MasukShare
16
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-03-18 03:53:57
Bab terkait
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 17
ASTRID I roll my eyes as the clip-clop of Lily's heels echoes in the short hallway. She called the second I got home from work. And now that she's here, I wonder what kind of havoc she will unleash.I had a long-ass day. After I met with a firm that needed recommendations for budgeting and taxing, I had a Skype meeting with Bernard, the CEO of the publishing firm where I'm working part-time. I also had a meeting with Mr. Pete, the instant I brought up Georgia, he told me he wasn't interested in hiring an intern as the last one left a bad taste.Lily leans on my bedroom door frame and folds her arms. "Ava Rocks mentioned you in her interview this morning. What's up with that?""Hello to you too, Bee. You let yourself in again. Nice.""I have the card, and your doorman knows I'm your best friend.""It sucks that he doesn't care to know when I'm in the mood for company." I push my laptop aside. I already mapped out a plan for my weekend. I will work till I drop tonight, and I will slee
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-19Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 18
JORDAN I just about hit the roof as I stare at the numbers on the screen. It appears the sleepless nights and long meetings haven't paid off like I expected.I don't know whether to scream, rip my hair out and slam the computer against the wall, or head to the nearest bar and drink till my belly swells and my breath reeks of nothing but alcohol. I loathe failure. I've spent years building my life, climbing ladders, and reaching the skies. I try not to groan as I skim my eyes across the screen for the tenth time in less than an hour.Experience has taught me that for one to win, they need to keep pushing.Nelson surprises me by sliding a glass of amber liquid across the desk. My shoulder aches as I stretch out a hand to grab it. I need to visit the gym soon. The home gym isn't ready yet, and I can't sit around any longer."A glass of wine won't hurt. We can continue this after lunch.""I don't know what to do right now, Nelson.""Drink. We'll figure something out. I've emailed the gu
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-20Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 19
ASTRID My stomach grows unsettled as I lean against the bar, waiting for the barman to fix me a drink.I'm alone tonight, and honestly, I don't remember the last time I visited a place like this alone. Lily is still sulking. I texted her this morning, but she didn't open the message. I know going to her house will fix everything, but I don't want to. If she disapproves of Ava Rocks, there's no way she will buy into the idea of me stalking her sister.Speaking of Lisa, I allow my gaze to scan the room for the red hair. I've heard whispers of excitement about her performance tonight. The bar is filled to the brim, and everybody I see holds something linked to the artiste.Will she even blink in my direction? I mean, I've never been in this situation before. And Ava didn't bother with questions. She believes I can do this, and I'm beginning to think about it, too.I turn to see Georgia. She wears jeans, an oversized white crop top, and cowboy boots. Her blonde hair is packed into a neat
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-21Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 20
ASTRID “You didn't reply to the text. Is everything okay? It doesn't sound like you're at the bar.” Ava says the second I place my cell phone over my ear.“I'm at the bar. I stepped out to make a phone call.”“Who did you call?”Her question surprises me. “My mom. What's Up, Ava?”She exhales loudly. “I'm sorry if I'm intruding. I'm just nervous. I really need this to work. I miss her.”Silence. I close my eyes and rub my temple. I can hear Lisa's voice. It's Beyoncé Tonight. Georgia said she's writing her songs. I wonder if that means she will stop singing Taylor's and other songs.“Has she arrived yet?” She continues.“Yes. She's on stage right now.”She sighs. It's wistful. I want to tell her everything will be okay. I have already met Georgia, and that's the ticket to meeting Lisa - just like Ava said.I doubt I'll ever stop my attraction to Jordan.Why does it have to be him? There are so many men out there, and all my attention is fixated on a man who is my father's best frie
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-22Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 21
ASTRID “What are you afraid of?”My breathing deepens as I brush my blouse sleeve with a finger, imagining it’s Jordan. I pull off the dress. My body faces my bed, and the humming security lights at my bedroom window are flooding in.Loneliness and longing are weaving so tightly in my belly, and the pool of arousal I’ve been feeling all evening since I laid my eyes on Jordan drips to my inner thighs. Fuck. I lower my bra strap to my elbow, freeing my breast. For a moment, I gaze at my reflection in the mirror beside my bed, raising my eyes to my now-flushed face.Does Jordan know how much grip he has on my sanity? I swear to God that if that man asks me to jump, I’d ask how high. I’ll damn all consequences for him.I picture him right here with me, trailing his hot and eager mouth down my shoulder to the upper part of my breast. I dig my fingers into his hair and beg him not to tease me in a shaky whisper.Please!My knees become weak. The pressure from his fingers skimming over my n
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-22Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 22
