Saved by the Single Dad (The Single Dads of Seattle Book 3)

by Whitley Cox

  “She’s doing so well. Gained nearly a pound and half, her jaundice is gone and she’s starting to nurse a bit. Which is amazing, because I fucking hate pumping and my boobs are constantly sore. I look like a porn star.”

  “Not an image I want to conjure up about my sister, thanks.”

  Dina chuckled into the phone. Aaron had always loved his sister’s laugh. It was so big and loud and full. You knew she put her whole soul into her laugh. “Whatever. One day you’ll have a wife or whatever and she’ll be complaining of the same shit.”

  Aaron made a noise in his throat that said he wasn’t sure he agreed. He couldn’t see himself settling down anytime soon—if ever. “We’ll see.” He approached the desk before the jet bridge and handed the attendant his boarding pass and passport. “But listen, sis, I’m about to board. I can’t wait to see the little monkey … and Sophie too.”

  “Ha. Ha.” He could practically see her eye roll from across the globe.

  Then they’d said they loved each other, like they always did before they said goodbye on the phone, and they hung up. And that was last time he spoke to his baby sister before she was gunned down during a mass shooting in a mall as she was busy picking out preemie baby clothes for Sophie.

  His baby sister, the only person he’d ever loved, his best friend in the entire fucking world was gunned down in a goddamned shopping mall while buying baby clothes for her premature daughter who was back at the hospital breathing via machine.

  It would never sink in.

  Never.

  How did shit like this happen?

  How?

  Still unable to move from behind the driver’s seat of his black Chevy pickup truck, Aaron Steele, retired Navy SEAL and special operative stared straight ahead at the sign for hospital parking and how much it would cost him an hour to go and sit with his one-month old niece who’d been born one month premature. To stare at her little body as it struggled to live, knowing that she would never see her mother again. Knowing that she would never know the sound of her mother’s voice, the feel of her mother’s lips on her soft baby cheeks, her arms around her.

  Sophie was in there fighting for her life, and in the blink of an eye her mother’s life had ended.

  How in the fuck did this make any goddamn sense at all?

  How was Aaron supposed to get out of the truck, walk into the hospital and go be a father to Sophie? He had no idea how to be a father. He’d never had a father to know how to be one, let alone a good one. He could hardly take care of himself. He wasn’t even sure he ever wanted kids.

  Cool uncle had been fine with him.

  Love them until they’re annoying and then pass them back to their parents.

  Win-win for everyone. Mainly him.

  But all that changed in a fucking instant, and now he was a dad. He was a single dad with a one-month old daughter who would never know her mother, and he had no fucking clue where to start.

  A knock on his window had him reaching for the gun on his hip. Only he wasn’t carrying a gun today. He hadn’t carried a gun in two days and he wasn’t sure he ever would again.

  The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

  Yeah, fucking right. He called bullshit. Where the hell had the good guy with the gun been when his sister was in the baby boutique bleeding out?

  The only person who should have a gun is a fucking sane person with proper training and a fucking permit.

  You needed a license to own a dog, to drive a car, to catch a fish, why the fuck didn’t you need one to own a goddamn weapon?

  Another knock on the window and a confused face brought his thoughts back to the present.

  Liam stared at him through the window, his brown eyes as hollow as Aaron’s heart. He’d been one of Dina’s closest friends and colleagues. He was Dina’s in case of emergency person because Aaron had been a SEAL for so long and not always around. It was Liam who’d called Aaron with the news about Dina.

  Aaron rolled down the window.

  Liam’s throat undulated on a hard swallow. The man looked like complete shit. Dark bags under his eyes, messy dark blond hair, days and days worth of scruff.

  He looked how Aaron felt.

  “Hey.”

  Aaron nodded a hello.

  “Going in?”

  “Hoping to.”

  Liam scanned the parking lot. It was late August and hot as fuck. You could probably fry an egg on the blacktop. “I just left.”

  Aaron lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at Liam. “You saw Sophie?”

  Liam nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been going as much as I can since she was born. Whenever Dina had to leave, she always made sure someone else was with Soph. Someone besides a nurse or doctor. Like a friend.”

