The Single Daddy Situation

by Layla Valentine

  Mariah doubted that Logan needed to work sixty or seventy hours per week to make ends meet—the man was a billionaire. Maybe he just needed to get his business to a point where he could coast along on a normal, forty-hour week. There was no doubt that Logan loved his daughter. Maybe he just needed a little help.

  As Emily put another shell in the basket, Mariah said, “I think we’ve got enough shells for tonight. What do you think?”

  Emily glanced in the basket with a nod of approval. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Let’s go wash them off, and we can get some dinner,” Mariah said. “Then, we can watch a kung fu movie. Does that sound good?”

  Emily’s face brightened. “Yeah, that sounds awesome!”

  Chapter 23

  Logan

  The physical toll that a day of business negotiations and meetings could take never ceased to amaze Logan. By the time he finally arrived back to the suite, he felt like he had spent the last eight hours at a construction site, not in an upscale restaurant and a couple conference rooms. With a tired sigh, he slid the plastic keycard along the reader beside the lever handle. The hotel and resort felt more like a ritzy apartment complex than a hotel, but he supposed that was why the place had been dubbed a resort.

  As he eased open the door, he was careful to keep the movements slow and measured. If Emily or Mariah were already asleep, he didn’t want to wake them.

  He had expected Mariah’s room to be in a different section of their suite, but until now—when he could finally reclaim some of his mental bandwidth—the implications of her closeness hadn’t dawned on him.

  Just the thought was enough to cause a spike in his pulse.

  When he stepped through the doorway, Mariah’s eyes snapped away from the television to meet his. The door closed behind him with a metallic click, and he balanced himself against the wall with one hand as he stepped out of his shoes. She smiled warmly as she shifted in her spot on the couch to face him.

  If he could come home to that look every day, he didn’t think anything in life—professional or otherwise—could bother him. Even in the running shorts and band T-shirt, her long hair still damp, she was beautiful. And after hashing out details with the leader of a Singaporean investment firm, her smile was like a breath of fresh air.

  “Hey,” she greeted. “How was the meeting?”

  He combed a hand through his hair and loosened the pastel blue tie around his neck. “A little frustrating at times, but all in all, it went pretty well. The guy is definitely interested in what we’re selling. Remember that algorithm, the app developer that Stacey Anderson invested in?”

  Mariah nodded, and he went on.

  “That’s what we’re talking about. These guys want to buy a big chunk of that company from us. Not only will it make us a ton of money, but it’d give Jordan and his team way more resources than they’ve got access to right now. They could expand on what they’ve already developed, and then the piece of their company we still own would be worth even more. Not to mention, closing this deal would open up doors for us all over the world.”

  He could have rambled on about the technology that Jordan’s company had developed, as well as what they had planned for the future, and what they could do with access to global resources. He could have gone into detail on what he had learned about Jordan’s algorithm until Mariah’s eyes glazed over or she fell asleep. She might work for him, but for the time being, he would save the nitty-gritty for his discussions with Aaron.

  “Anyway,” he said as he dropped down to sit at her side. “It has a lot of potential. I don’t say this very often, but I’m pretty excited about it.”

  Mariah propped her elbow on the back of the couch and shifted position. “That’s good. I mean, you sound excited about it. Happy excited, too. It’s nice to see.”

  Leaning back against the cushioned seat, he admired how naturally beautiful she was, even after she’d apparently just gotten out of the shower. “How was your day with Emily?”

  Chapter 24

  Mariah

  As she thought back through her and Emily’s day, Mariah could feel her expression brighten. “It was good,” she answered. “She’s a really great kid. I taught her some basic karate moves, fighting stances and stuff like that. We went for a walk on the beach and picked up seashells, and then we came back here and watched some old-school kung fu movies.”

  That sounded like a great day to Logan. He was thankful that Emily and Mariah hit it off together so well. Add that to the growing list of reasons he was so exceptionally attracted to Mariah.

