My Single Daddy: A Second Chance Older Man and Single Dad Romance (Daddy's Girl Series Book 4)

by Angela Blake

  She had his eyes, his beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and her heart twisted a little in her chest whenever her daughter turned her mischievous glint towards her.

  Lorena loved her daughter more than anything on this Earth, and there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her.

  But she had to at least give Lucas a chance before she wrote him off.

  She finished her lunch and signaled for the check, glad that she didn’t have any classes today. She never would’ve been able to focus on teaching the kids with her brain in a million different places at once.

  She gathered her scattered thoughts as she paid for her meal and made her way out of the café.

  She checked her watch and realized she had about fifteen minutes left till they were supposed to meet, so she straightened her handbag and began the walk to the café.

  She made it there with five minutes to spare and she leaned against the wall as she watched the people coming and going wondering what their lives were like.

  Wondering if any of them had ever made a decision to protect their child. Some of them probably had, some of them probably wondered about it every day.

  She bet a lot of them didn’t think twice though knowing what kind of dangers were out there in the world.

  Mostly, she wondered about her own decision. What impact would integrating Lucas have on Elena’s life?

  She had to hope it was for the best.

  She spotted Lucas a while later strolling towards her in his washed out jeans and shirt. She noticed how women who passed by him paused to stare. Lucas just had that energy about him, and with his sinewy muscles and that sparkle in his chocolate brown eyes, women no doubt swooned over him.

  She was one of those women once.

  If she were being honest with herself, she was still very much attracted to him, but she couldn’t let that have any bearing on what she was about to tell him. She had to do the right thing for Elena now.

  Whether or not they would ever have anything again didn’t matter as long as Elena had her father.

  “Hey,” Lucas said as he finally reached her.

  “Hey,” she responded as she gazed at him taking in the angles of his face, and the way it was brought out by the slight copper in his hair.

  “Ready to go? My car is just around the corner,” he jabbed a finger in the direction of the car.

  “Let’s go.”

  They walked quietly to the car, the air charged with the weight of all the things they wanted to say, but couldn’t.

  ***

  Lorena looked around as Lucas pulled up to a quiet spot on the beach an hour later. The car ride over had been awkward first with Lucas trying to draw her out of her shell, and Lorena terrified of letting down her wall.

  She would respond in monosyllables at first until finally he brought up one particular memory of her trying to cook and nearly burning the house down that had her laughing till tears ran down her face.

  After that, they simply fell into old habits.

  They got out of the car and took off their shoes as they let their toes sink into the sand.

  “I love how the sand feels between my toes,” she whispered quietly.

  Lucas smiled as he dug his feet in. “I remember you saying that. I love how it smells here. It’s hard to remember that smell when you live in the city, but once you’re here, it just permeates the senses.”

  Lorena gave him a small smile as she shoved her hands in her pockets and began to wriggle her toes. She sighed as she felt some of the tension drain away as she walked towards the water.

  She took in a huge gulp of salty air and let it fill her lungs completely before she released it. “The rest of the world just melts away out here,”

  “It does,” Lucas agreed from behind her as she felt rather than saw him stand next to her. He dipped his toes into the water. “The water is warm,”

  Lorena gave him a wry smile. “Nice try. I’m not falling for that trick.”

  “What trick?”

  “You flinched when you dipped your toes just now. You want to tell me that was a reflex?”

  Lucas gave her a sheepish smile. “Won’t know unless you try.”

  “Why would I”- she was interrupted when a splash of water drenched her. She sputtered as she stared at Lucas who looked as delighted as a kid during Christmas.

  The water was warm, but that didn’t mean she was going to let it slide. She gave him an innocent smile before she splashed him right back.

  He spit the water out of his mouth as he stared at her through hooded eyes.

  “Oh, it’s on.”

  They began a water fight much like the ones they used to have in Madrid when they were younger, and things were great between them. In that hour as they splashed each other, each trying to get the other to surrender, all the years melted away, and it was like they were back in Spain having some fun before they headed home for the night.

  Lucas threw himself onto the beach. “I give up.”

  “You are- what do the Americans call it? A chicken,” she began to make chicken noises at him.

  Lucas pretended to be offended. “And you are what they call a sore loser.”

  Lorena surprised herself and him by throwing her head back and laughing before she plopped next to him on the sand.

  They lay there, side by side, their bodies barely touching as they breathed deeply and stared at the deep blue sky. The sun shone down on them, its rays warming them up.

  Unknowingly, Lorena had moved closer to Lucas and had fitted herself to his side. He placed one arm around her just like he used to do.

  Lorena took a deep breath before she looked up at Lucas who was already gazing at her.

  “Que pasa?”

  “I need to tell you something, but before I do you, you have to promise you’ll wait till I’m finished before you say anything, and please think very carefully before you make a decision because it is a big deal.”

  “Are you offering to be my sponsor?” Lucas teased.

  Lorena slapped him on the arm, an amused smile tugging on the corner of her lips before she sobered up.

  “When I told you to go to America, when you got that scholarship, I knew that I had to let you go, so you could pursue your dream. So I convinced you that it was okay.”

