It was Richard’s first birthday, Kylie and Noah were holding a barbecue. I wanted to invite Ivy, but I just felt that it was too soon. Besides, I still hadn’t told her the truth. Every time I wanted to do it, something came up. We were supposed to pretend that we’re a couple just to look at pre-schools and so far we had only been to one. She’d been to my place, and I’d been spending a lot more time at hers with the story of Olivia loving to babysit. Shit, I couldn’t wait for my mom to return from the cruise. Maybe then she’d knock some sense into me. I said from the start that in two weeks I would tell Ivy the truth, it was nearly five and the words still hadn’t left my mouth. Part of me wondered if I liked lying to her. If there was this sick part of me that was enjoying this game. I shook my head at the idea of it. I wasn’t like Joshua's dad, Brent, or any of the other jerks that I’d heard about. I was better than that, that was what I’d prided myself on, but now I wondered if I wa
I couldn't focus much on the movie. We’d just put Hazel to bed, and even though she was only eleven months old, she had managed to exhaust me. I couldn’t wait for Joshua to be that age, she was only a few months older, but it was easier to interact with her. Tonight they were both staying at my place. So, I had both kids in my apartment, and my sister didn’t even know that I’d gone as far as to decorate Joshua’s room in my house. This whole thing was getting completely out of hand. I’d decorated it for two reasons. One, so that Joshua could stay over more often and two because it was keeping me preoccupied. I had a chill running down my spine as I thought about Dan. He was in a bad fucking way. Our intervention had gone badly. We needed to go back to see him, but next time with his family. I wanted comfort right now. The way that I was feeling was so fucking low. I didn’t want to go out; I wanted Ivy so badly. I was a selfish prick; I invited her here to talk to her. That was my aim.
I had to work from home today with my car being in the garage. I could have called a taxi, but I felt like walking. The last few days I’d hardly been out for a jog or done any exercise. It seemed to be the only exercising that my body had been experiencing was in the bedroom with Chad. I could call him and ask him what he was up to today. I had a feeling that maybe we were spending too much time together because he wanted to get out and work or even invest in something but so far that time seemed to be spent with me. Shit, I’d never had a relationship, and neither of us had said that we were officially dating. He had introduced me to a couple of his friends. They were nice, but never his sister and that always bugged me. I’d done the same with Willow and Chloe when she came to town to visit. She was my best friend back in the law firm in Chicago, and it was great catching up with her on all the gossip in the office. But for the first time in the year that I moved back home I didn’
Ivy was going to be fucking impressed with my culinary skills today. Mom was back from her cruise, and when I told her that I had been taking culinary lessons, she was pretty impressed. I did want to cook her lunch, but she was in town with Olivia. Apparently, having a girlie day out. I offered to look after Joshua, but mom wanted to spend time with him. It didn’t sound like much of a girlie day out when they usually just spend too much time hanging out at Starbucks. I swear that place is an automatic magnet for moms and the retired. They always seem to want to hang out there. I sent Ivy a text telling her that when she finishes work she should come to mine with Hazel. Sometimes I wonder if she has her phone in her hand all day waiting for my text. She usually replies in about ten seconds. Today, nothing and it has been nearly four hours since I sent it. I shook my head about my paranoia, but I just couldn’t help it. I’d spent the last three months calling or texting, and she would
I’d been in the car for the last twenty minutes. Luckily Hazel was sleeping, and I didn’t know if I should make a move and go to the pre-school. This was the mother of all pre-schools, and they only did tours based on special invitations. Chad and I had managed to get past the screening stage, and I’d been thinking about leaving my job and maybe caring for Hazel full-time. The reality of doing that was beyond me. I’d spent the last two weeks crying, not only did Chad lie, but he hasn’t even tried to call me. Not once. I haven’t heard from the man. I just got the letter about the pre-school and thought about us when we were filling in the application. We were laughing. Joking about our kids being geniuses if they get into this pre-school. Now, I didn’t know what to think about all of it. I picked up my phone and decided that I would call Willow. She was my voice of reason, and she would tell me to get the fuck out of here. All this lying just wasn’t worth it. “Hey Willow,” I smiled
The meeting at the pre-school went like a dream. They offered Hazel a place on the spot. There was a bit of an awkward moment when they asked about her brother. I told them the truth that Joshua was my nephew and I was using unorthodox methods just to get him in the pre-school. It didn’t go against me, and the principal laughed and said, “Believe me, you wouldn’t be the first. Let alone the last. I could tell you some stories about some of the things parents do to get their kids in this pre-school.”Ivy and I exchanged a little grin. A secret one that only we knew about, and it gave me the comfort of hope. Something that I didn’t even think was possible until now. I didn’t want to come; I thought that after she had been ignoring me for weeks, I had completely blown it and the idea of us being together was nothing but a distant dream. Dan said t I should give Ivy time and at that moment that’s all I had. But then I got busy with my little project which has now grown into a big one. I h
