Billionaire Baby Daddy: A Second Chance Romance

by Lara Swann

  I have no idea what that reputation is. My Mom talks about it often enough, but considering the way she acts, I can’t believe it’s in any way positive to start with.

  And it’s not just this once either. I refrain from pointing out all the times I’ve done just that.

  But I also know I’m not getting out of this conversation easily - and it’d be better for me to subtly make it clear to the guy, Matthew, that I’m not interested, than to leave him on the receiving end of Mom’s inability to handle confrontation and embarrassment.

  “Fine.” I say, frustrated. “I’ll have a quick conversation with him, and let him know I’m here with Josh.”

  “Well, okay, but maybe give it a bit of time first.” She winces. “After all, he’s moving to LA and it’d be so nice for you both to be friends. Besides, you never know how things are going to go, or what might happen with you and Josh. Maybe…he’s not the right one for you, Cassandra - you’re never going to know unless you consider a few alternatives. Just…keep your eyes open.”

  She gives me a knowing smile, all ease and grace again now that I’ve agreed, and I blink at that comment as she starts whisking me away to where Matthew is presumably waiting.

  Seriously?!

  I don’t know whether to be outraged again, suspicious that this set-up occurred because of Josh instead of despite him, or subtly pleased that his attempts to put my family off might be working.

  I decide to go with the latter, since it’s by far the most pleasant of those options.

  We end up at the tables scattered with food from the barbecue nearer the house, and I see a man there putting together what looks like a meat-and-more-meat sandwich.

  “Matthew!” Mom enthuses, as if she’s known this man all her life.

  He looks up and turns towards us with a smile, and I give a polite one back.

  He’s not bad looking - certainly better than some of the men Mom has presented me with - with overly-styled blond hair slicked back from a slightly pudgy face. He adjusts his glasses slightly as he steps forward and I bring an arm up to shake his hand.

  That gets awkwardly pushed aside as he goes in for a hug, and I try to adjust to the gesture, briefly wrapping one arm around his back.

  “It’s so good to see you again, Cassie.” Matthew says, and I have to blink at him for a moment as I wonder whether he actually remembers me.

  I don’t recognize him at all.

  “Ah…yes, you too.” I agree anyway, giving another polite smile as I try to step back again.

  I’m grateful when his attention returns to his plate of food, and he picks it up with another smile, standing just a bit too close to me.

  “You look beautiful today.” He says, with a glance down at my body that suddenly reminds me I’m only wearing a bikini.

  Oh fuck.

  I’m not entirely sure I can deal with this.

  I feel a spasm of guilt and try to push aside my sudden desire to cover my body - which is bizarre, since I’ve never had a problem enjoying a bit of attention before, and I’m not actually with Josh.

  I turn to the food, uncomfortable and more than a little confused, picking up an apple as Mom gives us both a big smile.

  “I’m so glad you could come, Matthew.” She enthuses. “Cassie, why don’t you show Matthew some of the ranch? You know we’ve been coming here since Cassie was just a kid, I’m sure she’s got all sorts of favorite places she’d like to show you.”

  What the fuck?

  It takes all my effort not to glare at her.

  I wonder whether she remembers that’s exactly what I wanted to do with Josh this morning. If she does, it’s yet another sign that she doesn’t like him, which should be a good thing, but…

  “That would be lovely.” He gives me another warm smile, and now I feel bad for him as well.

  “Umm, well…okay.” I make the sudden decision.

  Get him away from my Mom, make the situation obvious. That’ll do.

  “Well, I’ll leave the two of you alone, then.” My Mom doesn’t quite wink, but it’s definitely implied.

  I deliberately turn away from her, and Matthew follows me.

  “I guess we could walk through the gardens.” I childishly pick the one place I never had any interest in.

  It’s also near enough to the pool area, and where my whole family are, that there’s no risk of being alone.

  Matthew walks along beside me, and I don’t look at him as I take a bite of my apple.

