Single Dad’s Plaything: A Single Dad First Time Billionaire Romance

by Natasha Spencer

  As she stared at herself in the mirror, she wondered if her younger self could ever have predicted how her life would turn out. As a teenager, she was rebellious and in love with someone she knew she couldn’t have. Back then she was convinced that she could never be happy. And now, at just twenty-five, she was already a sub-editor of a major women’s magazine in New York. Making enough to afford the down payment for a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. She wished she could meet her younger self and reassure her that everything would be all right.

  She tried not to think about what her father had meant by “everyone” earlier, but at the back of her mind, she knew exactly what that would mean. How could it not? What could have changed in seven years?

  She had changed into a sleek navy bodycon cocktail dress, which she knew accentuated her waist and her breasts. She styled her blond shoulder length straight hair into a loose bun, held together with a few hairpins. Black stilettos and a smoky makeup completed the look and she smacked her lips together to make sure that her deep plum colored lipstick was in place. When she heard the doorbell ring, she dabbed a few drops of perfume on her pulse points and smoothening the front of her dress, she stepped out of her room.

  As she gently shut the door behind her, she heard his voice downstairs. He was the first to arrive, and she would have recognized that voice anywhere. She descended the stairs, with her heart thudding against her chest, her throat drying as she got closer and closer to his voice.

  Nora tried to remind herself that she was an adult now, that things were different; that she hadn’t seen him in seven years and there was no reason to be nervous anymore. But as she drew closer to the living room, she was back to being a giddy teenager with a massive crush.

  She stopped at the door, watching her father huddled with his best friend at the bar in the corner of the living room. The two men had their backs turned to her, so they hadn’t noticed her come in. She took in a deep breath to compose herself, noticing that Theo looked the same, at least from the back. He was just as tall, with a wide muscular straight back and a narrow-toned waist. They were catching up over the bottle of Scotch he had brought as a gift for her dad, and in mid conversation, her dad caught sight of her.

  “Nora’s here! Come in, honey,” her father greeted her excitedly. Theo turned and she could have sworn that the floor had turned to jelly. She thought she was prepared, that she was ready to see him again, but the truth was that nothing could have prepared her for this moment. All those feelings of being a lovesick silly teenager came flooding back when he turned to look at her. The same chocolate brown shining hair, green dangerously sparkling eyes and the one-day old stubble.

  “Nora,” he said, with that deep grin forming on his face. He had a habit of smiling with just the corners of his lips stretching, forming deep dimples around his mouth. His jaw was square and sharp, and his face had always given her the impression that he was carved out of marble. His voice was deep and smooth like velvet, and he thrust his hands casually into the pockets of his tailor-made pants.

  “Hello Theo, it’s good to see you again,” she said, forgetting that her father was even in the room. She was surprised that she had even found the voice to speak to him and hadn’t stuttered yet.

  “There goes the doorbell again!” her father exclaimed, and rushed out of the room to get the door. Nora hadn’t even heard the bell ringing - instead she felt like she was being sucked in by Theo’s burning gaze. She wondered if he looked at everyone like that, with searching eyes and that casual grin on his face at all time, or was it just her imagination?

  “You look well,” she said, gulping rapidly to moisten her throat a little. Theo remained standing where he was, and she took a few steps towards him to close the distance between them, although she didn’t want to get too close to him.

  “You mean, I look old!” he joked. A small laugh escaped his lips that sent shudders down Nora’s spine. Old? He hadn’t aged a day, she thought to herself. She knew he had just turned forty-five. Subconsciously she kept track of his birthdays even though she hadn’t kept in touch enough to wish him a happy birthday.

  “No, I mean you look well,” she said in a low voice. Theo smiled some more.

  “You look beautiful, Nora, although I wouldn’t have recognized you if I passed you on the street,” he said. She felt like her legs were wobbling. How many times, as a teenager, had she fantasized that he would actually say those words to her?

  “And here’s Nora,” her father had come back into the living room, herding a bunch of friends of his who had just arrived. Nora pasted a nervous smile on her face and she turned to greet them, exchanging hugs and pleasantries with people she had grown up around. A barrage of questions and compliments overwhelmed her, and she was instantly surrounded by even more who kept arriving to the house.

  The next hour was spent by her making sure that she hadn’t left anyone out. It was when her father handed her a second glass of wine that she took a sip and looked around the packed living room to find that she had done her bit; she had personally spoken to everyone. Standing by the unused fireplace, she searched the room to see if she could catch a glimpse of Theo again. Chances were that he was where her dad was. Those two were pretty much joined at the hip.

  “Is it strange being back after so long?” she heard him say and nearly gasped but caught herself just in time. Gripping the wine glass tightly in her hand, she turned to find him standing beside her, swirling his glass of whisky. He took a large sip and pursed his lips, gazing at her from under his heavy eyelids.

  “Has it really been long?” she said, and Theo stepped closer to her.

  “Seven years,” he said.

  “You’ve been keeping track.”

