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Book 4: chapter 11
Last Updated:
2025-04-21 22:51:00
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In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 12
AIDENI’d always been good at math, so on Monday morning, I sat at my desk and calculated exactly how little I could interact with Layla without Jack thinking I was being an asshole. I decided it was pretty damn little, especially if I stepped back from this Blake Morten thing and let Maureen run the show, like I usually did anyway. Sometimes I went with the team to the new employee lunch, but I decided that this time I wouldn’t. For one thing, I didn’t want it coming up that Layla and I already knew each other. That wasn’t a good look for her first day, even if she had earned the job completely on her own merit. For another thing, I didn’t want to spend an entire lunch hour sitting across from her, or God forbid, beside her. It was better for my sanity if I just checked in with her at the end of the day, made sure everything was going well, and then avoided her completely.It was a good plan, but it didn’t account for the layout of the office. Cross Media had the top three floors of
Last Updated : 2025-04-21In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 13
LAYLASomewhere between leaving the office for the coffee shop and returning, caffeine in hand, I stopped being nervous around Aiden. It was a strange, exhilarating feeling. When I was a kid, I’d been intimidated by him. When I was a teenager, I was in love with him. Up until thirty minutes ago, I’d felt the same combination of excitement and nerves that I’d felt the day of my high school graduation–but with an edge of trepidation that the butterflies in my stomach were about to get stomped on.Now all that was gone.When I looked at him now, I didn’t see my dad’s best friend anymore.I didn’t see the unattainable older man.I didn’t see my boss.I just saw Aiden, a handsome guy that I wished would ask me out.I wasn’t stupid–I knew that hewasall of those things, but for the first time, I felt free of everything they stood for. Almost without realizing it, I slipped into treating him like he was a person instead of a walking No Trespassing sign.And from this new vantage point, I star
Last Updated : 2025-04-21In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 14
I tried to hide how impressed I was. I was used to hierarchies in LA. There, the happy hour invitees had been divvied up by rank. Only upper management this time, or maybe this team is invited, but not those two newest members. Or sometimes it was about who was willing to be on camera when they were going to a place that was filming a reality show. Never ever had the whole company been invited, and I doubted they even knew the names of the tangential workers like security and janitorial. Of course, Aiden was different. He’d never been impressed by rank or privilege. From my dad’s stories, he actively disdained it. My dad had first noticed him when another professor pointed him out and said, “That kid is going nowhere fast, and he’s doing it with an attitude.” “And he was right,” Aiden chimed in when my dad told the story. “You were always going somewhere,” my dad disagreed. “You just needed help finding which direction to start in.” “Yeah, because I was headed straight for jail
Last Updated : 2025-04-21In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 15
AIDEN If I could have fired Layla, I would have. Not because she didn’t fit right in with the Brand Development team, not because Maureen had even hinted that her job performance was anything less than stellar. No, it was solely because I couldn’t think when she was around. I started getting into the office early to get work done before she came in at nine. Somehow, I always knew precisely when she arrived, even with my door shut. The energy on the floor changed, became charged. I didn’t need to hear the tap of her high heels on the steps or hear her smoky laugh to know that the particles of the room had become electrified. When it happened, I gritted my teeth and put my Bose headphones on, using the pounding music of my disaffected teen years to drown out her presence. I couldn’t avoid her though. We weren’t a huge company, and I had a hand in everything. We found ourselves going into the same conference rooms or going for the pot of coffee at the same time all throughout the we
Last Updated : 2025-04-22In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 16
I shook my head at the memory but grinned in spite of myself. This was why Maureen was indispensable. She kept me focused on the most important things. I’d made enough money, for me. I owned my apartment in the city and ten acres of land a couple hours outside of it. My plan was to work for as long as it was still stimulating, and then quit as soon as my heart stopped beating fast with excitement at the next challenge. Then I’d sell the apartment and build on the land. Retire to the life that never seemed within my reach as a kid growing up in a bad part of town, where there was more trash on the ground than grass. Graffiti blooming everywhere instead of flowers. Some of my friends had fantasized about the sleek penthouses on Millionaire’s Row, but I just wanted space. It was ironic that I was thinking about space as I pulled my office door shut behind me and felt the telltale prickle go up the back of my spine. I knew Layla was on the floor even before I heard the sound of her foots
Last Updated : 2025-04-22In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 17
LAYLAImet Liv and Bran at a bar close to Cross Media twenty minutes after my baffling confrontation with Aiden. After he left, the heavy stairwell door thunking behind him, I’d sat down at my desk, overwhelmed. He had been so agitated. It had vibrated in his body, wound his voice up so tight it was nearly unrecognizable. And he hadn’t been able to tell me why. His answers were bullshit, and I didn’t need my minor in Psych to tell me that. Every woman knew that when a man looked at her like that, he either hated her or wanted her and couldn’t have her.And Aiden had no reason to hate me.Since both Liv and Bran knew my feelings for Aiden, I decided to put this situation before them. I wouldn’t put much stock in my little brother’s advice normally, but he had intuited what I thought I’d so carefully guarded. And Liv was sure to tell me to do the most sensible thing possible, which was exactly what I needed to hear right now.At the bar, over our first round of beers, I took a deep brea
