The Daddy Dilemma: A Brother's Best Friend Enemies To Lovers Romance (Hot Daddy Book 3)

by Tracy Lorraine

  I don’t have a lot of patience at a lack of punctuality at the best of times but mix that with pregnancy hormones and my frustration levels soon begin to get the better of me.

  “Miss Connors, please.”

  “Reese, wait,” Brandon calls just as I’m about to follow the sonographer into the room. “I’m so sorry, I lost track of time.”

  My eyes drop from his to take in his paint covered overalls.

  “Glad you dressed up for the occasion,” I snap, turning away from him and entering the room.

  “I didn’t think the baby would be all that bothered.”

  “No, but I have eyes and I’m the one who’s got to look at you.” I don’t mean to sound like a raging bitch, but really, couldn’t he have at least had a shower and put some decent clothes on for this?

  “Thankfully, I don’t really care what you think, Ice Queen.”

  The sonographer looks between us with a somewhat amused expression at our bickering before instructing me to get up onto the bed and lower my trousers.

  Brandon sits himself in the chair next to me and starts to pick at a large blob of paint on his leg while the sonographer gets organised.

  “Is that necessary?”

  “What? Being here? You were the one who invited me.”

  “I know why you’re here. I’m not likely to forget that drunk decision anytime soon.”

  Rolling his eyes at me, he goes back to the paint. I’ve no idea if it’s just to wind me up some more, but if it is, it works like a charm.

  “Stop it,” I snap. “Just frikking stop it.” His eyes hold mine and fire burns between us. I can’t believe he’s the father of my first born. What exactly did I do to deserve this?

  Our bickering stops the second the sonographer instructs us to both look at the screen.

  “Fuck. That’s our baby,” Brandon exclaims, his eyes wide as he stares at the fuzzy black image.

  “Where? It looks like a broken, old TV.”

  The sonographer is quick to point out our baby’s features and I find that if I squint and turn my head to the side then I can just about make it out.

  “Why aren’t you crying?” Brandon asks, when the sonographer wipes the gel from my belly and turns to print off our pictures.

  The truth is that I’m still a little shocked all of this is happening and although I’ve made the decision to keep the baby, I don’t feel like I’ve really accepted this is real. Aside from spending an hour or two of my day with my head shoved down a toilet bowl, nothing about my life has changed yet. I’ve no bump. I don’t have any baby stuff in my apartment aside from what Brandon sent me that I’ve hidden in a cupboard. It all just seems like a dream.

  “It’s because I’m an Ice Queen, remember?”

  “Oh so you’re aware that you’re a cold-hearted bitch?”

  I pin him with my best icy stare as I’m handed back my maternity folder along with the printouts of bean.

  “Thank you. Is that all?” I ask the sonographer.

  “Yes, that’s all for now. As long as everything progresses as it should, we’ll see you in about eight weeks. Well, that’s assuming you two haven’t killed each other by then of course.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” Brandon mutters, much to the sonographer’s amusement.

  “You’re both in this together, and it truly is a miracle what you’ve created. Please try to enjoy it; you’ll regret it otherwise.”

  “I’m certainly regretting drinking too much wine,” I mumble, before thanking her and walking from the room.

  I don’t stop to see if Brandon’s following me; I don’t really give a shit. I don’t slow down at all until I get to my car. I press the button to unlock it and go to open the door when a warm hand lands on my forearm.

  “Wait, please.” Looking up, I find a soft pair of blue eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just that your judgemental side gets my back up.”

  “I wasn’t judging you. Your paint picking was just really annoying.”

  “You weren’t judging? So you didn’t take one look at my clothing and wonder why you didn’t fuck a guy who wears a fancy suit other than at weddings?”

  “No, I didn’t. I was just wound up worrying about whether the baby was okay and panicking you weren’t coming, because for some strange reason I actually wanted you there for support.” I admit. “But I couldn’t cope with the bits of paint going on the clean hospital floor. Someone has to clean up after you, you know? Or someone might get it on their shoes.”

