Billionaire Boss's Secret Love Child: A Second Chance Romance

by Sophia Lynn

God, I've missed them so much.

  He let go of a breath he wasn't aware he was holding when he saw Eddy's car in the gravel drive. When he got out of his own car, the air felt familiar and safe, and he started to walk towards the cabin.

  When he came around to the front, he saw Eddy on the porch on her phone, and he started towards her, but then a cry stopped him.

  "Daddy, come look!"

  He turned with a grin to see what Sofia was doing, and then he froze.

  She was just a short distance away, squatting on the ground, and she pointed at the leaf litter in front of her.

  "Daddy, look, a snake!"

  Travis took two slow steps closer, and then he saw it.

  He didn't know anything about snakes, but he remembered that day up on the mountain with Eddy six years ago. He recognized the thick girth of the snake and its flattened head.

  Copperhead, his mind supplied. That's a copperhead, oh God...

  He took a careful breath because he knew the worst thing to do would be to frighten the snake or to frighten Sofia. What was it Eddy had said? To his surprise, her words came back to him, clear as day.

  "Hey, honey, let's leave the snake alone, okay?" he said calmly. "Why don't you stand up really slowly, all right?"

  Sofia gave him a quizzical look, but thankfully, she did as he said. It was like a game of Simon Says, and she looked at him expectantly.

  At her feet, the snake moved. It was large, Travis noted with a chilly terror, as thick as Sofia's wrist, probably longer than she was tall.

  "Okay, you're doing great, sweetheart. Take a step backwards, slowly, all right?"

  Laughing, Sofia did as he said. The snake shifted uneasily. Travis realized it could sense Sofia's shadow pulling back from it.

  "Another step? Yeah, that's my good girl. One more."

  Sofia took one more step, and then Travis had crossed the space between them faster than he thought he was able to, snatching her up, and carrying her halfway across the yard.

  He probably would have made it all the way into the cabin and locked the door entirely if he hadn't crashed into Eddy halfway, her arms wrapping around him, sandwiching Sofia between them.

  “There was a snake?” she asked, her voice tight as a violin string.

  “There was!” Sofia exclaimed happily. “And it was really big, and then Daddy was there, and he picked me up!”

  “That's great, sweetie,” Eddy managed to get out. “That's wonderful. Do you remember what we said about snakes?”

  “I do,” Sofia said indignantly. “I gave it space, and I didn't touch it. Mama, I was just looking, honest.”

  “She was,” Travis said, his voice only a little shaky. “Guess you told her the same thing you told me. We gave it lots of space.”

  Eddy nodded, and then with a deliberate cool that Travis could only admire, she set Sofia down. Travis had no idea how she managed it. He wasn't sure that he would let Sofia out of his sight again, but that would probably be a little rough once she hit thirty or forty.

  “Hon, are you hungry? How about if you run inside and pull out the ingredients for sandwiches? Then we can make some food and all three of us can eat.”

  Sofia cheered, running inside the house, and Travis sighed.

  “That was—”

  He forgot what he was going to say entirely as Eddy's face crumpled and she started to cry in silent stressed sobs. He didn't hesitate, taking her into his arms.

  “It's okay, we're okay,” he said over and over again. “I promise, we're all right.”

  “You promise?” she whispered, and he pulled back to look her in the eyes. God, how in the world had he managed to leave her six years ago? He couldn't imagine it now.

  “I promise,” he said, and the look she gave him could break his heart.

  “I don't want to live in Chicago,” she said. “I don't. I like our life here, and I want Sofia to grow up with all of this... and I want what you have in Chicago too, all the art and the music and the good schools, and I... I don't know...”

  “It's okay,” Travis said, feeling for the first time as if it might truly be so. “I don't know either. But we'll figure it out together.”

  “Together?” she asked, and he would have been hurt if it wasn't for the hopefulness in her voice, the wistful longing.

