Dr. Daddy's Virgin - A Standalone Novel (A Single Dad Romance)

by Claire Adams

  She came into the living room a few minutes later with a steaming hot cup of coffee, which she handed to me.

  “Thanks, this smells great,” I remarked.

  “It's good coffee – I’m a bit of a coffee snob. Life is too short to drink cheap coffee.”

  I chuckled. “I agree fully.”

  She sat down in an easy chair across from me and stared at me intently with those beautiful eyes of hers.

  “So, Mr. James,” she said. “Are you going to tell me why you stood me up last night?”

  I breathed in deeply before I began. I obviously didn't want to just unload all of the details of what had transpired on her. All morning I had been thinking of a condensed version of events to tell her. One that would let her know that I was involved with some serious stuff, but not give too much away, and also not make her too worried about the prospect of going out with me again…for the first time.

  “Alright, well, let me start with a bit of background information.”

  “Sure, background info is good.”

  “As you know, I've just started as principal of JFK High. And at the school, there's a pretty serious drug problem. Have you heard of this new drug called Rocket?”

  She nodded. “I heard about it on the radio the other day. It sounds like scary stuff.”

  “It is scary stuff, and it's getting into JFK in a pretty bad way. Myself and the deputy principal, we're on a mission to get Rocket out of the school. Targeting the kids who use it, however, doesn't fix the problem, it only treats the symptoms. We want to go after the root – the guys who distribute it and sell it at high schools.”

  “A noble endeavor, but isn't that something the cops should be doing?” she asked.

  “They're on it, but they're not making any headway. That's why the deputy principal and myself have taken matters into our own hands. Anyway, we managed to get an inside source, someone who is working for these scumbag drug dealers. And last night, at 7:15, just as I was getting ready to come over and pick you up, I got a call from this source, an urgent call. He said I needed to be at a certain place in less than 10 minutes to catch one of the major kingpin dealers. Of course, I raced off to do this, figuring I'd call you on my way to meet him to let you know I'd be late. However, in my haste – and I fully acknowledge that this is my fault and that I should have known better – I left my phone on my dresser. So, I got halfway to the apartment building where the dealers were meeting, looked for my phone to call you, and found that I had left it at home. That's why when you tried to call me, I didn't answer. And then, by the time it was all over, I got back and tried to call you, but your phone was off.”

  “Did you at least catch the guys?” she asked.

  I sighed heavily and slumped back into the cushion of the sofa. “No... they got away.”

  “That's a pity.”

  “Yeah, it is, it really is. But there's more. Jane came down with a bad stomach infection and was running a high fever last night. I had to rush her to the hospital at two o' clock in the morning.”

  Vivienne’s face changed completely. I could see that she had been a little skeptical about my drug bust story, but when she heard this, a look of genuine concern came across her face.

  “Oh no! Is she alright?”

  I sighed and looked away.

  “I don't know, Vivienne, I don't know. I stayed by her side all night. She was crying a lot, in and out with the meds, sweating like crazy. They managed to finally bring the fever down a little this morning, but she's still not doing so great. She’s sleeping right now and the babysitter is sitting with her at the hospital in case she wakes up before I get back.”

  “I'm so, so sorry to hear that,” she said softly. “And... I'm sorry that I totally misjudged you, and thought you stood me up for no good reason. One question though: I went out to meet a friend last night, and on the way out, I saw a man driving you back to your place. You looked kind of... well, you looked like you'd had a few beers. Would you mind putting my mind at ease and explaining that?”

  Shit. I hadn't counted on her seeing that. I literally had three seconds to decide on the best course of action to take here. Should I come clean and show her the gunshot wound?

  The truth was always the best policy, and I figured that sooner or later she would probably find out about it anyway – it had created a decent wound and there was no doubt going to be a scar – so I went ahead and told her.

  “Yeah, uh, that guy was an old buddy of mine. A doctor, kinda. You see, there's something about the drug bust thing that I kind of left out.”

  “Well, go on, let me hear it,” she urged.

  “I, uh, I got shot last night.”

  Her eyes widened with surprise. “Shot?! You mean, with a gun?! A real, you know, a gun?!”

  I nodded.

  “What?! Why didn't you say anything earlier? Are you alright, are you hurt? What are you even doing here, shouldn't you be in the hospital or something?!”

  “It's alright, seriously. It’s just a flesh wound. Luckily the bullet didn't hit anything that mattered much. It went straight through. My buddy cleaned the wound and stitched it up. I'll be right as rain in a few days.”

  “But... but... it's a freakin' gunshot wound!”

  I chuckled. “They're not always fatal, and sometimes they're not even that serious. Last night, I was lucky. Well, unlucky to have gotten shot, but lucky that it wasn't a much more serious injury.”

  “Uh, yeah I guess you could look at it like that,” she muttered, looking uncertain. “But seriously... are you okay?”

  I could see she was genuinely concerned for my well-being, and I had to admit it felt pretty good to have someone actually care. “I really am, trust me.”

  I wanted to tell her this wasn’t new territory for me and certainly wasn't the first gunshot wound I'd ever received, but that would be opening up a whole new can of worms, and I wasn't quite ready for that yet. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was nine o' clock.