  “I know why you did it, Lor. We agreed we’d try the long distance thing, but it was too hard after a while, I thought we both agreed to that.”

  Lorena gave an exasperated sigh. “Would you stop interrupting?”

  Lucas held up his hand and mimed shutting his mouth.

  “It was the right decision at the time, but what I didn’t tell you is that I was pregnant.”

  She proceeded to tell Lucas the story, why she had made the decisions she made, and Lucas listened quietly nodding to let her know he was keeping up.

  When she was finished, she waited anxiously for his reaction.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “What?” she whispered unsure of where this was coming from.

  “I’m sorry I made you feel like you were alone when you lost the baby, and like you had to let me go, so that I could pursue my dream while you raised our daughter. That wasn’t fair to you, and I wish you had told me the truth, but I understand why you didn’t.”

  “Really?”

  He rolled over, so he was looming on top of her. “Really. When can I meet Elena?”

  Lorena laughed, a lovely carefree sound. “How about tonight? She’s with the baby sitter right now, but we can go see her.”

  Lucas leaned in and nuzzled her neck. “I like that-we.” He pulled back and gazed at her, his eyes full of questions. Lorena nodded as he pressed his lips to hers.

  He kissed her slowly at first, as if taking his time letting the years reacquaint him with what his body already knew, but soon his kissing grew more insistent, and he gently bit down on her bottom lip. She parted her lips and groaned as their tongues battled for dominance.

  She lifted her hips and pressed herself clo
ser causing Lucas to moan in the back of his throat. His hands ran up and down her body leaving goosebumps in his wake.

  Lorena ran her hands over his back and snaked them underneath his shirt. She helped him out as he helped her out of her shirt.

  He placed both hands on her breasts and began to knead them till her breasts practically spilled out of her bra, and all the while Lorena was writhing, gasping like a swimmer who was desperate for air.

  She reached between them and placed her hand above his crotch and began to stroke. Lucas smiled against her as he grinded into her hand. He brought her hands up slowly and wrapped them around his neck.

  He reached down and lay his hand on top of her crotch and watched as her eyes glazed over with uncontrolled desire. He unzipped his jeans and kicked them off as Lorena watched him through hooded eyes.

  She kicked off her own jeans and watched as his eyes trailed over her body. He unclasped her bra and took one breast in his mouth. He began to suck and lick until Lorena was practically clawing on his back. He took the other breast and did the same till both her nipples were erect. She impatiently grinded against him until he finally tore himself away and lowered his boxers.

  He thrust into her in one quick stroke, and they began to move together in wild abandon not caring if the whole world heard them. He began to nibble on her ears and bit her neck as he steadily thrust into her.

  She ran her hands up and down his back and over his hips causing him to tremble in desire.

  They finally came together, both of them shouting, their voices echoing on that empty beach.

  “Let’s go home,” he finally said a while later as he was stroking her back.

  Lorena smiled up at him as they got dressed and moved towards his car. They got in and drove towards Elena, towards their future.

  THE END

  A Workplace Romance

  Chapter One

  Ashlyn adjusted the settings on the camera one more time. She couldn’t believe that she was about to shoot scenes for the movie Firebird. She had always dreamed of filming, and being here felt surreal. It just seemed as though the preparations were taking forever! Gary Phogot was an up-and-coming director. The tabloids said he had promise, but that he hadn’t produced a movie yet that really grabbed into the public.

  Ashlyn looked around and saw that many of the other togs were sitting around. Some were talking; some were eating the drinks provided. They certainly weren’t worried about their cameras flying away. Ashlyn decided she had to do something to relax. Her part in the filming would come soon enough.

  “That looks good,” Ashlyn said, approaching one of the togs and commenting on their plate of food.

  The man held it up and smiled. “Would you like to try some?”

  Ashlyn grabbed a small handful of the trail mix and began eating it piece by piece as she tuned into the man’s conversation with another woman working on set. “. . .badly run. Before, we were very efficient. Now, it’s a lot of sitting, a lot of waiting, and not a lot of working.”

  “You say that like’s a bad thing,” the woman answered. “We’re still being paid the same, so what does it matter?”

  Ashlyn’s eyes traveled over to the director who was giving orders and flapping his hands like a bird who was desperately trying to take flight. Maybe he really was trying to move things along. The director motioned toward the woman in charge of the extras.

  Ashlyn shook her head and turned away as the extras started filing in. She felt a little sick to her stomach. Her luck had never been very good. When she was growing up, all she had wanted was to be an extra. She hadn’t even asked for a speaking part, and here were others receiving their places easily. Her luck never seemed to take her very far, but then, that was normal. She hadn’t been able to finish film school either for lack of money. She’d had to beef up her resume with a few lies before anyone would take her.

  But, it seemed to have work well in the end. Here she was, almost ready to begin filming her first scene. Ashlyn walked back over to the camera that had been assigned to her, her camera, and began fidgeting with it again. She looked up and watched the director direct. The extras were being led over to a certain part of the forest, and Ashlyn wondered why they needed so many. It’s not as though they were filming in the city.

