Not Husband Material (Billionaire's Contract Duet 1)

“Oh, it’s…” I wanted to say ‘nothing’ badly. Just brush it off until later. But I knew better than that. That was what I did when I was in a bad place. Freshman year of college, I just kept blowing things off until later, and later became never. I lost touch with Jeff because I put it off over and over again.

Jillian tilted her head, her pretty face looking confused. I couldn’t blow off this conversation. She was worth more than that.

“Jill, I want to level with you,” I confessed, turning and leaning on my knees. “I’m not... I mean, I don’t want this to be—”

“Bruin,” she said, a confused smile on her face, “I joke about feeling like you’re a pirate running off with me, but I’m having a great time.”

“I know,” I said, “it’s better than I could have expected, and I’m not surprised often. That’s why I want to be completely honest with you before we go any further.”

Her brows furrowed, and she listened attentively.

“My home is in Santa Barbara,” I explained. “I mean, I have homes other places, but that’s where my heart is.”

“Does it mean something special to you?” she asked.

“More than you know,” I replied with a grin that vanished quickly. “It’s special to me, but for more reasons than you think. When I say my heart is there, I don’t just mean it like that. A piece of me is there.” I took a deep breath, looked Jillian straight in the eye, and spoke. “Santa Barbara is where my daughter is.”

Her jaw dropped. “Your daughter?”

“Emma,” I said with a smile. “Emma Kincaid. She turned three this year.” I shook my head, staring out at the water. “You can have all the money in the world, but nothing prepares you for fatherhood. Especially when it’s a surprise.”

“A father?” Jillian repeated, now staring at the water too. She looked at me, suddenly terrified. “Does that mean you’re married? Oh God. Are you married?”

I wanted to quickly calm the panic. “No. I’m not married. I’d never do that to you. I’d never have brought you on the Mirabella.” I shook my head, smiling sadly. “No, it was an old relationship. I never knew she was pregnant after a one-night stand, and nine months later,” I retold the story, taking a deep breath as I pushed through an explanation I hadn’t had to make in a long time. “I got a call from her.”

“She came back?”

“No. The call I got was from an attorney. She...she passed. Drunk driver. She had been out with friends. I had no idea she didn’t have any other family. Hell, I didn’t know anything about her. I was the next closest person Emma could go to.”

“Oh my God, Bruin.”

Jillian put a hand on mine. I looked over at her, searching her face. I had been worried she would be horrified or look down on me in some way, but I didn’t see any of that in her face.

“So, that’s that,” I said simply.

“I had no idea,” she said, shaking her head and sitting back.

“I know,” I paused. “That’s why I wanted to tell you now instead of later. In case…” I frowned, shaking my head. This wasn’t like me. Why did I feel like I could be vulnerable around Jillian after so little time? But it felt wrong to just clam up now and act like my usual self. “I don’t want there to be any nasty surprises between us, whatever. No matter how much fun we’re having.”

“Bruin, I’d never think that a ‘nasty’ anything,” she said with a faint laugh. “I’m just surprised because I never really thought of you as a father.”

“Right?” I laughed. “I’m still getting used to it. Bruin Kincaid, software developing billionaire, international adventurer, and daddy. I’m not exactly the type to wear one of those strap-on baby harnesses.”

Jillian giggled at that, and she leaned over to kiss me on the cheek, and that turned into a soft kiss on the lips. “I don’t know. I think I could see it.”

We stared into each other’s eyes for a few long moments, and I felt a kind of relief wash over me I’d never felt before. I’d been worried about sharing that all with Jillian, but she didn’t just accept the news, she seemed to like it. The look she gave me was new, too, almost like she was sizing me up.

There was something about it that made me feel proud in a masculine, primal way. Her gaze turned lidded, and I felt my cock swelling under the silk again.

She knew what was coming when I leaned over her and kissed her. She fumbled with the knot around her waist, but I pushed her hands out of the way and undid it in a second before I let my own slide off my shoulders.

“Bruin, we’re in public,” she whispered, a laughing smile on her face.

“Naked for the whole world to see,” I remarked in a low tone as I pressed myself down on her. “Hell, let someone see.”

I slipped one hand behind her head to cradle it as I pressed a kiss to her lips, and my other hand went down to her pussy. It was still wet and slick with the mess both of us had made a few minutes ago.

“Still ready,” I said in a husky whisper.