The Daddy Dilemma

by Tia Siren

  “Okay... and the lucky lady is?” he pushed.

  “Kendra Lange. She manages my flagship at the moment and—”

  “Oh no,” Jack groaned. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

  “What, you don’t think she’s a good choice?” I asked, feigning confusion, although truthfully, I knew exactly what his objection was.

  “Hey, don’t get me wrong. Physically, she’s a shoe in. Those curves of hers? More than once, I’ve wondered what it might be like to get behind that and really–Oh, sorry.” Jack smiled apologetically at the young couple at the next table. They glared at Jack like he had a dick growing out of his forehead. Grimacing, he leaned over the table closer to me and lowered his voice. “I ‘m just worried you’re not thinking with your head right now. You sure she’s the best option?”

  “Trust me. My head is all I’m thinking with.”

  Jack had every right to be skeptical about my choice of store manager. I could tell him I chose her because I thought she was the best option. I could tell him it was a choice based on what was best for the business. I could tell him she was the best manager at any of my stores. But even I didn’t believe that. Not fully anyway.

  Kendra Lange wasn’t just the manager of my flagship store. She was also my ex-girlfriend. And not just my ex-girlfriend, but my very first girlfriend to boot. We had dated for a brief time in high school, back when I was a skinny little runt with no aspirations and few opportunities. And back then, I truly thought that she was the one. Until she broke my heart.

  “Tell me this isn’t personal?” Jack continued. He sounded worried, but I knew he was only worried about his own future stake with the candy line. It had nothing to do with me or my store.

  “It’s not personal,” I assured him, making sure to sound as convincing as I could. “She’s a hard worker. Plus, she came to me for a raise a month ago. Damn near begged, actually. Her rent has gone up, and she’s still paying off the lease on a new car. Trust me, the spot she’s in right now, she’ll do anything I ask of her.”

  “Is that right?” Jack asked raising his eyebrow at me.

  “For the store. She’ll do anything for the store.” I hid my face behind my mug of coffee as I took another sip.

  Jack had the ability to read people. It was probably why he was as successful as he was. And right then, I could tell that he saw through me like a piece of glass.

  Of course, my intentions behind hiring Kendra weren’t as honorable as I made them out to be. She’d broken my heart, but it was so much more than that. When we started dating, she was as plain and unassuming as I was. Then during our senior year, she filled out, realized how much better she could do, and dropped me like a bag of dirt. Getting dumped sucked, but getting dumped because the dumper assumes that they’ve outgrown you is even worse.

  What I had told Jack about Kendra’s circumstances was all true. She needed to keep her job. It made her the perfect candidate. Most of my employees would scoff at the idea of working at an adult-themed candy store. That wasn’t what they signed on for when they came to work for me.

  But Kendra didn’t have much choice. Either she accepted the new position, or she had to find a new job. I figured it would be fun to push her to her limits at the new store. It was a little bit of payback for breaking my heart in high school.

  Maybe it was a little petty on my part, but as revenge went, it was fairly tame. She’d be getting the raise she asked for, and I wouldn’t make her do anything degrading. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a little fun with her, too. Just the thought of making her bend over backward for me brought a smile to my lips.

  Besides all that, a sexy woman like Kendra would sell a shit ton of candy.

  “Whatever you say,” Jack sighed as he reached into his wallet. He pulled out a small business card, quickly scribbling what I knew to be his number on the back of it. He then slipped it under his empty coffee mug. “Just remember, this is the face of the guy that told you so. You know, when that time comes.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see,” I said. “I’ve got this.” I gestured at the coffees. I slipped a hundred-dollar bill under the mug and stood up. Seeing Jack’s confused expression, I shrugged. “Good service.”

  The service was just okay, but I was a waiter once. It always brought a smile to my lips, thinking about how Sally, or any other waitress, would react to such an audacious tip. It wasn’t that big of a deal for me. I could afford it.

  Chapter 2

  Kendra

  Back when I was a teenager, I used to look forward to summer. It was nothing but bikinis by day, drinks by night, and fun all summer long. I didn’t even mind the heat. The fact that I had no work, no school, and no worries made the concrete jungle that was New York City bearable.

  How things had changed.

  It was the middle of July, which meant that New York was in the middle of its hottest month. Just walking from the subway to work was a simmering nightmare. By the time I walked into the shop, I would be covered in sweat, my shirt would be stuck to my back, and my make-up dripped down my face. And that might be tolerable if it wasn’t for the fact that I had to work. All day, every day. Even the air conditioning couldn’t make up for that reality.

  It was just past noon on a Friday, so of course, I was at work. I was the manager of the flagship store for Grandy Candy, one of the biggest confectionery companies in the country. This was the company’s biggest stores. It was located in SoHo on Broadway and constantly teemed with wealthy socialites, aristocratic European tourists, and because it was summer, dozens and dozens of school children with nothing better to do than loiter around the candy store.