  “You do know how messy kids are, right?”

  “Don’t. I know I’m a bit weird with things being tidy, but I just like order.”

  “Your puke wasn’t very tidy. That shit went everywhere.”

  “I said I’d pay for cleaning. Anyway, what were you doing to get paint all over yourself?”

  “Do you fancy getting some lunch? I’ll fill you in.”

  “Uh... sure. Can we get pizza?”

  “I thought pizza made you puke?”

  “Not anymore. I can’t get enough of it now.”

  “Okay, if my baby wants pizza then that’s what my baby shall have.” Something weird happens to my insides when he calls me baby. It’s too intimate.

  “Don’t call me that.”

  His mouth drops open at my cold tone. “Wha—oh. I didn’t call you baby, Reese. I meant our actual baby.”

  My cheeks heat as realisation hits me and I feel ridiculous for jumping to such conclusions, and even stupider for quite liking how it felt when he said it.

  “Did you drive?” I ask when the awkward silence between us gets too much.

  “No, I got a taxi.”

  “I guess you’d better get in then.”

  I drop down into the driver’s seat and he makes his way around to the passenger side. He’s just about to put his arse on the leather when I panic. “That paint’s all dry right?”

  “Yeah, Ice Queen. It’s all dry.”

  “Okay, you can sit then.”

  “What would you have had me do otherwise? Hover?”

  I shrug, trying to fight the laugh that wants to bubble up my throat at the thought.

  “Watch out, I think your face is about to crack.”

  I lose the fight and a smile breaks across my face. “Oh fuck off. I do have a sense of humour, you know?”

  “Good to know there’s one in there somewhere. Hopefully, our baby will inherit mine.”

  “Our baby,” I muse. “I can’t believe my baby shares DNA with you.”

  “I could say the same thing.” Silence descends around us as I pull out of the hospital car park. I start to think he’s not going to say anything when he asks me a question I’ve been trying not to think about. “Does Jack know?”

  I shake my head. “Only you and my friend Sarah know. I wanted to get through today and make sure everything was okay before announcing it.”

  “He’s going to kill me.”

  “You’re his best friend. I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I lie.

  “Do you have any idea how things work with guys?”

  “Why would I know that?”

  “There are unwritten rules. You never touch a girl any of your guys have been with without explicit approval beforehand and you most definitely don’t touch their sisters.”

  “Yeah so you tell him, then it’s you that gets all the grief. It wouldn’t be good for the baby, so I’ll pass.”

  I take him to my new favourite restaurant, Pizza Hut. Now there’s something I never thought I’d hear myself say. But their pizza crust along with their ‘all you can eat’ buffet is exactly what bean wants. And like what Brandon said, what bean wants, bean gets.

  We both opt for the buffet and Brandon orders a beer while I’m stuck with lemonade. I’d kill for a glass of Sancerre right about now.

  “You ready?” he asks, nodding towards where fresh pizzas have just been brought out.

  “So ready.”

  Together we head over to fill our plates. It’s the first time since
he arrived at the hospital that we don’t argue and it feels... nice.

  I grab myself two slices of pepperoni before reaching for the barbeque chicken, but my fingers don’t connect with the plastic utensil; instead, it meets a warm, calloused hand.

  I look up in shock and my eyes meet his. My surroundings seem to vanish as I lose myself in his intense stare. My heart starts to race and my temperature spikes. I’m reminded of how good it felt to be in his arms that night.

  “You can have it.”

  My brows draw together. Is he offering me a repeat? “Huh?”

  “You can have it. The last slice.”

  When I eventually manage to pull my eyes away from his and look down, I see that there’s only one slice of barbeque chicken left.

  “Oh... um... no, you can.” I stutter, feeling a little flustered by his close proximity all of a sudden.

  “No, I insist.”

  “Th- thank you.”

