Page 22 of Dating the Daddy

“Only with you.” I snort, picturing my brother rolling his eyes at someone calling me sweet. “Everyone else thinks I’m a cranky asshole.”

“Well, everyone else is wrong.” She wraps her soft arms around my waist, and I’m fucking tempted to say to hell with the rest of my plans and drag her sweet ass back to bed.

CHAPTER 7

ELYSA

Going backto work after spending an entire weekend with Aidan feels like stepping back into a different world. The usual Monday morning chaos at the newspaper is in full swing by the time I scurry through the door—late because he kept getting me undressed as fast as I was putting clothes on this morning. And my knees are suspiciously wobbly. That's also his fault.

Apparently, getting up at five in the morning is completely normal, albeit unhinged, behavior for an oilman like Aidan. He decided to put all that extra time to use by making me come this morning. Repeatedly.

Best ridiculously early morning ever.

"There you are!" Leia growls, materializing at my desk like a freaking sniper hiding in the bushes as soon as I set my stuff down. "I've been waiting for you."

"I can see that," I say, smirking at her. "Have you even been to your office yet?"

"What? Who cares?" She grabs my arm, practically hauling me down the hall. "We have to have a meeting. You're coming with me."

"Where are we going?" I laugh quietly.

"My office."

Honestly, I don't even know why she has an office. She spends the majority of her time at my desk in the main newsroom. But I shrug and let her drag me into the office, laughing loudly when she immediately flips the lock like she expects anyone to care that we're in here gossiping. They never do.

"You spent the entire weekend with him," she whisper-hisses, spinning to face me. Her wide eyes are comical. "I need all the details."

"All of them?" I arch a brow, sipping my coffee.

"Most of them," she amends, smiling devilishly. "Where did you go? What did you do? Did you tell him the big secret?"

"The Sterling Rope, the movies, a lot of dirty, dirty things. And yes." I pause. "In the middle of said dirty, dirty things."

She makes this sound that's not quite a gasp, but that isn't really a squeak either. It makes her sound a little like an offended bird catapulting through the air unexpectedly. I crack up as soon as I hear it.

"What the heck was that, Leia?"

"My head exploding," she mutters. "You told him during sex? You went to the Sterling Rope?" She gapes at me. "Your texts left out so many details, Elysa Anne Darby."

"Obviously. I wasn't leaving a trail." I sniff. Is she crazy? I watch true crime. If I come up missing, I don’t want the whole world dissecting my sex-life texts. No, thank you. "And I didn't tell him so much as remove my mask right before he…"

She blinks wide eyes at me. "Holy crap. You're in love with him."

"So freaking bad," I whisper-groan. "He's amazing, Leia. He treated me like a princess all weekend. He even… well, never mind. That's private. The point is, I'm so screwed!"

"Why?"

"Because I printed that stupid column calling him out," I groan. "Now, I'm madly in love with him, and I have to figure out how in the hell I'm supposed to convince people that little old Elysa Darby is the woman he was after. No one is going to buy that. Nothing about me is out of his league, but if I don't figure it out, people will dig. They'll unmask me as the matchmaker." I huff a breath. "We couldn't even go into the club because Bronx and Gemma would have recognized me on sight."

"Okay, well, first of all," Leia says, propping her hands on her hips, "little old Elysa Darby is freaking amazing. She damn well better believe she's out of his league because she's the freaking catch of the century and he's lucky to have five minutes of her time."

"I love you." I smile.

She blows me a kiss. "And second, you're the only one who thinks it'll all fall apart if you're unmasked. Maybe that was true when you first started and didn't have a reputation for success, but look at you now, bestie. You've made dozens of matches. People trust you because you know what you're doing. That isn't going to change when they know your name."

"They aren't going to be thrilled to find out I'm running the gossip column, too," I mutter. That was the point of keeping my identity under wraps. It's one thing to make matches. But reporting on them? Well, people are less thrilled to be the news.

"Please." Leia snorts. "Half the freaking town already suspects that the matchmaker runs the column. You wouldn't be telling them anything they didn't already know."

---