  Polite, but blunt. Not enough to scandalize my family, but enough to make it obvious very quickly.

  My usual approach when it comes to these things.

  “So, what brought you up this way today?” I ask.

  He laughs a little. “Well, your Mom invited me, and I thought it might be nice to see you again.”

  I give him a half-smile. “Okay, I’ll be honest - I don’t remember you at all, Matthew. Did we actually know each other in college?”

  He flushes and glances away. “Um, that’s okay, I wasn’t…sure you would. Though your Mom seemed to think…”

  “My Mom gets all sorts of ideas in her head. Not many of them are entirely grounded in reality.” I interrupt, knowing exactly what she’d think of me saying that and not caring in the slightest. Matthew seems like a decent enough guy to understand.

  “Oh, well…” He shrugs.

  “So we didn’t know each other then?” I say with a smile. “Believe me, I won’t be offended if you say don’t have a clue who I was either.”

  He gives me a ‘you’re kidding, right?’ look and I raise an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, Cassie, you were the hottest girl in class. I think everyone remembers you.” He says, the comment just barely the right side of lewd.

  “Hmm,” I consider. “I’m not sure…”

  He laughs. “Yes, it was blatantly obvious you didn’t notice. I think you were too distracted with school…”

  I’m getting the uncomfortable feeling of a group of boys at college discussing and perving on my oblivious younger self.

  I laugh it off anyway with a shrug and a look. “I think I still am now.”

  He grins again. “Yeah, your Mom mentioned - med school, right?”

  There’s the opening you were aiming for.

  I nod. “Yeah, between that and my boyfriend Josh, I don’t have much time for anything else these days.”

  That gets a reaction.

  He recoils slightly, blinking in surprise. “Your…boyfriend?”

  I smile, appearing completely oblivious. “Yeah, Josh.”

  Then, against all odds, he actually steps closer to me.

  “And…how’s that going?” He gives me another smile that I don’t quite know how to interpret, as I stare at him.

  What the fuck?

  “Um…good.” I say, then try and emphasize that again as I get over his unexpected reaction. “Really good - he’s here this week, actually, meeting my family for the first time.”

  “Ohh, really…” He gives me another strange look, and I try and step slightly away from him again, feeling uncomfortably close to this guy I don’t know at all.

  We head past the pool area and I shift our direction to take us just a little nearer, gesturing to where Josh is still lying in the sun.

  “That’s him over there.” I say, trying to make a point of it, and then I give an instinctive wave, even though I’m not sure Josh is even awake.

  “Mmhmm.” Matthew murmurs, glancing over.

  Then Josh waves back, and I feel an unexpected wave of relief. I smile at him, even though he’s on the other side of the pool and I’m pretty sure we’re silhouetted against the sun.

  The desire to be back there, with him and my sun lounger, overwhelms me as I finally feel completely done with my Mom’s games.

  “Well,” I begin, with a sidelong look at Matthew beside me. “You know, I’m actually feeling pretty tired. If you don’t mind, I might go back over there…”

  I take a step in th
at direction, and he frowns.

  “Aw, c’mon, Cassie. I was really hoping to talk to you - you know, I’m moving to LA in a few months and I thought it would be great to get to know you…” He says, and I’m uncomfortably reminded of my mother’s pressure yet again as I turn back towards him.

  How is he still interested in this? What the fuck is he doing?

  I don’t believe for a second he wants to be friends, not with the things he’s said and the way he’s looking at me…

  Before I can work out how to respond, Josh appears beside me, his arm around my shoulder and pulling my body safely into his, so I’m facing Matthew instead of standing right beside him.

  It’s surprisingly possessive, but it’s such a relief that I melt into him, making me want nothing more than to turn and bury my head in his shoulder. My arm goes around his waist instead, and I squeeze him close, my smile reappearing.

  “Hello.” Josh says, slightly abruptly, holding his hand out to Matthew. “I’m Josh - Cassie’s boyfriend.”

  “Matthew.” Matthew responds, similarly abrupt, pumping his hand once and glancing back at me.

