by Lia Davis
Brock waited for his dad to unhook him from that baby car seat. He hated it and couldn’t wait until he was big enough to ride without it.
Inside the building, they sat in boring wooden chairs while his dad went and talked to an old guy with a really red face. Brock counted the tubes in the back of the chairs, the blocks on the floor that Daryl said were tiles, and the flags that stood by the entrance.
What was taking his dad so long? He wanted to look around, but he’d promised Daryl he’d stay put. She looked at him and then did the best thing ever. She patted her lap and let him sit in her lap. Being in Daryl’s lap was great. She rocked him, and it felt better than the best bubble bath, grilled cheese sandwich, or pillow fight mushed together. He didn’t know how it happened but the next thing he knew his dad was getting him out of the car again at a very bright place.
“Where are we, Dad?” he asked. He was still sleepy and wanted Daryl. Reaching for her, his dad tried to keep him in his arms, but he had to make sure to let him know that he wanted Daryl. “No, Dad, I want Daryl. She’s my friend, and you promised I could hold her hand.”
“Are you sure? That means you’ll have to wake up enough to walk. Daryl can’t hold you. You’re a big boy, and you’ll need to walk.”
“Of course, I can walk. I’m not a baby.” Leaning over to Daryl who was reaching for him, Brock made the transfer from his dad’s arms to hers with no problems.
When he was back in her warm, soft arms, Brock couldn’t help it, he laid his head on her shoulder and went back to sleep. He thought he heard her say, “I’ve got him. The little guy is tired. And, yes, if he gets heavy, I’ll let you carry him.”
Brock continued to wake up and fall back to sleep as they walked around a food store. He could hear Daryl talking to his dad about food to get for him for lunch. Brock held on tighter and went back to sleep. Before drifting off again, he smelled her neck and sighed in total joy. Daryl was perfect, and he knew that he wanted her to stay with him forever. He wanted her for his new mom.
Chapter 10
Daryl—The Guest House
The day had been amazing. Not only was Asher Princeton everything she’d never have in a man, but he was also thoughtful and considerate. Talking with him was easy. He’d gotten her to talk about how she grew up, her life and other stuff she rarely said out loud.
“Why here? You don’t have any friends up here?” he’d asked, as they drove around looking at the town, the mountains and the area in general.
“I came back here because of my dad. I’m a lot like him. I don’t have many friends. Never was the type to make them, I guess.”
“Shh, you better not let Brock here you say that. He’s crowned himself your best friend.”
“And that he is. Brock is amazing and so smart for his age.” She’d had to give Asher the compliment he deserved. “You’ve done a great job with him. He’s so well adjusted and thoughtful.”
“I can’t take most of the credit for that, between the couple I employ to watch him when I’m back home and Monique checking in on him, Brock is our community child.”
“That works. He’s turned out great.”
“Yeah, and it looks like he’s in a mind to recruit you too. I saw you get that break and bake cookie dough with the candy pieces in it that only a small kid could love.”
“Hey, how do you know those cookies aren’t for me?”
“Because you barely bought anything, even though I begged you. Trust me, I know my son, and he’s going to find a way to come over to your place every day, now that he knows you feed small children. The boy can eat. He takes after his papa in that regard.”
Their conversation had flowed like that all day. Asher was continuously looking out for her, blaming it on how his son was going to be like her shadow. It didn’t matter; Brock was fun as well as funny. Even though she’d argued with him to do otherwise, Asher had bought her groceries and added a grocery concierge delivery app to her phone with his account information on it. With his strong prompting, she’d ordered over four hundred dollars’ worth of food, toiletries, and incidentals. When the delivery would come on Tuesday, combined with what she’d picked up today, she’d have enough food and stuff to last well over a month.
Excusing herself after Asher had put a still sleeping Brock to bed, Daryl high-tailed it back over to the guest house. Staying around Asher without the safety of Brock around to keep her in check was asking for trouble. There’d be no way she would recover from that. Plus, she’d make a fool out of herself.
