Copyright and Disclaimer
Copyright © 2017 by Sarah J. Brooks
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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Dangerous Daddy
A Billionaire’s Baby Romance
Sarah J. Brooks
Contents
Copyright and Disclaimer
Title Page
Special Invitation
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilog
Point of No Return (new and never released before!)
USED by Him
Preview: Her Savior
More from Sarah
Special Invitation
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Chapter 1
Becka
I sat outside Dr. Evan’s office waiting while she finished an advisee session with a freshman. I knew she was a freshman because she was in tears. I remembered that feeling from years ago; too far from home, afraid that any grade less than an A would equal flunking out of college, but, even working as hard as I could, had earned a C. In Psychology. My major. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
After another fifteen minutes, Dr. Evans got the student calmed down enough to have a conversation about her classes for next term, then sent her on her way. Walking the student to the door, a blond, waifish creature who didn’t look older than twelve, never mind the age of a college student, Dr. Evans smiled at me and welcomed me into her office.
“Bet you miss those days, huh, Becka?” she asked me, gesturing for me to have a seat in the chair next to her desk.
“Not even for a moment,” I laughed as I dropped my bag at my feet. “I don’t think any year of college was as hard as that first year.”
Dr. Evans nodded. She was my thesis advisor, a younger woman herself, probably in her early thirties, and very beautiful. She had long, dirty blond hair, worn tied back for work. She dressed to the nines; suits only, heels, the works. Sitting next to her, I was her virtual opposite. I had jet black hair that was too short to wear up; it hung in a bob and was cut at angles to just below my chin. Dressing in jeans and a sweater was dressing up for me; my norm was yoga pants and a tank top or a sweatshirt if it was cold outside.
Dr. Evans hadn’t been my advisor in undergrad, but, once I’d entered grad school and declared my thesis, she had been assigned as my thesis advisor. I couldn’t believe my luck; she was on the front lines of research in food science and nutrition, the area I wanted to start with my thesis, continue with my PhD, and, someday, maybe catch the Nobel Prize.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked. She had texted me yesterday and asked if I could come in and speak with her before her class that night. “I wanted to see what your thoughts were for possible internships. If you’ve scoped out any companies or research labs.”
It was my turn to feel a little chagrined. “I haven’t had the time to check anything out,” I said, feeling my face turning red. “I will, I have a few I’m interested in.”
Dr. Evans smiled. “Relax, you’re not in trouble, silly. I wanted to give you a heads-up about next week. Dr. Oliver Weeks, the CEO of Neuotova, is going to be coming in for a series of guest lectures. I’ll be turning my class over to him for a few nights, and I wanted to invite you to sit in on as many as you can, all of them if you like. I’m hoping that you can connect with him and that he may be able to offer you an internship.”
I tried to keep my mouth from dropping open, and I think I was largely successful, but I couldn’t keep my eyes from opening wide. “Dr. Evans, that’s such an amazing opportunity, thank you!”
“Your academic record is nearly flawless, and you’ve got huge potential, especially in research. I’m going to mention your name when I meet with him this week. I’ll try to introduce you next week, but, if I can’t, don’t feel afraid to go up and meet him yourself. He’ll know your name.” Dr. Evans smiled at my expression.
“I can’t thank you enough for that, Dr. Evans, truly. I’ll definitely be at your class next week; is he there every day?” Dr. Evans taught from 7-10pm, Monday through Thursday.
“Yes, so you’ll have plenty of time.”
“I’m so excited, thank you so much!” I stood up and Dr. Evans did as well. She hugged me.
“You’ve got a very bright future, Becka; I want to help you out in any way I can.”
I left Dr. Evans’ office on a cloud. I always ride the bus to and from campus, and normally I feel like the ride goes pretty quickly. Today, though, I couldn’t get home fast enough. My roommate, Lisa, would absolutely die when she heard about the opportunity that had basically been just handed to me.
“Not handed to you,” Lisa said when I told her. “You’ve worked your ass off your whole life to get to where you are, and now you’re seeing some of the payoff. No one has ever handed you anything.”
She was right. My parents had divorced before I was old enough to walk. I lived with my mom until she passed away when I was sixteen, at which point the courts decided that I was mature enough and reliable enough to live on my own since no one could locate my dad. I had known for most of my life that, if I wanted to go to college, I was going to have to do it on my own, so I did. I studied, didn’t party, got scholarships, worked out a payment plan to pay my undergrad in installments, all the while working full time to save money to live and to pay for school.