  “Your father can’t stop talking about you,” he said and Nora got a whiff of the musky masculine cologne he was wearing. Goosebumps covered her arms instantly because she recognized that cologne; it was the same one he always wore. A few years ago, during her first year in New York, one of her new colleagues was wearing that same cologne. It was a scent she could never forget. She’d brought him back to her shared apartment that night and the next morning, she hoped that she wouldn’t have to work with him very long. Luckily, he quit his job in three months. She couldn’t stand being around a man who wore the same cologne that Theo did. And here it was again.

  “I’ve been busy,” she said as she took a sip of her wine.

  “I hear that you’ve been doing very well. Andy subscribes to the magazine of course. It’s very impressive,” Theo continued and she watched him as he spoke. His eyes looked like they were on fire as he held her gaze and she wondered if he ever knew how deep her crush on him was, how it had crippled her all of her teenage years. Nora licked her lips and smiled.

  “Thanks, we work hard,” she said. His shoulders heaved as he stood with one hand in his pocket and the other gripping the glass of whisky.

  “I can’t believe how much you’ve changed, Nora,” he said. She took in a deep breath and tried to smile.

  “It’s not much of a compliment, is it?” she said and the grin on Theo’s face grew.

  “It’s not an insult either. It’s just that I never imagined you as a grown up. Just like Andy still doesn’t,” he said and he looked to the side where her father was standing, laughing loudly at one of his friend’s jokes. Nora felt her cheeks flush.

  “I can assure you, I’ve grown up,” she said, meeting his eyes again.

  “I know,” he replied and a few moments of silence hung between them. “What kept you away for so long, Nora?” he said and she looked away from him to avoid his eyes. There was no way that she could tell him the truth, that was out of the question of course. I stayed away so I could avoid you. I wanted to avoid you because I’ve had a silly teenage crush on you for years.

  “I’ve been busy. College and then work and this job is very demanding. I work most weekends,” she knew she was rambling, just trying to fill the blank space in her mind with words so that he wou
ldn’t probe her too much. “Besides, Dad visits me in New York every couple of months, so I’ve never felt the need to come back here,” she added.

  “Of course. There isn’t much back here for you is there,” he said with a deep sigh. Nora tried to think of something to say that would change the subject.

  “How is business? I saw your face on the cover of Forbes recently,” she said. Theo rolled his eyes and took another sip of his whisky.

  “I really hate all that fuss. It was because I hit my first billion and they made a big show of it,” Theo said. She knew exactly what that article was about; she’d read it at least twenty times and stared at the cover photograph of him for hours before she was convinced that she was going insane and finally buried it under her mattress for good.

  “So the company’s doing well then,” she said. Theo shrugged his shoulders.

  “It’s doing well enough for me to keep my people employed and manufacture products that are hopefully helpful to the public,” he said. Nora smiled at him, arching an eyebrow.

  “Helpful? You invented a medical engineering breakthrough. You’re being modest,” she said and a smile flickered on Theo’s face before he looked over at her father again. She sensed that he was about to walk away, that he had done his part of mingling with her and was now about to stray away to talk to someone else. Or it could have been because she felt that she had embarrassed him with praises. She remembered that he never liked talking about his success. It was why he was such good friends with her dad, because he treated Theo the same way he had done before his major international success. With her dad, he felt like they were just two ordinary guys hanging out.

  “Anyway…” she heard him say, and she panicked. She didn’t want him to leave; she wanted to hear his voice for a little longer.

  “How’s your wife?” she asked, the words rushing out of her. Theo looked up at her, the grin on his face dropping and Nora noticed how his gaze had hardened a little. Theo took in a deep breath and then smiled. “Violet is well,” he said.

  Chapter 3

  The wedding was planned for a few weeks after Nora left for college, and even though she would never have admitted it to her dad, she didn’t want to see Theo getting married. Since then, she actively avoided seeing any pictures of the mysterious Violet, and because she’d never actually met the woman; she had formed her own version of who she was and what she looked like.

  They’d apparently met on a vacation in Spain and had a whirlwind romance before he asked her to marry him. It had all happened so quickly. Theo was away in Europe for three months and then suddenly he returned with news of a fiancé.

  Nora was sitting outside on the porch the morning after her dad’s birthday party, typing away at her laptop and trying to concentrate on work. Theo hadn’t said much after she asked him about his wife and had left soon after, excusing himself on account of an important early meeting the next morning.

  “You’re working?!” her dad had emerged out of the front door.

  Nora smiled at him.

  “The only way I could have taken all of these days off was by promising that I’d still get some work done,” she said. Her fingers hadn’t stopped hovering over the keyboard.

  “It’s your first vacation in like four years honey,” her dad said, sitting down on the stool beside her as he tied his shoelaces.

  “Going for a jog?” she asked and he stood up, his face beaming.

  “Yeah, Theo’s got me into jogging again and now I’m addicted,” he said and just the mention of his name was enough for Nora’s muscles to stiffen.

