"Hey, is Bill here?"
"Bill who?
"Bill... uh, you know, Bill? Tall, black hair, always wore those dorky superhero t-shirts?" I tried to be playful. She wasn't having it.
The door jingled when another customer came in. I did a double-take and my heart skipped a beat. He was stunning. A really nice business suit, fitted over his buff body. He looked vaguely familiar.
I forced my eyes back to the cashier.
"Bill quit. I dunno, college or something." She rolled her eyes and looked at her nails, considered one, chewed on it, considered it again.
Shit. I leaned over the counter and lowered my voice.
"Hey, uh, do you think that, maybe, I could get a breakfast burrito, a donut, and a cup of coffee? With 4 sugars and 4 creams?" I ended with a big smile. Someone had to have a little love for me this morning.
"Sure," she said and I lit up. "That'll be $9.85."
"No," I said and glanced at the security camera, "Bill would hook me up. You know, he'd give me the friends' discount?"
"I don't wanna hear about Bill giving shit away for free, you know? I mean, my dad owns this place and if he knew Bill was stealing from him - "
"No no no! I'm not saying Bill was giving me stuff for free," I lied, because I most certainly was saying that Bill gave me shit for free if I flashed some cleavage and giggled. "He, uh, just gave me a discount, that's all."
Her name tag said "Celine."
"Look, Celine, can you spot me this one time? I'm running late and I'm a little low on funds? Hey, I come here all the time. You guys get a lot of business from me. I tell all my friends..."
"Look, do you have $9.85 or what?"
I think I had about $50 in my checking account, and the bank wouldn't let me go under $20 after the third time I overdrew my account. With gas, that probably left me enough. I sighed and took out my wallet and handed her my debit card.
"Okay, fine, but one day you're going to need someone to help you out and they're not gonna, either."
"Whatever. Can you hurry up? My shift's over and I've got this conference to get to." She looked past me and smiled at the guy behind me. I turned to look.
My heart literally skipped a beat and I almost fell over.
"Daryl? Daryl Daneski?"
"I haven't been called that in a long time." His voice was low and smooth as silk. "Wendy? I hardly recognized you."
Daryl and I dated for about a month in high school. Actually, it was right after we graduated, right up until he left. We decided that we wouldn't have a long distance relationship. He'd been accepted to the Naval Academy and I was supposed to go to a state college, but my dad passed away that August and I stayed in this one-horse town and started doing IT work to help my mom get by.
I lost track of him. I was too scared to tell him at the time - I had a crush on him for years and was thrilled when we started dating, and I even thought I'd fallen in love with him. He was really excited about his Naval career and I was too scared to tell him.
I was crushed when he left. That was 10 years ago.
No other relationship had ever lived up to the memory of Daryl Daneski, that scrawny kid from high school that stole my heart.
"Yeah, Daryl, I, uh," I felt my cheeks flush. Daryl wasn't that skinny kid any more - he seemed to have grown a few inches taller and the military seemed to have bulked him up nicely.
I wanted to fuck his brains out right there.
"Wendy Patinaud?" He looked me up and down and smiled. "You look good. Real good."
"Well, it's LeCroix now, but, thanks," I blushed like a schoolgirl again. "I hardly recognized you."
"It's Daryl Dinero now. But you - " he paused and put his arm around my waist, pulled me in so I could feel his warmth - "you can call me Daddy."
My eyes went wide and my jaw opened. I didn't know if I should laugh or bend over for a spanking.
"Are you... are you serious?"
He laughed and pulled me in the rest of the way for a hug. He held it longer than was comfortable for someone you hadn't seen for 10 years and that you thought had completely forgotten you existed.
"It's a nickname I got in the military."
"You didn't turn gay on me, did ya?"
"No, it's a long story. Listen, the hotel sent me out to pick up a Ms. LeCroix... is that you?"
"Yeah, I've got an IT gig there. Why'd they send you?"
