Mister Daddy: A Second Chance Secret Baby Romance

by Adams, S. C.

  We begin our slow descent into the depths of the sea. The small boat that brought us out to our secluded part of the ocean grows smaller and smaller above us, the light growing less and less bright the further down we travel.

  A school of black and yellow angel fish swims by us casually. I wish I’d brought an underwater camera to capture their vivid color, but I didn’t think I’d be diving at all on this trip so I didn’t bother. My phone is up on the boat, safe from the increasing water pressure.

  Our mouths are covered by our masks, but I can see Carter’s smile in his eyes as various fish investigate us. They must be used to people diving around here because none of them are afraid of the strange-looking newcomers in their territory.

  We pause at a safe depth to get our bodies used to the pressure. Carter holds up the “ok” symbol and I nod, wishing he could see the happiness on my face. I’ve never been diving anywhere so beautiful. I love seeing what’s off the coast of Florida, but this is better. Partially because I’m with Carter.

  As we wait, a turtle moseys by, and I imagine him talking to me like it’s some cartoon. His face is wrinkled and faintly green in the low lighting, with dark spots lining his chin and neck. He reminds me of a sea turtle living at the aquarium that my parents used to take me to as a kid. That turtle’s name was Hector, but my new friend looks more like a Fred.

  Fred doesn’t even blink when he sees Carter, the diver, and me in his territory. He simply flaps his sea wings and continues his journey, wherever it may take him.

  The diver signals that it’s time for our final descent. The sandy floor appears below us as we dive deeper into the sea. This is the deepest I’ve ever been, but it’s barely a blip on the radar compared to how deep some parts of the ocean are.

  I swim flat against the ground, admiring the multicolored coral growing down here. Some small fish swim between the tubular structures, staring at me as I stare at them. The lack of light keeps most of the colors muted down here, but some bright pinks and oranges stand out against the pale greens and faded blues. Why didn’t I buy even one of those disposable underwater cameras before we came down here?

  My attentions are on the coral and other sea life, so I don’t notice Carter and the diver communicating a few feet from me. When I look up, Carter is ushering me closer to him.

  I swim his way, and he wraps his arm around my back as best as he can in our clunky scuba suits. Carter uses his free hand to make a gesture that looks like a camera click, then points to the diver. Sure enough, our tour guide has an underwater camera poised and ready to capture our photo against the coral backdrop.

  I smile even though my mouth won’t be visible in the photo, and the diver snaps a few photos. Carter faces me, and I do my best to mime “thank you” without breaking into full sign language. I took a few classes in college, but Carter probably wouldn’t understand what I was saying.

  We stay at the reef for as long as it’s safe, but too soon, the diver tells us we need to make our ascent. The trip up is the same as it was down, with us stopping to adjust to the change in pressure along the way. The closer we get to the boat, the less relaxed I feel. A lot of people are afraid of scuba diving because you never know what could be waiting for you when you get down into the depths of the ocean, but that’s not how I feel. The unknown is exhilarating.

  I can’t wait until I get to dive again.

  “So?” Carter asks when we’ve climbed back onto the small boat and removed our face masks. “What did you think?”

  “It was beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like it. I only wish I’d had my camera.”

  “Next time, you’ll bring a camera. At least we have the photos of us that Kathleen took when we were with the coral.”

  His casual tossing of phrases like “next time” is startling. Does that mean he wants a next time with me?

  The way my heart picks up at the thought proves what I’ve been afraid of since the day I met Carter – I’m falling for him.

  No one has ever made me feel like he does. Not only is he supportive of what might be a crazy dream, he’s encouraging me to take a chance. So much so that he took me out scuba diving today when he could have been doing countless other things in the Bahamas.

  Back on the shore of our Bahamas island stop, Carter tips the diver and requests she send him copies of the photo once she uploads it to her computer. He gives her a business card with his email address, then takes my hand and leads me up the stairs to a tight, chaotic street.

