His Christmas Baby: A Friends to Lovers Romance

by Sullivan, Piper

  She furrowed her brow. “What ?”

  “Not to fall in love with me,” he said slyly as his hand want to cup her face. “Here you are, though .”

  “I don’t see you complaining,” she pointed out as she propped herself up on her elbow. His wicked grin fell to her naked breasts, exposed as they slipped from beneath the sheet .

  “No, I can’t complain. Not even about my mother’s trickiness .”

  “What do you mean?” she asked with a frown .

  He pulled her into his arms as they rested against the pillows together. She listened to the steady beat of his heart as he played with her hair .

  “Her craftiness caused some stress,” he admitted. “But, it did lead to some valuable discoveries.” When his handsome eyes rested on her face, she blushed .

  She’d discovered more than she thought possible too. The journey to discover the secrets behind the Midnight Den had led her to love. Strange, unpredictable love that was worth discovering for years to come .

  * * *

  THE END

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  Feel free to use the Table of Contents to read an exclusive excerpt included in this book .

  Sneak Peek: Daddy’s Christmas Date

  Prologue

  Dani ~ 6 months ago

  S itting in a bar alone waiting for a blind date to show up when he was already forty-five minutes late was maddening. The fact that it was two days before Valentine’s Day made it pathetic. It was crazy to still be sitting here, but there was still scotch in my glass, so I waited. The longer it took him to show up—if he showed up at all—the greater my chances of getting Aunt Amelia to stop these damn set ups. The woman was so determined to see me matched up that she threw caution to the wind, putting all variety of men in front of me .

  All with varying but equally disastrous results .

  Tonight’s date was Diego, the single son of one of her poker buddies, whom she promised was a ‘good guy’. When he finally put in an appearance, at the one-hour mark, I knew why she’d chosen him. He was handsome. No, he was better than handsome, with a charming dimpled smile and smooth tan skin .

  “Diego?”

  He stood beside the booth and grinned. “Sorry I’m late. I got tied up with Call of Duty.” He didn’t seem all that sorry as he slid into the seat across from me, flashing a smile that had probably gotten him out of plenty of trouble over the years. “So, you’re Dani. Can I tell you how sexy it is when hot chicks have guys names ?”

  I suppressed the urge to shudder at his words. Not that I was such a hardcore feminist that words like chick offended me, but damn he sounded like an overgrown frat boy. “I had nothing to do with the name, but thanks.” Great, Aunt Amelia had gotten me a conversationalist .

  “Right. You’re pretty hot Dani, why did you decide to become a doctor and waste it ?”

  I blinked. “What exactly did I waste ?”

  “I just mean, you didn’t really need to work all that hard to be successful .”

  Yeah, I got it all right. He wasn’t the first to say this to me, and I doubted he would be the last. Still, any hope I had of being nice to this guy died slowly and painfully right there .

  “I enjoy what I do. The challenge of figuring out what’s wrong with a patient and helping them back to good health, that brings me a sense a satisfaction I couldn’t find doing something else .”

  “Damn you’re smart. So, what do you say we get out of here?” He flashed his blinding white smile that popped two dimples. His hair had been perfectly styled to the picture of urban sophistication. He should be my type. But he wasn’t .

  “Excuse me?” The man had to be high on crack to think this night would lead anywhere near a bed .

  He shrugged. “We’ve had our drinks. You’re hot and I’m hot, let’s go be hot together. Someplace else.” His tone told me he expected me to be bowled over by his offer. But guys like him were all the same. Even if I decided to get naked with him, I knew I would end up unsatisfied and finishing myself off afterwards. No, thank you .

  “And what makes you think I’m going home with you tonight?” I didn’t have anything against one night stands, but I had to at least like the guy before spreading my legs for him .

  “Well, your aunt did have to help you get a date .”

  Wow. So did his mom, but pointing that out wouldn’t have helped, so I gave him my best doctor glare as I leaned in. “No. I didn’t need this date, nor did I want it. She took it upon herself to set us up, though now that I’ve met you, I have to wonder what the hell she was thinking.” Clearly she hadn’t bothered to look beyond his shiny exterior .

  “Yeah, well, now that we’re both here, we might as well make the most of it. Though we’ll have to go to your place because Mom is hosting poker night .”

  Mom. Poker night. “You live with your mom?” This just got better and better .

  “Well yeah. I mean, I pay the bills so she can live on her retirement, plus my dad’s pension and she cooks and does my laundry. It’s perfect .”

  Perfect. Like that was a perfectly reasonable way for a grown man to live, unless of course it was with a girlfriend or wife. Oh my god! He was married to his mother! “I’m sure you two are very happy together .”

  “We are,” he beamed .

  Right. As soon as I got rid of this guy I was going to kill Aunty Amelia. She was my best friend and my closest living relative, but I had to kill her. It was the only way to stop the madness .

  Unless.

  A tall, stacked blonde wearing a painted on blue dress eyed our table with the hunger of a supermodel. “Look Diego, this isn’t going to happen tonight. But that woman in blue has been eyeing you since you walked in. You should go for it .”

  He was clearly confused, conflicted and unsure if this was a trap. “But we -,”

  “Aren’t going to happen. Go .”

  Once he was certain I wasn’t trying to trick him, a slow sexy grin spread across his face. “Well, all right. You’re a damn cool chick Dani. If you ever change your mind about this thing between us, give me a call .”

  Yep. Right after hell froze over. “Good luck .”

  I watched him walk away, and as soon as he wrapped a lock of blond hair around his finger I paid for my drinks and headed home with one solemn vow .

  No more dating .

  No more men .

  Just me. And medicine .

  And copious amounts of masturbation .

  For the foreseeable future .

