The first thing I got rid of was my father’s car. It was too valuable to give away without causing his other children to complain, so I sold it for a reasonable price to a local charity and rolled the money into his estate. Some of that money was going to pay for the workers that came to maintain the property—keeping it up was a condition of the agreement I made with the Andersons. I worked during the day to sort things out in the house and spent my evenings in my father’s office, enjoying our shared vices and trying to figure out what outstanding matters needed to be resolved before I split the proceeds from the estate with my half-siblings. I amused myself with thoughts of charging them by the hour, but it wasn’t worth the headache. Once I had enough whiskey in my system to pass out, I usually crashed in one of the guest rooms until it was time to wake up and do it all over again. It wasn’t as comfortable as home, but I normally slept through the night since I was exhausted from working all day.
* * *
Why am I awake? It’s only been a couple of hours. I thought my body had finally adjusted to actually being able to sleep for six or seven hours every night…
I could function on less than four hours of sleep, and I did that pretty often before I sold my company. I didn’t have to do that anymore, so when my eyes opened before midnight, I was less than pleased that I couldn’t get them to stay shut long enough to go back to sleep. I tossed and turned for nearly an hour, but it just wasn’t happening. There was nothing to keep me awake—nothing to occupy my mind like I had when my company was building apps, and I would wake up in the middle of the night with a new idea. It just wouldn’t shut off. I started thinking about projects around the house, some of the things I hadn’t decided what to do with yet, and whether or not I should have asked for more money when I sold my father’s car.
Well fuck this, I might as well get up for a few hours and try again.
I was at the stage where sleep hadn’t done enough to make getting up easy, yet I was wired for no reason at all. I felt like I was in a bit of a fog, but that was probably due to the whiskey that was still lingering in my bloodstream. I definitely wasn’t going to drink coffee and stay up the rest of the night, so I decided that a glass of water would be a much better option. I grabbed my cell phone off the charger, and I fumbled my way downstairs without turning on the lights.
Once I made it to the kitchen, I filled a glass with some water from the sink and sipped it while I scrolled through my phone. I hoped that leaving the lights off would force my mind to accept the fact that it was nighttime when normal people went to bed—not that I had ever had a normal schedule. I spent my college years staying up all night studying and coding—then I was up early so I could hit the gym before it was time to go to class. My schedule got even worse once I started my company.
Maybe I need to lay off the whiskey—I swear I hear voices. Wait—that’s not the whiskey.
My attention was drawn to the sound of laughter, talking, and—splashing. I put my phone down on the counter and immediately grabbed the baseball bat that was near the bottom of the stairs before approaching the back door. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t know the neighborhood very well, so I wasn’t sure if there was any reason to be alarmed. When I got close to the window, I realized that the splashing I heard was likely coming from the swimming pool. I assumed it was kids from the neighborhood and contemplated just calling the police to deal with it, but that seemed a bit harsh if it was just some teenagers that needed to be run off. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to drown in the pool and end up with a lawsuit against my father’s estate that kept me in Los Angeles for much longer than I intended to stay.
I peered through the window and saw that my suspicions were accurate. Two shadows were moving around in the pool. I blinked a couple of times to adjust my eyes to the moonlight after walking around in the dark. When my vision finally adjusted, I realized that the shadows belonged to two girls, and to my surprise, they weren’t just swimming in the pool—they were skinny dipping.
They don’t look like kids—they’re definitely old enough to know better…
Both of them were fairly attractive and older than high school age, but not by much. The one making most of the noise had straight blonde hair, and her brunette friend seemed less than enthused to be there. I couldn’t help but stare as they moved around the water with their exposed curves on full display for anyone to see, although I was fairly certain they didn’t expect to actually be seen at that hour.
Maybe they knew my father or my half-siblings—this is the time of year when most people go on vacation.
I reached for the light to turn it on and scare them off, but my hand hesitated when I got close to it. The brunette swam over to the edge of the pool and focused her eyes on the house. I thought for a moment that she might have seen me staring, but she didn’t react. The blonde swam up next to her friend, and her tits hovered near the surface of the water, but my eyes were transfixed on the brunette. She practically took my breath away.
Well aren’t you absolutely gorgeous.
The blonde haired girl was pretty, but there was something different about the brunette goddess. Even in the dim light that the moon provided, I could tell that her eyes were a beautiful shade of amber. They were almost hypnotizing. She had no idea that anyone was watching, but it felt like her eyes were staring straight into my soul. My pulse started to race, and the sight of her curves made my cock start to get hard in my pants. It desperately wanted attention and throbbed to remind me that it had been a very long time since it had received any—especially from a woman as gorgeous as the brunette goddess.
I shouldn’t let my imagination get the best of me. I need to turn on the lights and send them on their way.
