I told myself before I stepped inside his house I’d give him one punch.
But he went for the stomach first, which I should have expected being that he’s smaller and not nearly as much of a man as I am. I practically had to stick out my chin so he’d swing at my face, still not being able to believe he wasn’t man enough to punch me in the face with the first one.
With the second one he did, and landed a “solid” blow. At least solid for what I’m guessing it feels like when he puts everything he’s got into it.
But when he tried for a third I drew the line, catching his fist in mid air.
I understand that he’s a father and he’s going to be angry. I’ll give him that and show him I’m willing to go to any length to be with his daughter. But I’m not about to be a punching bag or put any thoughts in his mind that I don’t stand up for myself, and more importantly what’s mine.
I know Thalia is out in the car worrying her pretty little head off, but I also know this won’t take long.
I’m here to give him one chance to accept the inevitable, or I’ll simply take what I want. Hell, I already did. Showing up here is just out of respect to him, which I could very easily lose.
“How long have you been fucking my daughter?” he asks.
I keep my fingers wrapped around his fist, twisting it and maneuvering him over to the couch so he can sit down and start to calm the fuck down.
“First of all I’m not fucking your daughter and I’m personally offended you chose that word to describe it. Now let me tell you what’s going on and what your choices are.”
He looks at me and I can still see his anger, but he realizes he’s holding a losing hand.
We’re on the right track.
“I saw your daughter at the company barbecue last summer. The attraction was instant and deep, but I did not…I repeat did not pursue her.
Nor did she pursue me.
I respect you as an employee and as a person and I was still too focused on my business. At the time I didn’t know much about her so I thought I would just let it go.
But I couldn’t.
The thought of her was always on my mind. I’ll leave it at that.
So when I came over here for Thanksgiving what we both felt became known very quickly. And although this is happening very fast, it’s actually been building inside of us for months.
Now…going forward. Your daughter and I are going to be together. Period.
You can like it or not. Accept it or not. But regardless we’re moving forward.
Personally, I’ve grown to like you since you so warmly welcomed me into your home. I appreciate that and thank you for that.
But when it comes to her I’ll do anything, even if it means ex-communicating you in the process.
Will I fire you? No. That’s not right. You’re good at your job and that’s your livelihood, cut and dried.
Now…if you bring your personal problem, if you have one, to work then that’s a different story.
I will not and I expect you not to either.
And what I expect the most is for you to respect and honor your daughter’s decision, like a loving father would.
I love her with everything I’ve got. I’m going to keep her safe and give her the best life a woman’s ever had. I hope you’re there to see it.
Now…I’m going to walk out to that SUV and she’s going to walk in here and talk to you. If you decide you don’t want to see me again then she’ll walk back out and we’re gone.
If you do…well then I’ll come back inside and we can all handle this like adults.
Got it?”
He doesn’t waste any time before he starts nodding.
“Good.”
I stand and walk towards the door.
“And don’t try anything tricky or sneaky like locking the door or trying to make her feel bad about her choice. She doesn’t, and…I’ll be watching.”
I step outside and motion for Thalia. She’s out of the car quickly.
“How did it go?” she asks.
“Exactly like I said it would,” I say, leaving out the part that it took him the second punch to swing at my face. Everything else played out exactly as I told her it would.
“What should I tell him?” she asks. I can see she’s nervous, shaking even, and it’s not from the cold.
I put my hands on her triceps. “Take a deep breath with me and blow it out, okay?”
She nods.
“One…two…three… Better right?”
She nods again.
“Just go in there and tell him the truth. That’s all you can do. It’s up to him whether he wants to respect what we have or not. Just make sure to leave the door open so I can keep an eye on things. You know I’d go in there with you, but I respect your decision to talk to him alone. But I’ll be with you in spirit.” I pause and she almost smiles.
I place one hand on her chin and lift it up. “Okay, pretty girl?”
She nods.
I lean in and give her a soft kiss and she melts into me.
“Now go get ‘em, beautiful,” I say.
She breathes out again and walks towards the place she’s called home her entire life.
Either she’ll walk back out that door in a few minutes, or maybe more, and we’ll drive back to the hotel until my house is accessible.
Or I’ll go in there and get her myself.
But either way she’s leaving with me this Thanksgiving weekend. That’s for damn sure.