JORDAN I walk past the kitchen, heading to the pool built in my backyard, but I pause as I reach the open door. Peter is sitting on the long kitchen stool, swinging his legs like a giddy kid, waiting for his favorite aunt to prepare his snacks.I lean on the door frame and watch him banter with my housekeeper. Agatha’s back is towards the door, so she is oblivious to my presence, but I know Peter can see me from his peripheral vision. However, he pretends not to and talks about baking like he wants to enroll in a culinary school this summer.I chuckle lightly under my breath and fold my arms across my chest. I don’t have to go to work until noon. Nelson warned me not to show up until it’s time for my first appointment.He’s like the son I never had.I’d never thought about him that way until last night when he called and stayed on the phone until I was ready to jump into bed. We talked about his wedding anniversary, which is in a few weeks. Then he asked me to tell him about my late
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-23Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 23
JORDAN I push through the doors of the production room, glancing around slowly. Nelson is behind me, trying to find out what transpired between the bald man and me. Ross, or whatever his name, did his best to grate on every bit of my nerves, but I refused to be in a fume because of someone so irrelevant.What does my hanging around New York have to do with the company? I was away in Italy for years, yet things were still smoothly handled and perfectly managed. We’re only experiencing a momentary rough patch. Soon, we’ll be back on our feet, and this period will serve as a memory.I find a lean, black-haired man leaning over a shelf piled with papers, sketches of toys, and notes. The room has about three tables crammed with books and files. I grab one of the notes.“Learning cube.” I skim my eyes over the sketch. The artist indicated the colorful buttons with red ink. There’s a light, too.“This looks fancy. Is it ready?”The man nods. I’ve met him a few times, and he’s a nice guy. H
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-26Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 24
ASTRID I walk into the humane society kennel as the attendant turns over the OPEN sign. It’s less chaotic, and that shows they’ve been in for a while setting up and cleaning the stalls. I learned animals are a lot more like toddlers. They demand so much attention and can be loud, too.A young woman hurries past me with a German shepherd under her arms. She’s whimpering, her hair ruffled, her shirt has coffee stains and something darker. The attendant holds the door open for her and grabs the animal from her arms. She motions at the bench, but the woman shakes her head and trails after her, her palm over her mouth.Swallowing a lump, I tear my gaze away from them and exhale slowly. I don’t understand Ava Rock's reason for choosing to meet here. When I texted her about the book and asked if she was ready to proceed, she said she needed to add a few things to the epilogue. The epilogue looks okay to me. Like the rest of her books I’ve come across - this one strikes a chord in my mind.
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-27
Bab terbaru
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 48
JORDAN“Come on, you have to help her out.”I stifle a groan. Peter is putting me in a tight spot. He’s hell-bent on having me hire Astrid to work for me. He doesn’t know the danger he’s putting me in.Hiring Astrid is a terrible idea. If she’s working with me, in close proximity every day, there’s no way I’d be able to keep my hands off her. Not when she’s already driving me insane, even when she is not in my space.“Peter, it’s not –”“Jordan, Astrid is your goddaughter. That’s reason enough for you to give her a shot at your company. She is good at what she does. I don’t want her working with these people anymore.”“I’m sure Astrid is more than qualified, but –”“No buts,” Peter cuts me off, shaking his head. “She’s had a rough time with that mess at her firm. You’re in a position to help her, and you know she’s got the talent. Just give her a chance.”About the mess she got into with the AXT, Peter told me about it, and I’ve been worried about her. Peter is worried, too. I wanted
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 47
ASTRID“How the hell did you make such a silly mistake, Astrid?” I flinch physically and mentally as Pete Bishop’s voice slices through the thick air of his office.He’s livid, and the look in his eyes makes me want to crawl under the rug and disappear.I blink rapidly, trying to steady my breathing but I feel sick to my stomach, shock pulses through me, morphing into an ice that freezes me. Pete is so mad. I’ve never seen him this furious before, not even when another consultant messed up.No, I can’t compare that to my mess. I’ve really messed up. This client is one of our best, one of our biggest accounts, AXT Corporation. They have been with us for years, bringing in multi-million-dollar contracts. Pete recently introduced me to them and handed me the project to continue from where the former consultant stopped.A lot of people wanted to work with them but Pete chose me, and I somehow managed to screw up their financial projections. A simple quarterly forecast is something I ca
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 46
ASTRID “Lily!” I slam the door behind me as I storm into her house, my voice echoing through the place.“Lily! Where the hell are you?”I’ve been calling and texting since I left Jordan’s place, but she hasn’t been answering her phone. I need to vent, and who is more worthy to vent than my best friend who is magically missing in action?My first instinct was to go to a bar and grab a drink, but it's way too early for that.I still can’t believe that heartless bastard called my dad. My dad of all people. He’s aware of why I was avoiding my dad. He didn’t care. Didn’t even pretend to. He just looked at me, cold as ever, and told me that he couldn’t care less about my problems.Then, to really twist the knife in my chest, he dared to tell me to go play my little failed seduction games with Tristan.I swear to God that man is so heartless. No, scratch that. He’s beyond heartless. He’s ice. He doesn’t care who I end up with or how messed up my life is, as long as he’s not involved. He
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 45