I took a step towards the light switch and saw a reaction on the face of the brunette goddess. She had definitely seen me. I hit the flood lights and the pool lights at the same time. That illuminated the backyard and the entire pool area. The two girls started yelling and scurrying to climb out of the pool. Nothing was left to the imagination after that—the blonde was the first one out of the water, but I didn’t even look at her. My eyes stayed focused on the brunette goddess as her beautiful curves rose out of the water. The blonde was a lot faster. She was so quick that she collected her things and bolted for the fence before the brunette was completely out of the water. Her foot hit the concrete pretty hard, and when she was finally able to stand, she stumbled a couple of times, but she was able to keep her balance.
Oh shit. Is she hurt?
I quickly walked to the back door and pulled it open. I stepped outside, and the brunette’s amber colored eyes locked on mine. She pulled an arm across her tits and put a hand in front of her crotch. She stared at me like a deer caught in the headlights—afraid to move—but absolutely terrified when I started walking towards her. She finally regained her composure and took a step, but it caused her to grimace. She stumbled and tried to take another one that made her grimace even more. There was no way that she was going to be able to run, even though I was gaining on her with every step that I took.
Chapter Three
Chloe
“Daniella wait! Wait for me!” I looked around in a panic as I realized that the awkward impact on the concrete had caused my ankle to twist—it wasn’t serious, but it hurt.
Damn it, Daniella! Don’t leave me here! You’re supposed to be my best friend!
I had no idea what to do. The man that was approaching me was enormous. He stood well over six feet tall and had a muscular athletic build—his muscles were well defined against his thin white undershirt. There was no way that I was going to be able to outrun him on my twisted ankle. I wasn’t even worried about my modesty at that point. I just didn’t want to be handcuffed and put in the back of a police car. Going for my clothes wasn’t even an option. If I could make a break for it, I would just have to leave most of them behind.
I had to grab my jeans because my cell phone, driver’s license, and debit card were i
n the pockets. If I left them behind, it wouldn’t matter if I was able to get away—the cops would still know who to look for. I turned towards the man as he approached and tried to cover myself the best that I could. I could already see the blue and red lights in my head and feel the humiliation of cold steel on my wrists—hopefully they would let me get dressed before they marched me to the patrol car.
“I’m really sorry! We didn’t realize anyone was home!” I felt like pleading was the only option I had—I hoped it was enough for him to simply let me go. “I’ll get my things and leave. I promise you’ll never see either us again!”
“You think it’s okay to trespass on someone’s property if they aren’t home?” His voice was rugged and rough—his tone had a bite to it when he spoke.
“No, I’m not saying that…” I felt myself blushing from head to toe. “Please, I’m truly sorry.”
“Is your foot okay?” He narrowed his eyes.
“I think it’s my ankle.” I looked down and tried to keep myself covered the best that I could.
“Stay right there—don’t move.” The words rolled off his tongue in a way that compelled me to obey—and made my knees tremble.
The man turned away and started walking back towards the house. My opportunity to run was right in front of me, but fear had taken hold of me, and I couldn’t get my legs to move. I might not have gotten very far before he returned, but I felt like I needed to try—I had no idea why he left me standing there. I tried to take a step, but it felt like my feet were glued to the concrete and they wouldn’t move—my ankle simply protested and let me know that I wasn’t going to be able to do more than hobble towards the fence if I managed to get my feet to move and made a break for it. I wanted to at least try to put on my clothes—it might have been a rather warm night, but the breeze was still chilly because of the water lingering on my skin.
I didn’t want to come here in the first place. Daniella is probably halfway home by now—she didn’t even come back to check on me.
I was angry that she left me behind. She was better with words and could have probably talked her way out of the situation. I couldn’t think of anything to say except for a rushed apology. It didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the man who left me standing by the pool. My eyes stayed fixed on the door until he emerged from the house again. My chance of escaping was definitely gone. He had a towel in one hand and a cell phone in the other. He walked back to the pool and tossed the towel to me. I was forced to expose my breasts in order to catch the towel, but I quickly wrapped it around my naked body. The water that had not dripped off was quickly absorbed. That took away some of the chill at least. I clung to the towel and watched as he slid his finger across the screen of his cell phone, tapped it a couple of times, and then held it up to his ear.
“Who are you calling?” Panic ripped through my soul.
“Hello, this is Corbin Hawthorne. I’d like to report a suspicious individual.” He paused for a moment. “Yes, Corbin Hawthorne.”
I’m a suspicious individual? I’m standing here naked except for the towel you gave me.
“Wait—please don’t call the cops on me!” I tensed up as I pleaded with him.