  “She wanted to wait up for you to get home, but she barely made it through one movie and she was out.”

  Mariah glanced in the direction of Emily’s closed door. Since the entrance to her room was down a short hallway, there was less of a chance that Logan and Mariah’s dialogue would wake her. Plus, according to Logan, the kid slept soundly anyway.

  As Logan nodded his understanding, his expression turned wistful. “You can probably tell, but she really likes you. Honestly, I can’t even remember the last time she looked at me or talked about me like she does you.”

  Mariah’s eyes widened at Logan’s honesty. Though she had gathered that Logan had trouble making time in his chaotic work schedule to spend with his daughter, she hadn’t realized how much the issue weighed on him. Or Emily, for that matter. Until now, Mariah had assumed the problem was more of a source of frustration than genuine worry. But after seeing the dejected look on Logan’s face and the glimmer of sadness in Emily’s eyes, she knew she had been wrong.

  “I’m sorry,” Logan said, breaking the brief spell of quiet. “That made it sound like you were doing something wrong, and you’re not. Not at all.” He combed his fingers through his dark hair as he straightened in his spot. “Do you want a drink?”

  Mariah blinked away her dumbfounded countenance and nodded. “Sure. What are we drinking?”

  “I saw a couple bottles of wine over in the kitchen area,” he replied as he rose to his feet.

  As he reached the kitchenette, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over a chair. Undoing the first couple buttons of his dress shirt, he glanced down to the alcohol with which their suite had been stocked. All while rolling up his sleeves, he retrieved a couple glasses, popped the cork from a bottle, and poured some white wine for each of them.

  “You know,” he said as he carried the two glasses over to the coffee table. “I never used to be much of a wine drinker. I always thought it was girly, or something like that. And if I did drink it, it was always the cheap stuff that came in a box. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

  With a light chuckle, she accepted the glass from his outstretched hand and nodded. “My friend Hazel and I used to split a box of wine at the end of the week when we worked in the call center.”

  “That’s pretty much how I was, too. I just thought it was all disgusting, so I didn’t want to waste money for something that’d taste the same as the stuff you got in a box. But, then…” He paused as a twinge of sadness passed behind his eyes. “My wife, remember how I told you how her parents were Italian immigrants?”

  Mariah kept her expression calm as she nodded. Before tonight, that was the only time he had mentioned Emily’s mother.

  He looked off toward the TV before returning his gaze to Mariah. “Turns out, Italians are big fans of having good wine with their delicious food. Caron, my wife, I met her when I was in college, and she graduated the year after I did. Once we had our degrees, she thought we ought to be more refined than drinking wine straight from a cardboard box. We had a little more money, so she’d start to pour us each a glass of wine when she made dinner, or when I made dinner, whichever. It was part of her effort to make us fancy in preparation for all the money we were going to make.”

  Mariah tapped her temple with her free hand. “Smart lady,” she said.

  “Yeah…” His gaze was fixed on the window as he trailed off. “I’m sorry,” he said as he sn
apped his attention back to Mariah. “I don’t know why I told you that. I probably just bummed you out, didn’t I?”

  Shaking her head, Mariah sipped at the sweet wine. “No. It’s good to remember things like that. You know she wouldn’t want you to keep all that stuff tucked away. She’d want you to remember the good times.”

  Though slight, his sad smile warmed. “You’re right. And if you knew Caron, you’d know just how right you are. She was all about staying positive, learning from your mistakes instead of letting them get you down, that sort of thing.”

  Even as she returned his smile, Mariah wondered if she should have felt a pang of trepidation at his fond recollection of another woman. Maybe others would have been put off by a someone they’d once fallen for mentioning a beloved spouse they had lost, but Mariah had never been keen on jealousy.

