Table of Contents
Copyright
A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series
Bitcoin Billionaire's Babysitter
Joshua
Diana
Veterans Day Daddy
BITCOIN BILLIONAIRE’S BABYSITTER
A SINGLE DAD NEXT DOOR, OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE
_______________________
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 28
FLORA FERRARI
CONTENTS
Copyright
A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series
Bitcoin Billionaire's Babysitter
1. Joshua
2. Diana
3. Joshua
4. Diana
5. Joshua
6. Diana
7. Joshua
8. Diana
9. Joshua
10. Diana
11. Joshua
12. Diana
13. Diana
14. Joshua
15. Diana
16. Diana
17. Diana
18. Joshua
19. Diana
20. Diana
21. Diana
22. Diana
23. Joshua
Extended Epilogue. Diana
Extended Epilogue. Joshua
Veterans Day Daddy
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2017 by Flora Ferrari.
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.
A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS
Book 1: Baby Lust
Book 2: Veteran
Book 3: Built
Book 4: Bambino
Book 5: Rescued
Book 6: Leader
Book 7: Professor
Book 8: Burned
Book 9: Worldly
Book 10: Pistol
Book 11: Policed
Book 12: Driven
Book 13: Lucky 13
Book 14: Lumberjacked
Book 15: Protector
Book 16: Carpenter
Book 17: Italian Stallion
Book 18: Gardener
Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin
Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter
Book 21: Cocky CFO
Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th
Book 23: Mechanic
Book 24: SEAL’s Secret
Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch
Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée
Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina
Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter
Book 29: Veterans Day Daddy
BITCOIN BILLIONAIRE’S BABYSITTER
Joshua: My business partner and his wife experience tragedy on vacation and suddenly I’m no longer their daughter's godfather....I'm her father, a single dad to seven-year-old Brianna. She’s an incredible little girl, but as an eternally single bachelor I'm in way over my head. Still coping, no one can seem to reach her anymore until an unexpected visit from the neighbor girl brings a smile to her face for the first time in months. I know immediately I’ve found my babysitter, and my gut tells me I’ve found a whole lot more.
I've gone from rags to riches, making billions investing in Bitcoin, but the most important change in my life isn't the financial kind...it's the two new amazing girls in my life.
Diana: My dad’s best friend is suddenly the single dad next door. Thanks to my poor genes I never thought I'd be able to have a child, but when I babysit Brianna for the first time my motherly instincts kick in and I realize there are different ways to become a mom. I haven't had a date in over a year and my doctor says I'll never have children, but suddenly I've got Mr. Right and his beautiful little daughter right on my doorstep. Do I have the courage to open up and let them in...and tell him what I know he won't want to hear?
*Bitcoin Billionaire's Babysitter is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, no cliffhanger, and no math. :)
CHAPTER 1
Joshua
“C9,” I say.
Brianna’s head moves no more than an inch to the right and then an inch to the left, before settling back into its center position. It’s about as small of a head movement as possible to signify a no, or a miss in this case.
“A1,” she says, guessing the first peg on the board game called Battleship.
“Hit!” I say.
I try not to temper my enthusiasm, even though I know where this is going next. She won’t follow up on the hit, instead opting to guess random coordinates across the board. We’ve been playing this game for weeks, and she still hasn’t sunk a single battleship of mine.
I’ve tried to play other games with her, but she always declines my invitation. This is the only game she wants to play, but for some reason she doesn’t want to win.
Those baby blue eyes of hers refuse to reveal anything. She just stares at the arrangement of her own battleships in front of her.
I know she’s not all here. Her mind’s wandering. The doctors said to give it time, but how much more time will it take? I’m here for her always, but I don’t know how much longer I can take seeing her like this.
No enthusiasm. No excitement. No real participation.
Sure, she’ll slowly guess coordinates, taking her time in-between making me thing maybe, just maybe, this time she’s actually trying to play the game the way it’s meant to be…but she never is.
How many months longer this will go on is anybody’s guess. We’re already approaching half a year, and there have been no indications things will turn around for the better anytime soon.