  This was the real reason I now loathed summer. From the moment the doors opened to when they closed, the store was filled to the brim with school kids with too much free time and nowhere near enough money. The store was a two-storey affair, so I couldn’t keep my eye on them the whole time, and they all knew it. At the end of every day when I took inventory, things were missing. Sometimes, it was something as small as an extra slice of fudge brownie. Other times, entire gift boxes were gone. It was a constant point of annoyance, and today was no different.

  “Just so you know, there are two teenage boys in the back corner looking shifty, by the licorice stand,” Debbie whispered in my ear as she walked past me. She was my assistant manager and, like me, spent the majority of her time watching out for petty theft. “When they saw me watching, they pretended to pull out their phones.”

  “Thanks, Debbie,” I offered, rolling my eyes. I readied myself to go and confront the boys. It was always a pointless endeavor. I couldn’t kick them out for doing nothing. It was more of a way to scare them. Although, it never really worked.

  The front door to the store opened, and a familiar face walked in. Liz Campbell was my best friend in the whole world. I met her in my first week of college, and a week later, we’d been best friends. She was fun, spontaneous, carefree, and so many other things that I was not. I really had no idea why she’d kept me around for so long.

  “Girl, it is hotter than the devil’s ball sack out there,” she said as she entered the store, not giving a damn about the glares she got from other customers. An older woman made no effort to hide her scowl of disapproval. “Oh, lighten up,” Liz snapped at her.

  “I was going to say the devil’s butthole,” I countered as she approached the counter. “But I think ball sack is more accurate.”

  “I’ve seen both and believe me it is.” She all but fell on the counter when she reached it, acting as if all the energy in her body had suddenly been drained. “I’m weak, Kendra. I can barely stand. I need sustenance. I need… I need...”

  “Diablo Fudge Brownies?” I offered. I reached beneath the counter and pulled out a tray of said brownies, ready and waiting. They were dark brown, almost black, they were packed so full of chocolate. In the heat, they’d started to melt slightly, so they were soft and moist.

  “How did you know?!” Liz exclaimed, the life sh
ooting back into her. She clapped her hands together and proceeded to scoop the brownies into her mouth without hesitation or remorse.

  “Well, it’s Friday, and... and that’s all the indication I needed really.”

  Liz came into the store every Friday to help herself to the exact same treat. It had all but become routine by this point. I should have named the brownies after her, considering how many she’d eaten since I started working here.

  “Don’t just stare at my fat ass,” she said thickly, through a mouthful of brownie. “Eat some.”

  I shook my head and watched in envy as my best friend devoured brownie after brownie. Despite her personal claims, Liz was gorgeous. Big brown eyes complemented her cute pixie face, and dark hair spilled down her shoulders. She also had a body to die for. She had one of those stick-thin frames that you would see on the cover of fashion magazines and bikini blogs. It couldn’t have been more different than my own body.

  “Oh, please,” Liz continued. “Don’t you dare start with that tired old complaint about how fat you are. If you do, I’m going to take my brownies and go. Don’t think I won’t.”

  I wasn’t fat, but I wasn’t far off these days. I had always been curvy, ever since I was a teenager. But as a teenager, that figure was easy to maintain. As in, I didn’t have to maintain it at all. Now that I was a little older and worked in a candy store, of all places, I was about one brownie away from officially having to go up a size.

  “Jesus,” Liz moaned. “How many times do I have to tell you? I would kill for your body. Have you seen your butt lately? If you haven’t, I guarantee you, most of the men that come in here have—”

  Luckily, the ringing of the store phone interrupted Liz’s rant. I answered it willingly, glad for an excuse to cut Liz’s spiel short.

  “This is Kendra speaking, how may I help you?”

  “Kendra, it’s Grant.”

  “Oh, hello Mr. Marcus.” Considering who it was on the other end of the line, I half wished that I hadn’t answered and let Liz finish her piece. The caller was Grant Marcus, the owner of both the store and company.

  “Kendra, how many times do I have to tell you? Grant is fine, especially considering our history. Don’t make me order you to start calling me by my first name.” He spoke to me in the same manner that he always did. It was an arrogant, self-knowing tone that reeked of entitlement.

  “Okay, fine. Grant. What can I do for you?” Grant and I had a history that went beyond the realms of the simple employer-employee relationship. He and I used to date, and although it was eons ago, I always got the sense that he had never quite forgiven me for breaking up with him.

  “First, you can tell your friend Liz that she owes me roughly two hundred dollars in Diablo Fudge back payments. And secondly, you can join me for dinner tonight.”

  “Dinner?” I sputtered, instantly regretting my knee jerk reaction. He had caught me off guard with the request, one that he had never made before. And if I knew him, which I did, he delighted in my shocked reaction.

  “Yes. It’s a pretty standard meal. Usually, comes at night time. Although it can be eaten alone, tonight I would like the company.” His voice was patronizing on the other end of the line. “I have something we need to discuss.”

  “Discuss?” I asked, turning my back on Liz who was trying to get my attention as she mouthed profanities at me, or more likely, at Grant on the other end of the line. “Discuss what?”

  “We’ll save it for tonight. I want to be looking at you when I tell you. I’ll email you the details. And please don’t be late. I hate tardiness.” And with that, he hung up the phone, leaving me hanging on the other end, completely confused.