  “Yeah,” he said, reaching down to swipe a few tears from her cheeks. “Yeah, because I love you. And if you say it's all right, wherever we go, we're going together, okay?”

  She was still, so still that Travis's heart beat hard in his chest.

  “I...”

  “I love you,” he whispered. “It's all right. Nothing's going to change it, you don't have to—”

  “I love you,” she whispered. “Oh my God, I love you, and we're so good together, and I want you, and I love you—”

  Travis thought that his heart was going to burst, and then Eddy was in his arms again, wrapped around him so tight that he thought she might never let go. Oh but she belonged to him, and he belonged to her, and yes, they were too good together to be separated...

  “Mama! Daddy! I have the bread out, and the pickles and the salami and everything, and I'm hungry! Aren't you hungry yet?”

  Eddy giggled wetly, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

  “Well, while we're tackling all our differences, why don't we tackle some food?” she asked, and Travis took her hand in his, kissing her knuckles gently.

  “Absolutely,” he said.

  Chapter Ten

  Eddy

  Eddy looked around when the door to the porch opened behind her, but it was only Travis coming out to join her on the porch swing.

  “Kid's out like a light,” he reported. “I can't believe how hard she fell asleep. One minute, up and telling me about her favorite cartoon dog, and the next, bam, just out.”

  “It's the mountain air, I think,” Eddy said with a half-smile. “I remember passing out really hard when we slept up here too.”

  Travis's weight shifted the swing, and she instinctively cuddled up next to him. His arm was a welcome weight around her shoulders, and she sighed.

  “Do you think we can make this work?” she asked quietly.

  “Yes,” he said instantly and without hesitation.

  “How?” Eddy knew she was being too blunt, but she didn't care. “You spent all your life being sure about what you want, and now—”

  “I want you more than I ever wanted Chicago.”

  “You... do?”

  “Yeah. I want you and Sofia and a life with you both. I want to see you when I wake up in the morning, and I want to say good night to you every night. I want to see Sofia grow up and find out what kind of adult she's going to be. I want to have more kids if that's what you want. And yeah, I want Chicago, but I want Springwell too. I want it all, but the only thing that matters is whether I have you.”

  Eddy's breath caught in her chest, and Travis turned to her with a hint of a grin on his face.

  “Convinced you yet?” he asked.

  “Convince me some more,” she whispered, and he leaned in to kiss her.

  The kiss started out gentle and longing, and in it, Eddy thought that she could sense the years between; lonely in a way that neither of them ever knew, rendered chilly by how warm they were now and how warm they were going to be forever after this. Then that warmth turned to heat, and the kiss acquired a desperation to it that they could both feel burning through them, something that made her cling to him, tearing at his clothes. It suddenly seemed as if there was simply too much between them, too many layers of cloth, and she was not going to tolerate that.

  To her surprise, Travis put his hands over hers, pulling back for just a moment.

  "Hey, just to remind you, there's only a single room in the cabin," he said, his voice a dark rumble.

  Eddy gave him a challenging look.

  "Who says we need to be in the cabin?"

  By the dim gleam of the porch light, she saw Travis's eyes go wide as he got her meani
ng.

  "You sure?" he asked, and Eddy smirked up at him.

  "You chicken?"

  She knew the answer to that, and as Travis swept her into his arms, she shivered at the way his soft laughter rumbled through his frame against her body.

  "You are a dangerous woman, Edwina Baker."

  "Oh my God, never call me that, why would you—"

  Her words cut off abruptly as he claimed her lips in another kiss, holding her so tightly that for a moment she forgot how to breathe.

  "Because I love it when you're mad at me," he whispered, breaking the kiss to place a trail of them down her throat. "Because I want every part of you, wherever you are, whatever you think of those parts, whatever you need or want. I want all of you, Eddy, and I want you to be mine."

  "Yes, yes," she said, because he had found that one special spot at the side of her neck, the one that turned her to jelly.