  “So,” Josh starts again, and I can almost feel the heat in his expression as he gives Matthew a meaningful glance, his voice deceptively friendly. “Are you another of Cassie’s relatives? I’m afraid I don’t know everyone just yet…”

  “No, I’m an old family friend, actually - Adelaide invited me to spend a couple of days here.” Matthew says, similarly not-quite-friendly as I try and get over the ‘couple of days’ comment. “Cassie and I knew each other in college.”

  He shifts closer to me as I stare at him in disbelief. He’s actually saying that. Despite what I had just said about not even remembering who he was.

  “Wow, college…such a long time ago.” Josh repeats. “Strange that Cassie’s never mentioned you.”

  Josh raises an eyebrow at me and I try not to laugh. The typical male posturing - and the way Josh is deliberately playing it up - would usually have me rolling my eyes, but I’m actually kind of enjoying it.

  “Yeah…it’s been a while.” I agree, not going quite so far as repeating that I can’t remember Matthew at all - despite starting to feel like he might deserve it.

  “So you guys were catching up on old times?” Josh asks.

  “Something like that.” I mutter.

  “Any fun stories I should know about?” He grins, winking comically at Matthew, who just blinks.

  “No, not really.” I shrug, trying to make my disinterest obvious.

  Matthew keeps looking at me, like he’s expecting me to do something - or at least take a more active part in this conversation - but I’m more than happy to let Josh take over.

  I clearly wasn’t being obvious enough to get Matthew off my back, so if Josh can do it for me…that makes a nice change from how these things usually go. I might as well take advantage of having my boyfriend here.

  “Well, I’m moving to LA in the summer - so maybe we’ll have the chance to make some fun memories then.” Matthew finally says, a strange mixture of suggestive and defensive, as he works out I’m not going to jump in with anything else. “Adelaide certainly thought so - she thought Cassie could give me some advice on living there, you know, before I move.”

  I don’t know why the fuck he keeps talking about my mother - like her name makes a difference or something. Unless they’ve become far more friendly than the casual invite suggests.

  “Oh, really?” Josh’s voice lowers, and I swear it feels dangerous for a moment, before he continues in an overly-enthusiastic tone. “Well, I’m living in LA too, I’d be more than happy to help you out…”

  Without waiting for a response, he launches into a description of the best neighborhoods to live in, common places to avoid, where you can get the best value for your money - which is almost nowhere - in an overload of information that makes me zone out.

  I’m pretty sure it’s having the same effect on Matthew, which is fine by me, especially as it has the advantage of completely shutting him up and turning the conversation away from me.

  Instead I just enjoy the way we’re standing together, my head leaning against his shoulder and our arms around each other. It’s coupley as hell, but as far as I’m concerned that’s exactly what Matthew - and my family - need to see right now. And the unexpectedly protective vibe I’m getting from Josh is making me weirdly happy.

  I never thought my Mom would go to this extreme - or that the guy she’d pick would completely ignore the fact I have a boyfriend - but having Josh here almost makes it okay anyway.

  “…I’m sorry, baby, am I boring you?” I blink as I realize that was directed at me.

  I glance between the two of them and see that he’s definitely boring Matthew, then smile dumbly and shake my head.

  I’m pretty sure he’s giving me a generous opportunity to escape, but right now I’m appreciating the shield he’s providing from whatever my family - or, more specifically, my Mom - might come up with next.

  “No, of course not.” I look at Matthew again, putting a hand on Josh’s chest in support and privately mourning the book I left lying on my sun lounger earlier. “Property is a shared passion of ours.”

  I feel Josh’s chest vibrate under my hand, even though he keeps a straight face, nodding along eagerly and continuing his spiel.

  We’ve literally never talked about it before.

  He kisses the side of my head, tucking my hair behind my ear and smiling back at Matthew. “Oh yes, we could talk about it for hours. You’re asking the right people about this, I tell you.”