  “Are you hungry?” he asks. “There’s this amazing restaurant here, locally owned. We could have dinner there, if you’d like?”

  “I’m starving,” I admit. We’d had a pretty good lunch before the dive, but something about sinking deep into the sea makes me extra hungry. I don’t know exactly how many calories a dive burns off, but I’m about to gain them all back.

  Carter leads me to a quaint restaurant off the beaten path, far away from tourists. We find seats quickly in the small establishment.

  “Do you like seafood?”

  “I love it,” I tell him. It feels kind of wrong to eat fish after all of the beautiful creatures we saw underwater, but I can smell the delicious aroma of seafood cooking in the kitchen, and there’s no way I’m passing that up. “What’s good here?”

  “Do you trust me?” he asks.

  I nod. “Sure.”

  “I’ll order for us.”

  Carter heads for the ordering counter without even giving me a chance to read the menu. Twenty minutes later, our meals arrive in front of us.

  I take a sip of the bright yellow drink, and it’s like a tropical explosion in my mouth. “Goombay punch,” Carter says as he watches me taste the beverage. “A must try if you’re in the Bahamas.”

  “It’s delicious!”

  Now it’s time to dig into the food. I bite into a hot fried piece, and the salty seafood practically melts in my mouth. I can’t help the groan that escapes my lips.

  “What is this?”

  “Conch fritters. The other fried thing on the plate is fried plantains. Plus some pigeon peas and johnnycake.”

  I try a bit of everything and end up cleaning my plate. The different flavors meld together to create the perfect dinner. Carter and I finish at around the same time, neither of us talking while we chow down on the local delicacies.

  “So?” he says. “What’s the verdict?”

  “I may never be able to eat in the States again. This trip is ruining me for food.”

  He laughs. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  We walk slowly back to the dock as the sun sets around us. At the port, Carter squeezes my hand and then releases it. “I have some work to get done, but do you want to come by my room tonight?”

  “I’d love to.”

  He kisses me tenderly and then disappears onto the ship. I follow behind him, floating from the magical day we’ve spent together.

  Unfortunately, the second I get in my room, my cloud turns to rain.

  “Where have you been?” Jessica demands. “We were worried.”

  “Sorry,” I say. “I told you I’d be with Carter. We went scuba diving.”

  “All day?”

  “No. We went to dinner afterwards.”

  Caitlyn rolls her eyes. “You know, you came on this trip with us, not Carter.”

  Guilt settles in my stomach. She’s right. The point of this trip is for us to bond, not for me to get lured in by some hot guy. “I’m sorry, guys. Carter’s really nice, and I like him a lot.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Come on, don’t be mad. At least not about that. There’s something else you might be mad about.”

  They watch me patiently and curiously. “About what?”

  I bite my lip. I hadn’t planned on sharing my thoughts with them just yet, but it might be the only way to stop them from being mad at me.

  “I think I’m going to quit my job at the firm,” I voice quickly. “And open my own scuba training business.”
<
br />   The girls stare at me.

  “Seriously?” Caitlyn asks, but she doesn’t sound angry or ridiculing. “I know you love the water, but I didn’t know you wanted to work in a marine-related job. I mean, there’s a big difference between a hobby and a job.”

  I gulp.

  “I know, I really do. It’s been a dream for a long time. Going on the dive today reminded me just how much I want to follow this passion.”

  Jessica pulls me in for a hug. “Then you should do it, Abby!”

  “You think so?”

  “Of course. We’ll miss you around the office, but we don’t want you stuck in a job you hate when there’s something else you could be doing that you love.”

  “Thank you,” I say, hugging her back. Caitlyn joins in, and we squeeze each other tight. “It won’t be for a while. I need to figure out a bunch of things like incorporation and taxes before I can even think of opening a business. But it’s going to happen. I just wanted you to know.”

  Jessica squeezes me again.

  “Thank you for telling us this secret,” she says. “It means a lot.”

