I rolled her under me. “Bella.”
“Hmm.” She ran her fingers through my hair.
I thought carefully about what words to use. “Joanna was an important person in my life.”
The sparkle in Bella’s eyes dimmed slightly, but she didn’t pull or look away. “I know—”
“Let me finish. I loved her. I’ll always love her. But what I feel for you is different. It’s still love. A deep, intense love. When I’m with you, it’s fresh and exciting.” I wasn’t sure I was saying the right things. “I’m not comparing you to her.”
She smiled brightly and I felt like I’d said the right thing.
“I just wanted you to know that. Joanna isn’t here. Not between us.”
“Blake…” She sniffed as tears welled in her eyes. Then she laughed. “Stupid hormones.”
“Those are hormonal tears?” I kissed one eye and then the other.
“They’re happy tears. Thank you for saying that.” She kissed me. “I needed that.”
Thank fuck I got something right. “It’s the truth.”
That Sunday afternoon with Patsy and Jim there, I told Lily about Bella and me and the baby.
“I told you she should come here,” was Lily’s response.
“You’ve always been the smartest one in the family.”
The only moment of difficulty was when Lily asked if she could call Bella mommy. Even Patsy and Jim looked a little stricken. It had nothing to do with the fact that Bella and I hadn’t made any plans to get married. I hadn’t even asked her to move in with me yet. No, this was about Joanna.
Fortunately, Bella knew exactly what to say.
“You have a mommy already. But you can call ‘mama’ if you want.” Bella looked at me with an expression that suggested she wasn’t sure that was the right answer.
“That’s French,” Lily said.
“Yes.”
“How about milkshakes to celebrate,” Patsy said.
I couldn’t have asked for better in-laws when I was married to Joanna, and they’d proven their worth when I lost her. But they earned their wings when I overhead them telling Bella that they were her family now too. I achieved my goal for Bella to never feel alone or unloved again. And now Joanna’s parents had said they’d be there for her too.
The only thing left to do was to tell the company’s board and the people at work. Bella convinced me to hold off until after the first trimester of the pregnancy. I agreed, and six weeks later, I scheduled two meetings: one with my executive staff and one with the board. Bella helped me prepare reports to show how the company was doing, including the initial numbers for the products exported to France. The goal was to prove my worth to the company, so the board didn’t get the idea that I was a liability by knocking my assistant up.
Still, there was one more thing I could do to soften the blow to for board. More importantly, it would make me extremely happy.
The day before the meeting, I asked Mrs. Douglas to bring Lily to my office at the end of the day. When Lily arrived, she immediately went running to Bella’s office.
Bella emerged holding Lily’s hand. “Look what I found.”
I laughed. “Well, look at that. Since we’re all here, how about we go to dinner?”
“Yay.” Lily jumped up and down. “Where Daddy?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Fifteen minutes later, I walked with Bella and Lily into the French restaurant I’d taken Bella to when she was grieving her mother.
“What’s this place?” Lily asked as we were seated.
“It’s a French restaurant,” I said helping each of my ladies into their seats.
“Do you want the escargot?” Bella asked.
“Is it French food? Yes.”
I laughed feeling certain Lily would change her mind when snails show up on her plate.
Bella smiled at me over her menu. “Is this a special occasion?”
“I figured Lily hasn’t had French food yet.”
“Are there hamburgers, Daddy?”
“How about steak, baby?” That was about as close to a hamburger they had on the menu.
We ordered dinner, and then I sat back, feeling extremely content watching Bella and Lily practice French.
“I know something in French,” I said interrupting them.
“Oh?” Bella quirked a brow.
“What, Daddy? I want to learn it too.”
I took a deep breath as I got out of my chair. I knelt in front of Bella. “Veux-tu m’épouser?” I held up a platinum ring with a French cut diamond I’d been carrying around since just a few days after we’d confessed our love for each other.
Bella gasped.
“What does that mean, Daddy?”
“It means, will you marry me?” I looked up into Bella’s eyes, hoping beyond hope she believed in my love for her. “It means I love you Bella and want to make a life with you.”
“Yes. Oh, yes, Blake.”
“You’re supposed to say, oui,” Lily said.
“Oui,” Bella said breathlessly as I put the ring on her finger and kissed her. Around us, patrons of the restaurant clapped.
“Does that mean Bella will be our family?” Lily asked, as I sat back in my chair but kept Bella’s hand in mine.
“Yes, it does.”
“And the baby too?”
“And the baby too,” I assured her. “We’re going to live happily ever after.”
Epilogue: One Year Later
Bella
“Mama, Bubba is making a mess.”
I looked over to where a six-month-old Liam, aka Bubba, was wiping his sweet potato puree onto his high chair table. He earned the name Bubba by his frequent vocalization of “bu” over the last few months. Occasionally there was a “ma” or a “pa,” but the majority of the time he just said, “bu.”
“You’re not supposed to play with your food,” Lily said to him.