Once back in the safety of the guest house, Daryl started on dismantling the prototype. She cataloged all the components, laying them out on the plastic covered section of the floor to see what she’d need to replace. Her gut told her that the sooner she got this project done, the better. It was only a matter of time before she slipped and did something stupid around Asher. Then her project would be in jeopardy. Her only recourse was to work like a demon to finish, get out of here and save her inroad to working with Princeton Technologies.
The next week went smoothly. Daryl kept to herself—away from Asher. Brock would come over in the mornings. She’d send him back to the main house after their noon lunch, then work until she fell asleep, usually with the laptop on her lap.
As for the contract, Asher had completely redone it by more than doubling the compensation, extending the deliverable schedule to the end of August, and removing the clauses that had been her biggest concerns. The man bent over backward to make it work. Daryl signed it with a notary witness Asher had pulled up on live stream back at his offices in Atlanta. This had saved her the trouble of finding one locally and having to send the contract back via snail mail.
The man was an angel in the flesh. When he found out about the good faith payment and bank accounts, Daryl had been embarrassed. Instead of making a big deal about it, Asher had increased the deposit to twenty-five thousand dollars and the line of credit to the same, removing the secured money requirement. His reasoning was that she’d need the money to order materials for fabrication of the prototype she delivered. Daryl had never had that much money in the bank or tied to her name. Asher made it easy for her to finish the project without having to worry about the money to deliver a great-looking prototype. He’d made her laugh saying that if she delivered a butt-ugly prototype like the first one, he’d make her take pictures with it and post it on all her social media.
Asher Princeton was funny, charming in a natural way, and way more than she had realized when they’d first met. A little over a week and she’d fallen hopelessly in crushing lust for him. The answer was to stay away and work, and that’s what she did.
Sunday—The Princeton Summer Vacation Home
Daryl had finished eating and had settled down to work on recalibration data for the new lighter materials she’d received in the mail when she heard them. Brock’s signature giggles, accompanied by splashing water, floated into her living space. That maternal urge that always surfaced when that kid was around brought a smile to Daryl’s face. He was happy and must be finally in the pool. The pool had been another area where he and his father had clashed.
Asher had stalled, waiting for a child safety installation before allowing Brock to go anywhere near the pool. As an adult, Daryl completely understood. As a friend to Brock, she’d been able to see how tempting it was to look at a pool every day and not be able to go in. Thankfully, he’d been distracted when she’d made him her helper with her work. She’d even gotten him to help her with breakfast and lunch—that kid never turned down food—and he’d loved it.
Today was her day to chill out, but she was working of course. She was deep in scenario calculations for various extreme weather impacts on the new outer casing materials when Brock’s little fists pounded on the window pane of a French door. Through the closed shutters, she could still see him, dripping wet, and wearing floaters—so darn cute. Unable to ignore him, she answered the door.
“Hi Daryl, can you come out and play with me?�
�� he asked. His hair was slicked down from the water and swim trunk shorts that rode low on his little narrow hips.
“Hey buddy,” she stalled. There was a less than slim chance she’d get into a pool, but didn’t want to dash his hopes. “I could come out and watch you play in the pool for a little bit.”
“I wanted you to play with me in the pool.”
“I don’t have a swimsuit, and unlike you, I can’t swim all that well either.”
His eyes grew large. “You can’t swim?” His question seemed like the notion was a travesty.
She had to laugh at how seriously he looked.
“Nope, I took a few classes when I was a child, but never got the hang of it.”
Before she could figure out his next move, Brock yelled, “You can’t swim? Maybe Dad could show you.”
Daryl wanted to clamp her hand over his mouth. There was no need for him to get Asher involved. She needed to stay away from him. Her cycle must be coming soon because her libido was in full rage. All her dreams had been of Asher doing amazing things to her body. Many mornings she woke sexually frustrated and aching for him. And, her daytime thoughts were not much better. She had them in various situations and levels of undress as her lust was fulfilled by him.