  “Well, you look good, dad. You should keep it up,” Nora said as he started to walk down the steps of their porch. He smiled and waved as he began to jog away from her, and Nora went back to typing on her computer.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about Violet. Mrs. Violet Heffernan. She’d always avoided asking her dad questions about Theo or his wife, so she knew practically nothing about her or the relationship. Before Violet happened, Theo had been a confirmed bachelor for as long as she could remember. Everyone in town had taken it for granted that he would never marry, even though his string of girlfriends were no secret of course. Nora didn’t care much about which new hot thing he had on his arm because she had convinced herself that those women didn’t mean anything to him. But when he announced that he was actually marrying someone, she was glad she was going away as she couldn’t bear to see him settling down for good.

  Nora couldn’t concentrate on work anymore. The more she thought about Violet, the more her skin crawled. Shutting off her laptop, she jumped out of the chair and looked for the key her father kept under the welcome mat, and locked the door before walking out.

  She kept her hands in her pockets as she walked down the neighborhood. Even though she had been away from it for seven years, she still knew the area by heart. She knew just which turns to take and which roads to walk down until she reached the gates of Theo’s home. His house still looked just as majestic and big as it always did.

  She had always admired how architecturally beautiful the house looked, which she knew Theo had renovated himself when he bought it several years ago. It was in the style of old Tudor homes, surrounded by a canopy of shading green trees and a beautiful garden, at least ten times the size of her dad’s. The driveway was circular with a marble fountain that was still glistening in the sun and Nora walked through the open iron gates towards the front door.

  She noticed the new cars parked in the driveway. Theo had a thing for luxury cars. She tried not to think too much about what she was doing there and why she had gone to his home. The deed was done now. She had walked up to his house already and she might as well just go ahead and knock on the door.

  Instead, Nora peered in, her mind racing with a jumble of images of what this Violet might actually look like. Although, of course, the one thing that was certain was that she would be drop dead gorgeous.

  Sucking in her gut, Nora knocked on the door lightly. She heard nothing on the other side for a few moments and she was already wondering how bad this idea was. Biting down on her lip, she decided to face her fears. Maybe I actually met Violet, I could get over Theo she thought to herself.

  She rang the bell this time, and after a few seconds, she heard the shuffle of feet inside.

  Nora stepped back, tucking some stray strands of hair behind her ears and pasted a smile on her face. The door flew open and she saw Theo standing in front of her.

  He was in a pair of blue swim shorts and his chiseled torso was damp with drops of water sliding down his pumped biceps as he stood in front of her with a smile on his face.

  “Nora, hi,” he said in a casual voice. If he was surprised to see her, he didn’t show it.

  “Hi…hello,” she said, at a complete loss for words. She had assumed that Theo was out on a run with her dad. She had been so sure that his wife would be alone in the house but couldn’t tell him that of course.

  “Come on in, I was just hanging out in the pool. It’s a lovely sunny day today,” he said. He turned away from her and left the front door open. Nora swallowed deeply as she followed him in, delicately shutting the door behind her while her heart racing. Confronting her fear of Theo’s wife was the plan, but seeing him practically naked and dripping wet definitely wasn’t.

  Chapter 4

  The swimming pool wasn’t new to Nora; she’d attended many pool parties there when she was growing up and swam in it at least a hundred times. The only difference now was that she was alone with Theo and he looked like he had walked straight out of one of her fantasies.

  Theo had gone over to one of the deck chairs, where a book was lying open next to a glass of iced tea.

  “Do you want something to drink?” he asked her as he picked up a towel and started dabbing it around his neck. Nora’s throat ran dry again. She tried to not stare at six-pack. He was a man who made sure he stayed in shape unlike the pot bellies of men around his age. For Nora, Theo’s desire to stay healt
hy and in shape was one of his most attractive features.

  “No, thanks, I’m fine,” she said, trying to look anywhere else but at him. In the sun, she now noticed the few strands of silver in his sideburns that glistened in the light. His stubble had grown slightly darker since the previous night and Nora couldn’t help but wonder how rough and tingly it would feel on her fingertips.

  “Wanna take a dip? Go on. For old time’s sake,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. Nora licked her lips.

  “I haven’t come prepared,” she said to him, biting down on her lip as she looked at blue water.

  “You don’t have to worry about formalities here, Nora. If you insist, I can go look for one of Violet’s swimsuits,” he said, flinging the towel around his neck. She gulped as she watched his bare muscles move. She couldn’t stop her mind from wandering what lie inside his shorts.

  “No need for that,” she blurted out, snapping any fantasies of him at the thought of wearing his wife’s clothes.

  He watched her as she undid the buttons of her jeans and pulled them down to her ankles. Thankfully, she was wearing matching underwear that day.

  She never swam in lingerie before and she had no idea how well or badly her lace bra and underwear were going to hold up in the water. She wasn’t even thinking straight. She was simply plunging in, taking the opportunity and seeing what would happen…

  He was watching her, his green eyes scanning the length of her porcelain smooth legs until his gaze rested on the spot between her thighs. He clenched his jaw and then suddenly gave her a smile.

  “I’m jumping in,” he said and in a flash, he dove into the pool making a big splash as he did. She had seen him watching her with a gaze she had never seen before. It was the first time in her life that she felt like he had actually noticed her as a real woman.