“I can’t believe this,” I said, shaking my head. “This could be the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“Is the opportunity of a lifetime, Becka. This is so exciting! We have to celebrate.”
“Why don’t we wait until I actually meet the man next week and see if he offers me an internship before we start the celebration.” I was always reminding Lisa to not get ahead of herself, and she was good at reminding me to not hold myself back. We were a good team.
“Fine,” she pouted. “We’ll hold off on the champagne until next week. But, I am going t
o make dinner tonight, and I won’t take no for an answer. I happened to pick up raw pizza dough, cheese, sauce, olives, pepperoni…”
“Okay, okay!” I said, putting my hands up. “Food police, you’ve got me! I’m totally down for some pizza.”
Oliver
“Well, I’ll be honest with you, Dr. Evans, I haven’t sat in a professor’s office in probably twenty years.” I looked around her office and I couldn’t believe how anyone could get anything done in this cramped little space. Barely a window, more like a piece of glass, over the left side of her desk, and the entire back wall was covered with book cases filled with books.
It was a far cry from my office at Neuotova, which was on the top level of a skyscraper downtown with floor to ceiling windows on two of the four walls. And, since my order that the company go paperless in 2013, I doubted even a single book could be found on a shelf in my office.
“Please, call me Amy,” Dr. Evans said. She was very cute, though not really my type. I don’t remember the last time I had the time or the inclination to date anyone. Being the CEO of a major corporation takes most of my time, and then, of course, there’s my side business. Between the two, my dates were typically lined up by my personal assistant and began roughly an hour before a public appearance.
I had agreed to guest lecture at Amy’s classes a few times a week, partially as a favor to the university, and partially because I fully expected to benefit from it. The university regularly put out some of the best young minds in the field of food science, and I always liked to get my potential friends close and my potential enemies even closer.
“I really appreciate you taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to lecture,” she was saying. My students are extremely excited to hear what you have to say.”
“Well, I just hope I don’t bore them to tears. Though they are upper level students, so if they’re going to go into the business, they’ll need to be used to a lot of information coming at them quickly.”
“I did want to mention one woman to you, one of my thesis graduate students. She’s not in the class you’re lecturing, but I invited her specifically because I want her to introduce herself to you. Her name is Becka. Right now, she’s slated to graduate first in her class and her thesis is already being sought after for publication even though she’s only got a few chapters written.”
“Oh?” My interest was piqued. “What does she look like? I’ll keep an eye out. What makes you think she’d be a good match for Neuotova?”
“She’s 23, black hair, fair skin. She always wears her hair down. She’s probably about 5’6” or thereabouts. She’s a researcher, with a focus on food chemistry and nutrition.
She’s searching for a weight loss method that will actually work without long-term harmful side effects of any kind. That’s her thesis. I’ve been trying to get her to expand her ideas to something a little more scientific, but that’s where she’s at right now. She really believes in the cause.”
“I’ll actually let her tell me all about it when I talk to her.” I smiled at Amy. “Thanks for inviting her to the lecture; she sounds like an interesting young woman. Is there anything else I should know or prepare for Monday?”
Amy showed me around the lecture hall where I would be presenting and we talked over the logistics of the presentation. It sounded like I would basically be giving a board room presentation to a bunch of young adults. Didn’t seem like too much of a problem. I reminded myself to have my assistant prepare my lecture notes this week so I could go over them on the weekend. Then, I said goodbye to Amy.
I walked back out of the building and took a stroll through the quad. My time in college had been cut short, but not unreasonably so; I’d gotten what I’d needed from my classes, and then, when I was offered a job at Neuotova, I took it. Worked my way up through various means. I chuckled. It was a little humorous to be presenting at a college seminar now. I wondered if my twenty-year-old self would have attended my own lecture. Probably not.
Chapter 2
Becka
“Are you really wearing jeans to the lecture tonight?” Lisa stood in my bedroom door as I finished fixing my hair and touched up my makeup.
“Of course,” I said. “What else would I wear?”
“A dress? A skirt? Something that isn’t jeans or, God help me, yoga pants? You’re going to be meeting the CEO of a major corporation tonight. This is basically a job interview.”
I stopped and looked at her. She wasn’t wrong. I looked toward my closet.
“I don’t think I have a dress,” I said. “For real.”
“You can borrow one of mine. Come on, come pick something out.”
