Mr. Perfect O: A Single Dad Romance

by Amy Brent

  “I know, I’m so sorry, Mr.—Ross. I’m sorry.”

  “You get away with a lot more than I’ve ever let the other sitters, and that’s because I consider you a part of the family. You’ve shown you care and that you’re dependable. Other than your rebellious wardrobe issues, you’ve never disappointed me. So, I will let this slide. But if you ever fuck again, in my bed, or anywhere else in this house while my daughter is home, I’m done.”

  “Thank you, Ross. For not firing me.” She sauntered over and lowered herself beside me placing her hand on mine which was rested on my lap. “I won’t let you down again.” She must have been still worked up because she looked at me as if she wanted to fuck me, but I leaned in close and reminded her, “It’s still not going to happen. I let you use my shower so you’d finish up.” She gave me a look that could have incinerated a forest, but then she stormed out and slammed the door so hard, I was surprised it didn’t wake up Katie.

  Chapter 18

  Tori

  The next week saw me with a better mood than I’d had in ages. Not only had I been talking to Ross every night that he wasn’t working, and we’d even had a hot phone session, this time through video chat, but we’d made plans to hook up again soon.

  Even though neither of us had committed to a relationship, I was confident we were well on our way to having one. I had even bragged to Jackie about us, telling her all about the night I’d finally lost it, which was a discussion she and I had waited for ages for.

  “It was perfect,” I said to Jackie as I drove across town for lunch. We liked to leave campus at least three days a week for a decent meal and were debating where to go. We had a good hour and a half to burn since I was using part of my conference time.

  “You think everything is perfect, Tori.” This time I wasn’t referring to sex with Ross, but to the salad, I’d had for lunch the week before.

  “It was. You’re just mad I don’t want to go to Grayson’s again.” She’d wore me out on the new Deli in town, and we’d debated on whose salads were the best.

  “It’s my favorite, and you can’t tell me that iceberg salad was better.”

  “I like it, but we need to decide on a compromise because neither of us is going to give in and I need to go pick up a birthday gift for Katie. Can you believe her party is Saturday and this is the first I’ve heard about it?”

  “That’s kind of strange if you ask me. Are you sure he wants you to go?”

  “I’ve got an invitation.” I opened my purse and took out the pink glittered card and passed it to her.

  “This was written by Katie, not her father. Do you think he knows about it?”

  “I think he was just letting her surprise me. He’s like that with her. He likes to let her be responsible. She probably had it in her bag for days and only just remembered.” I couldn’t see a reason Ross would have kept it from me otherwise, and things had gone so well between us that I was determined to think positive thoughts.

  “Let’s go to Burn’s Kitchen. I love their soups.”

  “The soup is okay, but their plate lunches are no better than the school cafeteria’s.” The place had to be operated by people without taste buds, and I’d had nursing home food more flavor.

  “Come on, I’ll let you pick next time, and we can even go to the Salad Emporium again.” I was going to give in, but only because it was much easier to drive to Burn’s in lunch hour traffic. We pulled into the parking lot and were headed across to the building when I spotted someone familiar out of the corner of my eye at the hotel parking lot which butted up against the one for Burn’s.

  A man who looked an awful lot like Ross wearing a hat and sunglasses was headed from the lot to the hotel with a young woman walking briskly beside him. They looked as though they had business together, but then he put his arm around her waist, and when they got to the door, he held it open. I froze.

  “What’s the matter with you?”

  “I thought I saw someone.” I wasn’t sure it was him or if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I had daydreamed about him so much that I saw him everywhere. “Let’s hurry and get our order in.”

  “I’m not sure you should go to that party, Tori. I still think that Katie made that invite for you and what if Ross isn’t expecting you?” My stomach lurched thinking that if it were him I saw, what if he was seeing someone else and she was there? Perhaps I was only Katie’s preference and not Ross’.

  I pushed back the thoughts. “I can’t let Katie down. Besides, I’ll hear from Ross later, and I’ll mention it.”