  “What did that jerkoff want?” Liz asked the moment I hung the phone up.

  Liz had never liked Grant. To her, he was my underappreciative boss who worked me to the bone and took advantage of me whenever he could, which was more often than not. Since I started working for him, I had pulled more late nights than I had normal ones, and I was constantly on the receiving end of his venom.

  When I first started, I made the mistake of telling her that Grant and I used to date. Since then, Grant had been at fault for everything that was wrong with my life, at least according to Liz. She blamed him for the fact that I was single. For what she called my low self-esteem and for my weight gain. Although that last one, she had never actually said out loud.

  “He wants to have dinner with me tonight,” I said. “Although he didn’t say why.”

  “Don’t go,” Liz said instantly.

  I scoffed at her suggestion, knowing full well that I had no choice. He was my boss after all, a fact that I hated every time I thought about it. I had never meant to work for Grant, and when we dated, I never dreamed that one day I would. Back in high school, he was the last person I thought would ever be a success. But when I came to New York and needed a job, I applied at the store, having no idea that he was the owner. Although he hired me willingly, he seemed to relish the fact that he was now in charge of me. As if it was some sick form of payback for dumping him all those years ago.

  “Fine,” Liz said. “Go. But order the most expensive thing on the menu. And flirt with the waiter. And make sure you put the girls on display so he knows what he’s missing.”

  Liz carried on with ways to torture Grant, but I slowly phased her out. Unfortunately, I was far too preoccupied with thoughts of what Grant would want to discuss. I had gone to him asking for a promotion last month and subtly implied that I might quit if I didn’t get one. Was he going to give me one? Or worse, was he going to fire me?

  Whatever it was, I really hoped it wasn’t bad news. Considering the way that my life was currently going, I didn’t think I could handle any more bad news.

  Chapter 3

  Grant

  The restaurant I chose for dinner that night was about as different from Split Bean as possible. It was the kind of place that you couldn’t get a table at without a reservation. And to even make a reservation, a call had to be placed days in advance, sometimes weeks. And even then, it wasn’t guaranteed. I was lucky that I knew the owner and never had an issue getting in. Growing up, I would never have dreamed in a million years that I would be able to eat at a place like this on a regular basis.

  It was five minutes past eight, and my dinner guest was late. I had arrived early, of course. I always did. It allowed for me to get settled and ensure that when my company arrived, I was there, waiting. As far as restaurants went, this wasn’t the worst to be kept waiting at. The music was divine, the service was impeccable, and the clientele was easy on the eyes. More than once, I caught the attention of a young socialite, eating with a man twice her age. On any other night, I might have tried to pass her my number, but not tonight. Tonight, I had a target in mind.

  I was about to order my second drink when I spotted her, hurrying through the front door. She was hard not to notice. She had a very obvious effect on all the men in the room as she glided her way through the tables.

  Kendra Lange had always been attractive. When we used to date, I would often lie awake at night and count my lucky stars that she found it in her heart to date me too, always assuming that I was the butt of some joke. But if she was attractive back in high school, she was drop dead gorgeous as a fully developed woman.

  She wore a tight-fitting, strapless black dress that hugged her curves as it snaked its way down to her ankles. Indeed, her curves were her best feature, the perfect hourglass shape, supported by a nice round butt and very ample cleavage, which struggled not to spill from the front of her dress. Her face was the perfect cherry on top of her mouthwatering body. She had big green eyes that missed nothing, and plump lips that were almost as appetizing as the rest of her.

  As she got closer to the table, I reproached myself for getting carried away. Every time I saw Kendra, I had a hard time controlling my thoughts. Even then, watching the ways her breasts bounced as she stepped around a nearby table, I could feel my pants tightening.r />
  “Sorry I’m late,” she said as she reached the table. She pulled out a seat and fell into it.

  “What did I tell you about tardiness?” I asked as I looked over her shoulder, signaling to the waiter that my drink, and hers, needed to be refilled.

  “It wasn’t my fault. There was traffic and—”

  “Excuses, by the sounds of it,” I cut in. “I distinctly remember you telling me how dependable you were when I hired you. That you would never let me down if I recall?”

  The waiter approached and poured our drinks for us. Kendra looked relieved by the interruption. She squirmed in her seat and avoided my eyes as she watched the champagne fill her glass.

  Even in her nervous state, she looked stunning. There was an innocence about her that I found impossibly engaging. She was out of her element, here in this crowd. That was half the reason I chose this restaurant. It was just another way for me to assert my authority over my old lover.

  The other reason I chose this place to meet was a little bit mean on my part. I wanted her to see how successful I’d become. Of course, she knew I was a wealthy man who owned a huge company. But it was one thing to know about my achievements in the abstract. It was another to see the way I lived, up close and personal. I wasn’t even showing off. Not really. I ate here all the time. I was just giving her a glimpse into my real life, letting her know what she’d missed out on by dumping me for the fucking star quarterback.

  I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. Those old feelings of resentment weren’t important right now. I had business to discuss with Kendra.