Take Me, Daddy: A Contemporary Romance 5-Book Box Set

by Nicole Casey

  “Yes. That was Frank.”

  “I’m sorry. I genuinely thought…Do you want me to run after him and explain? There might still be time.”

  “No, just leave him. I think this relationship was doomed from the start, anyway.”

  “What did he say? Did he come here to try and seduce you again? And why are you half naked? Did I disturb something?”

  I sighed and then rushed off to the bathroom.

  When I got back, refreshed and now fully dressed, Mike had prepared coffee and laid out some cookies he had found. He had also put on his pants at last.

  The cookies were Daisy’s favorites but I was so famished that I ate some anyway. I would deal with her fury about it when the time came.

  The coffee felt good as is slid down my throat and brought me slowly back to life.

  “What did your boss say?” Mike was clearly a lover of gossip and he was desperate to find out what had happened before he came downstairs.

  “He told me that it was a mistake. That he didn’t take advantage of his nurses normally.”

  “Well, that’s something. Did he say the three magic words?”

  “Only if they are ‘you’re the first’?”

  “You mean you took away his virginity? You naughty girl.”

  “No. I think he meant that I was the first nurse he had taken advantage of. Or fallen in love with. Oh, I don’t know anything anymore. Just make me some more coffee.”

  Mike silently obeyed and came back with two more cups of it along with more cookies. He was a good person to have around at a time of crisis that called for lots of caffeine and cookies.

  “Why would he come here at whatever Godforsaken time of day this is if he just wanted to say that he had taken advantage of you but you were the first?”

  “To say sorry? To take advantage of me again? Who knows how men’s minds work in these things? I wish you were gay so you could help me out here.”

  “So do I sometimes.”

  The two of us laughed. The coffee was starting to take effect and life didn’t seem quite so bad after all.

  “What are you going to do, Janie?”

  “I can feel a plan forming in my head.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I need to get him alone in a situation in which I am comfortable and in control.”

  “Ooh, I like the sound of that. Do you have a leather catsuit and a whip you could use?”

  “Maybe it’s time for me to show that I’m the kind of woman that Frank needs in his life.”

  12

  Frank

  I had decided to put Janie behind me and get on with my life.

  At least I could now look myself in the mirror again and say that I had tried to change my life. If it didn’t work out then that’s just how life disappoints us all at times.

  I threw myself into my work with an apparent enthusiasm that I hadn’t shown in years. I didn’t feel as enthusiastic as I looked but I was sure that burying myself in my work would give me back the reason for living that I needed.

  Three appointments with big stars were lined up for the next couple of days and it looked like I was going to have a lot on my plate in the coming weeks.

  Heidi was glowing with pleasure now.

  “It’s good to see you back to your old self, Frank. We missed you.”

  “This is what I do best. I fulfill other people’s dreams for them.” I could have added that I did it instead of fulfilling my own but I left it there.

  To be honest, I still hadn’t forgiven Heidi for lying to Janie but perhaps it had all worked out for the best. If she had gone rushing straight into bed with another man then it was clear that she wasn’t the right person for me.

  Yet, as each working day ended I felt a loneliness settle over me that I had never felt before. I used to love working out in the gym and then watching a movie but it all seemed to have lost its appeal now.

  I started staying at work later and later each day, to avoid going home to a big, empty house. The joy of living alone that I had always appreciated so much now seemed so pointless.

  That night, I had a special appointment with one of my most famous clients to date. This lady was currently the planet’s hottest actress but she needed my help to sort out her ears, which she had always had a complex about since she was a kid and got bullied for them.

  We arranged to go out for a meal in the city’s best and most expensive restaurant. Most people couldn’t get a table here unless they booked months in advance, but all I had to do was call and tell them what time I wanted to eat.

  I looked around the room as I waited for her to turn up fashionably late. This was where I usually felt most at home. I wondered whether Janie would like it or find it all a bit too posh and intimidating.

  The actress looked stunning as she walked in. All of the heads in the room turned as she swished past their tables, wearing a dress that was somehow elegant despite revealing more of her breasts and legs to the world than if she had only worn shorts and a bikini top.

  She sat down across from me and I felt the jealousy of every man in the room turned towards me. Did we look like the world’s most perfect couple? Could I find happiness with a woman like this?

  Maybe the key to my future lay in finding someone on the same social level as me.

  “I adoro this place, Frank. It suits my image so much.”

  “It does. You look as though you belong here.”

  “I spent two hours getting ready to come here but maybe I needed another one. Is my coiffure just perfect or does it need to be touched up?

  “It’s absolutely gorgeous.”

  “I worried that I might be showing too much escote. Am I ravishing or did I veer a soupçon towards vulgar?”

  “Ravishing. Your cleavage is magnificent as always.”

  “I love this petit necklace that my second husband bought for me. My amigos tell me that it brings out the color in my eyes and lights up my smile like the aurora borealis.”

  “Yes, it is beautiful.”