She’s the cutest kid ever, and used to be so full of life. I’m not much of a kid person, but even I enjoyed playing with her, but that’s back when I was the eternal bachelor. I could kick the soccer ball with her in the yard for thirty minutes while I talked business with her dad, but at some point I always knew in the back of my mind she’d be going home. Not anymore. Home is here now.
A freak accident while her parents were away on vacation left me without a business partner and much more importantly, her without a father. The blow was devastating. Not only to the business, which I was now forced to sell, but also to this poor child, a child who seemed to want nothing to do with me no matter how hard I tried.
Whatever she wanted, she knew all she had to do was name it and I’d get it for her or do it for her. Order her favorite pizza? I’ve got the numbers on speed dial. A trip to the amusement park? She doesn’t want to go. Watch Disney movies? I bought the entire collection, but the minute I play one on the TV, she always manages to slide out and into another room…where she can be alone again.
The one thing I want to give her is the one thing I can’t. Her parents back. We’ve both been in shock since we got the call from the foreign police. How in the world did they wind up inside that bank in Rio to exchange money at the exact moment those criminal
s decided to rob it?
The moment Brianna’s surviving relatives and I sat down with her to explain what happened, and where we try and go from here, she completely tuned out. We were attempting to put the pieces back together, but there was no question there were a million of them, broken and still scattered across the floor. But this wasn’t a vase, or a glass, which can easily be replaced. This is a little girl’s life. A little girl who was now under the care of a man who knew nothing about kids, let alone how to raise one…and a girl at that.
But I was going to do it no matter what I had to do, or how long I had to wait until she was ready to talk. I took my oath of becoming her godfather seriously, just as much as I now did fulfilling that promise I made to her and her parents.
I met with her teachers twice a week. Read stories to her before bed. Learned how to cook us healthy meals. Asked all my friends and family for tips on how I take care of a little girl…and that was in addition to devouring every book on parenting that I could find.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting? That’s the thing…this was never expected. Not by either of us. But here we are, and I’m determined to do everything I can for Brianna.
Ding-dong.
Speaking of unexpected. Why is the doorbell ringing? It’s after dark on a Friday evening. All my old buddies are probably ready for a night out to start their weekends off, or at home with their wives. Brianna hasn’t had a play date or spent any time with any of her friends since the accident, so it’s unlikely to be someone from school.
“One second. Let me check and see who’s here,” I say.
It takes me a second to stand up. Even after a few months, I’m still not used to sitting on the floor, cross-legged. I’m too big to be doing that, but I’ll do whatever it takes in this case. I want to adapt to her world, not to force her to adapt to mine any more than she’s already had to.
I look through the peephole and see a familiar face. At least I think it’s familiar.
“Hey!” she says, as I swing the door open.
“Heyyyy,” I say, unintentionally drawing the word out as my mouth hangs open a little too long.
When did she grow up?
Last time I saw Diana, the neighbor girl, was at her high school graduation…and I barely saw her then. I spent most of the afternoon in their back yard barbecuing, drinking beers, and talking about sports.
She looked a lot different back then. I mean…sure…she had that same naturally beautiful dark hair, but she was just a kid. Not anymore. Not…at…all. That innocent little girl was a beautiful young woman now. Is that makeup I see? There’s some color on her eyelids, and it looks like her eyebrows are thinner now. I have to say she was always a cute kid, but those days are long gone. She is absolutely stunning. A woman, as the rising tip of my cock in my 501s is reminding me at the most inconvenient of times.
“You…look…different,” I manage to spit out as she looks up at me with those brown eyes and that youthful exuberance.
“Freshman fifteen,” she says, as she smiles.
Her mouth looks…bigger? I glance at her lips and wonder if it’s the lipstick playing tricks on me. I’ve never seen her looking like this before. She was always just the kid next door. I saw her all the time and never thought anything of it. I was over at her house hanging out with her dad so much I practically lived there. We’ve been best friends since we were kids.
But her.
Of course I would never look at my buddy’s kid that way, but she’s not a kid anymore. Not even close. She has completely filled out and looks like an entirely different person.
She’s not the skinny girl in jeans and a t-shirt with a logo from one of her favorite bands. Not anymore. She’s got on slacks and heels and a white tank top…that’s cut a little too low. Good god! I try not to let my eyes wander, but it’s too late. I catch myself and hope I wasn’t out of line. I want to burn that image of her into my memory. I know I’m going to be seeing it again when I lie down to sleep tonight.