Blake entered the kitchen, looking sexy and put together as always in his expensive suit. “Finger painting again, Bubba?”
Liam looked up at Blake as he leaned over to kiss him on the head. “Bu bu bu.”
“How are you, princess?” He kissed Lily.
“Fine. Daddy, Bubba is so messy.”
“You were too at that age.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Blake laughed. “I remember how you used to drop oat cereal off the edge of your tray. Piece by piece.”
“That’s something to look forward to,” I said, bringing Blake some coffee.
“How are you this morning?” He wiggled his eyebrows. He knew exactly how I felt since he woke me up with caresses and gave me an orgasm.
I loved being married and a mom, but it made it harder to have sex. Fortunately, Blake was good at finding opportunities. Four in the morning before Bubba would wake up. In the shower, while we got ready for work after Mrs. Douglas arrived and took over with the kids. And then, there was work.
“Quite satisfied.” I kissed him. “And you?”
“Hoping for a repeat later.”
I sat at the table, looking over my family. Last year, I was alone and secretly in love with my boss. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d end up here. Madly in love and married with two children. It made me wonder if my mother was looking out for me. When I said that to Blake one night, he admitted to having a similar thought about Joanne.
“Sometimes I wonder if Joanna arranged this. Wanting me to be happy. And Lily. Without you, I’d have never been happy again.”
His words filled my heart with more emotion than I thought possible. I loved him so much. The miracle was how much he loved me too.
Not that there hadn’t been some tough moments in the beginning. People couldn’t just turn off their hang-ups or unload their baggage, and Blake was no different. Occasionally, his conflicted feelings about Joanna would surface. At first, he tried to hide them, which only made me feel insecure. Of course, when he learned to share them, I didn’t always
like being reminded of her. But we’d navigated them, and now a year later, we had a strong marriage and two beautiful children.
Lily gave up on Liam and turned to me asking in French whether she could go to her friend Rebecca’s house over the weekend. She’d blossomed too, shedding her shyness and making friends at school.
Now that she was in first grade at a French immersion school, she and I had many conversations in French. Blake would watch us and frown, having no clue what we were talking about.
“Hey Bubba, ba, ba, ba.”
I smirked at him. He joked, but he liked that Lily was quickly becoming bilingual. And I assured him that if the information was important, I’d have Lily speak in English or I would translate.
An hour later, Mrs. Douglas had taken over childcare duties and was getting ready to take Lily to school with Liam in the stroller so they could go to the park afterward. Blake and I headed out the door to the office.
Not much had changed at the office. I still did much of the work I did before, but now instead of his assistant, I was a president to match his status of CEO. Luckily, the board didn’t express any concern about our relationship and there didn’t seem to be any backlash from the staff about me becoming his wife and helping him fulfill Joanne’s dream. It was a reminder to me that I often worried about things needlessly.
The company was doing well. Our exportation of products to France had gone so well that we were looking at other countries in Europe.
“We’ll have to find someone who speaks German or Italian,” Blake said about moving into those markets.
“You know what happened with your assistant that spoke French. I hope you’re not thinking you’ll repeat that,” I joked.
“The French is sexy, but it’s not why I fell in love with you.”
The truth was, I never worried about Blake straying. I knew first-hand how deeply he loved and the depth of his commitment to those he loved.
At the end of the day, Blake sauntered into my office, taking a seat on my couch. “You going to be ready to head home soon?”
I closed the file I was working on. “Yes.”
“I’ve been thinking that we arranged export to France without ever having gone there.”
“Did you want to go?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t necessary at the time, but now, I’m thinking we should go. We never had a real honeymoon.”
We married in a small, intimate ceremony not long after he proposed and spent a week hidden away at a bed-and-breakfast in upstate New York.
“What are you talking about? I don’t think we got out of bed the whole week after we got married.”
He flashed a grin and held out his hand, inviting me to him. “I guess you’re right. Going to Europe would have been a waste. But now I’m thinking we can do both. Sightsee and have sex.”
As I reached him, he stopped me from sitting next to him. He pushed my shirt up and then pulled me down until I straddled his thighs.
“It sounds intriguing.”
He must have noticed the slight hesitation in my voice. “But?”
“What about the kids? Liam is still young.”
“We’ll bring them along.”
I quirked a brow. “Won’t that cut into the sex bit?”
“We’ll bring Patsy and Jim too. We’ll get a suite or several rooms. They can watch the kids sometimes, and other times have their own second honeymoon.”
I pressed my palms to his cheeks. “You’re such a lovely romantic man.”
His hands caressed my thighs. “You going to reward me for that?” He pulled me close until my pussy pressed against his dick.
“You’ve been thinking of Paris and sex already.” I ground against his already thickening arousal.
“That happened the minute I walked in here. I’m hoping you’ll help me with it.” He leaned forward, lightly biting my nipple through the thin fabric of my blouse.