  “I need to get going. I need to head over to the hospital to check on Jane. Um, thanks so much for allowing me to explain all of this, Vivienne,” I said. “If it's alright with you, perhaps you would allow me to take you out tomorrow night if Jane is feeling better? I promise I'll make everything up to you.”

  She smiled subtly. “Perhaps I'll allow you to do just that,” she said. “But there's something I want to ask you first.”

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  “Could I come to the hospital with you to visit Jane? Maybe I can help cheer her up. She and I got along so well the other night.”

  I smiled. “Sure thing. You ready to go?”

  “Yep. Let me just change and get my handbag.”

  ***

  I sat on the hospital bench exhausted and worried. The doctors still hadn't been able to get Jane's condition to improve much. She had been happy to see Vivienne, but the strength and intensity of her fever had soon overwhelmed her.

  “I hate to see her like this,” Vivienne remarked. “I can't imagine how worrying and stressful it must be for you, as her father.”

  “It is,” I replied. “Believe me, it really is.”

  “Can I... can I ask you a question?”

  “Yeah, go ahead.”

  “Where is Jane's mother?” she asked.

  I figured she would have eventually asked about this subject. It was alright; as touchy as it was for me, I was prepared to talk to her about it.

  “She was here last night... briefly.”

  “Oh.” Vivienne sounded surprised. I imagined, perhaps, that she likely thought that Jane's mother was dead.

  “Yeah. Susan – that's her name – she and her boyfriend, Ricky, they stopped by. They were both a little drunk, probably just got out of some damn nightclub.”

  “Ah... I see. So, you two are uh, you're divorced?”

  “Yeah, we are. Susan walked out of our marriage when Jane was only a few months old. She never could accept that she needed to grow up and be responsible, an
d not even having a child seemed to be able to change her perspective. That jerk she's with, Ricky, he's a promoter for various nightclubs, so they always get in for free and get drinks cheap or free, too. They're both booze hounds; she always did love her drinking, but it got worse after she had Jane. And before you ask, she did somehow manage to stay sober during the pregnancy. I think those were the toughest nine months of her life, though; no bottle to down every night for that long. I think that's what drove her over the edge and made her leave. I wanted her to stay sober. I mean, not be a teetotaler or anything, have a drink once in a while, but not hammering it every night like she was used to doing. She just couldn't do it, though. Just couldn't do it. Having a carefree, party-girl lifestyle was more important to her than me or her own child... so that's what she chose.”

  As I had been speaking, Vivienne had slipped her fingers through mine, and now she was squeezing my hand tightly. I looked up and saw her staring at me with tears in her eyes and genuine empathy and compassion written raw across her face.

  “I'm so sorry to hear that,” she said. “I know how hard that must be to talk about. I've got a story about my ex as well.”

  It felt good to be able to open up about it. Of course, I wasn't ready to disclose everything just yet, and I suspected that she wasn't either, but this was a good start.

  “Well, you can tell me,” I said, squeezing her hand softly. “If you want to.”

  “I do want to. I’m not really sure why, but I do.”

  She paused as though she were trying to muster the courage. So, I gave her hand still entwined with mine a gentle squeeze of reassurance. A moment later, she inhaled deeply and spoke.

  “Well, first things first… I have to tell you is that my name isn't Vivienne.”

  I sat up straighter, wondering where this was going. “Wait, uh... it isn't?”

  “No. Well, it is now. I legally changed it. But my given name is Alicia.”

  “Wow, alright. What made you change your name?”

  “My ex, Simon, he's absolutely psychotic. When I was with him, he was terrifying. He was obsessive, controlling, wouldn't let me see any of my friends, banned me from speaking to any man besides him. Eventually, it got so bad that I had to get permission from him before I was even allowed to leave the house. That's how crazy he was. Then, when I tried to leave him, things got really scary. He threatened my life, and came after me with the intent to kill me. Unfortunately, I couldn't prove that he tried to kill me – he chased me around my friend's house with a hunting knife, but there were no witnesses, and I didn't sustain any knife injuries. He stalked me for a long time after we broke up. And I finally managed to get a restraining order against him. He broke it on more than one occasion, though; he didn't care. Every time he was able to wiggle his way out of it in court. He's very intelligent – which makes it even scarier for me. The only way I managed to get away from him was to change my name and move away. And that's how I ended up here.”

  I nodded, trying to process all of this information. “Wow,” I murmured. “Umm. That's pretty crazy. I'm sorry it was so hard for you to get away from that maniac. You're safe now, right?”

  I could see there was something else she wanted to say, a hint of fear or anxiety glimmering in her eyes – but perhaps she wasn't ready to tell me about it yet.

  “Yes,” she said softly. “It's all over now. I'm fine; everything is fine.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Vivienne

  Talking with Everett was easily the most comfortable I’d ever felt with anyone aside from my dad. The conversation just flowed like we’d known each other for years. Opening up to him was second nature. It just felt right. Even if we were sitting in a hospital. Not an atmosphere typically conducive to intimate conversation.