Shaking her head to come back to the conversation with this cunning little boy, Daryl hurried to speak.
“Hey there, no need to get your dad involved. I’m cool—we’re cool. I’d love to watch you play for about an hour. Then, I must get back to what I was doing. How does that sound?”
Brock looked back toward the house and then up to her. “Cool—I’ll take it! Hurry up, Dad’s talking to Monique about something, and I don’t know how much longer he’ll be gone.”
Confused, Daryl had to ask, “And, why does that matter?”
A cute impish grin spread on Brock’s face as he answered, “Oh, no reason.” Grabbing her hand and tugging, he said, “Come on, Daryl. Let’s play!”
Daryl looked back at the laptop and work spread out and then over to the beautiful pool area with waterfalls, fire pit, and other nice amenities. The decision was quick. She could spare an hour to make Brock happy. Allowing the little boy to pull her out of the guest house, Daryl padded out to the area that had been designated as Brock’s to find a seat. She wore no shoes and had on shorts and a t-shirt, but was surprisingly comfortable and glad for the lawn chair she spotted.
She was about to sit in it when Brock said, “No, Daryl. Sit here. You can put your feet in the water. You don’t have to know how to swim for that part.”
He was right; she didn’t have to know how to swim to do that. Easing herself down to sit on the edge of the smaller section of the pool that was littered with blow up toys, swimming noodles and inflatable lounge chairs, Daryl watched Brock smile hard.
“Watch this, Daryl!”
Before she could catch him, Brock took a running start and launched himself into the pool like a flying squirrel. Her heart leaped to her throat in fear as he tucked his legs into a ball and landed close to the middle of the pool with a huge splash. Water doused her, wetting up the front of her hair and clothes.
“Brock! Didn’t I tell you not to do that?” The voice coming from behind her was deep and authoritative—Asher.
Asher’s mini me gave him a sheepish grin and said, “I know, but I had to show Daryl real quick. Dad, she can’t swim, and I wanted to let her know some of the cool stuff she can do when you show her how to swim.”
Embarrassment washed over Daryl. Brock did have a way of cutting to the quick of a matter. Nothing he’d said was untrue. Wanting to hide, Daryl felt herself slouching. Asher came to stand next to her. She couldn’t help stealing a quick glance to see powerful legs that were bronzed a golden hue. The man was built like a physical fitness model. He was barefoot, like them and wore swim trunks that were like Brock’s. They looked like shorts, but Daryl saw the drawstring waist. On Asher, the navy trunks looked like danger if he continued to stand this close to her. Her breath refused to resume deep breathing patterns as he remained close enough for her to lean over and touch.
“I know you went and disturbed Daryl after I asked you not to.” The little boy looked down to hide his face from Daryl. Asher continued, “Keep being disobedient and I’ll make you go inside and take a nap. Do you understand me?”
Daryl wanted to disappear too. This was the first time she’d seen Asher correct Brock in such a direct way. She felt sorry for the little fella. But, looking at how Asher handled the situation, she knew he did it out of love for his son. Brock had to learn boundaries and how to obey his dad. She totally agreed with that. It was so hard seeing Brock squirm from getting in trouble in front of her. It took everything not to grab him up and hug the little fella.
Instead of joining Brock in the pool, Asher sat down next to her. His eyes drifted to her t-shirt. It was wet, and Daryl could only imagine what she must look like with the top clinging to ever bit of her upper body. She’d play it off and act like nothing was out of order. She continued to look out at Brock as he paddled fast, making little circles in the middle of the smaller shallow part of the pool. She looked to see the depth only went up to four and a half feet, but that was still taller than Brock. Instinct to protect him washed over her anew.
Unable to stop herself from worrying, she turned to Asher and said, “Is he able to swim enough to be in deep water like this?”