  Logan took a long pull from his drink. “Ever since she died, it’s been hard trying to connect with Emily. It wasn’t so difficult when she was a little kid. Back then, I could just hand her some action figures or stuffed cats or something, and she’d think I was the best dad in the world. She still likes both those things, but there’s a lot more to it, now. She has a personality, interests, hobbies. And somewhere along the line, I can’t help but think I messed up my chance to really be there for her. Between work and just, just not knowing what to do, I’ve dropped the ball so many times.

  “At this point, I don’t even know if I can put the pieces back together. I don’t want her to be one of those kids with a shitty dad. That’s how I grew up, and as soon as I found out Caron was pregnant, I told myself I’d never be like that. No matter what, I told myself I’d be there for her. And now, it’s like, no matter how hard I try, I just get in my own way.”

  Mariah reached out to place a reassuring hand on his forearm. Logan’s eyes shifted back to hers, and she shook her head. “I don’t think it’s too late, and I don’t think you messed anything up. Emily knows you’re trying your best. And don’t just take it from me, those are her words. She’s a smart kid, Logan, and she knows you love her. I think she just wants to see you more, honestly.”

  His gray eyes flicked to her hand and back as he tried a tentative smile. “Thank you, Mariah.”

  All she could manage in response was a nod.

  This was going to be a challenging night.

  In hopes that the distraction would keep her away from the dangerous temptation so prevalent in her thoughts, Mariah had turned on the second kung fu film she had intended to watch with Emily. Logan had seen the movie before, but he didn’t object. Maybe that was why her distraction had failed—they both already knew the story.

  Their conversation had shifted from Logan’s concerns about his bond with Emily to more lighthearted topics. The distance between them on the couch had all but vanished, and Mariah knew the warmth of his body beside her wasn’t a figment of her imagination.

  All she had to do was turn, and her face would only be inches away from his. The movement would be easy enough, and from there, she could just let herself fall into the comforting lull of his closeness. For a time, she could give herself over to the veritable ecstasy she had felt when they were naked together.

  She knew it would feel good, better than anything she had experienced in the last four years. But what was the cost? If she threw the professional boundaries away now, she put herself at risk of losing her position at Harfield and Wellner. This time around, her heartache would only be compounded by her inevitable return to an seventy-hour workweek in a nightclub.

  She had enacted those boundaries for good reason, and she had come too far to renege on them now.

  As the film credits began to roll along the screen, Mariah’s mind was made up. She couldn’t risk losing the only job, aside from MMA, that she didn’t hate. The warmth of lust coursed through her veins whenever she glanced to Logan, but she could take care of herself.

  “Okay, well,” she said, pushing herself to her feet. “I’m going to head to bed.” She tried to keep the anxiety out of her voice, but the statement still sounded stinted and weird. All she had to do was get to her room, lock the door, and she could deal with the sudden sexual frustration on her own.

  Before she had even finished the proclamation, Logan moved to stand. Rather than panicky and anxious, his posture was calm and relaxed.

  He raised one hand to touch her shoulder, and suddenly, her heart was in her throat. The flutter of anticipation was back in her stomach, and along with it came the warmth on her cheeks. Between the flush and her wide eyes, she must have looked like a lunatic when she turned to face him.

  As soon as he spotted her obvious fluster, he stood perfectly still. When his gray eyes met hers, time seemed to grind to a halt around them. All the shared glances, the playful banter, and the daydreams had coalesced into this moment, and Mariah could practically hear her willpower as it crumbled around her.

  Unbidden, she remembered the thought that had crossed her mind when he first asked her to come with him to the Indonesian island resort.

  If you’re barreling toward disaster, you might as well enjoy what little of the ride you’ve got left.

  The thought was almost definitely a rationalization for her stupid decision, but as the warmth of anticipation worked its way through her body, she didn’t care.

  No sooner than she closed the distance between them did he reach up to comb the fingers of one hand through her long hair. She let her eyelids droop closed as she tilted her head to brush her lips against his. Every nerve ending in her body hummed with anticipation. Her nerves were wound so tightly, she could hardly summon to mind a coherent thought as he kissed her. When his tongue flicked along her bottom lip, she knew there was no way in hell she would break away from him now.