  “Oh Frank, my ears are just my only debolezza. I do hope that you can give me cute little ears like Brigette or Sophia. I adore my neck and chin but I need to hide my ears as though they were some sort of…ordure.”

  This excruciating and one-sided conversation carried on throughout the meal.

  Were her eyes suitably sfumato? Had she lost weight or was her cleavage a little sobrepeso? The actress was obsessed with her own looks and with adding in a bewildering mixture of foreign words, even if she didn’t really seem to know what some of them meant.

  Of course, this is the sort of painful conversation that I was used to with my clients. Just about every one of my clients was like this woman; vain, self-obsessed and a crushing bore to be with.

  She might be one of the planet’s most beautiful women but I didn’t know how any man could spend more than an hour in her company without losing the will to live. Once you had seen her plunging escote and been dazzled by her petit necklace all you were left with was vanity and empty words.

  The image of Janie came into my head. Was she as attractive as this woman in front of me? Probably not in the classic sense of the word, no.

  However, she had what the actress would probably call je ne sais quoi. Janie was fun to be with for her body and for her mind. She was funny, she was bright, and she made me feel good about life.

  I recalled Janie’s charming way of always turning the conversation towards me and asking me questions that no-one else had ever asked. She had asked me about whether I liked my job and had encouraged me to open up about my feelings.

  Did this world famous actress even remember who she was with? To her, I was just another faceless admirer who was there to shower her with compliments and make her feel like the most attractive, important person on the planet.

  “Ooh, caldo, caldo, caldo!” She screamed dramatically after tasting the soup. “Mozo, my soup is far too hot for human consumption. I can’t afford to scald my lips or ruin my voi
x for your fault.”

  I tried not to laugh as I imagined how Janie would gently poke fun as this horrendous woman I was working for.

  The conversation finally got round to her ears. She hated them and wanted them to be smaller, more rounded and infinitely sexier. Could I do it? I sure could.

  I told her that I could do it next week but that wasn’t going to suit her schedule.

  “I start filming with Michael next month. He is such an amore but I can’t afford to turn up with bandages on my ears. I need you start work pronto or the whole thing will be terribly stressful for poor Michael.”

  My brain was working overtime to see how I could fit her in tomorrow. Sure, I could work pretty much non-stop for the next couple of days and fit everything in. It would be worth it.

  “Sure, tomorrow is fine by me.”

  “Maqnifique! There’s just one tiny little problema.”

  “Yes?”

  “I need to be in Las Vegas tomorrow. For the ensayo, capiche?”

  When I spoke to this actress I was glad that I had learned Spanish with my Mexican relatives as a kid and listened to a lot of Italian music, as it was the only way I could at least get a grip on at least part of what she was saying.

  “I have a colleague who has a clinic in Las Vegas. I can do the job there if that suits you.”

  At least the hard work and the traveling would take my mind off other matters. I could maybe stay for a week and do some networking to look for other clients there too. It could turn out to be just the break that I needed.

  “Meraviglioso!

  13

  Janie

  I looked at the giant mansion and tried to control my nerves. I failed.

  The night was falling and Frank Sanchez’s home looked utterly enchanting in the fading light. It was located in the city’s most exclusive neighborhood and I had never set foot here in my life before now.

  The property looked empty and I wondered why Frank lived alone in such a huge house. Didn’t he get bored and lonely there by himself? I know I would if I had all those rooms to rattle around in and no-one to talk to.

  I imagined dining on spaghetti and meatballs with Daisy at a huge table. Would there be servants there to attend to our every whim and look horrified as we slurped away happily?

  I crept around to the front door, feeling like a fish out of water and trying my very best to not be noticed by anyone. There appeared to be no-one around in the entire neighborhood but I guessed that several CCTV cameras were now trained on me.

  I walked up to the entrance and found an entry system that looked like it belonged in a NASA building. I tentatively pressed the biggest button and waited.

  Nothing happened.

  I pressed again and was about to give up when a little old man came walking slowly towards me from inside the property. He looked either Latin or Asian, with one of those faces that told of a long, hard life.

  The man was holding a rake in his hands. His eyes wrinkled up as he looked at me suspiciously through the gate.

  “Dr. Frank no here.”

  “Is he at the clinic?”

  “Who you?”

  “Dr. Frank clinic?” I decided that matching his Pidgin English was the best approach, even if I felt very foolish doing it.

  “Dr. Frank Las Vegas”

  “Las Vegas? What’s he doing in Las Vegas?”

  “Las Vegas.”

  “Yes, I got that. Thanks.”

  The old man started to walk away but then stopped and turned round to look at me. He scrutinized me from head to toe and then took a step towards me.

  “You Yanie?”

  “What?”

  “Yanie. You Yanie?”

  “Janie? Yes, that’s me?”

  His wise old eyes lit up and a huge smile showed yellow teeth with several gaps in them. Despite this, it was one of the nicest and most genuine smiles I had ever seen.

