uncertainty. “Could I have some privacy?”

  “Sure, of course.” Ted wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and drew me in to kiss the top of my forehead, then slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

  I could hear him through the bathroom door, moving around—probably getting dressed for the day. I took a few deep breaths, then looked at myself in the mirror.

  You can do it, I told myself. It’s just a test, Veronica. It could very well be nothing. You’ve felt fine.

  But had I? I’d had a bigger appetite than usual, one I’d put down to just being happy again. I’d had odd cravings, which I’d also dismissed. And now the throwing up without any other symptoms of a flu, or cold, or stomach bug…

  There was really only one way to find out, though, and I had to bite the bullet and get the truth. I couldn’t fix anything or handle any situation until I knew the facts.

  As I waited for the answer to show up on the stick, I couldn’t help but consider the irony of the situation. I hadn’t been with anyone besides Ted, which I was sure he knew, so if I was pregnant, he had to know it would be his. My fertility doctor - well, former fertility doctor - had, in fact, gotten me pregnant, by accident. And this was just not the way that either of us had expected.

  While I’d gone to Ted to have a baby, I hadn’t expected it to be his baby. And while I was… I was excited at the idea of being pregnant, I wasn’t as excited about it being Ted’s child.

  Not that he wouldn’t make an excellent father. Both biologically and in temperament. He had good genes, he was hardworking, intelligent, great credentials. I had been serious when I had suggested that he add himself to the sperm donor database. He would’ve fit right in with all of these men. Sure, Ted h
adn’t gone to Harvard or whatnot but he was the most compassionate and caring person I had ever met. He had brought himself up to the top of his field from nothing. Who wouldn’t want that man to be the father of their child?

  So it wasn’t that I didn’t want Ted to be the father. It made me happy to think that he was the father, actually. I could think of no better person to be the provider of genes for my child, and it was a relief, in a way, to not have to deal with going through that list of donors yet again and trying to pick one. At least now the choice was made, whether I’d realized I was making a choice or not.

  When it came to our relationship, though… I was less thrilled about that. I had been enjoying taking things slowly. Just relaxing and being in the moment, enjoying what we have. I wasn’t ready to move forward just yet, I wasn’t ready to take things quite that seriously. It was too soon for me, all of this, it was too soon. I hadn’t even finished the nursery yet.

  All of my own feelings about this aside, though… there was also Ted to consider. Would he even want to be a father? I knew that he wanted to be one, someday, but that was a few years down the line. He had told me about his dreams and plans for the future just as I had told him about mine and I knew that he wanted children. He just… also wanted a wife, and a year or two of just the two of them, before he had a child.

  Now I had ruined that.

  Did he want to be a father despite the change to his plan? Would he want to actually be there for my child, and be a part of this, or would he want to call the whole thing off? Wanting to be with me - it changed, when there was a baby involved. I couldn’t simply not tell our child about his father, who was also the man I was dating. It was all far too complicated in my head already.

  And why would Ted want to be a father when he was busy with a thriving practice? Why would he want to have to deal with that, without any time to plan ahead, without any contingencies?

  I was riddled with doubts, feeling sick in a way that had nothing to do with my nausea. I had no idea what to do. What the best decision would be. Part of me wanted to climb out the bathroom window and shimmy down and hitchhike until I could get back to the mainland and then just disappear. But I’d screwed Ted over once. I couldn’t do it again.