  “Of course. You’re my best friends.”

  The earlier guilt returns. I should tell them that they’re not the only ones who know about my dream or my plans because I told Carter first, and I wouldn’t have told them at all if it weren’t for him. Somehow, that doesn’t seem like the right thing to say now, so I bite my tongue.

  The girls and I need this moment, even if I’m not being totally honest with them. Otherwise, they’ll be extra angry when I sneak out to spend another night with Carter.

  It’s not lying, I rationalize to myself. I’m just choosing my battles wisely.

  However, the thought doesn’t calm my nerves because somehow, in a short amount of time, Carter Jones has become incredibly important to me. More so, even than my friends Jess and Cait, whom I’ve known forever.

  Is this what’s supposed to happen? Am I suddenly supposed to trust a billionaire with a charming smile who urges me towards my dreams? But the truth is that I don’t have a choice because Carter touches something in me that no one has ever touched, and I value him and his opinion more than anything.

  11

  Carter

  “Are you even listening to me?” my secretary, Miss Havisham, questions.

  I sigh. “I’m sorry, Flora. I’m a bit distracted.”

  I’m kind of acting like my secretary at the moment if I’m being honest. Miss Havisham has been with me since the day I bought the river boat. She’s never left my side, even after decades together. But lately, she’s been forgetting things a lot of things – botching schedules and causing me to miss important meetings. But it’s too much to let her go. One, because she’s probably nearing her seventies, and has served me well for a long time. And two, because Miss Havisham is as much a part of this company as I am, and I don’t know if I can run it all without her.

  “It’s alright, Carter. Maybe we should carry on with this tomorrow?”

  “No, no. We need to get it done now,” I decide. She hands me the profit and loss sheets I need for my Skype meeting with the board tomorrow. Everything looks good, so my proposal for five new ships in five years should go over well. I hope.

  “Is my proposal proofread?” I ask Miss Havisham. She lets me call her by her first name and reprimands me when I don’t, but it has never felt right. I only do it so she won’t yell at me. She’s a firecracker when she’s upset.

  She hands me a copy, bound with a plastic cover and dark blue spine. “The intern girl did it. Hera. Apparently she majored in English, useless degree it is.”

  I laugh. “You’re hard on the interns, Flora.”

  “Well, if the interns made better life decisions, I wouldn’t be so hard on them. Now, where did I put that proposal?”

  I hold it up to her. “Right here, Miss Havisham.”

  “Carter! How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Flora. Don’t make me call your father again.”

  Miss Havisham was good friends with my father; that’s how she ended up as my secretary. Her kids had all left home, and she’d needed something to do. She’d traveled all over the world before settling down in Florida, so she brought something to the table that was useful for me. Plus, who can say no to an old woman asking for a job? She was amazing for a long time, but now her age is showing.

  I just wish she’d quit so I don’t have to fire her. At least if she’s the one doing the leaving, I won’t feel as terrible.

  Though I’m still not sure I can survive without her comforting force by my side.

  “Is there anything else, Flora?”

  She studies tomorrow’s agenda and then hands it over to me. “Nothing to report here, boss. You only have that meeting tomorrow night. The rest of it can wait or the interns can handle it.”

  I scan the list, just to be sure, and she’s right. There’s some logistical stuff to handle, but that’s why we bring a handful of interns on every cruise. “Thanks, Flora. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

  “You, too, Carter.”

  She flips off her desk lamp and stalks out of the room, leaving me with just the moonlight peering in from the windows.

  The wall clock reads close to nine. Abby is supposed to meet me in my room soon, but I have a better idea. The night is warm, and the sky is bright. I shoot her a quick text to meet me on the main deck instead of my room, and she responds with “okay.”

  I stop by my room to grab a blanket and then hurry to meet Abby on the deck. She’s wearing her pajamas, but she still looks beautiful. The fleece pants have adorable little fish on them, and her dark blue tank-top is just low enough to give me an excellent view. The hardness of her nipples lets me know she hasn’t put on a bra.