Lisa and I were hardly the same size, but we made something work. A burgundy cotton jersey dress with tank top sleeves that came in at the waist, then flowed out at the bottom. I felt incredibly awkward, but the look of satisfaction on Lisa’s face suggested I had hit the mark with the dress I picked out.
“You look fabulous. Very professional. Now I’m willing to let you out of the house.”
“What would I do without you?” I asked, grinning at her as I put my phone in my purse.
“Die an old maid?”
“That’s still totally possible, just so you know. I haven’t had a date in almost a year.”
Practically pushing me out the door, Lisa said, “Perfect, I’ll add that next on the list. Now get to that lecture and get yourself an internship!”
***
When I arrived at the science building on campus, the lecture hall was about half full. I found Dr. Evans and waved at her. She smiled and gestured for me to take a seat in the fifth row, which was near where she was sitting. I made my way down and looked for Dr. Weeks. I was glad that I had arrived relatively early, as I knew the lecture hall would be packed by the time he came out to speak. I busied myself on my phone and tried to ignore the chatter of the undergrads.
Then, I saw him. He stood near the podium along with Dr. Evans. They were talking and she was showing him how to work the projector. From the back -- how I saw him first, he was tall and fit. His hair was dark brown and it was short on the bottom but a little longer on the top. He was wearing a suit without the jacket, which I noticed was sitting on one of the chairs in the front row.
He turned to face us and I saw he wore a slim burgundy tie that looked as though it would match the dress I was wearing. I tried to keep the butterflies from floating out of my stomach because, quite simply, he was breathtakingly gorgeous. I wanted to text Lisa but I didn’t have reception in the hall.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed Dr. Weeks’ good looks. A group of girls behind me began to giggle and crack jokes. They were being loud and I felt myself blushing, wanting to hide so that I wasn’t associated with them in any way. Dr. Evans looked in our direction and frowned, which stopped the chatter pretty quickly. I don’t think Dr. Weeks even noticed; he never looked up at us.
It was nearly seven o’clock when Dr. Evans walked to the podium. People quieted down as she patiently waited for the room to focus.
“Good evening, everyone. Thank you to those of you who are guests, for taking time out of your evenings to join us, and, to my students, thank you for showing up to class!” She smiled and the audience tittered.
“I’m very pleased and honored tonight to present our guest instructor for the week, a man whose work is well known to all of you if you eat anything that comes from a grocery store. Please be a respectful audience. Ladies and gentlemen, I present, Dr. Oliver Weeks!”
The audience applauded politely as Dr. Weeks took Dr. Evans’ place at the podium. He introduced himself, then immediately began to talk about his agenda for the week. He would give some background on his company, then, tomorrow night, he would start getting deeper into the science.
“That little tease is to make sure you come back for night two,” he joked. He looked up from his notes, then, and it seemed he looked right at me. He was smiling and his teeth were white and perfect.
His eyes were sharp, piercing, though I couldn’t tell what color they were. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought his smile faltered a bit when he saw me. But, that couldn’t be; he didn’t know me from anyone else in the room.
His lecture was fascinating. He gave the entire history of Neuotova up to the present day, and he went over the current research as well as how the company had developed itself into the top food science corporation and research facility in the United States—and probably, within the next five years, he said, in the world.
The lecture ended and everyone applauded. Dr. Weeks said he would stick around for questions if anyone had them. I knew that was my opportunity to speak to him, especially since, at 10pm, most of the undergrads were bailing out of the lecture hall like the place was on fire, either to go study or drink or both. There were fewer than a dozen people waiting to speak to Dr. Weeks. I knew I should be one of them.
But, I didn’t know how I would be able to speak to him. He was so incredibly good looking, I felt myself getting tongue-tied even still sitting in my chair. Get your shit together, Becka, seriously. He’s a potential boss for you. The fact that he’s gorgeous is meaningless; he’s probably married.
Though a quick glance at his left hand confirmed that no, he wasn’t. Or he wasn’t the ring-wearing type. I felt myself blushing and I knew I needed to make a decision soon; the place was emptying out, and if I didn’t move, I’d be the only person still sitting in a room of standing, moving people.
I got up and walked quickly to the exit, not saying goodbye to Dr. Evans or introducing myself to Dr. Weeks.
When I got home, Lisa was waiting practically at the door to find out how my night had gone.
“Did you meet him? Did you talk to him? What did he say?” The questions came pouring out of her.
“No, no, and nothing,” I said, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and pouring a glass of red wine for myself. “Do you want one?” I nodded at my glass.
“Um, sounds like I need one. You didn’t say anything to him? Why not?”
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