  He picks up the slice and deposits it carefully onto my plate before turning to the next pizza on offer and taking the two biggest slices.

  I ignore the salad having read about having to make sure it’s well washed when you’re pregnant and return to the table. The butterflies he kickstarted are still fluttering inside me, but I try to tell myself it’s hunger.

  “Are you feeling okay?” he asks when he joins me and finds me staring into space.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  “Saying grace or something?”

  “No. Just asking myself how I ended up here with you.”

  “I think it started when you asked for my cock for Christmas.”

  My cheeks burn and I rush to shove some pizza in my mouth before I say something crazy about not actually regretting it so much any longer.

  9

  Brandon

  I’m in Pizza Hut eating buffet pizza after seeing my unborn baby on a screen.

  “Could I have a look at the scan picture again?” I ask.

  “I got two copies, one of them is for you. Sorry, I’m so distracted by everything going on, I forgot.”

  “Miss Perfectionist isn’t perfect? Hang on while I take a photo.” I raise a brow.

  She holds off going in her bag. “You have me all wrong, you know?”

  “So you’re not a ballbreaking family lawyer who has everything in her house a certain way and never has a hair out of place?”

  “Well… up until I got pregnant maybe. But since I’ve been puking every day, I have most definitely had my hair out of place. My house is only tidy because I pay a cleaning service because the minute I’m home I’m out like a light. The exhaustion is real. This baby is taking it out of me.”

  She passes me the photo. It’s just a blob on a photo. A ‘bean’. But that’s my baby. I’m going to be a dad, and something comes over me at that point. Because I know I’d already do anything for that bean. I said I’d never let my heart be broken again, but for bean I’d hack it out of my own chest.

  I place it in my pocket carefully.

  “So you said you’d explain why you arrived covered in paint?”

  “Oh yeah. Well, I left the warehouse job I had and I’m now a full-time carpenter. More than full-time at the moment actually. I’m self-employed and have orders coming out of my ears.”

  She’s actually lost for words I think. She takes a bite of pizza to try to cover it.

  “How did you become a carpenter overnight?”

  I laugh. “I didn’t. I learned at college after school and I got a job with my ex’s father’s business. When my ex dropped me for her father’s main competitor’s son, I went off the whole thing. But now I don’t need anyone else to work for. I can work from home and take orders online. I thought it would take a while to get going, but to be honest, I might have to close my books for a bit against further orders. I’m that busy.”

  “Wow. So what sort of things are you making?” she asks, actually looking genuinely interested instead of scornful.

  I take out my phone and open up my Etsy page. I show her the carved mirrors, storage boxes, tables, and seating.

  “Some things are collection only; others are mailed very well packed.”

  Her eyes are wide as she scrolls through. “These are absolutely amazing, Brandon. I had no idea.”

  “No. That’s the thing. Everyone just sees me as a nightshift warehouse working slob, and I’ll be honest… I was a slob. Life felt easier. It wasn’t but it felt it. As for my job, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that job. It was steady, they were a great team. I left because I didn’t want to work nights anymore and the makeover your brother started fired something up inside me that I’d thought was dead. Got me excited to try my carpentry again.”

  “Well, I wish you every success with it all.” Reese dabs at her mouth with a napkin.

  “You okay so far? Not feeling nauseous?”

  She shakes her head. “It tends to hit first thing in a morning and then sometimes again in the early evening. I’ve been trying ginger biscuits and they’re helping, so thanks for the, erm, twelve packets you sent.”

  “I worked in a warehouse. I’m used to bulk buying.”

  “This is so weird isn’t it? I barely know you and I’m carrying your baby.”

  “So get to know me. Let’s be well… friends.”

  “Friends?”

  “Yes. Let’s meet up and do stuff and find out about each other.”

  “That’s great except for the fact I work full-time and then I come home and sleep. I’ve no time to get to know you.”

  “So what are you going to do when bean arrives? About work I mean?”

  “I get my maternity leave.”

  “And after?”