  He ignores the fact Matthew hasn’t asked a thing about where he should be renting in LA, and now has a scarcely concealed look of frustration on his face.

  It takes another twenty minutes, and several attempted interruptions, before Matthew finally has enough and awkwardly excuses himself - just as I’m starting to seriously reconsider deciding to stick around.

  This shit is tedious.

  After he’s gone, Josh and I look at each other and last all of ten seconds before bursting into laughter.

  He pulls me closer and I step easily into his embrace, resting my head on his chest and sighing deeply.

  “What a dick.” Josh mutters.

  I look up at him and shake my head.

  “You’re the one that just spent an hour talking about LA’s rental market.” I point out.

  He snorts again. “Yeah, pity I only knew about ten minutes’ worth of material…I do hope he doesn’t take all of that too seriously…”

  “I’m sure he won’t remember any of it at all.” I reassure him, and he flicks my ear, making me try and twist my head away.

  “I preferred it when you weren’t doing that, you know.” I scowl at him, to be met with another grin.

  “Too bad, baby.” His eyes sparkle at me, and I grab at his hand before he can do it again.

  “I hate you calling me that, too.” I add.

  “I know.” He says lightly, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and steering us away from the pool area. “He was a dick though.”

  “Yeah, he was.” I agree, shaking my head with a sigh. “Thanks for coming along to save me.”

  “Anytime, Caz.” He kisses my forehead again, even though there’s no one around to see.

  “I really didn’t think my Mom would do that. Not with you here.” I say, partly just talking to distract myself from some of the silly feelings that want my attention.

  “Yeah. I guess it’d be wrong to say she’s a dick too, huh?” He asks, light amusement on his face, though I wonder whether maybe he’s a little more serious than he seems.

  I laugh and shift closer to him, shaking my head. “I better not answer that one.”

  “So, d’you want to show me some of this place that’s maybe, ah…away from your family for a bit?” He asks with a knowing smile.

  “Definitely.” I answer decisively, looking around at the direction we’re wandering aimlessly in and making
an effort to direct us away from the pool area that everyone’s gathered in.

  “Perfect.” He says, then leans in and adds. “We can pretend we snuck away to have sex.”

  I laugh again, looking up and meeting the amusement dancing in his eyes, his hair slightly curled from the pool earlier and bouncing over his brow. Handsome as fuck and - for this week only - conveniently possessive fake boyfriend.

  Perfect indeed. I just need to get a grip on the strange-as-fuck images that pop into my head when he says that.

  Like us actually having sex.

  * * *

  “So, that’s one day down, hmm?” Josh says as we get back to our room for the night. “I think it went well.”

  Well.

  I think back to the day of just about answering my family’s questions, Josh announcing he didn’t want children to Maria and then being ambushed by my Mom’s latest set-up…

  At least after Matthew, Josh hadn’t left me for the rest of the day - hovering protectively by my side in some possessive macho display to try and piss everyone off further. Not really necessary, but I rather appreciated the results anyway.

  And with Mom insisting that Matthew was seated next to us at dinner, I’d actually avoided most of the argument that had broken out between Beth and Anne - and any further questions about Josh and I. Instead, we’d spent the whole of it becoming more and more obnoxiously infatuated with each other, just to irritate Matthew - and, ideally, my mother.

  It had almost become a game - who could touch the other the most, pay them the most ridiculous compliments, talk up the others’ deliberately minor achievements - and it had been unintentionally hilarious to do all the things I wouldn’t ever dream of in a real relationship.

  “Yeah, it’s gone well.” I give Josh a sidelong smirk as I shrug off the jacket I’d put on for dinner. “If you consider irritating the hell out of everyone a good thing.”

  “Which, last I checked, you do - that was the job, baby.” He grins at me, stretching and letting his shirt ride up to reveal a hint of the rock-hard abs beneath. They catch my eyes for a moment, and I shake my head at his automatic attention-gathering gestures. The ones that seem to be having more of an effect on me than I’d like right about now.