  After more talk about our exes, I considered telling him about the knot stuck in my stomach now that Simon had disappeared and no one seemed to know where he was. However, after seeing how Everett took such a proactive stance on things handling the drug problem at his school, I thought maybe it would be best if I just kept my fears to myself about that for the time being since all I knew was that Simon was MIA.

  Before we could continue, a doctor came and spoke to Everett.

  "Mr. James," he said. "We've given Jane some medication that will keep her sedated for some time. Sleep is the best thing for her right now. It will allow her body to fight the infection more effectively, and will, of course, prevent her from feeling pain."

  Everett nodded. "Thank you, Doc."

  "We're doing everything we can. You might want to go out and get some fresh air. I know that you want to be by your little girl's side, but for the time being, there isn't very much you can do here to help her. Trust me; she's in good hands."

  "Alright, Doc. Please let me know right away if she wakes up or anything changes, okay? I can be here in 10 minutes from wherever I am."

  "We will keep you informed about everything, Mr. James."

  "Come on, Everett," I said, slipping my fingers through his and squeezing his hand softly. "Let's go. Jane's getting the best care she can. Now it's your duty to her to take care of yourself as well, you know. You need to be in the best shape you can be to take care of her, and I know right now that you haven't had much rest. And that...injury from last night, it isn't helping. Let's go get some nice healthy food into you, and then we'll go relax."

  "That does sound like a good idea right about now. I am pretty worn out after everything that's happened in the last couple of hours."

  "Well, where would you like to eat?" I asked.

  "I need something hearty, something that's gonna fill me up. Like I said, feeling pretty drained."

  "Hmm, steak?" I suggested.

  He grinned. "I like the way you think."

  "Not sure how familiar you are with the area yea, but I'm guessing you don't know the best spots. I, on other hand, have been here for a whole two years…and as that pretty much makes me a native, I know where the best spots to eat can be found."

  Everett chuckled; it was good to see him smile after all this stress and worry.

  "Well take me to 'em, I'm ready!"

  ***

  Everett leaned back and patted his stomach appreciatively. "Now that, that was a fine steak," he remarked, smiling. "I'm very glad you showed me this place!"

  "And I'm glad you liked it. Just don't come here too often, though."

  "Why do you say that?" he asked.

  "We wouldn't want to ruin your not-so-boyish figure," I said with a wink.

  My comfort level and my attraction toward Everett seemed to have intensified almost magically. And from the way he had been stealing glances at me over lunch, I was sure he felt the same.

  "It ain't nothing that my morning seven-mile run and workout session won't burn off," he said. "And speaking of figures…I’ll be a gentleman and let you guess what I’m thinking."

  I blushed and smiled. "I'll try to do that. But hold up a minute – you run seven miles every morning?"

  "Sure, ever since I was in…"

  He stopped mid-sentence as if he had just inadvertently blurted out a secret.

  "In what?" I urged him to finish.

  "High school, I was on the track team," he said after just enough hesitation that a person who didn’t question everything wouldn’t think twice about. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that type of person. I was the type of person who had to question everything. It’s how I managed to keep myself safe and hidden from a psychotic ex. And that meant that I didn't really believe his story, but at the same time, I knew what it was like to not want to talk about my past. And this seemed to be a subject he was reluctant to talk about, so I didn't press him on it.

  "Well, that's impressive. Most men in their 30s are lucky if they can run seven miles in a week, let alone a day," I complimented.

  "Being fit is an important part of who I am," he said. "Healthy body, healthy mind. And discipline when it comes to taking care of your physical health means discipline
in all other areas of your life, too – and discipline is what's needed to succeed."

  "I suppose I agree with that," I said. "Why else would I go to yoga classes three times a week? It's not as grueling as your seven miles every morning sounds, but it does wonders for my mind and body."

  A mischievous smirk turned up one side of his mouth. "I suppose I would agree with that. You seem pretty sound of mind, too,” he added with a wink. “Perhaps we can work out together sometime. I wouldn't mind trying some of that yoga stuff, and maybe you can come run with me one day."

  It was a good save since the conversation was clearly headed for the gutter if he hadn’t turned it to running.

  "I haven’t been running in years. Where do you usually run?" I asked, trying to focus on changing the subject and not the idea of naked yoga with the beautiful specimen sitting across from me.

  He laughed. "Well, usually in my house. So, might get kind of tricky if you tried to run with me on the treadmill. But we could go for a run around the neighborhood sometime."

  "I would like that," I replied with a smile. "I'd like that very much, in fact."

  Before we could continue, the waitress interrupted us.

  "Anything else for you guys?"

  "Just the check please," answered Everett.

  "So, what are your plans for getting some rest?" I asked.

  "Not sure," he replied. “Resting isn’t really my strong suit.

  "Would you like to come over to my place, maybe watch some Netflix and relax on the sofa? It would do you good, I think."

  He smiled. "Yes, I think it would actually do me a lot of good."

  ***

  "What do you feel like watching?" I asked as I turned on the TV.

  "Too much to ask for you to just walk back and forth?” he joked.

  “Cute. But today is my rest day too. Nice try, though. So…preferences?”