  Rather than try to talk herself out of the heated desire with which she had been overcome, she raked a hand through the soft strands of his hair as she dropped the other to his chest. If this was going to happen, then she wasn’t going to half-ass it.

  When they broke away for the first time, she spotted the same haze of fervency in his gray eyes, though she had expected no less. Flexing his fingers against the back of her neck, he inclined his head in the direction of the master bedroom.

  Wordlessly, she nodded.

  She picked her way around the coffee table to follow him to the shadowy room. After she stepped into the space, he closed the door and flicked the lock into place.

  Mariah blinked as she let her eyes adjust to the lack of illumination. The moonlight streaming through the window and the glow of a digital alarm clock were their only sources of light.

  As she watched him approach, she was torn between the desire to savor every second and the sudden carnal need for him to take her quickly. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had given herself over to such strong urges, or the last time she had wanted to absolutely lose herself in the unadulterated bliss of a man’s touch.

  When he met her lips for another impassioned kiss, she had decided.

  Dropping both hands down to the waistband of his slacks, she unfastened his belt before she slid both hands beneath his shirt. She ran the tips of her fingers up and down his toned stomach as he deftly undid the buttons. Within moments, he shrugged out of the garment, and Mariah took her cue to step back and strip off her black T-shirt and bra.

  He circled an arm around her waist, a shiver of anticipation left in the wake of his touch. Pressing her lips to his, she started to tug down his pants.

  To hell with foreplay. She wanted him inside her, and as the seconds dragged on, the want turned into a need.

  Finally, when he bit down on her bottom lip, the ache between her legs was just short of unbearable. In one swift motion, she yanked down her shorts and underwear before she backed up to the edge of the bed. As she lowered herself to sit atop the mattress, he stripped off the rest of his clothes, all without breaking his gaze away from her naked form.

  “You really want this, don’t you?” he murmured, closing
the remaining distance.

  As she let her eyes rove along his body, Mariah licked her dry lips and nodded. Logan raised a knee to the bed to nudge her legs apart, and she offered no resistance. Strands of his disheveled hair tickled her cheeks as he leaned in to gingerly bite at the sensitive skin of her neck.

  She ran her hands along his back as he pushed her farther up onto the king-sized bed. When her back met the soft comforter, she spread her thighs apart to wrap her legs around him.

  He rested an elbow beside her head, careful to avoid her hair. Just because she liked when he pulled her hair during sex didn’t mean she enjoyed the strands being ripped out of her scalp. But Logan had been attentive like that. It was no small part of the reason she enjoyed sex with him so damn much.

  As he reached down between her legs, she felt the pressure as he pushed himself into her, the motion measured and slow.

  When she took in a sharp breath, he paused to flash her a concerned look. Before he could open his mouth to ask if she was okay, she managed a slight nod.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered, her voice husky, her tone breathless. “I just forgot how big you are.”

  His lips curled into a sly smirk, but before he spoke, he finished the motion with one, quick thrust.

  “Logan,” she gasped, digging her nails into his back.

  With a fleeting kiss to her neck, he took hold of one of her wrists to pin her arm above her head. As he ran his hand along hers to interlock their fingers, he tilted his head for another kiss.

  She felt like putty in his hands—in that moment she couldn’t think of anything she wouldn’t do to keep this from ending. Any position or request, she didn’t care, she would do it.

  Chapter 25

  Mariah

  As Mariah drifted out of the land of dreams, the sore muscles of her thighs were an abrupt reminder of her and Logan’s night together. No sooner had Mariah come down from her first orgasm, Logan had dropped his head down between her legs. She was sure she came within seconds of that first flick of his tongue, but he hadn’t stopped until she came again, by which point Logan was more than ready for another round.