JORDAN Of all the girls in the bar that night, why did it have to be Astrid? We should never have crossed paths. Maybe I would have been able to see her as a fucking kid she was supposed to be.I want to call her that —a kid —to stop my dick from having ideas, but she was never that—a kid. At least not since that night at the bar.She’s a woman. A beautiful fucking woman with a lethal weapon in the form of a body –soft and curvy in all the right places.I don’t know what sick twist of fate the universe is playing at. Screw that shit, I can’t keep blaming the universe. What went down last night and this morning is entirely me. All of it. And maybe Astrid’s. But I still take the blame.I shouldn’t have allowed her into my house. My house is sacred. My house is my respite. And now she has poisoned it. Now there is no fuck way to forget the feel of her mouth on my cock. I wanted to cum so badly down her throat and then fuck her so…Thinking about it is not helping. This is not fucking
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 44
JORDAN “God damn it!”I cuss under my breath the second the door swings open, and Astrid stands there wearing nothing but a towel, looking like every sinful thought I’ve had about her comes to life.Is the universe fucking with me? A man could only handle so much.My self-control is hanging by a thread. Why the hell did I think coming here was a good idea? I should have ignored the damn call from Merilyn.I had informed Merilyn to inform me if Astrid ever showed up here, that was when I didn’t know who she was and I was looking for her.I should have informed Merilyn not to bother with her again when I finally found Astrid.Merilyn called while I was with Peter to inform me that Astrid was here and I ran down here like a fucking pussy that I’m not.I should have sent Peter here instead of coming here myself. Now all I can think about is all the crazy things I want to do to her. I stare at her, trying to keep my eyes above her shoulders, but it’s impossible.Does she have any fucking
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 43
ASTRID The moment I pull into the driveway, uneasiness coils in my belly. I don’t know what I was thinking of coming here. Maybe I wasn’t thinking at all, and now that I am, this is the worst place for me to be, but where do I go? I can’t go to Lily's because that will be the first place my dad will check.And then there is Jordan’s, but he made it painfully clear where he stands. He doesn’t want me, and if I have any dignity left, I’ll stay the hell away from him.But do I have it? I mean dignity. I’m not sure I have any left, or else I won’t be this pathetic.The hotels in town are out because he’s definitely going to search there, too. He’s familiar with the owners of the hotel where I would likely stay, so hotels are out, and now I’m stuck here. This is a bad idea. For someone who is trying to get her life and sanity back, this place is a terrible choice for me.I slide off the car, the air which is supposed to be fresh and soothing feels thick and heavy with the memories I wi
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 42
JORDAN“Hey buddy, what’s going on? You sounded so livid over the phone.” I walk over to Peter, pacing restlessly by my poolside with a half-empty glass in his hand. He looks frazzled, his usually neat hair dishevelled, his tie loosened, and the top buttons of his shirt undone. I’ve seen him stressed before, but this? This feels different.When I first saw Peter’s call, I ignored it because I thought he wanted to invite me over to his house, not until my housekeeper called me to inform me that Peter was in my house. When he called me again, I picked up, and he sounded so angry like he was about to kill. I had to reschedule my meeting and rush home as soon as I could.I’ve been avoiding Peter’s call and his house like a plague, trying not to run into Astrid. I know she must really hate me after what went down in my office.She came to me, vulnerable and open, ready to give herself to me despite all my warnings. I turned her down politely, but she wasn’t having it, and I had to be a d
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 41
ASTRIDI swear to God, whoever is knocking on my door better be someone important else I’m going to break the person's head.Someone important like Jordan?Shut up!Great! I can’t believe I’m arguing with myself in my head. I open the door and…“You gotta be kidding me!”“Happy to see me, babe?”I swear to God I’m tempted to commit first-degree murder right about now. The fact that the idiot is smiling is pissing me off.“What is this about, Tristan?”“Aren’t you going to let me in?”“I believe you lost that right a month ago when we broke up.” His smile fades, and his face hardens.“You broke up with me, Astrid, but I didn’t.” I want to laugh, but I really don’t have the strength to do this right now. I’m so tired. I’ve had a heck of a week.“Go play Tristan, I’m not in the mood to deal with your stupidity right now.” I move to close the door, but he steps his feet in, blocking the door. He forcefully pushes the door wider and walks in as if he owns the place.“What do you want, Tris
Claiming My Father’s Best Friend 40
JORDAN “Act on what?”“Those physical needs. It’s mutual. I have those needs, too. So why don’t we just…give in? Act on our primal needs until it burns out.”For a fucking ten seconds I lose the ability to breathe. I stare at her, trying to process what she’s suggesting. The logical part of me, the part that’s always in control, screams at me to shut this down. To walk away. No, run, before I make the biggest mistake of my life.But the other part, the one that’s been haunted by the memory of her lips, her touch, her goddamn body, is hanging on every word she says.“And what if this doesn’t burn out? What if this is more than physical?”She blinks, surprised by my admission, and I wish I could take it back. The last thing I want is to give her hope. And I can see the hope in her eyes. They are so bright.But deep now, I know that what I feel for her is more than just a fucking lust. It’s something deeper, something darker, and I’m terrified that if I give in, I’ll never want to stop