  She kissed him, touched him wherever she could reach, and at some point, she managed to shove her hands under his shirt, caressing his chest and his sides, raking her nails gently along his back. Oh but he felt good, and she wasn't sure she could imagine a world without him, not ever again.

  "You're so very good," he murmured. "You're so very perfect, and I have never stopped wanting you."

  His large hand dipped down under her long skirt, dragging it up to her hips. Now he could stroke her legs from knee to thigh. Eddy shook when she thought of the picture they made, his hand moving up the pale length of her leg, trailing a tingling sensation in its wake.

  She gasped when he cupped her over her panties, warm and firm and perfect, and Travis laughed.

  "I want you more than I have wanted anything before," he breathed, and she knew in her bones, in her heart that it was true.

  They kissed again, both of them aware of how close they were to breaking entirely. There was a special kind of torture to it, that they could take each other right now, but were drawing out the pleasure. Why shouldn't they? They had the time to do it slow, they had the time to do it fast, and this was only the first time out of many.

  Finally, Travis broke their kiss, and Eddy's breath caught at how dark his eyes were, at the sharpness that hunger for her had carved out of his face.

  "How sturdy is this porch swing?" he rasped, and she shook her head slightly.

  "Not that sturdy."

  Travis didn't hesitate for a moment. Immediately, he went down on his back on the porch, pulling her with him. Eddy started to protest that he was going to get filthy, and then she realized that if he didn't care, she certainly didn't.

  "Come here, gorgeous. I want to see you."

  He perched her on his thighs, her skirt pushed up to her hips. At some point, the buttons on his shirt had popped, and now Eddy reached down to take care of the rest, exposing his broad chest to her hand.

  She reached for his cock and drew it fully hard out of his trousers; perfect, thick, and exactly what she wanted. Travis groaned when she drew her hand along the silken length, and she liked that sound so much she did it again and then again.

  Finally, Travis put his hand over hers, stilling it and giving her a significant look.

  "Come on," he said, and she grinned down at him, squeezing him just a little so he would know that she knew how close he was, and then she shifted forward. Even then she didn't want to stop teasing him, grinding down over him in her panties until he growled.

  "You are a damned tease," he said, and she would have replied if he hadn't taken hold of her panties and torn them straight off her body.

  "Oh!"

  Then his hands landed on her hips, lifting her up with a strength that still took her breath away, and he pushed her down on his cock. It was pure pleasure, getting filled, being joined with him, and Eddy barely managed to remember in time and cover her groan with her hands.

  "All right?" asked Travis, going still, and she realized that he was worried for her, that it had been too much, too fast. It was incredibly sweet. Unnecessary in the extreme, but sweet.

  "I will be if you get moving," she murmured throatily. "Come on, McMichael, don't fall asleep on the job."

  She got a glimpse of his sharp white grin, his hands took a firmer hold on her hips, and he started to thrust up into her body.

  Eddy lost herself in the storm of sensations. It started where they joined, and it spread out through her until it felt that there wasn't a single part of her that was untouched. He was consuming her, and she realized instinctively that she was consuming him as well. They were as joined as two humans could be, and she realized with a daze of need and love that this was exactly how it was meant to be. It was perfect, and she moved with him, the wave against the beach, and underneath her, Travis gasped and moaned with need for her.

  His body went stiff underneath her as his climax took him, and hers followed immediately after. He filled her, perfect, exactly the way she wanted, and they might have been lost in the pleasure, but they were lost together, and that was the only thing that really mattered.

  It might have been a few moments, it might have been a few hours when Eddy roused herself. They were still joined, and she had slumped down over his chest. With her head pressed against him, she could hear his heartbeat, steady as a good drumbeat, and she stirred sleepily.

  "I should get off of you," she said. "I'm probably too heavy."

  "Never. Stay there. Stay there forever, this feels too good."

  "Well, it's going to make working at the Recollection more awkward for the after-church crowd, but you know. I'm sure it'll be fine."