“What do you need me to do?” I rubbed myself against him, loving the low growl he had in response.
“I need you to fuck me, Mrs. Alexander.”
Hearing him say my name always sent a thrill through me. He was like a dream come true.
I moved back slightly so I could undo his belt and slacks. I pulled his hard cock free.
“Goodness,” I exclaimed.
“He likes you.”
I slid off the couch to kneel on the floor as the desire to taste his beautiful cock made my mouth water. I gripped him and then sucked on his tip.
“Ah, Bella…” His fingers threaded through my hair. I could feel him relax and let me take control of his pleasure. I sucked him, fast and then slow with light strokes and then with a firm grip, loving the sounds he made as I did.
“Come up here, baby. I want to touch you.”
With my grip still firmly on him, I maneuvered onto the couch next to him and continued to suck him.
His hand slid down my back, lifting my skirt again. His fingers found their way between my thighs, and under the panel of my panties.
“You’re wet for me.”
I hummed in the affirmative, making him hiss from the vibration. We pleasured each other for a few minutes longer, but then Blake pulled away.
“Fuck me, Bella.”
I pulled my panties off and straddled his thighs again. I hovered over him, his tip teasing my pussy entrance. Our eyes caught and held, and only then did I lower over him. Our moans of pleasure filled my office.
His hands slid to my back and he pulled me to him, pressing his lips against mine in a firm, thorough, sexy kiss. His tongue darted inside my mouth and I savored the taste of him.
I started by rocking slowly, my movements matching his kiss.
He broke away, tugging on my ear with his teeth. “More, baby. Faster.”
Wanting to please my man, I started to ride, at first slow and long. His hands gripped my hips urging me to move faster. I obliged, taking shorter, faster strokes. His cock massaged my pussy walls, the friction building my tension tighter and tighter. I swore I could feel him thicken and harden inside me.
“Blake.” I gasped as need coursed hot through my blood.
“Yes baby,” he sucked on my nipple through my blouse again, sending an electric current to my pussy.
“I’m coming… Oh!” I threw my head back as pleasure speared sharply and then radiated out through my body.
He groaned. “Fuck yes right there.”
Warm liquid filled my pussy as I rode out my orgasm. We didn’t use condoms anymore, but I was smart enough after Liam was born to go on the pill, although recently we’d started talking about when I might go off again and have another child. Since Liam was only six months old, we figured we’d wait until he was a year or so, and then try again.
“It will only take one time, you know,” Blake had said when we’d talked about having another baby.
“The first time,” I agreed.
In the meantime, I was happy to practice as much and as often as Blake wanted me, which was often.
As our breathing returned to normal, Blake grinned up at me. “So is that a yes for Paris?”
“Oui, mon amour.”
His eyes softened and filled with love. “I adore you, Bella.”
My heart filled with emotion at having this wonderful man love me and give me a perfect family. There was only one thing I could say to let him know how much it all meant to me. “Je t’aime, Blake.”
***The End***
Daddy by Mistake
Description
I woke up with a ring on my finger!
What the hell happened last night?
All I can remember is that we had a couple drinks,
I was tipsy,
And then I wake up next to my boss!
He’s an older man, charismatic, gorgeous and experienced.
How could he screw up?
This needs to be rectified,
Immediately…
But I start developing feelings for him,
And
the day he sends over annulment papers,
I find out that I am pregnant.
And I am not sure how an annulment will work out with a baby on way!
1
Jillian
I stirred with a groan, turning over in bed. The sheets were surprisingly silky and soft. I couldn't remember my sheets being so soft before. My sheets were old and threadbare, and much rougher than these. But I was too tired to think much on it. I had a bit of a headache, and my stomach hurt. I curled up in a ball, hugging my pillow tight and starting to drift off back to sleep. A sleep of soft, pleasant dreams.
An arm wrapped around me from behind. A warm body pressed up close against me. It felt nice. I hadn't been held like that before. Not ever.
Which meant it felt especially strange when I felt something hard pressing up against my backside.
I woke fully with a start, turning in the bed. There was a man in bed with me. I'd never had a man in bed with me before. Not ever.
I peeked under the covers. We were both naked. That had never happened before either.
My heart started to race. I tried to remember what had happened. Vague memories slowly trickled in. The party last night. The entire office had been there, celebrating. I'd had a few too many drinks. Then a few more. I remembered dancing, with lights flashing around me and bodies pressed up against mine. The room spinning as I let myself go on the dance floor, feeling free for the first time in my young life.
It was a bit blurry after that. I just hoped, wished, prayed that I hadn't really done what it looked like I had done.
I was a virgin. Or at least, I had been last night. If I'd given myself to some random stranger without even remembering it, it would be the most mortifying experience of my life.
I closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths. It couldn't be all that bad, I told myself. So maybe I had gotten drunk and done something rash. It couldn't be the end of the world.
Beautiful Mistakes: Contemporary Romance Boxset Books 1-4 Page 55
