by Amy Brent
I couldn’t help but smile at my daughter’s explanation. Something deep inside me told me that there was more to her cheerfulness than a girl’s love for her mother, but I pushed the thought aside as not important. She was happy which meant she was okay, and since I was already missing her I decided not to waste time worrying. I would have plenty of time to do that in France.
“I can’t complain about that,” I told her honestly as she came around the island and sat beside me at the breakfast bar.
We stayed there for a few more minutes, eating and talking in the kitchen like we had our whole lives, but it didn’t feel the same. For the longest time, it was just the two of us against the world. But now, there was Ben, a Jess that was all grown up, and me moving across the ocean. Our lives were changing, and though I’ve always known that changes would happen, I had never imagined that there would be so many or that they would happen so fast. It was such a strange feeling because although the familiarity of our little moment warmed my heart, the finality of it broke it into a million pieces.
I was almost drowning in nostalgia when we finally finished our breakfast and got up to leave. Jess and I were almost at the front door when I heard Ben’s steps coming down the stairs.
“I’m so glad you’re still here,” he said with one of those dashing smiles.
He looked office handsome in a dark gray three-piece suit and his eyes sparkled with a light I had never seen before. That same something in my gut that troubled me over my daughter’s good mood bothered me again, but once again I pushed the thought away. I was already too worried about leaving her alone with Ben, I didn’t need anything else bugging my brain.
“We’re just leaving. Jess decided to drive me,” I told him with a friendly smile.
Holding my gaze, he replied, “Such a great daughter.”
“Yeah, I’m very devoted. Always eager to please,” Jess said in a tone that didn’t sit well with me. To make matters worse, matching smirks formed in both Jess’ and Ben’s lips.
This time the knot in my throat was a little harder to ignore, but I tried to appease myself with the knowledge that Ben had been warned and loved his company too much to jeopardize our agreement over a casual fling. I knew that once I was out of the house and not so shaken by my guilt over leaving my daughter behind, I would see that the nagging feeling in my gut was just my own mind playing tricks on me.
“Well, we really should get going,” I said in a rush to get out of the house and collect my thoughts. “Take care of my girl, Ben. I’ll divorce your ass if anything bad happens to her.”
A forced smile formed on his lips at my warning, but he still stole a glance at Jess and nodded. “I’ll care for her as if she was my own girl.”
That reply had a little too much double meaning for my liking, but it still satisfied my worry. With a kiss on his cheek, I said, “I’ll be back for my things in three weeks.”
“We’ll be waiting with burgers and wine,” he said. Then, wished me a safe trip and good luck with training as Jess and I went out the door.
We walked to her car in silence and continued that way until we hit the road. Then, unable to contain the mom in me, I said, “I was thinking, if you decide you’re uncomfortable staying at the mansion alone with Ben, you could go stay with Trey until we find a place of your own. I’m not crazy about him, but he has his own apartment and seems to really like you.”
Jessica stole a peek at me and surprised me with the disgusted expression on her face. “Yeah, that won’t happen.” My brows pulled together in confusion, so she clarified, “We broke up yesterday.”
“Oh, no, honey,” I said with sympathy. “You guys seemed fine at dinner. What happened?”
She shrugged. “Same thing as before. He doesn’t respect that I’m busy with my education and that I don’t want to sleep with him.”
I stayed silent as she gave me a detailed play by play of the breakup. Once she was done, I was pissed at that little twit for being an asshole to her again. However, I was also apprehensive about her social and romantic skills. As proud as I was of her for not being a hussy and standing by her beliefs, she was twenty-two, and I worried that she was so focused on her goals that she forgot she was also a young woman.
I had always hated on her deadbeat father and protected her from my crappy ass boyfriends. Now, I couldn’t help but fear that my behavior had impacted her the wrong way. Love and sex were beautiful things, and I hated to think that I had taught her they were less important than a career.
“I’m so sorry, Jess,” I said with a sigh. “Why didn’t you come talk to me afterward?”
“It was late,” she said, oddly fidgety. “Besides, I’m fine. Better than fine actually. I should have listened to you when you told me not to give him another chance. It was a huge mistake.”
“Maybe, but with me gone it'd be good for you to have someone. I worry about how lonely you are.”
Jess pulled in a deep breath and said, “I’m not lonely. I have some friends, and there’s Ben. He’ll keep me company.”
I nodded because I knew she was right, Ben would keep her company. However, I also knew he wasn’t the kind of company she should have.
The car was silent for a few minutes as I debated whether or not to use my hardly ever employed mom card on her. She was an adult, after all. However, as we approached the airport, I realized I wouldn’t have many more chances to impart on her some motherly wisdom and decided to throw my cool mom attitude out of the window for just a moment.