  Aaron’s heart ripped in two. His sister was the best fucking mom in the whole fucking world. And of course she would be. She knew what a shitty mother was like, they both did. Having grown up in foster care their entire lives, Aaron and Dina had bounced around the system for years. They never found a home or family they could really call theirs. But at least they had each other.

  When Aaron turned eighteen, he left the system, or more accurately was kicked out of the system, left to his own devices to either flounder or flourish in the big cruel world.

  Thankfully, he flourished. The day he graduated high school he got a job in construction. Walked right on to the site and refused to leave until the foreman gave him a job. And at 4:58 pm, right before quitting time, he was handed his very first hard hat.

  Over the next six months he proved himself and his boss at the construction company offered to pay for Aaron to go to carpentry school while he worked. He earned his journeyman ticket in carpentry, and obtained all of his necessary apprenticeship hours by the time he was twenty-one.

  Shortly after getting hired, his boss—who became more of a father figure than anything else—helped him petitioned the courts to get legal custody of Dina—and he won. She was fifteen and he was eighteen, and he was so happy to get her out of the shit show house they’d been living in before that. Eight foster kids, one foster mother, one bathroom and barely enough food to feed a family of rabbits.

  Though, he and Dina didn’t live like royalty, at least they were together. He found them a modest little two-bedroom apartment in a questionable part of Seattle, but it was clean, it was safe and most importantly, it was theirs and they were together.

  He worked and went to night school for his journeyman ticket, she went to high school and worked a part time job at a movie theater on the weekends. They made ends meet—just barely, but they did. They never went to bed hungry, were never late on a rent or a utility bill. Somehow, by Grace and by God, Aaron even managed to save a small sum by the time Dina’s senior prom came around, and he surprised her with the dress she’d been dreaming of for over six months.

  She was his person and he was hers.

  Because they’re all the other ever had.

  Sure, he had his brothers in arms. He had Rob and Colt, Wark and Ash. They were his brothers.

  They were his team.

  But they weren’t blood.

  Dina was his blood.

  She was the only blood he had. His only connection to his past.

  They didn’t know their parents, their grandparents or whether they had more siblings out there. It was just the two of them. Aaron and Dina Steele taking on the world.

  When she graduated high school, he made sure she got into college before he enlisted in the Navy. He knew she’d be safe and make friends at college. She wouldn’t be alone. He put her through four years of school and then law school, sending her money whenever he could. Even if they went months without seeing each other, he wanted her to know that he was always there for her. Always supporting her.

  He’d never cried so much in his life—up until recently—than he did the day his sister accepted her diploma at her law school graduation. And he didn’t give a flying fuck who saw him bawling his eyes ou
t. His baby sister was a motherfucking lawyer and he would shout it from the rooftops and sob until his eyes were empty, he was so damn proud.

  “I can go back in with you.” Liam’s voice drew Aaron out of his thoughts. He’d been spacing out a lot over the last two days. Jet-lag and grief will do that to a person. “If you’re not ready to go face Sophie alone, I can go back in. She knows me. Seems to like me.”

  Aaron pursed his lips together before rolling the window back up in his truck, turning off the ignition and opening the door. “Thanks, man. Right now I’m not sure how to face her alone.”

  He locked the truck and dug into his pocket to grab his wallet so he could pay for parking.

  Liam’s hand slapped his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, man. I got ya. I’ll go enter your license plate number and get your parking. Go see your niece.”

  Swallowing down the razor blade that had lodged in his throat, Aaron did nothing but nod, murmur a thanks and then head in the direction of the hospital main entrance, the ache in his heart feeling more like an anvil on his chest as he approached the main doors.

  He wasn’t cut out to be a dad.

  He was going to fail Sophie, fail Dina, fail them all.

  Just like he’d failed in Colombia.

  If You’ve Enjoyed This Book

  If you’ve enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. It really does make a difference.

  Thank you again.

  Xoxo

  Whitley Cox

  Acknowledgments

  There are so many people to thank who help along the way. Publishing a book is definitely not a solo mission, that’s for sure. First and foremost, my friend and editor Chris Kridler, you lady are a blessing, a gem and an all-around amazing human being. Thank you for your honesty and hard work.

