I walked out in my robe. He was already dressed in a pair of boxer briefs. “Here, baby. Do something with this box. I’m not even sure what it is, but I’m sure it’s some of your stuff.” He pushed the box toward me, and it was light.
“It’s empty,” I said, glancing to the side for some kind of label. There in his writing, it said bedroom in bold letters with a little note scribbled beneath it. Open me.
I narrowed my eyes and figured he was giving me a housewarming gift and feeling a little bad that I hadn’t thought to do the same. I had thought our big bed was our welcome gift, but despite my guilt, I couldn’t wait to see what he had bought me.
Inside, the box was filled with white tissue paper. I pulled it out a piece at a time, tossing it to the floor. He gathered it and wadded it into balls as I made my way through it. There at the bottom, wrapped with more tissue paper was a tiny velvet box. He reached and took it. My eyes widened as he dropped to his knees.
“Everything is perfect, but for this one thing, Rachel. Will you marry me?”
Warm tears spilled onto my cheeks as I collapsed to my knees with him and he gathered me up into his arms as I said, “Yes.”
After a moment, his voice had softened, and he whispered sweetly in my ear, “I love you.”
“I love you too. I thought you wanted to wait.”
“We’ve spent too long waiting.” He brushed my loose strands away from my face.
I took his hand and kissed it, then held it to my heart. “It was worth it, Duncan. Every minute.”
The End
ROCK HARD DADDY
A Single Dad & A Virgin Romance
CHAPTER ONE – CHLOE JONES
Three months after I graduated from college, I decided that Peter Clarke was an asshole, and for that reason, I hated him with every damn cell in my being. As was expected of the valedictorian, Peter’s speech was grand and filled with triumphant words. In a confident and jubilant tone, he assured me—and our entire graduating class—that the world was ours for the taking and, therefore, we could do anything, have anything and be anything we desired. Like a dumbass, I believed him, and therein lies my problem with the guy.
Stupid Peter.
It turns out that Peter was full of shit, and the world was not mine for the taking. In fact, the world didn’t give a crap about me. Despite my outrageously expensive degree in Hotel Management, and 4.0 GPA, I am now left jobless, penniless, and left wanting to crawl under a rock and die.
The economic downfall meant that my degree, which cost enough to virtually pay off a house in Tuscany, didn’t mean jack shit in the real world. If only I had the power to predict the future - I would now be in my gorgeous Tuscan villa, in the arms of my hot Italian boyfriend, sipping a glass of red. At least that was my logic. Of course, that suggests I somehow would have gotten over my obsessive infatuation with my childhood crush, Conner Wilkes. In case, I haven’t already painted a picture of the pitiable and unrealistic fantasy world I’ve been living, my child hood crush also happens to be my Dad’s best fr
iend. We’ll get to back Conner soon enough; for now I’ve got some more venting left in my system.
If only Peter was here now so I could tell him flawed his logic truly was. None of the hundreds of hotels I sent my application to bothered to even call me back for an interview. It was embarrassing and left me no other choice than to collect my crap and return to the small Tennessee town I grew up - with my tail tucked between my legs.
Stupid, stupid Peter.
Life sucked, and I hated it, but amidst all of the frustration, there was one good thing about being back home. Dad.
“Bumblebee,” Dad cried as soon as I walked through the gate at the airport.
A broad, face-splitting grin formed on my lips at the sight of my father. I know most girls say that their Dad is the best, but mine actually was. He and my mother had both been twenty-one when they had me, so in a way, the three of us grew up together. Thanks to them, I had an almost perfect childhood filled with fun, forts, and smores for dinner. Unfortunately, the two of them grew apart, but our closeness remained intact.
“Daddy,” I said as I ran toward him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He smelled like grass, leather, and home.
We hugged for a solid minute. Then, he pulled away to look at me.
“Let me check the status.”
Those words were familiar and instantly made me grow a little taller in my spine as I stood in front of him. Not caring that we were surrounded by curious strangers, Dad cupped his square jaw with his right hand and tapped his index fingers on his lips as he looked at me through mock stern eyes that made me chuckle.
Like he used to do when I was a kid, he placed a hand on the top of my head, fidgeted with my long blonde hair and poked me in the belly. “The hair is longer. You still look exactly like your mom, but I don’t think you grew this time.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m twenty-two, Dad. I haven’t grown in like five years.”