"Yeah. Listen, I've got some work to do and I was just here to pick up a couple of things before I got snowed in, and to check in on one you. You're fine, so give me your number and I'll give you a shout while I'm in town."
"Hey, lovebirds, you gonna pay for that or what? There's a line."
Daryl got into this beast of an SUV and waved as he drove off.
My car almost didn't start, but after a the third try, it turned over. I hit the steering wheel and cursed at it. I immediately felt bad and rubbed the dash and told her she was a good girl, just a little misunderstood, and a little rough around the edges.
I'm losing my mind, I thought.
Daryl fucking Daneski. Dinero?
My car had one cup holder and it was full of junk - a hair clip, lip balm, and a scrunchie. I had to hold the coffee cup while I drove, and I decided that I could steer with my knees while I took bites of the donut.
Oh my, he'd gotten downright tasty. And that only made it worse. I felt the heat between my legs and briefly considered rubbing my aching clit. But I didn't have time.
The roads weren't that bad. When you live this far north, you get used to the snow. I was born and raised in New Hampshire. Some thought the snow was great - I didn't mind it, but I could live without it. Sure, the idyllic scenery was nice to look at, but when you saw it all the time, it lost its charm. When you're driving on worn out tires in a piece of shit car and no cup holder and you're late - again - to your job, the scenery sort of takes a back seat.
The snow had really started to come down since I left the apartment, and the car slid a few times around some of the sharper turns.
Going around another corner, I hit a patch of black ice, spilled hot coffee on my leg, dropped my donut on my shirt, and tried to wrestle control of the car back with one hand.
It didn't work.
The snow bank on the side of the road wasn't compacted much yet, and wouldn't be until the plow came through a few more times, and my car sank into it all the way up to the hood on one side. Probably not much damage - nothing to report to the insurance company, anyway, even if I could afford my premiums going up - just enough to get myself stuck.
Fuck.
I'm already late, and now I've got coffee on my pants and powdered sugar on my shirt, and I'm stranded like 10 miles from the hotel.
Cal hates me, I let my AAA membership expire because I couldn't afford it, my friends moved to the city, and my mom doesn't drive since her DUI. I've got nobody, and it made me a little panicky when I realized it.
I pulled out the business card that Daryl had given me. I started to dial but hung up. He's busy. I can't. I just can't. He broke my heart when he left, and didn't even seem to care. Everything was all about his ambition, how he was going to be the captain of his own ship, etcetera.
I only had one other option. I sucked up my pride and called Lisa, my boss. She answered on the first ring.
"Hey, Lisa, I got stuck behind a plow, then I hit some black ice and I'm stuck in a snow drift. Can you send someone to get me? Totally not my fault, you know, these things happen."
"You're late again, Wendy? This is the third time this month. If you weren't so good at your job and if there were more people in this town, I'd have to let you go."
I smiled. I knew I was the best thing she had going. She'd be lost at that conference without me - she's old and she doesn't know ethernet from telnet, never mind how to set up the ball room electronics. Good thing, though, and she's right: I'd be out on my ass and up shit creek. So would my mom.
"You're damned right, you need me. I'll try to thumb a ri
de if I can, but it's cold and the snow is really coming down, so send someone ASAP. I think they were right about a blizzard this time, Lisa."
"Lucky for you, I already sent someone. I'll see if I can get a hold of him. Where are you?"
"Down Old Hartford Rd. Just past the Cumberland Farms."
"Okay. Stay safe, hon."
I caught a snowflake on my tongue, looked around, hung up, and decided to see what I could do in the mean time.
I got out and tried to push the car, but it was angled down and there's no way I was pushing 3000 pounds uphill.
The cold air was already starting to bite at me. Snow melted into my shoes and my toes started to tingle.
I saw a car coming and breathed a sigh of relief. I crunched through the compacted snow into road and the car slowed and rolled down the passenger window.
It was Celine from the gas station.
She laughed when she saw me. "You're that rude bitch that tried to get free stuff at my parents' store, aren't you?"