  One of the extras was pulled aside, and Ashlyn found her stomach flipping over as she studied him. She had never been one of those girls desperate to have a man, but this man was very attractive. He drew Ashlyn’s eye immediately. Ashlyn studied him as he listened carefully to the director’s instructions.

  He had dark skin that looked as smooth as an undisturbed cup of hot cocoa. His hair was cut short, and when he smiled at the director, Ashlyn felt her heart beat hard. He was very handsome. After a pause, where she seemed to be struggling for control over her body, Ashlyn pulled away and forced herself to focus on something else. She struck up a conversation with a cameraman who was standing nearby.

  “So,” she said, “what’s the protocol for filming? Do you know if we’re going to start this year?”

  The guy looked up from his phone as though surprised that someone was talking to him. “Oh, yeah. Soon. Sorry, my girlfriend is being needy.”

  Ashlyn glanced at his phone. She didn’t know what to say. She’d never been great at conversing with others. She was more of an introvert.

  “So, shouldn’t we go ahead and set up our cameras?” she asked, more out of something to say than really thinking he would know the answer.

  The guy shrugged. “I don’t think so. Gary will tell us when we’re supposed to do something. Just stay quiet and out of his way until that happens.”

  Ashlyn smiled. “Okay. I’m just so excited to start that I want to be ready.”

  The guy smiled a crooked smile at her as if seeing her for the first time. “I remember being a newbie.” He slapped her arm as one friend would to another. “Enjoy it. Pretty soon, you get bogged down and life, and then sometimes, you forget how much you loved working with a camera in the first place.”

  “I don’t think I could ever forget that,” Ashlyn said.

  Gary came over a few minutes later and began shouting hurried directions. Ashlyn adjusted her camera and focused on the area she was assigned. Everyone was in place and ready to start the frame.

  Ashlyn stood behind her camera and looked through the lens. Her stomach flipped over again as she looked at the dark-skinned extra. She had thought he would just be playing with the others, be there for a day then leave. Instead, he had been chosen to have a little bit of a bigger part. Ashlyn didn’t like the idea of him having a bigger part, but who was she to say anything? She simply focused her camera on her and tried to calm her stomach. She had never felt such instant attraction to someone.

  As soon as she started recording, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. The man who was stirring her insides was playing a small role named Travis. She decided that would be his name from now on since she didn’t know his real name. She slowly moved her camera forward on the dolly at the correct part, focusing in close on Travis. He looked right at the camera as he delivered one line, and Ashlyn felt like she might throw up. What was her problem?

  “Alright, everyone has five minutes,” Gary said. “Five minutes, everyone.” Gary was pulled away to deal with a problem, and Ashlyn began reviewing the shots she had. They were pretty good.

  Ashlyn looked up and saw that Travis was headed toward her. Did he find her as attractive as she found him? Ashlyn looked toward the bathroom trailer, desperately searching for an escape. It was too late. Travis laid a hand on her arm.

  Chapter Two

  “You’re working with the cameras,” he asked as Ashlyn slowly turned back to him and acknowledged that she would have to speak to him.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “You’re an extra.” Wow, that was brilliant, Ashlyn. You really know how to draw them in, she thought.

  “My name is Javon,” the man said, offering his hand. Ashlyn shook it.

>   “Ashlyn,” she replied.

  “Your eyes really make you stand out,” Javon said. Ashlyn self-consciously looked at the ground. Everyone said the same thing. Her green eyes were one-of-a-kind, beautiful, unique, and memorable. She had heard it all before, but somehow, when Javon said it, it made her feel different, like his opinion mattered.

  “Thank you,” she said, searching for something to complement back toward him.

  “You should be in front of the camera, not me,” Javon continued. Ashlyn looked up and caught his eyes. When she did, she forgot everything she wanted to say. She felt like she was frozen. A strong urge rose up within her to kiss him, but she batted it away. Why was she so physically attracted to him?

  “I guess we all have our place,” Ashlyn finally said. “I love working with cameras, so I much prefer to be with my camera than act.”

  Javon shrugged. “It’s the loss of the viewers then.” He smiled directly into her eyes, and Ashlyn felt desperate to busy herself in some way. This man was going to distract her and make her unable to work when he was around. If she couldn’t think when he was looking at her, how would she be able to work?

  “I’m going to get some water,” Ashlyn said. “I’ll talk to you later.” She took a step away and felt as though she were freeing herself from a trance, but Javon stepped forward again.

  “I’ll get your water. You wait right here.”

  Ashlyn didn’t like it, but she waited, watching Javon as he walked away. Her eyes dropped to his ass, and she half-smiled. He was certainly a very attractive man, and she didn’t mind looking at him. It was when she started to talk to him that he was a problem. If she was calling his attention as much as he was calling hers, then they would distract each other. They had to keep Gary, the director, happy or they could both lose their jobs. There was no dating among employees, even extras. If you were dating, you had to keep it a secret.

  Ashlyn accept the bottled water right at the moment when they were called to return to their position. Ashlyn thanked Javon for the water hurriedly and turned toward her camera, but Javon grabbed onto her arm.