  Ty

  “J ust check it out Ty. Give it a month and see what happens, you might be surprised .”

  My younger brother Blake peered at me through his stylish but still geeky as hell black glasses, familiar grey eyes staring at me .

  “I am not interested, Blake.” The last thing I needed was another fortune hunter on my ass, trying to use my kid to get close to me. “Drop it .”

  “I can’t. I promised my favorite nephew I’d help find him a new mommy .”

  Shit. How could I possibly deny my son the one thing he wanted most in this world? He’d never known what it was like to have a mother because his own had died hours after bringing him into the world .

  “He said that ?”

  “He did. That’s why we got you this gift certificate for six months with A Matched Set. Just try it out man .”

  “Fine but I’m not doing the whole six months Blake.” Dating as a single father wasn’t easy. Dating as a rich single father was damn near impossible. I had already been married once, happily. When Tilly died giving birth, so had my hopes for love and marriage .

  “You don’t have to. But that will take you through the holidays, lots of romantic moments to fall in love.” He wiggled his eyebrows and I groaned .

  “Fine!”

  “Good, because I’ve already got your profile done and it’s now…live,” he said as he pressed a button on his phon
e. “You are Ty, a retired Airman, private pilot and a single father. No mention of money and no shots of your whole face. Happy ?”

  My shoulders relaxed considerably. “Well, yes. I mean, if I have to do this I’d rather have no one know about my money .”

  Blake nodded. “I know and I promise to do a deep dive on any woman who makes it past the first meeting, just to be sure .”

  I grinned. “Like you need any reason to hack someone’s life .”

  My brother was the tech brains behind our import and export business, helping track down hard to find items that our clients paid well to have. Discreetly .

  “Just because I like to do it doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary. Now go on…oh look, you already have three matches .”

  “Impossible.” This was why grown men didn’t date online. My profile had been live for a few seconds, how could I have three matches already? “It’s a scam .”

  “I could explain all the complicated algorithms used to match you, or you could just trust me .”

  I wouldn’t understand that shit anyway, so I just nodded. “Just give me the login details .”

  “Already in your email. I expect details, and you know I’m happy to watch Bobby when you need it .”

  “Yeah, thanks man.” Bobby adored his uncle, and when they were together it was difficult to know who was the actual adult. “If it comes to that, I’ll let you know.” I didn’t think it would come to that, ever, but Blake was hopeful so I kept it to myself .

  After Blake left I turned to my computer, unable to resist getting a look at the women who were my so called matches. I laughed out loud at the first image that popped up. She was cute in a girl next door, sexy farmer kind of way, but barely legal and looking for a “daddy”. Whether she meant sexually, or of the sugar variety, I didn’t know and didn’t care. I clicked the heart with the red circle and line drawn across it to say I wasn’t interested and moved on .

  The next woman was a cute brunette with smart blue eyes and a quirky grin, like she was thinking of a joke she refused to share. “Dani.” I rolled the name around on my tongue, it sounded cute. Like a girl, but this woman didn’t look like a girl. She was in her thirties like me and she worked at a medical center. I tapped the book icon to signal I was interested .

  The final woman, LeeAnne, was gorgeous, at least the parts of her in the images was. Long, long legs and an hourglass waist, high arches and tempting cleavage popped out from a half dozen images. As much as my mouth watered at the individual parts, I could spot schemer from a mile away. This woman wanted to appear fun and carefree but she was the type to pursue a false paternity claim after one night. Or she was the type to start planning a wedding after a cup of coffee. Either way, I wasn’t interested .

  One out of three wasn’t bad .

  A ding noise sounded on my screen .

  Three more matches in just fifteen minutes. Who knew there were so many soulmates for me within a fifty mile radius ?

  * * *

  T wo days later I sat in my oversized leather recliner with my tablet in hand, chatting with Dani-Kong while Bobby and Blake played some space game on the big screen. The sound of my boy’s laughter always put me in a good mood, which I needed after a steamy chat session with LeeAnn who had proven to be everything I thought—and more—when she invited me to meet her at a sex club in the city. I passed and upgraded her from a maybe to a definitely not interested .

  Dani though, she intrigued me .

  D ani-Kong: My aunt bought me a membership because she’s worried I’ll become a spinster after giving up dating a few months ago .

  FlyGuyTy: Months? Big heartache ?

  W hy I asked her that, I couldn’t really say, only that a woman who looked like her didn’t just drop out of the game .

  D ani-Kong: No, nothing so dramatic as all that. Just tired of the dating scene. And guys. (no offense ).

  FlyGuyTy: None taken, I think. So how long have you been off men ?

  Dani-Kong: Four months .

  I couldn’t help it, I laughed out loud. Four months was nothing, hell I didn’t date for three years after my wife died .

  F lyGuyTy: Four whole months? You must be near nun status !

  Dani-Kong: Hahaha, okay well it’s officially been four months but before that another year of bad first dates. Really, really bad. Like off the charts, spectacularly awful .

  FlyGuyTy: It doesn’t seem like you have any scars from the war .

  Dani-Kong: No, all of my scars are seared into my brain, thank you very much. So, FGT, what do I need to know about you ?

  T hat was a loaded question, because I came with a lot of baggage. A billion dollar company to run, a meddling younger brother, a dead wife and a precocious seven year old boy. That was my life in a nutshell, but that was enough to scare off any woman with half a brain. So, I decided to start slow .

  F lyGuyTy: I have a son, he’s seven .

  Dani-Kong: I love kids, they’re easy. Honest .

  FlyGuyTy: Easy when you don’t have to deal with them all day .

  Dani-Kong: I may not be a parent, but as a pediatrician I’d say my job is even harder. I have to worry about every kid in town .