“I know you and Ben get along, and that’s great. But, as your mom, I have to ask you to be careful,” I started in a serious tone. Her breaths picked up speed the way they always did when I struck a nerve, so I continued, “He’s a great and very generous man, but he’s older and set in his ways. He’s not used to dealing with kind, sweet women like you and he sees relationships as stepping stones—look at our arrangement. I would hate to see you hurt, so please, be careful with how close you two get, okay?”
Looking uncomfortable as hell, Jess forced a smile and nodded. “Okay, but don’t worry. As much as I like him, he’s your husband.”
“Fake husband,” I corrected.
That comment made her relax a bit, probably happy at shifting the focus away from her. “Yeah, fake husband, which reminds me. As a fake wife, you have the right to find a real man for yourself, someone that will stick around after this thing is done and we’re millionaires. So, be open to opportunities, mom. You’re finally free of the burden of being a single mom. You can have fun now, and hello . . . Paris! The most romantic city in the world. I’m sure you can find someone better there than a deadbeat and a contract husband.”
Her excitement was contagious and made me laugh despite the knot in my gut. She stopped the car at the drop-off area of the airport and turned to hug me. I held my baby as hard as I could and kissed her cheeks a lot more than was socially acceptable at her age.
Once we parted, I looked deeply into those familiar green eyes. “I’ll promise to live my life in Paris to the fullest, as long as you promise to do the same—but carefully.”
My beloved daughter filled her lungs and nodded. “I can promise that.”
“Okay. Good.” I hugged her once more and opened the door. “I’ll see you soon, baby.”
“Love you, mom.”
I took one last look at her and sighed at the lingering unease in my gut. Still, I smiled and said, “Love you more.”
With that, I closed the door and flipped the page of the best chapter of my life. I wasn’t sure what life would bring for either of us, but I knew nothing would ever be the same again.
And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Chapter 22 - Jessica
I felt like the worst daughter in the world for wanting my mother gone so bad, but I couldn’t help the relief I felt as I watched her walk through the airport doors. After the promise Ben had made last night, I wanted my mom as far away as possible so he could show me how mind blo
wing rougher sex could be.
As I pulled out of the drop-off zone, my body sizzled with excitement over what was to come. Eager to share the good news, I picked up my cell phone and called Ben. He picked up on the second ring.
“Hi, Daddy,” I greeted with the pet name he liked so much.
“My sweet baby girl,” the greeting filled my car through the sound system. The happiness in his voice was so clear I could almost see the matching grin that was surely on his face. “How are you feeling this morning?”
I smiled at his concern and, knowing exactly what he meant, I quickly replied, “A bit sore, but happy. Really happy, actually.”
“No regrets?” he asked, his voice low and rough.
Although he couldn’t see me, I shook my head. “None whatsoever. You?”
“No.” Despite the honesty in his reply, there was an underlining uneasiness in his voice. I wondered what that was about for a second, but then he cleared his throat and asked, “Did your mom have anything to say about your happiness? She seemed a bit odd when I went to say goodbye to her.”
His question made my breath catch in my throat. I knew my mother well enough to know that my good mood combined with the early hour and the news of my breakup had raised red flags in her mind. She was no fool, and her parting warning had made it very clear that she was aware of my attraction for Ben. However, Ben’s constant worry about her finding out about us made me question if I should share the loaded conversation we had with him or not.
Decided to keep things as vague as possible, I said, “She didn’t say anything specific about it. Just that I should try to have fun while she’s gone. Mostly, we talked about my breakup with Trey and how I want her to find a nice man to cheat on you with and be happy.”
Real laughs filled the car at my words, and the tension of Ben’s last question seemed to dissipate a bit. “I hope she does,” he admitted once his chuckles died. “Pam deserves happiness as much as we do.” I obviously agreed with him, but before I could voice my agreement he sighed and, in a more serious tone, asked, “But she didn’t mention anything about me or us during your conversation?”
I pulled in a deep breath. As a terrible liar, I knew I didn’t have much choice other than telling Ben the truth. Fear that he would push me away as he had in the past because of her concerns gripped at my insides, but I pushed through them as best as I could.
“We talked about how you and I are friends, and she warned me to be careful. She thinks you’re the kind of friend who could hurt me.”
“Was that all?”
I sighed at the sudden heaviness of our conversation but still replied. “Yes, that was all.”
“Okay,” he whispered. A few seconds of heavy silence followed, and then he asked, “You know I wouldn’t, right? I won’t ever hurt you.”
A smile returned to my lips at his sweet admission.
“That's a shame,” I said. “I was really hoping that you would fulfill your promise when we get back home tonight and hurt me just a little.”
First, there was silence. Then, there were chuckles. And finally, there were roars of laughter coming from the other side of the line. Unable to help myself, I laughed as well, enjoying that Ben and I were finally back to a lighter and more pleasurable topic.
“What have I turned you into, baby girl?” he asked playfully.
“Someone who really likes not being a virgin anymore and wants to try all the things that involve your cock. In fact, I want to actually try your cock like the girl in the porn movie I told you about.”