  “Why not message him now?” I thought of doing so the minute I thought I saw him with someone else, but I couldn’t message him out of the blue when I knew he spent his days in interviews. He’d told me he had an important meeting about a job. Maybe he’s going to be a hotel manager?

  I pushed the thought out of my head as I placed my order and waited for Jackie. We took a seat at the nearest table and waited for our food.

  Against my better judgment, I let my curiosity get the best of me. “I guess I could.” I pulled out my phone and dialed, but there was no answer. “He’s probably in a meeting for work.”

  We had our lunch and talked more about what to get Katie. I had a few ideas based on what the kids at school were all into and knowing that Katie loved to read.

  Burn’s took longer than expected and we’d already burned a good hour there. “Do you think we could head to the bookstore? Do we have enough time?” I checked my phone for the time and noticed there was a text from Ross that read: Interview starting call u when it’s over. It was from two minutes before, and I let the nervous feelings subside.

  “Ross is in an interview. He said he’ll call me when he’s—

  I looked up, and there he was. He had been the man from earlier with the woman and as he stood there holding the door to the car open, his pants not quite tucked in, and her lipstick and hair mussed, my face turned pale.

  Jackie looked up and saw him too. I’d shown him to her at the school one morning when he’d come through the line, and she’d seen the selfie he’d taken for his contact photo.

  “Wait, isn’t that him?” Jackie motioned in his direction, and Ross put his head down after giving me an apologetic look and got in his car without saying a word. My mouth hung open, and I didn’t quite know what to do as my heart was beating out of my chest.

  “Yeah, that was him. And as far as I can tell, he wasn’t in any interview.” I’d seen him go into the hotel the hour before, and it only made sense the two of them had engaged in some sort of sex act. My lunch threatened to reappear as bile rose in my throat.

  “See, you need to stay away from that party, Tori. He’s playing you. If he’d wanted you to go, he’d have said something. From what you told me about the fish incident, I’d say someone is trying to play matchmaker for her daddy. He probably saw an opportunity and jumped on it. Be careful.”

  I had to admit that he wasn’t interested in me until he’d found out I was a virgin and then he was all over me. But I wasn’t going to let him get away with it so easily. I was going to make him explain it to me face to face. I was going to that birthday party.

  “I’ll be careful. Don’t you worry.” I walked around to the passenger side of my car and passed her the keys. I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t think about anything but how I’d been so foolish.

  I watched him drive away with the woman, and though his face remained stone-like as if he were fighting back some kind of urge, perhaps the urge to tell me to fuck off, the woman next to him smiled. It was the same smile I’d had on my face after my first time.

  We headed to the bookstore, and I bought Katie an electronic reader that was on sale, and though Jackie said it was too much, I knew it was the perfect gift. I was going to take it out and load it up with free children’s books as soon as I got back to class.

  Jackie was angry the entire way back to school, and I knew it was because she was worried about me. “You can’t seriously be going to
that party. What if that woman is there?”

  “I’m going for Katie. She’s bound to be heartbroken if I don’t go.” I didn’t want her to feel the same way I did. Like her heart was being ripped free from her chest over and over again.

  I spent the rest of the day with my class being a bit more quiet than usual. Katie came up to my desk to sharpen her pencil. “Mr. Bloom, are you coming to my party?”

  “Of course, I am, Katie. Did you do the invitations all by yourself?” I wanted to pry a little if I could.

  “No, ma’am. Mia and Daddy helped me.” She lifted her chin with pride and smiled. I remembered he’d said that Mia was the babysitter—or was she?

  “Well, they are beautiful; you did a great job on them.” I gave her a sweet smile, and she hurried off to her desk. My heart fell to my gut like a stone, and I glanced at my phone. There were no new messages. I doubted I’d hear anything from him until the party.

