Boss Daddy: A Secret Baby Romance by Black, L. (big screen ebook reader txt) 📗

“Hey,” I said. “I want to make a donation.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Ava said. “Everybody around here is being really generous.”

“I know I don’t have to,” I said. “But I want to.”

“Okay,” Ava said. “How much do you want to donate?”

“Five thousand,” I said.

Ava’s expression dropped, and she stared at me incredulously.

“Seriously?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes. I’m serious. Five thousand dollars.”

It was by far the biggest donation of the night, and Ava insisted on getting on the microphone and announcing it out to the crowd. It was embarrassing to be the absolute opposite of the anonymous donations I was used to making. But it made everybody cheer with excitement.

It was a great night, and I was so excited to see how much people enjoyed themselves, but it was definitely a relief when the night finally came to an end and the last of the customers left. Tyler let out a heavy sigh as he locked the door behind them, and we settled into the work of cleaning up.

Jordan and I were in the back corner of the bar when he looked over at me. There was something hesitant in his expression.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I was just wondering about that donation,” he said.

I felt a little heat and tingle on the back of my neck, the type of discomfort and embarrassment that came from a donation being out in the open like that. But I nodded.

“Yeah,” I said. “I wanted to support the cause.”

“But why did you donate so much?” he asked. “That really seems like a lot.”

I thought about my response for a second, wondering if I should just keep covering the reality up. But I relented.

“I told you that I came from a different world than this, right?”

“You told me a little,” Jordan said.

“Well, I come from a very wealthy family and one of the ways my parents like to manipulate me and try to convince me to come home is by depositing money into my bank account. They’re trying to control me and make me do what they want me to do because they think I’m completely dependent on them,” I said. “I don’t want anything to do with that, or for them to ever feel like they have influence over my life anymore. So, I always give the money away as soon as it arrives. Usually, I go to crowdsourcing websites or pick a cause and donate online so I can be anonymous. But this time I decided to donate here.”

“Wow.” He looked genuinely surprised. “You are truly amazing for doing that.”

“Thank you,” I said, the fluttering in my stomach now turning to butterflies that swarmed through my belly and around my heart.

Whatever was hanging in the air between us just kept increasing as we cleaned up, and I felt it tingling on my skin when he walked me out to my car.

“This was a great night,” he said. “I hope Ava asks for your input more often.”

I grinned. “I hope so, too.”

I didn’t know if it was the night air or the high from how successful the night had been, but I felt a little breathless and even a bit giddy. Jordan placed a hand on my hip and turned me around so my back was against my car. His head dipped and his mouth brushed across mine. Our lips just barely touched, and then he hovered there, letting our breath mingle for a few seconds before the kiss deepened.

It only lasted a few seconds longer than that before Jordan stepped back and wished me good night.

Still breathless, even more now, I got into my car and drove home.

17 Jordan

It had been days, and I couldn’t stop thinking about our kiss.

I was acting like an idiot. I knew that. She was a friend and an employee, and something had been brewing between us since she first showed up, but I knew it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. Not with her history and the need to stay professional. I had to keep myself focused.

I could tell myself that all I wanted, but the tingle on my lips where I kissed her was still there. Inexplicably, days later, I could just about feel her soft red lips against mine. Whispers of her perfume would follow me around, and I would turn suddenly, expecting to see her. She wouldn’t be there. Instead, it was if my memory had conjured her smell. She permeated nearly every thought, and I went to bed at night letting my mind wander back to that moment and fantasize about what could have happened next.

Trying to focus on my day, I went about the usual chores and workout routine. I was notorious for keeping things neat, but that didn’t mean I didn’t religiously pull everything apart and clean it once a month anyway. It was one of the things I hated about the desert. Sand got in everything. Now, if I saw a small bit of dirt, I had to eliminate it with extreme prejudice. They said it was a common aftereffect of coming home from a long time in service, that the edges would smooth over time and I would just end up being an extremely tidy person.

I wasn’t there yet.

Once a week there was a deep clean of one of the rooms, and today’s happened to be the living room. The cushions of the couch had already been steam cleaned and had dried in the sun of the kitchen. Now it was dark, and I was almost done. The television was on the floor, and I was wiping down the walls when her memory popped up again.

It was just the briefest of thoughts, but it was intense and powerful. It felt like she was right there, her lips on mine as I stood on the stepladder. I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to make the thoughts go away. I didn’t have the time for distractions if I planned on getting