  The door creaked open and I wondered why the mention of my name had magically gained me entry to this exclusive, high-security mansion. How did he even know who I was?

  The gardener or housekeeper or whoever he was left me by the pool while he went away to do something. I no longer had any idea what was happening and decided to go with the flow.

  I looked at my reflection in the shimmering water of the pool and imagined swimming here with Frank by my side. To be honest, we were skinny dipping in my fantasy and it was delicious.

  It was a fabulous infinity pool that overlooked the city and had a giant statue of Buddha at each side of it. There was a feeling of peace about the property that I hadn’t expected.

  The house itself was Mexican in style and looked as though it was completely spotless. I had never wanted to live in this sort of mansion or felt any jealousy towards the people who did. Yet, something about this place made me feel much more at home than I had imagined.

  “Are you Janie? We’ve been hoping you would turn up.”

  A woman of about my age was walking towards me. From her foreign looks, I guessed that she was maybe the grand-daughter or niece of the old man. However, she spoke perfect English rather than just random words thrown together.

  “Wait a minute, you don’t even know me. How could you be expecting me to turn up here?”

  We sat down together at a table overlooking the pool and the old man brought out a beaker of fresh lemonade and some little pastries. I could get used to this sort of lifestyle.

  “Janie, we are all worried about Doctor Frank. He has been working too hard and we think it is because he misses you.”

  “Wow, hang on a second. How do you even know who I am? Never mind…he misses me?”

  She smiled and sipped some lemonade.

  “Sometimes he forgets that I speak good English, unlike my grandfather. I heard him speak to his family and friends about you.”

  “What did he say?”

  She shrugged enigmatically.

  “He is confused. He thought he loved you and then he thought that you cheated on him with another man.”

  “Maybe I did.”

  “Ha ha. Then why did you come here? My grandfather is 84 years old and is the best judge of a person I know. He told me that he saw purity and goodness in your eyes.”

  “Things got complicated between us. I messed up and he misread the situation. It was my fault, really.”

  “Did you come here to apologize? Do you love him?”

  “I don’t know and, well, I don’t know. I wanted to see him and try to put things right between us. I enjoy being with Frank and I think he likes me too.”

  The woman nodded and went to speak but decided to hold her silence while I ate a pastry. It was delicious, filled with some sort of warm, sweet jelly that I had never tasted before in my life.

  “He tells people that you are the first woman that he felt could change his life for the better.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “This is none of my business, really. It’s just that…Doctor Frank has always looked after my family very well. My grandfather dreams of helping him find a wife and be happy before it is too late. He thinks that you should try.”

  “Try what?”

  “To be that woman. Go to Las Vegas, Janie.”

  “What the Hell? You want me to just turn up in Las Vegas and look for Frank there? What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

  She shrugged again.

  “That’s what I would do if the man I loved was there.”

  She excused herself and went away to work, leaving me with a note of the hotel Frank was staying in for the next week. Was she being serious?

  I had just enough money to get the bus to Las Vegas and stay for a couple of nights in the cheapest hotel I could find. Daisy could stay with her favorite aunt and I could say that I was traveling there for a job interview.

  It really wouldn’t be all that difficult to sort out everything if I tried.

  This was the most stupid thing I had ever planned to do. Why was I even seriously c
onsidering this ridiculous idea at all?

  14

  Frank

  The new ears looked fantastic on her, I had to admit.

  The actress was delighted with the work and give me a hug while she blew air kisses in my direction. For the first time in my life, I was repelled by the artificial nature of a woman’s body.

  Her breasts brushed against me, firm and unyielding. I had given her those breasts and while they looked spectacular, they simply couldn’t compare to Janie’s natural beauty and allure.

  As she sashayed away I looked at her artificially enhanced buttocks and other features that I had worked my magic on. She looked to me like an expensive doll rather than a real, natural woman.

  Alone in Las Vegas, I wandered up and down the strip wondering what to do. The heat was stifling and my plan of networking didn’t seem all that interesting anymore. I had never been in this city before and the only person I knew was my colleague whose clinic I had used for the surgery.

  I ate a hugely expensive but unsatisfying meal and had a couple of glasses of cognac. Gambling had never been something that I had tried before but as I walked back to my hotel I decided to give it a try and see whether I liked it.

  Armed with a big pile of chips I tried out a number of different games, losing on most of them and getting the occasional small win. I had soon worked my way through $1000 and decided to get some more chips and another drink.

  “I love Vegas.”

  The man beside me had a maniacal grin on his face and dollar signs in his eyes. He put some more chips down beside the roulette wheel and I did the same. We both lost so I bought him a drink.

  “Your first time here?” He looked as though he felt the need to talk to someone to avoid losing money for at least a few minutes.

  “Yeah, yours?”

  “No way. We come here every year.” I looked around to see who the other part of his “we” was but couldn’t work out who he was with.

  “Do you usually win?”

  He laughed a deep, guttural laugh.