  I spent the rest of my afternoon getting Katie’s books loaded, and I had created an account for her using the password: two fish. I wrapped her present with the funny papers, which was something my aunt had always done and I thought of how wonderful it would be to have a daughter like Katie. Someone to wrap presents for all the time, someone to spend a holiday and go shopping with and care for. I guess a small part of me had hoped to be more to Katie too. She was a bright child and as sweet as they come—everything you’d want in a daughter. But that would never be. It was a stupid fantasy, and I’d have to get used to the fact that it wasn’t meant to be.

  Chapter 19

  Ross

  Mia and I had a heart to heart about her staying on, and how that even though she was attracted to me, it would never work because she was too young for me and because of that she wasn’t my type. I’d guess that it had gone okay enough because she’d offered to help me with the party and had been more of a friend than a little girl with a crush. I’d told her all pretense was over, and that she didn’t need to act so innocent around me anymore. I had seen her in a much different light, and the only way to make it work was to see her like an adult instead of a child, and I’d treat her as such. I’d also talked to her about doing better than those little boys she’d been dating as we hung the streamers for Katie’s party.

  “You can do better.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re taken, so I have to do my best.” She looked down from the ladder and taped the streamers together. We’d twisted pink, purple, and blue together and the house looked like a kid’s movie exploded in it.

  “We’re not going back down that road, Mia.” She let out a giggle and taped the streamer to the wall. From the ground, I could see up her shirt, but I paid it no mind, content with the fact that I didn’t need Mia for my dirty old man fantasies. I had Tori for that, even though I’d been too chicken shit to call her or message since she’d caught me coming out of the hotel with Melanie. She’d needed a quick meeting, and since we’d both been pressed for time, we discussed business while she stroked my cock and then we took a quick moment to do oral, which she performed on me.

  Melanie had always been my go-to, and even though I wasn’t with Tori, it didn’t feel right to go through with it. But it was part of our agreement, and she’d gotten me more business lately than I had ever dreamed.

  She had always wanted to make things up to me about Cindy and the gun incident in the best way she knew how and who was I to say no? It was a weak excuse, and I knew it, but I’d hit her up as soon as I figured out a way to apologize.

  Mia hopped down off the ladder and brushed her hands together. “Okay, sexy, I’m all set to help you keep an eye on these kids, but if I get bitten, or one of these crazy little assholes kicks me, or shits their pants, I’m leaving.” She had warned me that Katie was the exception to her natural dislike for children.

  “Remind me again while I employ you to watch my child?” I gave a half-hearted laugh and patted her on the back. “And don’t call me sexy.”

  “Doesn’t sexy mean pretty, Daddy?” Katie scrunched up her nose trying to understand.

  “Sort of, but it’s not a nice was of putting it, and you don’t need to say it.”

  “Aren’t you sexy, Daddy?”

  “Yes, he is.” Mia giggled, and I sighed knowing that the last thing I needed was for my daughter to say something inappropriate in front of the other kids, or worse, their parents.

  “Dammit, Mia.” I turned to Katie and knelt down in front of her, straightening her dress. “You aren’t to say that word. Do you understand?” I kept my expression stone-like, and Katie’s eyes ringed red, and she nodded.

  “Sorry, Daddy.” She pooched out her lip, and I glared at Mia.

  “Sorry, Kid.” Mia brought Katie closer, wrapping her arms around to comfort her.

  “I’m not mad at you, Sweetheart, I just need you to understand.”

  “Yes, Daddy.” The doorbell rang, and she dried up her eyes and ran to the door with Mia to greet her guests.

  I hurried into the kitchen to make sure that everything was set up and then went out to show the guests to the backyard where the activities would take place. I had hired a magician, and he was set to arrive at any time.

  Katie was showing the other kids a few of the games that she and Mia had set up and told them what they’d be doing as soon as the others showed up, and that’s when they doorbell rang. I went to the door and opened it expecting a child.

  Tori stood on the front step, and she was so beautiful and wholesome that I ached. She had worn a party dress and carried a present wrapped in the funny pages with a big red bow on top. She was the picture of perfect beauty, and I was an idiot.