"Hey, sorry about that, but I'm in sort of a bind, you see my car, well-"
Celine rolled the window up, flipped me off, and drove away.
I knew she was a good-for-nothing stuck up bitch.
I brushed the snow off my arms and started to shiver. I had a suitcase full of clothes that Cal packed for me in the trunk, I remembered, and fumbled for my keys with stiff fingers and tried to open the rear of my car. No luck, it was frozen shut.
Damn it!
I cursed and kicked at the trunk, slipped and fell in the snow, and split my pants in the process.
God hates me, I'm convinced of it, because at the exact moment I split my pants, this luxury SUV pulls up behind me. I'm sure they got a great view.
Even worse: it was Daryl.
"Need some help?"
Chapter 3
Daryl
The Bentley Bentayga is a marvel of modern engineering, and it just happens to be super luxurious on the inside. I don't normally drive, I'm too busy working, but the next couple of days were all about political connections and meeting my future wife. My fake wife. My "perfect wife," as Eve liked to call her.
"Maybe you'll grow to love her," she said. Yeah, right. These rich girls are all the same and I'm a small-town boy at heart.
Eve doesn't realize this, but I'm not into politics only because of my ambition. I mean, hell, it can only help my brand. But I've had a lot of success in the military and in real estate and I want to help out other kids stuck in nowhere towns pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
I never thought I'd come back here, and when I did, I never thought that Wendy LeCroix would still be here. Still a spitfire. But all grown up.
Hair pulled back, tight shirt, tight pants... she had it going on in all the right places. I smiled. I hope she calls me.
I was sure Victoria would be this boyish waif that puked up her dinner every night. I know the type. Rich girls in Vegas are all the same.
I came around a corner and saw a car stuck in the snow, and a lady was behind it, kicking and yelling. She fell forward and ripped the ass of her pants wide open.
Wendy.
I smiled, put the car in park and hopped out.
"Need some help?" I said.
Her shirt had a white stain down the front, her pants had coffee spilled on them, she wasn't wearing a coat, and her shoes were completely inappropriate for the snow.
She was a complete hot mess.
And now her pants were split in the back.
She always made me laugh. I'd known her for a while in high school, but I was sort of a nerd back then, and I was afraid to ask her out until after we graduated. I think she's still the only woman I've ever considered a friend.
"Yes, I need some help," she said with a huff. "For fuck's sake, look at me. I've got to get to the conference at the hotel, my stupid car is stuck, that lady from the convenience store slowed down but didn't help me, and I'm going to get fired if I don't get to work."
"Do you have a change of clothes?"
"Yes, but the fucking trunk is frozen completely shut and it's only a suitcase and I don't really even know what's in it and -"
I laughed and took her arm. "Come on, I think I have some clean workout clothes in the back. You can change in there and I'll get you where you're going, and I'll send a tow truck out to get your car towed back to the hotel."
"For real?"
"Yes, for real, come on."
I touched the sensor on the rear hatch and the motor silently opened it. I hadn't used my gym clothes because Evelyn had been adamant that I spend all my time working on the election, carousing, flirting, and signing papers to keep the hotel business going.
"I hope they're not too loose on you."
Wendy hopped into the back of the Bentley and took her clothes off right in front of me. I hadn't expected that. She'd matured nicely - no longer a skinny teenager, she filled out with curves in all he right places. It was refreshing to see a woman without an eating disorder, or that would probably not be afraid to swing by the ice cream shop on the way through the casino. I pictured her bending over in front of me, giving that big, round ass a slap...
"You know, it's really good to see you, Daryl," Wendy began as she twisted side to the side to pull up the sweat pants. They were Burberry, about $400 for the pants and probably another $400 for the shirt. She tugged and pulled on them like they were a set of cheap Hanes joggers.
"I told you, call me Daddy. You need help with that?" I stepped forward.
"What's up with that? And no, I can dress myself."
"In the Academy, I started making some small real estate deals. It was good money. The guys teased me and called me Daryl Dinero."