“I got woken up in the middle of the night and saw a woman outside of my house. I’m not sure what she was doing, but she took off running when I opened the door. She’s blonde, about five foot six. I live at 164 Huntington Lane.” He paused and seemed to be listening to the response. “Yes, if you could have an officer check the area for her, that would be great. I don’t know if she planned to break into my house or not, but it was certainly concerning at this hour.”
He didn’t even mention me…
“Why didn’t you tell them there were two of us?” I felt quite concerned when he hung up the phone without saying a word about me.
“You apologized—and asked nicely.” He shrugged and pushed the phone into his pocket. “Can you walk?”
“I…” I put a little weight on my ankle. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Then grab your things and come inside. You can put your foot up while you wait for someone to come give you a ride home.” He motioned to the house. “Unless you really want me to call the cops again and ask them to come arrest you—your choice.”
“No.” I shook my head back and forth. “Thank you…”
“What your name?” He tilted his head slightly.
“Chloe.” I pulled the towel a little tighter around my body.
I guess there’s no harm in telling him my name at this point.
“My name is Corbin—I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but I’d rather be trying to go back to sleep right now.” He turned and started walking towards the house.
All I could do was gather my clothes and limp to the house. He waited at the door until I got there and motioned for me to enter. There was something about him that drew me in, even if he was a little intimidating. He was certainly attractive—even if he was older than me. It was impossible not to notice his physique, and he had a few tattoos that peeked out from the sleeves of his shirt—sleeves that were stretched tight by his biceps.
I didn’t know much about the Hawthorne family, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t the same Mr. Hawthorne than Daniella described. She said he was much older and had kids older than us. I stood in front of the door with my heart pounding in my ears, but I finally got the courage to step inside his house. I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice—I didn’t want to have the cops show up if there was any way to avoid it.
“Do you have a cell phone?” He led me to the living room and motioned to the couch.
“Yeah…” I pushed my hand into my jeans as I sat down and made sure the towel was secure.
“Call your parents.” He sat down in the chair across from me.
“My parents?” I blinked in surprise.
“Yes.” He nodded. “If I’m not going to call the cops, they should at least know about this—whatever they do to you is their business.”
I can’t call my mom. It’s the middle of the night.
“I…” My eyes drifted down to my phone, and I saw that I had several messages from Daniella flashing on the screen. “I don’t live with my parents.”
“How old are you?” He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t look like you’re old enough to be on your own.”
“I’m nineteen.” My head snapped back—I was slightly offended by what he said.
“I was guessing eighteen, but that’s close enough.” He shrugged. “You’re in college then?”
“I am.” I nodded.
“Well then call one of your friends.” He stood, walked over to a line of liquor bottles on the counter, and filled a glass with what appeared to be whiskey.
“You just called the cops on my friend…” I slid my finger across the screen of my cell phone and quickly scanned her messages—I was just about to type a warning when he turned back around. “I didn’t mean you any harm, and neither did she—she does live with her parents, and they’re going to flip out if she gets arrested!”
“They should.” He sat down and sipped his drink. “She was trespassing and at this hour? It’s not safe for two young girls to be wandering around. You should both be at home in bed—just like I should be right now.”
Two young girls—really? I guess he’s right…
“Yeah, it was dumb.” I sighed and nodded. “I still think calling the cops is a bit of an overreaction.”
“Maybe.” He sipped his drink. “But for all I know, you two were just having a swim before moving from trespassing to burglary.”
“No way!” I shook my head back and forth as my temper started to flare. “I have an apartment, a job, and I go to college—I’m not a thief!”
“Well there’s no way you stumbled on this place by accident in the middle of the night—I’m guessing you’ve been here before.” He narrowed his eyes.
“Not in a while.” I looked down for a second as I was forced to admit that he was right.
&
nbsp; “Ever been inside the house?” He sipped his drink.
Shit…
“Only once…” I sighed, and my anger settled down. “But that should prove that we’re not thieves—we didn’t take anything!”
“How the fuck would I know?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Isn’t this your house?” I looked around in confusion. “Nothing has ever been stolen, right?”
“It was my father’s place. He passed away. I had never been here before I got the call letting me know he was gone.” Corbin took another sip of his drink.
“I’m sorry.” I felt a lump rising up in my throat. “You—weren’t close to him?”
“No.” He shook his head back and forth. “I haven’t seen him since I was a kid and barely remember it. He lived here with his second wife and his other kids. I was the one he forgot about in Chicago.”
“Damn…” I swallowed hard.
“It’s life.” He shrugged. “Are you going to call someone to pick you up or not?”
“Yeah.” I slid my finger across the screen and dialed Daniella’s number.
Pick up—please pick up.
Indebted To A Daddy: Once Upon A Daddy Page 2