  Thank you, to my critique groups gals, Danielle and Jillian. I love our monthly meet-ups at Starbucks where we give honest feedback and just bitch about life. You two are my bitch-sisters and I wouldn’t give you up for anything.

  Andi Babcock for her beta-read, I always appreciate your attention to detail and comments.

  Author Jeanne St. James, my alpha reader and sister from another mister, what would I do without you?

  Megan J. Parker-Squiers from EmCat Designs, your covers are awesome. Thank you,

  My Naughty Room Readers Crew, authors Jeanne St. James, Erica Lynn and Cailin Briste, I love being part of such a tremendous set of inspiring, talented and supportive women. Thank you for letting me learn, lean on and join the team.

  My street team, Whitley Cox’s Curiously Kinky Reviewers, you are all awesome and I feel so blessed to have found such wonderful fans.

  The ladies in Vancouver Island Romance Authors, your support and insight have been incredibly helpful, and I’m so honored to be a part of a group of such talented writers.

  Author Cora Seton for your help, tweaks and suggestions for my blurbs, as always, they come back from you so sparkly. I also love our walks, talks and heart-to-hearts, they mean so much to me.

  Authors Kathleen Lawless, Nancy Warren and Jane Wallace, I love our writing meetups. Wine, good food and friendship always make the words flow.

  The Small Human and the Tiny Human, you are the beats and beasts of my heart, the reason I breathe and the reason I drink. I love you both to infinity and beyond.

  And lastly, of course, the husband. You are my forever. I love you.

  Also by Whitley Cox

  Love, Passion and Power: Part 1

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Series Book 1

  Love, Passion and Power: Part 2

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Series Book 2

  Sex, Heat and Hunger: Part 1

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Book 3

  Sex, Heat and Hunger: Part 2

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Book 4

  Hot and Filthy: The Honeymoon

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Book 4.5

  True, Deep and Forever: Part 1

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Book 5

  True, Deep and Forever: Part 2

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Book 6

  Hard, Fast and Madly: Part 1

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Series Book 7

  Hard, Fast and Madly: Part 2

  The Dark and Damaged Hearts Series Book 8

  Quick & Dirty

  Book 1, A Quick Billionaires Novel

  Quick & Easy

  Book 2, A Quick Billionaires Novella

  Quick & Reckless

  Book 3, A Quick Billionaires Novel

  Hot Dad

  Lust Abroad

  Snowed In & Set Up

  Quick & Dangerous

  Book 4, A Quick Billionaires Novel

  Hired by the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 1

  Dancing with the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 2

  Saved by the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 3

  Upcoming

  Living with the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 4

  Christmas with the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 5

  New Years with the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 6

  Valentine’s with the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 7

  Neighbours with the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 8

  Flirting with the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 9

  Falling for the Single Dad

  The Single Dads of Seattle, Book 10

  Lost Hart

  The Harty Boys Book 2

  About the Author

  A Canadian West Coast baby born and raised, Whitley is married to her high school sweetheart, and together they have two beautiful daughters and a fluffy dog. She spends her days making food that gets thrown on the floor, vacuuming Cheerios out from under the couch and making sure that the dog food doesn't end up in the air conditioner. But when nap time comes, and it's not quite wine o'clock, Whitley sits down, avoids the pile of laundry on the couch, and writes.

  A lover of all things decadent; wine, cheese, chocolate and spicy erotic romance, Whitley brings the humorous side of sex, the ridiculous side of relationships and the suspense of everyday life into her stories. With mommy wars, body issues, threesomes, bondage and role playing, these books have everything we need to satisfy the curious kink in all of us.

  You can also find me here

  Website: WhitleyCox.com

  Twitter: @WhitleyCoxBooks

  Instagram: @CoxWhitley

  Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CoxWhitley/

  Blog: https://whitleycox.blogspot.ca/

  Multi-Author Blog: https://romancewritersbehavingbadly.blogspot.com

  Exclusive Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/234716323653592/

  Booksprout: https://booksprout.co/author/994/whitley-cox

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