My First Daddy (Dark Daddies 7)

I had no clue self-published authors could be such horrible divas.

“Crap,” I say softly.

He laughs and gets up. He takes my hand and pulls me to my feet, wrapping his arms around me tight.

“You can do this,” he says.

“Why do you have so much faith in me?”

He shrugs and kisses me gently. “Because I see something in you, Avery. I want you to see yourself the same way I see you.”

I bite my lip. I’ve never had someone have faith in me like this before.

“I don’t know if you’re right,” I say.

“I know. But you’ll come around.” He kisses me softly again. “Stay here tonight.”

I shake my head. “No, I should get back home. I want to make notes and get started on this.”

He grins. “I knew I made the right decision.”

I smile and hit his muscular chest. He laughs and walks me to the elevators.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says.

I hesitate as the elevator doors open. “Hey, thanks,” I say. “Seriously, this was… I needed this.”

“Good. Come by anytime you want. I’ll always have pancakes and sex.”

I roll my eyes. “Of course. Bye!”

“See you.”

I smile as I step into the elevator. Once the doors close though, reality sets back in.

I’m going to tell Haylee, that monster diva author, that I think her new pages suck. I’m going to basically throw myself into the lion’s den wearing a meat dress.

She’s going to tear me apart and I’d better be ready for it.12JulianThe next morning, Avery’s working hard at her desk on the manuscript, making notes and jotting down ideas in the margins.

I have to say, I’m impressed with her. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d refused to go through with this. I might’ve been disappointed, but I wouldn’t have thought less of her.

This, though, this is why I think I’m right to have faith in her. Even though she doesn’t want to be involved with Haylee anymore, she’s still going to do it. It’s her job and she’s going to do it the best that she can.

I’m proud of her, weirdly. I don’t really know this feeling, but it’s definitely pride.

She works hard all morning, barely getting up from her desk to use the bathroom. Around one in the afternoon, I walk over and crouch down beside her.

“Avery,” I say softly.

She starts. “Oh. Hey. Sorry. You scared me.”

“How’s it going?”

“Good,” she says. “I think.”

“How about taking a break?”

She hesitates. “I don’t know.”

“Come to lunch with me.”

“Julian, I should just get some more of this done, I’m almost finished and—”

“It can wait,” I say softly. “Come on. Take a break. Let me treat you to something.”

She hesitates but nods. “I guess I am starving.”

“No pancakes this time, I promise.”

“I’m almost disappointed. Those were good.”

I laugh. “You can have some later.” I stand up and stretch. “Come on. I know a place.”

We head out together. Instead of getting an Uber, we walk a few blocks west, heading into a dense section of the city.

There’s an upscale diner at the base of an apartment building and I take her right in there. We get seated right away and I can tell she’s relieved that we’re not at some fancy restaurant.

“I’m almost tempted to get pancakes,” she says.

“Go ahead. They’re good here.”

“No, I don’t want to. They’re better when you cook them.”

I nod sagely. “Made with love.”

She arches an eyebrow. “Love?”

“Sounds better than sex.”

She makes a face and I laugh.

The waitress comes and we order. I keep Avery talking, chatting about nothing, keeping it light.

I want to distract her from office stuff. I know how much she’s dreading this Haylee business, and I can’t blame her. I figure an hour of getting it off her mind will do her a lot of good.

The place is busy as business people out with clients filter in and out. While it’s not a fancy restaurant, it’s still an upscale diner, so a lot of people I know like to come here for a fast but good meal. Just as I ask Avery about her college days, which aren’t so far behind her, a couple of young guys come walking up to our table.

It takes me a second to place them. I half stand as they approach.

“Dave, John, hey,” I say.

I shake their hands. “Hey yourself,” Dave says. “You forgot all about us, didn’t you?”

I grin at him. “Nah. I couldn’t.”

“I think you did,” John says. “Haven’t seen you around in a bit.”

“Ah, you know how it is.”

Dave eyes Avery. “Sure do.”

I don’t like his tone, not at all. These guys are from my marketing company, and both of them are upper level managers. I’m not as involved in the day-to-day anymore, but I hired these guys myself years ago. They know me about as well as anyone does, and I can only imagine what they’re thinking.

“Who’s this?” Dave asks me.