  Eventually, they did get up, Eddy brushing the dust off her skirt, Travis looking ruefully at the popped buttons on his shirt.

  "I liked this shirt," he said, and Eddy gave him a brilliant smile.

  "I like you."

  "Good, I'm glad that's established," Travis said with a grin. "I think you're pretty cool too."

  Eddy paused, the smile fading from her face. It wasn't that she was less happy, but instead it felt as if something important was happening, something she didn't want to miss.

  "This is us, always, isn't it?" she asked, not quite sure of what she was saying, and Travis took her hand, squeezing it and bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

  "Forever and always," he agreed.

  Epilogue

  Eddy

  1 year later

  The townhouse's floor-to-ceiling windows let in the gorgeous morning light, and Eddy looked around at the furnishings that, yes, she had picked out for the place, but that she was still shocked to see.

  "What do you think?" Travis asked, coming up behind her to wrap his arms around her.

  "It's gorgeous," she said. "Exactly as I was picturing."

  Travis started to say something, but they were interrupted by the pounding of little footsteps as Sofia thundered into the room, breathless, her eyes bright with excitement.

  "It's like a castle, Mama," she squealed. "Do I get a bedroom? Do I have to sleep in the basement?"

  They both stared at their daughter.

  "Why would you sleep in the basement?" asked Travis, who could still sometimes be thrown by the weirdly morbid nature of little kids.

  "Because it's like the dungeon," Sofia responded, as if that made sense.

  Eddy shook her head.

  "Honey, no. The basement is for laundry, and you're not laundry."

  Sofia thought about that and nodded. Travis was still looking between them as if to figure out the logic there.

  "And you have your own bedroom. You should run and go look. There's a new bed, and some books, and everything."

  Sofia crowed with delight and ran up the stairs, and Travis grinned, giving Eddy another squeeze.

  "'You're not laundry'?"

  "Well, she's not, and it got the point across, didn't it?"

  "It did," Travis admitted, and he paused with a considering look on his face.

  "What?"

  "Are you all right?" he asked gently. "I know we've talked about this a lot, bu
t—"

  Eddy shook her head.

  "We agreed," she said. "Sofia and I are going to try Chicago on for size. We're going to explore it and figure out what makes you love it so much. And then... well, we'll figure out things from there, won't we?"

  Travis nodded, but Eddy tilted her head to take a closer look at him.

  "What is it?"

  Travis laughed a little, and above them, they could hear Sofia moving in her new room, probably trying out the bed they had purchased for her and looking down over the street below, a quiet tree-lined avenue that was very different from what Eddy thought she knew of Chicago.

  "Thank you for being willing to try this," he said. "I fell in love with Chicago a long time ago. This city made me, and it's always going to be a part of me. I'm so glad I am getting a chance to show this off to the two people who mean the most to me."

  "But...?"

  "No but, not really. It's just something I've been feeling the whole drive out. This is the first time I'm really going to be living here in a year. And I don't know if I feel the same way about it anymore."

  Eddy smiled, leaning up to kiss him.

  "If you're having second thoughts right now, I'm taking Sofia to a hotel, and you can start packing..."

  "Not like that, brat. But something feels different."

  Eddy felt a swell of love in her heart for this man, because at the end of the day, they belonged to each other.

  "You're different," she said. "You're looking at it with new eyes. It's okay to change your mind or to feel differently about things. I never thought I would ever be spending even a summer in Chicago, and here we are. Who knows how we're going to feel in three months? Maybe we'll want to stay forever. Maybe we'll want to go back to Springwell. Home isn't a place, Travis."

  Upstairs, Sofia's voice rose to a delighted shriek as she found the wardrobe that opened to a hidden play area. It was something Travis had come up with, and seeing it had almost made Eddy wish she was five again.

  Travis smiled at the sound of Sofia's delight.

  "That's home," he said, and Eddy nodded, taking his hand.