  “What are you doing here?”

  She gave me a slow smile filled with enough venom to kill a hippo. “I take it you didn’t invite me.” She handed me an invitation, and it had Katie’s handwriting. She’d gone about this herself.

  Tori pushed her way in, not that I was going to keep her out. She looked good enough to eat, better than the cake in fact, and I was determined to not only make her forgive me but get a slice of her. “I can leave if you prefer?”

  “No, I’m glad she invited you, you’re very special to her.”

  “To her? I see.” She was cold, and I could understand why. I’d given her every reason to hate me. I wanted to convince her that she was the only one that I wanted, but then, how would I go about it after what she saw? I’d have to come clean, and there was no way I could ever tell her about what I was doing to make ends meet.

  “I’m sorry about the other day.” I took her gift and placed it on the table by the door with the others.

  “It’s not like we have something special. I came for Katie.” She was giving a weak attempt at convincing me she wasn’t bothered, but I could see the tremble in her lips and hear the rattle in her voice.

  “You know better, and despite what you saw, so do I. I care about you, Tori.”

  “You didn’t say anything. That’s what showed me not only how much I mattered, but how much she did.”

  “She’s practically my boss, Tori; I didn’t want things to be awkward.” I hadn’t wanted Melanie to know about her and me. If she got jealous or thought someone was getting close to me that might threaten our alone time, she could stop hooking me up. I couldn’t have that now. Not until I had my account where I wanted it, and Katie would never have to worry.

  “So, you’re not only fucking your daughter’s teacher, but you’re fucking your boss too? How about the babysitter? What’s her name, Mia?” About that time, Mia walked around the corner.

  “Did you need something, Ross?” She stopped in her tracks and took in Tori. Then she glared at me, and I could almost read her mind. There I stood, intimately close to Tori with my hand on hers, and obvious affection in my eyes and to top it all off, Tori looked as young as Mia.

  Tori extended a hand. “Hello, you must be Mia.”

  “Yeah, and you are?”

  “I’m Ms. Bloom. Katie’s teacher.”


  “This is Tori. I know I’ve mentioned her a couple of times.”

  A slow smirk played across Mia’s face. “Um, no. No, I don’t think you have. So, you’re the lucky lady he’s spending all of his nights with?” She knew better.

  “Mia, you know I work.” I’d had just about enough of it.

  “Yeah, and I want a raise.” She folded her arms.

  “We’ll talk later. Shouldn’t you go out and watch the kids. Since you’re on the clock.” I’d hired her to come and help out, but she had offered to be there for free. She stormed away and glared back at me over her shoulder.

  “I guess you two really do have a thing too.”

  “Wrong. And I’m tired of your tone.” I pulled her close, a breath away from my lips. “I want you to go say hi to Katie since you came for her.” I slipped my hand down and rubbed her mound through her clothes. “And then later, while the kids are watching the entertainment, you’re going to come for me.”

  Her breath hitched, and though she glared at me with hard eyes, she ground herself against my hand. I slapped her ass as she turned around and headed out, and like Mia, she gave me a heated glance over her shoulder.

  I grabbed her arm before she could get away and pulled her back into my arms. “Tell me you’ll be here, Tori. Give me something to tide me over.”

  She kissed me, and her hand snaked down to rub my cock, which was already diamond hard for her. “I’ll be here.” I let her go, and she went out to see Katie, but I stayed back in the kitchen long enough to settle down. I was going to have to show her I meant business and I couldn’t wait to give her the hard fucking she deserved.

  I went out to see her with the kids who all knew her from school. She sat with them and looked more like a big sister than their teacher. Mia watched from behind her preparing the next game, and now and then I’d see a glare that told me the girl was going to be fit to be tied the next time we were alone. I’d convinced her that I wasn’t attracted to younger girls and that I was not going to break my rules and sleep with her. I’m sure she knew now that it was just an excuse. I’d have to put her in her place too.