Last Updated : 2025-04-22In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 18
Joe made a face. “No, thank you. Maureen made us do a movie night where we watched them all in a row. How many times has he said that his best friends have four legs?”“At least a dozen,” I admitted.“What about ‘we don’t choose them, they choose us’?”“More than a dozen.”“I swear to God–” Joe set down his beer and held his hands up, palms out, “–the first time he came in, he said with absolutely no hint of irony, ‘sometimes I wonder who saved who,’ while showing us pictures of his first cat.”“Isn’t that a bumper sticker?” I thought for sure I’d seen it slapped in a few back windows with silhouettes of cats and dogs bookending the words.“Yes, it is, so the fact he injected it into casual conversation like it just came to him–” Joe shook his head, too disgusted to finish his sentence.“It was gross,” Gloria agreed. “But like, his arms.”“What about them?” I studied them in the video. They were thick with muscle, but they were almosttoobig, like maybe he’d have trouble finding shirts
Last Updated : 2025-04-22In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 19
AIDENAndrew Gold was a great analyst. He was instrumental to the Market analysis team. But maybe I could fire him anyway.I toyed with the idea as, two rows ahead, he leaned in close to Layla’s ear to say something that made her shout with laughter. As always, the smoky timbre of it went straight to my groin. I’d never thought a laugh could be so sexy, but it was the way she threw her head back, the motion of that beautiful russet brown hair, the way her blue eyes closed as her cherry red lips curved. I wanted to make her laugh, then kiss her while her mouth was still wide open. Slip my tongue in and…“You’re not eating your hot dog,” Maureen said, offended. “I put the damn relish on just like you like it.”Maureen had stood in line for our hot dogs while I went halfway around the stadium in search of the beer we liked. So now, even though the hot dogs were on the company dime, she was pissed I wasn’t eating it. Sometimes, having Maureen as one of my closest friends was akin to havin
Last Updated : 2025-04-22
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In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 43
* * *On Wednesday evening, I left the office before Aiden and drove straight to his place. I was relieved that I’d gotten my daily run in with nausea done around lunchtime. In his apartment, I made sure I’d thrown in the last few things I needed for the trip and then made myself a cup of coffee. I didn’t usually drink it past two or three in the afternoon, but lately, I could sleep at the drop of a hat. I’d been miserably tired in our last brand development meeting, and I was worried that Blake had taken my half-closed eyes as some sort of come on.He wasn’t happy about Aiden coming to the charity ball, either. He tried to play it off, but we could tell that his joke about how surely Aiden had more important things to do wasn’t a joke at all. I’d never tell Aiden, but more and more, Blake was starting to give me the creeps. Even though I’d made it perfectly clear my only interest in him was professional, he still let his gaze linger too long on mine. I’d taken to wearing oversized c
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 42
LAYLAI didn’t know what was up with me, but I was determined not to let it ruin my first trip with Aiden. Maybe it was just an extended work trip where we would be up to our old tricks in a new city, but it was still ourfirst vacation. Besides, whatever was going on with me wasn’t like any cold or flu or food poisoning or allergic reaction I’d ever had. It was waves of nausea that struck at strange times, peaked violently after about half an hour, and left me tired but functional for the rest of the day. For the most part, I could hide it from Aiden. He was busy doing a week’s worth of work in two and a half so we could leave for New York after work on Wednesday.Because he was so busy, I was home more, and it was Liv who caught me dry heaving in the bathroom one afternoon.“Whoa,” she said, gingerly placing her hand on my back as if she were considering rubbing it. She changed her mind at a particularly violent retching sound that, as usual, produced nothing. Backing into the doorwa
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 41
AIDENI had to tell Jack. I could tell the secrecy was beginning to gnaw at Layla. She was right–there was a point when it had been fun. Clandestine. Now I just wanted to be able to take her out to dinner on our side of town without fear of who we might run into. I wanted to think about our future together without the threat of Jack’s reaction overshadowing it.The problem was, I didn’t know how. The other problem was, the person I normally would have asked for advice was Jack himself. Maureen was my back up, but I couldn’t go to her either. So that was why I found myself telling Carl, my mentee, about it.I don’t know how it came up. It sure as hell wasn’t like he asked,hey man, how’s your love life?Strangely, Carl listened. When I was done, he said, “That’s a real fucking pickle, rich man. What are you going to do about it?” His voice was its usual mixture of disdain and sarcasm, but I sensed that he was genuinely interested.“Hell if I know,” I muttered. I was already regretting t
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 40
