Page 1 of Dating the Daddy

CHAPTER 1

ELYSA

It’sa slow news day in Silver Spoon Falls. My coworkers at the paper are all milling around the office, searching for something to write about. I don’t have the same problem. Gossip never sleeps, especially not in a town full of millionaires and billionaires. There’s always something to share with the eager readers of my secret column.

The only problem? Not even my coworkers know who writes theSilver Spoon Single Serve. As far as they know, I just write the filler stuff that goes in the actual paper—the society fluff, the horoscopes, and those random sections that come and go with the seasons. My identity as the town gossip is a complete mystery. Well, almost. Leia Bayliss, my best friend, knows that I’m behind the column. She also knows I’m the matchmaker in town. But she’s one of the only ones. The other two who know, Cormac Carmichael and Finn Taylor, are paid handsomely for their silence. And their help in ensuring my secret remains my own.

It’s ironic, really. For someone who can’t keep a secret to save her life, I’ve done pretty darn good keeping this one. But this one matters more than any I’ve ever had before. Not the gossip column—that’s just for fun. I love spreading good news, and my column does that. The matchmaking is the important part.

My love life derailed one bookie back. I’m not even kidding. The last guy I dated, Gavin Cochran, turned out to be a psycho who was trying to run an illegal sports betting scheme. He tried to murder Leia. I officially swore off dating after that. I couldn’t find my forever, so I gave up. But it turns out that I’m pretty good at helping people in this town find theirs. There’s no way I’m going to risk someone exposing my identity when there are still happily-ever-afters to create.

If I can’t have mine, the people in this town should at least get theirs. Like Asa Steele and Leslie Langley.

I glance over my column about them, smiling to myself as I read it back.

Rumor has it that a certain Army Ranger has put a ring on it! That’s right, readers! The biggest menaceon the block is officially off the market. You can stop running in the other direction when you see him coming now. He’s driving off into the sunset with his very own Good-Girl-Gone-Bad. There’s just one burning question left: Will the matchmaker strike liquid gold with the third sibling?

If those aren’t enough hints to point everyone in the direction of Asa and Leslie, there’s no helping my readers. And if that last line doesn’t leave them wondering if Aidan Steele is next on the block… well, they should.

It’s a darn good question.

I fully intended to make him my next eligible bachelor until Asa warned me that his meddling brother wanted to expose me. Now, I’m hesitant to poke that particular bear. Aidan Steele is a certified grump. He gives orders, and people obey. And people in this town love him. How could they not after everything he’s done for his family? He quit college and came home to run their family’s oil business and raise Caroline after their parents died. He held it together for her and Asa when he was so freaking young himself, and then catapulted their oil business to insane success.

If anyone in this town has a chance of figuring out who I am, it’s him. That’s not a risk I can afford to take. And yet, part of me wants to take it anyway. He’s an enigma to me. I can’t figure out why he’s still single when any woman in this town would kill to date him.

He’s gorgeous, with wild, dark hair and piercing eyes. Like his younger brother, he’s a giant of a man. He looks more like he should be putting all of those muscles to work in the oilfields instead of managing them from a posh office. The few times I’verun into him around town, he’s always been this commanding, calming, yet ridiculously grumpy presence.

And that’s the other problem. I like him—a little more than I probably should. If I still believed that forever existed for me, he’s the man I’d go for. He ticks boxes I didn’t even know needed ticked, and he makes me crave things that I’ve never admitted to anyone.

I joke with Leia all the time about Daddy vibes, but the man has them in spades. It… scares me a little bit, how easily I imagine him in that role in my life. I’ve never even told anyone—not even Leia—how much I’ve come to crave that sort of relationship. To be cared for in that way, to be adored by a man who treats me like the center of his universe. One capable of handling me when I’m a brat but soft enough to adore me when I’m spiraling. And God knows, I have plenty of those days since Gavin Cochran messed up my life.

Aidan could be that man. Except… I’m not on the market.

I still find myself reluctant to pair him with anyone else. This woman isn’t driven enough for him. This one is too driven. This one isn’t patient enough. This one wouldn’t understand his bond with his siblings… No one fits.

You fit, a little voice whispers in the back of my head.

I cut off that line of thinking immediately. No way, no how. I’m off the market.

“What are you doing?” Leia plops down in a chair beside my desk, startling me.

“Cheese and rice!” I growl, practically falling out of my chair. I turn a death glare on her. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“I can see that.” She grins at me, her eyes bright with humor. “Why so jumpy?”

“I was thinking.”

“About what?”

I dart a quick glance around the newsroom to make sure no one is in earshot. “Aidan Steele,” I whisper. “I can’t figure him out.”

“Are you still thinking about trying to find a match for him?” Leia’s lips twitch. “Asa tried to warn you to leave it alone.”

“I know!” I cry softly. “And I am leaving it alone. Really, I am.” I think. Maybe.

Leia hits me with a look that tells me she thinks I’m full of crap. She knows me far too well. “Don’t you have a new client anyway?”

“You mean Tyler Dooley?” I snort, waving her off. “That one is easy. He’s in love with his assistant. As soon as heaccidentallygets a call from the sperm bank for her, it’ll all be over with.”

---