CHAPTER 18
Thalia
As I approach my home I think back to all the things my dad and I have been through and I try my best to fight back the tears.
And most importantly I try and fight the idea of going in there and telling him I’m an adult and demand that he listen to me, and try and accept the idea of looking at things from his point of view.
The moment I step inside he stands up from the couch. I’ve never seen his eyes so open and his focus so sharp.
I pause, making sure everything’s okay. He’s not the kind of guy to lash out at me, but in times like these you never know.
“May I?” I ask motioning towards the couch.
He nods.
A full minute goes by before anyone says anything.
“I was just so scared of losing you,” he says. “You’re the last thing I have connecting me to your mother.”
I get up off the couch and walk over to the other, putting my arms around him and we hug tight.
“Do you love him?” my dad asks in my ear in between sobs.
I nod, knowing he can feel my head move against the side of his. “Yes. Very much,” I say.
“Do you feel like he loves you too?”
“I know he does.”
“And that he’ll protect you and do right by you forever?”
“Always,” I say.
“Then that’s all a father can ask,” he says, squeezing me even tighter.
At least a minute or two goes by and he finally eases off me, not that I want him to. I always want to be close to him, but this time I could really feel his fear of loss by the way he was hugging me so tight.
“You’ll always have me, dad. I’m not moving out of town or anything. And you’ll always be welcome in my life…our lives…if you want.”
“I’d like that,” he says.
“Me too,” I say. “Maybe you could even ask Trevor for bride price, or at least an extra week off this year,” I say and we both start laughing as we dab away our tears.
“You always were so smart,” he says. “Just like your mother.”
“I got it from both of you, dad. Any ‘smarts’ I have came from the both of you. Always has been that way and always will.”
“Thanks,” he says.
“Thanks for understanding and respecting my decision.”
“It’s what a father should do. Sorry it took me some time to accept it.”
“A day or two isn’t bad in my opinion. Then again…I would have been concerned if you w
ould have just let me walk out of here that easily with just anyone.”
“Well I know he’s not just anyone. I saw a different side of him a couple mornings ago. I could already sense it then and I could really see it on his face when he came in here and talked to me, man-to-man. He does love you. There’s no question in my mind about that.”
“Thank you,” I say. I pause not wanting to leave my dad alone, but it’s time. “I should get going now,” I say.
“Not quite yet,” bellows out from the door.
I turn and see Trevor standing there, his shoulders practically the width of the doorframe from the angle I’m at.
“Just so you know, yesterday I left for two reasons. One I wanted to give us all a chance to cool off. And two…for the first time in years I had a little Black Friday shopping to do of my own,” he says, stepping into the room and dropping down on one knee.
I stand up quickly, moving towards him, but the sight of him holding a small black box has me feeling like it’s probably safer if I sit down.
And then he opens the top and a huge diamond sparkles catching the light outside from the snow that’s just started to fall again.
“Thalia. Beautiful. Your name means to blossom, and since the last time I saw you you most certainly have blossomed into the most beautiful woman in the world, not that you weren’t already. But the difference between then and now, is now you are officially my woman. You were back then too, the rest of the world just didn’t know it yet. And just like the meaning of your name, what we have is going to blossom and flourish forever. Because this ring will show everyone that you’re mine, and I’ll spend every moment of the rest of my life showing you, and the world just what that means as I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman in the history of the universe. And that’s exactly what you are to me…the center of my universe. Marry me,” he says.
In a few days packed with emotions and firsts this one takes the cake.
I nod and he slides the ring on my finger.
A perfect fit.
He stands and wraps me up in a big hug, so tight I can lift my feet up off the ground, which is exactly where they’ve been ever since I saw him…walking on a cloud.
He spins me around the room, planting kisses on my face and when we finally stop spinning we kiss deeply for the first time since I accepted his proposal.
“I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.”
“Get in here, Thomas!” Trevor growls, and my dad slides in to join us and the three of us hug together.
It’s the perfect ending to my crazy Thanksgiving weekend with my dad’s boss.
But he’s not just my dad’s boss anymore.
He’s mine.
“I love you,” he says.
“I love you.”
EPILOGUE
Thalia
Three years later
I look out my office window and watch as my dad stares from his desk over to his girlfriend’s.