Ben groaned into the phone. “I’m in the elevator of my office, and you’ve just assured that I won’t get any work done for the second day in a row. You’re gonna kill me one day, Jessica.”
“If that’s true, I’ll make sure you go with a smile on your face.”
He chuckled once more. The sound was mixed with the dinging of the elevator arriving at its destination. Voices echoed around Ben telling me that it was time for us to hang up and focus on our day, so I added, “Have a beautiful day, and I’ll see you at home.”
“Can’t wait, baby,” he said before hanging up.
As the car grew silent again, I drove to campus with anxiety in my veins and only one thought in my mind. Me neither, Daddy.
Chapter 23 – Ben
Something weird happened after I hung up the call with Jessica. I felt this pressure right at the center of my chest, and though it wasn’t particularly painful or heart attack-like, it was uncomfortable as shit, and I desperately wanted it to go away.
With a deep breath and a frown between my eyes, I rested my head against the headrest of my office chair and swirled it around to look out of my massive window. The city below looked oddly peaceful, which was ironic since this huge, buzzing metropolis seemed to have found something my mind couldn’t.
I groaned with frustration, closed my eyes and paced my breaths, hoping the combination of the three would help dissipate whatever was happening in my chest. It didn’t. It only made me think of Jessica and the way she had felt while I was inside her.
The memory made cock instantly hard and intensified the sensation in my chest, which annoyed me even more. However, instead of pushing the thought out of my mind and focusing on work like I should, I surrendered myself to it.
I thought about every second of our time together and how incredible it had been. I remembered her beautiful body, the taste of her pussy and the feel of her nails scraping down my skin as she begged me to make her mine. I thought about the way she called me daddy and cried my name as she came, and about the excitement on her face when I promised to spank and fuck her tonight.
Those memories were so incredible and wild that, before I realized what I was doing, my pants were open and my cock was in my hand. Not giving a shit that I was in my office and facing a window that overlooked other skyscrapers with equally large windows, I jerked off to thoughts of my baby girl and all the sexy fun I still wanted to have with her.
A million different scenarios that went from fucking her against the huge window in front of me to pushing myself inside her while we enjoyed a private pool party at home played in my mind. Each fantasy was better than the next and fed the orgasm building inside me with the same intensity that Jessica fed my lust. My hand continued to slide up and down my length for a couple more minutes before my cock exploded with a delicious but still unsatisfactory orgasm.
Confused and even more frustrated than I had been before, I cleaned myself and tried to figure out why this self-inflicted orgasm had been so lacking in comparison to every other I had had in the twenty-nine years since I had started masturbating. To be honest, I wasn’t the least surprised when an answer instantly popped into my head.
I no longer wanted self-inflicted orgasms. I also didn’t want orgasms with anyone else. I had no idea how or why, but fucking Jessica had completely changed sex for me. It was no longer just a physical need for release or a way to kill time when I was bored. No, in one night she had turned sex into a transcendent experience, and my orgasms into something meant just for her.
The player in me felt even embarrassed by those thoughts. They were shit hopeless romantics like my dad would think, but I couldn’t push them out of my mind without adding to the discomfort in my chest.
Beyond frustrated, I considered something that had evaded me for over four decades. I imagined myself having a permanent lover and treating her as more than just a fuckable pussy. I considered flowers and dinners and sweet words and freaked out when they not only made me feel happy instead of repulsed, but also erased the pressure in my chest.
It was a wild and scary thought, especially considering how complicated things were between us, but deep down I knew that was what I wanted. I knew that was what I would always want; Jessica mine and as more than just a casual thing.
Even though those thoughts made no sense to me and could potentially ruin my life in catastrophic ways, I decided I wouldn’t fight them. She made me happy and, despite our fucked-
up situation, gave me the feeling of home my father had wanted for me. For that reason, I decided to do everything in my power to make my intentions known and see what would happen next.
“God help me,” I muttered after a deep breath as I remembered Jessica’s words from earlier.
If that’s true, I’ll make sure you go with a smile on your face, Jessica had said, and I knew that statement was the most honest truth. She would kill me, and as long as she was in my arms, I would go smiling just because she was mine.
Chapter 24 – Jessica
Thanks to Biochem lab and a study group, I arrived home at almost eight at night. Having woken up so damn early to see my mother off, I was exhausted. Still, as I entered the garage and saw Ben’s car parked there, I felt strangely energized.
After checking myself in the mirror and assuring that I looked presentable even after my long day, I got out of my car and rushed over to the house. When I opened the door, the whole foyer and stairs were glowing with candlelight. My heart raced at the gorgeous sight and then skipped a beat as I approached the round table at the center and saw my name on the card attached to the largest and most beautiful flower arrangement I had ever seen.
I bit my lip as I reached for the card.
Welcome home, baby girl.