  “I’ll sort some childcare, like all other working single mums have to. My mum isn’t near enough so she’s out.”

  “But I am, and I work from home. I can change my hours around to make sure looking after my kid is my number one priority. They’ll be spending half the week with me anyway.”

  I see her bristle. “We’ve not decided anything about how we’re doing this yet.”

  “It’s my baby as much as yours.”

  She leans on the table, her head in her hands. It’s not until I see a tear fall on the table that I realise Ice Queen is either crying or thawing out.

  I get up and move around to her side of the table and put my arm around her.

  “We’ll work it all out,” I tell her.

  I feel her body shake and her voice comes out trembly. “It’s just all too much right now. I feel too tired and sick to think properly. I’m looking at becoming a partner at work and instead of being my usual fabulous self, I’m trying not to let them see me throw up. I’m a mess.”

  “Come stay with me,” I blurt out before my brain can catch up with my mouth.

  “W- what?”

  “Come move into my house until you feel better. I have a spare room. We can decorate it if you want. I’d decided not to get a housemate, but right now while you’re feeling so sick you need a little looking after. So move in. We can get to know each other better then too; in between your working, sleeping, and puking.”

  She shakes her head. “I can’t do that. That’s the most ridiculous idea I ever heard.”

  “Why is it? I’m your baby’s father. Makes perfect sense to me. But then again, you’re a snobby cow so my place probably isn’t good enough for you, right?” I’m back to wanting to throttle her.

  “Yeah, that’s why I’m saying no. Not because I barely know you, but because your house isn’t as upmarket as mine. Maybe if you put a red carpet down at the front door, I’ll consider it.” She’s staring at me with that icy gaze and then I get an eye roll to boot.

  I try to keep my patience. “Just think about it okay? Don’t dismiss it outright. You only have to slum it until you feel better. Then you can fuck right off.” Ooops, patience has left the building.

  “Can you not swear in front of the baby?” She pats her stomach. “I’m sorry, bean
. Daddy has a filthy mouth.”

  “Yeah, bean, which is one of the reasons you got there in the first place,” I quip.

  I don’t miss Reese squeezing her thighs together.

  She takes a deep breath. “It’s my birthday on Sunday. Jack and Rhian have insisted on throwing a family lunch at theirs. I’ve just decided I’m going to announce my pregnancy. Do you want to be there? We could try to be civil while we announce the happy news. Let them see we are determined to co-parent and put the baby first.”

  “You’ve decided this just now, in the fifteen minutes we’ve eaten pizza?”

  “Yup, might as well get it over with and you’re no doubt too chicken to tell him.”

  “I’ll be there. What time?” Damn my ego, why didn’t I let her tell him and then emigrate while it was happening?

  “The meals at one pm.”

  “I’ll come around at about three. Then we can tell them together.”

  She nods “Okay, something we agree on at last.”

  We say our goodbyes and I head home where I spend the rest of the day staring at the photo of my baby.

  Sunday rolls around fast and before I know it I’m knocking on Jack’s door. Jack of course has no idea that I’m coming.

  “Hey, mate. I wasn’t expecting you, was I?”

  I shake my head.

  “Is it urgent, only the family are round. We’re celebrating Reese’s birthday.”

  “Can I come in and then I’ll explain?”

  “Erm, okay, mate.” He stands back and lets me pass through. He then notices I’ve a wrapped box in my hand.

  “Brandon.” Reese says as she looks up from the dining table where she’s stuffing her face with what looks like a pink-iced cupcake. “Hello.”

  “Oh hi, Brandon.” Their mum, Laura, says. “Good to see you again.”

  “Looking good, son.” Their father says. I see the side-eye from Laura. They try to be civil when with their kids, but they loathe each other.

  “Happy birthday.” I pass Reese the box.

  “Thank you. I’ll er, open it in a moment. Everyone. There’s something I’m wanting to say to you. Well, actually, we, me and Brandon, want to say to you.”