Asher returned her gaze, and for a split second, she could swear she saw hunger. The sun glinted off his eyes, and the mirage was gone. Great, now she was projecting her feelings onto this man. When he spoke, there wasn’t a hint of attraction or interest, only clear eyes that could hypnotize her if she stared at them for too long.
“He’s not that great of a swimmer. The floaters make him more confident than he should be. As for the pool depth, I couldn’t get all the toys he wanted in the three-foot area. We compromised, and he was supposed to stay out of the pool while I ran in to take a quick call from Monique.”
“Oh, I see.” Chancing it, she said, “Monique, is she your sister? Brock called me by her name the first time we met. He thought I was her, but I don’t understand how she can be his aunt.”
“Oh, I guess I can see how that could have happened—remotely. Monique is, how can I say it, closer than a sister and my assistant. She’s the glue that keeps me and Princeton Technologies together. And, she’s eager to meet you.”
“Wait, what? How?” A lump formed in Daryl’s throat over meeting the woman.
“I told her all about you, and she’s excited to meet the great Daryl Livingston, Junior. She’ll be here in July. The only issue is that guest house is hers.”
A tinge of jealousy at how Asher spoke about Monique flamed in the pit of her stomach. Daryl had mixed feelings about meeting this Monique woman.
“Oh, I see. Do you need me to move out then?” Dread and worry that he’d changed his mind about their agreement picked at her confidence to continue the conversation. She wanted to retreat and regroup. Daryl was never good at thinking on her feet when she cared a lot. It was true, she cared about Asher and Brock more than she’d like to admit, and it was impairing her logic and reason.
“Move out of the guest house for the week she’ll be here, but away from here, no. I’ll set you up in a first-floor guest suite in the house. You won’t have much of a barrier from Brock, being in the same house, but I’ll do my best to keep him from bothering you.”
“Brock could never bother me. I love—I mean I like having him around.”
Asher looked at her with his famous stare. Wheels turned making Daryl self-conscious again. He said, “I like how much you’ve shared with him. Because of you, he’s adjusted well to being up here, away from his normal routine. Neither has it escaped my notice how much you do with him each day. You have my appreciation. The time you spend with him in the mornings has helped me get a lot of work done before taking over in the afternoons.” He continued to hold her focus. His eyes did something cool, g
etting a little darker as he grabbed her hand and said, “Thank you, Daryl. You’ve been a true friend to Brock. It’s good having you here.”
Hyperventilation—was that where you can’t breathe?
Daryl lost all ability to maintain normal breathing patterns. Asher Princeton was touching her on purpose, and she wanted to pee, shout, and faint at the same time. This wasn’t about him helping her get in and out of a monster truck. He’d initiated touch and held her hand in his. Daryl wanted to pull him into her and plant a kiss on those lips that haunted her dreams.
Then common sense rode back in to the rescue. Instead of focusing on how sensual and strong his grip was, she’d focus on a particularly pesky calculation that she’d need help with. It meant that she had to simultaneously calculate four dimensions of impact speed, much like the math used to launch rockets.
A few seconds of this and she could respond to Asher with a semblance of sanity.
“It’s nothing. Brock is a special kid, and I like spending time with him.”
Asher’s hand sent radiant heat into her own. The longer he held it, the more aware she became of how hard it was to concentrate on those stupid calculations and act normal. Her body was magnetized to his. Even though her mind screamed “no don’t do it,” her body drifted inward, closer to his constellation. He didn’t release her hand and kept his eyes locked on hers.
What was happening here?
Daryl could feel the heat of his body closer to hers, and it felt damn good. Her imagination wasn’t playing tricks on her, she was driving closer toward him, and he wasn’t stopping her. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. This was enough of a gesture to get his eyes to focus on her lips. He stared at them like they were foreign but interesting. She felt her teeth bite into her full lower lip. Daryl couldn’t predict or stop what she did. It was him and being this close. His bone structure was chiseled and manly. Up close she could see that his lashes were abnormally long. This added to the brilliance of his eyes.