  Good. Less for me to take off.

  “Come with me,” I say, shifting the blanket to one arm and holding out my hand to her. I lead Abby up the stairs to the uppermost deck. This level is closed to guests after hours, but no one is going to reprimand the boss. I texted the night crew that I’d be up here and that I didn’t want to be disturbed, so we’ll have some privacy for the rest of the night.

  “Wow,” Abby says. “It’s amazing up here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars!”

  Out on the open sea, the sky is free from light pollution, and you can actually make out more than just a couple of constellations. It’s why I love coming up here at night before bed. I’ve never shared this view with anyone before, let alone a woman. I’m glad Abby loves it as much as I do.

  When Abby’s eyes meet mine, I dip my head low to kiss her soft pink lips. Her arms snake around my waist, pulling me closer. I grab her hips and press our bodies together as our mouths touch passionately.

  “You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met,” I rasp hoarsely. I’ve never been so hung up on anyone before. Earlier, with Miss Havisham, I wasn’t paying attention to my work because my mind was on Abby. Work always comes first for me, so this is a new feeling. It’s mind-boggling to be honest. My company has been my wife, mistress, and girlfriend rolled into one for so long that I’m a little at a loss with these new emotions.

  “You’re the most incredible man,” Abby begins, but I cut her off with another deep kiss. Those words are all I need to know she feels as strongly for me as I do for her.

  Reluctantly breaking our kiss, I spread the blanket out on the deck. It’s not the most comfortable thing in the world, but we lie down on it anyway. Slowly, I dip my head again, letting my tongue explore her. She moans into the kiss and pushes her hips against mine.

  “I need you,” she says, her voice strained. She fumbles with the belt of my work pants, so I help her, pulling them down along with my boxers.

  “Now you,” I order. I slide the pants off her thick hips and toss them to the side. Not only is she clearly braless, but she’s not wearing any panties, either and the sight of that glistening pink slit makes my cock jerk. Holy fuck. What am I gonna do?

  Once we
’re both naked, Abby pulls away and smiles. “There’s something I’ve been looking forward to all day.”

  She crawls down my body and licks the tip of my cock, causing me to jump.

  “Your seed tastes good,” she coos, looking up at me with a mischievous look. Shit, this is the stuff of wet dreams – a beautiful girl, tasting my cream from the tip. But it’s true. She pulls back slightly, tongue extended, and a long trail of man goo stretches from the tip of her pink tongue to the top of my shaft. The loop trembles in the air before breaking and she shoots me a dirty smile before diving in again.

  “Relax, big guy,” she breathes, trailing her tongue up one pulsing vein on the underside of my hardness. I almost explode. “You’re going to love this.” Her warm mouth envelops my entire shaft, and she bobs down as far as she can until she chokes with a couple of inches left to go. I push her hair from her eyes so that I can watch her go down on me.

  As Abby gets used to my size in her sweet mouth, she bobs faster and faster, using her hands at the base to massage my balls.

  “That’s it, baby, just like that,” I coax. “I’m gonna come soon. Give me those eyes, sweetheart. I want to see those big, grateful eyes as I give you a salty mouthful.”

  I can normally hold out for a lot longer, but the sight of Abby sucking my hot rod is too much to bear. And she obeys. Her eyes flicker up, so innocent even as her cheeks hollow with vacuum, lips stretched tight. That does it. I shoot my load down her throat, salty and so virile. My girl’s a good one too. She swallows every last drop with a low, breathy “mmmm,” and then releases my half-hard member with a pop of her lips.

  “That was amazing,” I tell her, tasting myself on her lips as I give her a kiss. “Now, it’s your turn.”

  Pushing Abby backwards, she lays down, hard nipples pointed to the sky. She squirms as I kiss my way down her chest, paying close attention to both of her taut pink tips. I suck and twirl my tongue along the sensitive peaks as she writhes beneath me.