The way she crosses her legs at her ankles, shifting her weight onto one hip. The way she rises up on her tiptoes. The way she cocks her head to the side showing me that beautiful neck of hers. That cute little face she’s making where she scrunches her face together like she’s got something to tell me, but she’s too embarrassed to ask.
“You look perfect,” I blurt out.
“Thanks,” she says.
“I mean, it looks perfect.”
“It?”
“The weight.” Oh my god! What am I saying? “I mean you were kind of skinny as a kid, and whatever changes took place with your body suit you really well.” Oh my god. I am making this worse! What I really want to say is the changes to her body are suiting me really well!
“Thanks,” she grins. “I’m glad. I wasn’t sure if you’d notice or what you’d think.”
Wasn’t sure if I’d notice? What about that low cut top, which I swear if it was a half an inch lower it wouldn’t be able to contain her large, beautiful breasts? Did she even have boobs when she went off to college? She must have been…what…an A cup back then? I can’t believe I’m even having these thoughts right now. And I also can’t believe she developed into a full C, at least, since she’s been gone. I mean, don’t girls do all their growing in middle school and high school?
“I noticed all right,” I say, before I can take back the words. I have no filter right now. I’m still in shock from the sight of this absolutely gorgeous young woman.
“And I hope you don’t mind, but I noticed that Brianna’s living over here now.”
“I don’t mind at all that you noticed. And you’re right. She’s been here for a while. I’m her dad now, or at least trying my best and pretending to be until I figure this all out.”
“I heard, and I’m really, really sorry about what happened.”
“Thank you,” I say. I’m still not really sure how to respond when people tell me that so I’ve just opted for the simplest reply possible.
“So…” she says. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I bought waaay too much candy for Halloween. I guess I’m not as popular in the neighborhood as I thought. Now I’ve got a bunch left over and there’s no way I can eat it all, and I probably shouldn’t anyways. I was just wondering if Brianna might like some?”
Now for the tricky part.
Do I just accept the candy and say thank you, knowing that Brianna’s barely talking to me, let alone strangers? Or do I bring Diana inside and let her give the candy to Brianna herself, and run the risk of her seeing a child who’s still struggling greatly with the loss of her parents?
Like so many things in life it turns out the decision was out of my control.
“Hi Brianna,” Diana says.
I turn and see Brianna standing about ten feet behind me. She’s watching us, but not saying a thing.
Her tiny little hand raises from her side and she offers a small wave to Diana.
“I think she might,” I say.
“May I come in?” Diana says.
I turn my body sideways and extend my arm as if to say, right this way.
Diana enters the house and makes her way slowly to Brianna.
“I have some extra Halloween candy and thought you might like some,” she says.
Brianna is as still as a statue. This isn’t going well.
Diana crouches down, leans in, and whispers something in her ear. It’s too quiet for me to hear.
Diana leans back away from Brianna and suddenly the sides of her mouth start to move and I see the beginnings of an actual smile. It’s small, but it’s a start.
Brianna’s smile grows a little before she seems to catch herself and her face returns to its normal stoic state.
Diana leans in again and whispers into Brianna’s ear a second time.
This time there’s no holding back. Brianna lets loose a big, full smile. Diana did in less than thirty seconds what I couldn’t do in months.
Diana reaches out her hand of
fering the bag of candy to Brianna.
Brianna takes the candy.
Diana comes out of her crouch before bounding back towards the doorway, where I’m still standing in complete shock.
“Thanks, Joshua. And sorry for coming over uninvited and unannounced.”
“No problem at all. Really,” I say.
If I had known Diana could bring out a smile in Brianna I would have asked her over from day one.
“Okay. I better get going. See you around,” Diana says as she turns and walks down my front steps, turning at the last second to look back and offer me a wave.
I’m so stunned I can barely raise my hand to return her gesture.
And as much as I’m blown away by what just happened in my house, I’m also blown away by what I see when Diana is walking away.
Bitcoin Billionaire's Babysitter: A Single Dad Next Door, Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 28) Page 1