Our lives had completely changed in more ways than one. It seemed that as careful as I thought I was with the pill, I’d missed out a few days. I wasn’t just pregnant, but I was unemployed, too. Smith & Jones managed to find more than one contract that I’d been working on, and they were full of mistakes. I could say that it was planned and that there was a conspiracy theory about my dismissal, but it was clear that I spent most of the time daydreaming than I’d done working. I hated my job from the moment I started it, and I didn’t think outside the box. It was as if I’d decided that being a mother meant that I had to give up my aspirations and my dreams. That everything I believed in had to be pushed to the side. But it was all in my mind. Chad had made me realize that as he talked about his new project and I didn’t hesitate in joining him on it. It was as if our relationship took a completely new turn as I learned that I was pregnant and we were no longer to take it slow. Slow mea
I never wanted to be a daddy...now I'm left holding a baby!Six months ago, my ex-wife said that she wanted a baby, so I wanted out of our marriage. When I saw her back in town, strolling into a fertility clinic, I had to find out what she was up to. I'm no James Bond, but I followed her into the clinic and sat in the waiting room. I was too distracted to pay attention to the annoying girl next to me who wouldn't stop talking. She announced that she needed to go to the bathroom and I was relieved that she was leaving my side, besides it had nothing to do with me. When my ex-came out of the doctor's office, I jumped up and followed. Until the nurse called me and said I'd forgotten something. I looked back and realized that she was talking about a baby.The girl`s baby. Not mine. The nurse accused me of being with the girl, just because she saw us talking. I made a snap decision...I picked it up and took it home. Now, I’m a daddy by accident, and I have to find the girl, to retu
“Thank you so much, ma’am,” the woman sitting across from me at my desk said as she rose. “I didn’t know how I was going to get through this on my own.”“You’re not on your own,” I said soothingly, getting up and holding my hand out to her.We shook hands, then she made her way out of my office, and I sat back down in my chair with a sigh. I gave a quick look at the documents I still had open on my desk, then I put them together and found a folder to put them in.I leaned back in my seat and relaxed, letting out a sigh. With my last client for the day gone, it was about time for me to close up work.My phone buzzed where I had it on the desk, and I picked it up to read my message. Seeing it was from Sebastian, I smiled as I opened it. The message was short, let me know he was on his way to pick me up and about five minutes away. I texted back quickly, letting him know he could pick me up outside. Then, I got up and started packing.I hadn't forgotten what day it was, and I’d made sure
After the dinner I spent at Willow’s place, I invited her to my home after I confessed that I lied to her friend. It was funny watching her ask about why I was divorced, and what happened, sure I have a fucked up sense of humor at times, but the look on Ivy’s face was priceless.I didn’t include the protective best friend that would attack her with a bunch of private questions. I teased her a lot for it since it happened, and she blushed and grumbled every time, but I was glad she had a friend that was so fiercely protective of her, even if it was aimed at me.We went our separate ways at the end of work, and Willow arrived at my place early. I hadn't even started cooking yet, but I didn’t mind it. I went to open the door for her and pecked her lips as I let her in through the door.“Hey,” she said, looking around. “Where’s Andy today?”I hummed, leading the way to the kitchen. “I wanted it just to be the two of us today, so he’ll be staying at his mom’s for tonight.”In the kitchen,
Ivy and I moved between the kitchen and the dining room, setting the table up. She’d left the kids at home with Chad and had insisted on joining me at home for dinner when she heard I was inviting Sebastian to my place for the first time.My mom didn’t know about this, but I was pretty sure Ivy planned on taking that position, and it left me exasperated, but I wasn’t going to push her away, either.“Why hasn’t he arrived yet?” she asked critically, narrowing her eyes at the front door. “You let him know dinner starts at seven, yes?”I sighed at my friend’s antics. “I did let him know. He’s probably busy making arrangements for Andy before he even comes here. Cut him some slack, would you? Besides, it’s only five minutes past seven. He should be here soon.”“Men need to know how to be punctual,” she said defensively. “If he can't even keep the time, how can he keep you happy?”I stopped whatever I was doing to give her a look. She wasn't difficult on purpose, I knew she was truly worri