“I bet she would have planned great vacations for you,” I said quietly. I set down my glass of wine and reached over to squeeze his hand. He didn’t let mine go though, when I went to pull back. Instead, he rose in his seat and tugged me up, too. We kissed across the small bistro table. A warm, heady kiss that was sweeter than the dessert.After we sat back down, I rearranged my napkin in my lap and said in my own carefully casual way, “Maybe one day I can plan a vacation for all three of us.”Aiden shot me a grin. He looked almost normal again, though the fire was still simmering in his eyes. “Maybe,” he agreed. “I guess you two should meet before we fly off to the Bahamas together.”“It’s only fair,” I agreed. “I mean, you do knowmyparents.” I held my breath until Aiden laughed. We were getting better, but the subject of my parentage was still loaded. “I do want you to meet my mom,” he said, sliding his credit card into the bill holder and pushing the last of the dessert closer to me
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 39
LAYLAAiden and I were still careful at work, but we let our guard down outside of it. We went to dinner together on the other side of town, and once in a while, he even spent the night at my place now that he knew that Liv and Bran were in on the secret.Liv and Bran had their own secret they thought they were keeping, but Aiden and I were experts at this by now. We knew my brother didn’t really crash on the couch at the end of a long night, and we heard him on those nights he pretended to leave and then doubled back.It was nice to see my brother and my best friend falling for each other, even if it was kind of strange. I hoped that when he eventually found out about me andhisbest friend, my dad would feel similarly.“Don’t count on it,” Aiden said when I mentioned it one night. We’d driven across town to eat at a restaurant we figured was far away enough that no one we knew would be there. We were doing that more and more. It was starting to feel normal to be out with him in public
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 38
“Layla went home sick. I’m just checking up on her.”Our footsteps echoed loudly on the uncarpeted steps. By mutual agreement, we’d both turned toward the stairwell rather than waiting for the dodgy looking elevator. Bran was ahead of me, and I thought I saw a ghost of a smirk on his face as he turned to go up the next flight. But all he said was, “Cool,” in a voice so indifferent I wondered if I’d imagined the smirk.Thanks to Bran, I didn’t have to knock. The door was propped open on its deadbolt because they were clearly expecting him. He walked in and gestured for me to follow.I’d never been inside Layla’s apartment. I’d only waited out front while she ran in to grab something. It was… fine. Not the kind of place I thought she should be leaving the door propped open, but it could be worse. It had style, even if I wasn’t impressed by the elevator or the security.“Layla,” Bran called. “Your boss is here.”Two voices came at once. An unfamiliar one that said, “I’m on a call!” and t
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 37
AIDENWhen I heard that Layla had gone home sick, I texted her.Are you going to my place? I’ll try to leave, too.She didn’t answer. I figured she’d take a nap, but hour by hour crawled by without a response. At lunch, I stepped outside and called her. It went straight to voicemail. I texted again, but I was starting to get the bad feeling that this silence had nothing to do with a cold or a nap.At four, I told Maureen I was leaving early.“You’d better not be sick, too,” she warned.“I’m not. I’ll be online.” I was too distracted to worry about whether she thought it was suspicious that I was leaving early.“What about the happy hour?”I’d already been walking toward the door, but now I pulled up short. I’d forgotten all about the damn happy hour. It wasn’t for anything in particular, just a monthly get together where I got face time with anyone who wanted it, and we patronized our favorite local bar. It wasn’t the most important thing in the world, but I tried to never miss it.“S
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 36
Joe glanced at me, sensing for the first time that this news might not be as benign as he thought. “Um, yesterday?” He scratched his nose and eyed me, checking to see how that information went over. When my face darkened, he added, “Maybe. I don’t remember.”“Well I just talked to Maureen about it yesterday morning, so either it was yesterday or it was really early this morning,” I said evenly.“Yeah, it was probably yesterday.” Joe pulled an apologetic face. As if he were the one with something to apologize for. Then he wrapped up his uneaten egg sandwich and made a quick exit.I stayed in the break room for another few minutes, trying to get a handle on my anger. My tendency was to go with the emotion–let it swell and break and deal with the cause of it. I didn’t like to let things fester. This time, though, I really did try to tame it. I asked myself if I was being unreasonable–maybe this wasn’t actually Aiden treating me like a child. Maybe there was some way in which he could ask
In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend Book 4: chapter 35
LAYLAI sensed Aiden’s mood even before I saw his face. It was the way he moved when he came out onto the balcony. A stiffness in the set of his shoulders that was echoed in his face when he turned around. He lowered himself into the chair beside mine without kissing me first.I closed my book, keeping my finger between the pages to save my spot. I had a pretty good idea what this was about.Aiden didn’t waste time getting to the point. “You went around me.”“I went up the chain of command,” I countered. “I report to Maureen.”“I don’t give a damn who you report to at work. You went aroundme.” He bit off the words. “Not as your boss, but as your–whatever the fuck we’re doing is called.”“I think that about describes it,” I drawled, hoping to tempt him out of this fight. I dogeared the corner of my page and set it down beside my chair.Aiden wasn’t tempted though. Or amused. If anything, his face grew stormier. “If that’s all it was, I wouldn’t bother.”I stood up and slid into his lap