After getting to know my dad better, Trevor introduced him to a woman in our accounting department and they hit it off really well.
Okay, technically Trevor didn’t introduce them but he gave my dad a better desk, and Barb one too, and next thing you know they weren’t just sitting next to each other at work, but also at the movies, dinner, and on the couch from what I understand.
But Trevor told me it was definitely a setup. He knew they would be perfect for each other once he took the time to get to know all the people that worked for him a little bit better.
The Monday after we got engaged he went into work and gave everyone an hour to participate in Cyber Monday shopping, which was a nice gesture. At the time he said they’d probably do it anyway so might as well just make it official and let everyone relax about it.
But the person that was really the one relaxing was him.
My dad told me he’s been a different man ever since that Thanksgiving weekend at the house I grew up in.
That was three years ago, and boy has time flown by since then.
Since then he’s started a college scholarship fund for employees after he learned how much it costs to send kids to school these days. He had no clue since he hadn’t been a father before.
That’s right.
Nine months to the day after Thanksgiving weekend we welcomed into the world a beautiful baby girl named, Tessa. She’s at home with her dad right now as we take turns with the parenting duties which is especially important considering she’s just hitting her stride as a “terrible two-year-old.”
“Cute kid,” a voice says from behind me.
I turn and see a man standing behind me that I don’t recognize.
He must have walked right in my office and snuck in behind me while I was staring at the picture I have framed next to my desk. In it I’m at the ocean, holding Tessa in my arm. Trevor took the pic and it’s my favorite one of the thousands he’s taken of me…including the ones I keep on a hard drive in a drawer at home so I can remember how my body looked when I was younger, not that Trevor can keep his hands off of me. He loves taking pictures of me…with or without clothes.
But this guy makes my skin crawl.
“Thanks,” I say.
“That yours?” he asks, pointing at the picture right where Tessa is.
Suddenly a hand comes out of nowhere and grabs him by the wrist.
“That child is ours, and if you ever try and touch that picture, or anything else in my wife’s office again I will break your hand clean off. Do I make myself clear?”
The man nods.
“And who are you anyway?”
“Building inspector, sir,” he says.
“We’re up to code so you can show yourself out right now.”
“Sorry for interrupting your day.”
“Apologize to her,” he says.
“I’m sorry.”
“Ma’am,” Trevor says.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he says.
“Now get out of my face and don’t let me ever catch you in my building again.”
The man scurries out of the office and Trevor leans down and gives me a kiss.
“We dropped by to see if momma wanted to go to lunch,” he says.
I push back my chair and look around his big body seeing our little Tessa over in the corner. As soon as she sees that I’ve noticed her she starts waving.
“I’d love to,” I say. “Let…me…just…shut…down…my…computer…and…I’m ready.”
Trevor takes me by the hand helping me up out of my chair like a gentleman even though I don’t need it. I definitely do like being treated like a lady though, and it’s nice to have him around to express anger for me like he just did with that weirdo inspector guy.
As we walk out of my office I see Trevor take Tessa’s hand and in my mind if flashes how perfect this must look.
The boss of the company showing up for a surprise lunch with his wife, whose hand he’s holding with his right hand, and their daughter, whose hand he’s holding with his left hand.
I wish I had a picture, but luckily it seems like Barb is on the same page as we pass by her desk on the way out.
She’s already got her phone up and she gives me a look as if to ask me, “Do you want me to?”
I nod my head and watch as she takes a few pictures of us as we head for the elevator.
“Is grandpa working today?” Tessa asks.
“Grandpa already went to lunch,” I say.
Trevor just smiles and gives me a wink.
“We’re m-e-e-t-i-n-g him,” Trevor says.
“I know what you spelled, dad!” Tessa says.
“What did I spell?”
“You said we’re going to eat grandpa for lunch.”
Both Trevor and I and a few of the other employees waiting to use the elevator bust out laughing.
“But first…I’m gonna eat you!” Trevor says scooping Tessa up in his arms.
The sound of her giggling as her father makes an animalistic eating sound a
s he playfully moves his head around her body is too cute for words.
“Don’t eat me, daddy!” she says just as the elevator dings.
Thanksgiving with Dad's Boss: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 84) Page 7