I had my chin resting in my and, elbow braced on the desk, with my other hand tapping out a restless rhythm. I was staring blankly at my computer, knowing I had work to do, but I didn’t have the concentration for it.My mind, at that moment, was full of thoughts of Willow.Like I’d promised her, she no longer needed to follow me around constantly. It wasn’t as if she was my assistant or anything, she’d just been following me to learn the ropes on her own. I hadn't liked her following me around, but it was more for personal reasons and not because I didn’t have faith that she could manage on her own.Now that she was working on her cases, not only did I not see her as often, but I couldn’t just keep interrupting her work to have her come to my office for insignificant things. I was technically her boss, and I should be encouraging her to work, not the other way around.At least she was no longer ignoring me outside of work, though. That time it happened, I’d been worried about blowing
I stood in front of Sebastian’s desk in his office. I had my hands clutched in front of me nervously. I had been standing for a whole minute, and he hadn't let me know what he wanted yet.Is it…because of that? No way, right?After worrying about him only wanting me for sex for weeks, I did something about it. I didn’t have the courage to ask him outright, but I did do something for myself. I stopped taking all his summons. One out of five times he asked, I still went, but I was tired of getting led by the nose already.If he was going to ignore me at work, unless I needed to work with him, I was going to do the same. Also, if all he was going to do was ask me over for a fuck and nothing else, I didn’t always have to do what he wanted. I didn’t know if he would get tired of me or what, but if he stopped calling me over, I would be disappointed, but I would move on.Does he want to talk about it?This was what I’d been hoping for when I started changing my attitude. We’d been in this s
I started to object, but he pressed himself against me, and suddenly all I could think about was the prospect of getting to explore that body in detail, the one that I’d dreamed about touching every night. His muscles were hard, as I took my time dragging my fingers through every groove and channel as he slowly started to strip in the living room. I felt like a born-again virgin. Every part of him was so well defined. It was even sexier now in the flesh and not covered with his shirt and tie. This was the real strength, potent and dangerous. I loved the way his body tensed at those brief moments of contact. I assumed he was almost as ready to explode as I was. I spun him around, and teased him, brushing my breasts across his skin while my hands cupped his ass, because I was naked in his bedroom and I wanted complete control. He tried to take me in the living room, like a hungry wolf. I refused, and he carried me up the stairs like a caveman ready to take me.His ass was tight and per
Several days after I left for my trip, I landed back home early on Wednesday morning. Since I’d left my car at the airport when I left, I just picked it up and made my way back home.I was happy to be back in the country for several reasons. For one, I was in a country where just about everyone spoke the same language as I did. I’d had a translator following me everywhere on my trip, and it only made me think of Willow trailing behind me all day at the office.The other thing I was happy about was getting to see Andy again.I’d been too busy to try and check up on him. Even when I had time, it wasn’t enough to do much. I was either being entertained by my hosts, or being led around, or in a meeting with a bunch of executives. I had almost called back a few times, especially after I saw how many times Willow tried to contact me, but I didn’t want to be distracted, either. By both Willow and Andy.Hopefully, she was fine while I was away. Andy, too. He could be a handful, but she did sa
“When is this guy going to call me,” I muttered to myself, pacing around the dining room.There was entirely no way I could work with that brat around. Not to mention, even with my boss away, I would still have to go to work. It was Sunday, Sebastian was supposed to come back on Wednesday. But I figured he would at least call to ask how the little guy was doing.Not that I knew what I would tell him. I couldn’t say that his son was a little demon and that I couldn’t keep looking after him, especially not after I’d spoken with such confidence.Really, what had I thought when I did that? Though it was more like I hadn't been thinking at all. The conversation we were having was awkward enough already, so when I heard his nanny had quit and he needed someone to look after his son quickly, I said I would do it.What am I supposed to do, though? I understand why that nanny quit, now.Besides, it wasn’t like he was paying me for this, or I would get extra pay at work for this. I wanted to k
What the fuck was I thinking?Saturday wasn’t even over yet, but I was already regretting my decision to agree to be a nanny for my boss’s son. Andy was just too much for me to handle.Why did I even offer in the first place? Because whenever I saw Sebastian, I couldn’t help but get all weak in the knees. He was sexy, and with the arrogant way he carried himself while at work, he knew he was right in more than just his looks. Whenever I was around him, I tended to find myself so damn quiet like a sinner in church, but I wasn’t in church I was in the office.Where did I even get the confidence to claim I’ve babysat before? I wasn’t good with kids, not one little bit.I heard something else crash, and I winced. I felt more weary than alarmed, though, because this wasn’t the first time I’d listened to the noise. I got up from my small dining table and walked back into the living room, where Andy was. The living room and small dining room were connected through an archway, so I could keep