"Doesn't answer the question - why 'Daddy'"? She laced her shoe and stood next to me.
"I'm getting there. They called me Dinero, so I legally changed my name to Dinero. I owned that shit. It's no fun when the person you're teasing turns it on you, so they shortened Daryl Dinero to Da-Di, and started calling me Daddy; you know, to get under my skin. Guys in the military have a lot of time and like to see which buttons they can push."
"Did it work?"
"Well, I didn't change my name this time, but if a bunch of grown men want to call me Daddy, then that's on them. Again, I owned that shit. I tell my closest friends to call me Daddy now because I'm the motherfucking boss."
"I'm not your close friend." She looked up at me. Her pupils were dilated and her cheeks were red.
"You're my oldest friend, Wendy. And I was thinking about you before I came back here." We always had this connection. Wendy was always so smart and spunky, and she still was. I felt my cock start to stiffen.
"You were?"
A snow plow blared its horn and the driver leaned out the window. "Hey! Get outta the road!"
"We'd better get going," I said. "The snow's really coming down, and the hotel is like 10 miles away, and we'll have to go very slow, even in this old pig." I touched the button to close the hatch and patted the bumper. "Go around and get in."
Once inside, she realized the Bentayga was more than just a regular ride.
"Oh, hey, this is nice!" She rubbed the dash and craned her neck to see the entire thing.
"It's just what I had available to me today," I winked at her.
"You always take what's available?"
I looked at her and thought that was pretty forward for her. I liked this new Wendy.
"I'm at a place in life where I take what I like."
"Do you like?" She raised a brow.
My cock started to stiffen again. I looked at her in that tight sweatsuit.
I wanted to pull off the road and fuck. But the snow was really coming down and I had to pay close attention to the road. And Evelyn would kill me if I missed her important meetings. And they were important, even if they were boring.
"I do. You're... different, Wendy. A breath of fresh air."
"How so?" She shifted in her seat, put her knees up and twisted tow
ards me.
The snow crunched under the heavy SUV and the traction control light was all but steady now. The weather had taken a seriously bad turn.
"You know," I said, glancing between her and the road, "we'd better get back pretty quickly. These road conditions are terrible."
"Your fancy-dancy SUV can handle it... Daddy."
I felt a shiver go up my spine. In all the years I'd been telling people to call me Daddy, this was the first time it felt... naughty. I put my hand on her thigh.
"She's a big girl but she's tough. And smart." I smiled. Damn this weather.
"Come on, Daddy, are you talking about me or about this Bentley?"
Good lord, this was a bad place. Evelyn would never let me hear the end of it if I was seen flirting with Wendy at the event where she was going to announce Mrs. Perfect Wife. Besides, Wendy never tried to find me after I left. I assumed she just went merrily on with her life.
"The car, of course." She looked deflated for a second.
"This thing is like the space shuttle with all these controls!" She ran her fingers over the console. "Tell me, how are you with... buttons?" She laughed and put her hand over mine.
"Daddy's going to spank you if you keep up with the dirty talk," I said. "But, seriously, Wendy, we need to make it back alive and I need to pay attention."
After a little awkward silence, she said, "You know, I just broke up with my boyfriend this morning. He said I was fat."
"Fat? Holy shit, Wendy, you look amazing in my clothes. I've enjoyed the last 10 minutes of conversation with you more than any recent conversation I can remember. I always thought you were great, Wendy. You talk a lot, but you're not trying to be someone else, never did. That sort of thing doesn't win points in high school, but we're a long way from high school."
Her eyes got big and teary.
"Daryl... there's something I want to tell you. When you left all those years ago-"
She must have knocked the collision avoidance system offline when she was messing with the buttons because a deer ran in front of us and the car didn't try to warn me or stop on its own. I stomped the brakes as best I could, swerved, but I slid around and hit the deer with the rear quarter panel, hard enough to make the rear airbags deploy. We weren't hurt, but the deer was on the snow bank, twitching.
Daddy's Perfect Wife: A Billionaire Romance Page 2
