Page 2 of Daddy's Double Surprise

2

CARTER

Iparked a block away after circling a few times, realizing Rick’s party had drawn quite the crowd. When we talked last week, he told me his daughter was home from Tampa and needed a job here in town, that he’d be hosting a welcome home party for her to help shake some blues she’d been feeling. I didn’t ask many questions. I was grateful to have another competent adult helping out around the clinic, and I owed Rick a few favors anyway.

This afternoon was about meeting her and hearing her qualifications, perhaps getting to know her a bit. I had no idea what to expect, but if she was like her father, I knew my clinic would be in good hands, even if she turned out to be nothing more than a receptionist or nurse’s aide.

I walked across the carefully manicured lawn, past the topiary and birdbath. The home had fantastic curb appeal, but most homes in Malibu did. The monolithic design was interesting. The entire house appeared to be carved from one single stone, and if the winding sidewalk that tucked behind a green wall wasn’t so obvious, I’d have been lost at finding the front door.

Just the land had to cost more than my entire property and home, but I wasn’t intimidated by it. On the contrary, it felt a bit off-putting, reminding me of my childhood and growing up with so much money around me, it had replaced affection and intimacy as the primary way my father interacted with me.

I rounded the corner, tucking my keys into the pocket of my tan slacks, and saw the ivory-colored door. Music vibrated the walls, floating out to give me a hint of what lay on the other side of the door, and I reached to press the bell. The door burst open in a blast of energy, and two young boys dressed for the pool, wearing snorkels and laughing loudly, raced past me. They left dark splotches on the cement as they went, and I chuckled.

“Carter, so good to have you,” Rick said. I turned back to the door to see his broad shoulders fill the doorway. His hand stretched out toward me and I took it, gripping it firmly in a warm handshake.

“Wouldn’t miss it, Rick.” I followed him into the foyer of the home which was no less stunning on the inside. Marble floors, large chandeliers with ultra-modern aesthetics. The home was a masterpiece.

“Soleil is around somewhere, but let me get you a drink first.” Rick gestured past the modern living room with rigid, brightly colored furniture to the far side of the room, divided from the clunky sofa and end tables by an island. The top made of jade, it anchored both spaces, creating a place to gather and talk—which was exactly what people were doing. A lot of them.

I recognized a few faces from previous events Rick and Melanie had hosted, while some of them still remained a mystery. Now approaching retirement, Rick held more gatherings, dinners, backyard barbeques, and even charity events than any person I knew. I always assumed it was to help Melanie deal with her loneliness as they aged and friends moved in and out of their lives. I was too focused on helping people tolive the socialite life, but I didn’t mind a good party now and then.

While Rick found a bottle of rum and whipped up a piña colada for me, I let my eyes scan the crowd gathered in his open-concept home. Every time I was around Rick, he tried to set me up. He told me a man my age should have a woman to soften his edges, but I never did much more than go on a single date with the ones he pushed my way. After the things I’d been through, I wasn’t ready for anything serious. I wondered which one of the bronzed beauties sipping alcohol, dressed in a sundress or a bikini, was the one he invited for me. It was sort of a ritual at this point.

“Here ya go,” he said cheerfully, handing me the large, broad-rimmed glass with creamy yellow froth. I accepted it and sipped it immediately.

“Soleil—” I said, nearly choking on my drink. The bits of pineapple pulp stuck in my throat. I chuckled, and Rick picked up where I left off.

“She’s around here. I saw her with a daiquiri somewhere.” He shook his head and sighed as he sipped from a beer bottle. “Came home a bit upset by a few things—I’ll let her explain if she wants to share. I’m worried about her, Carter. She needs to be grounded right now and here in LA is the best place. I’m really grateful for you agreeing to take her in. She needs a firm hand.”

My mind pictured a wild child, hell-bent on rebelling and making her father’s life miserable, but I knew Soleil was no child. Based on things Rick had told me in the past, she was probably around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. More than old enough for Rick to stop worrying about her like this, but it was the way he handled things.

“Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll have your back. I’m sure she’s the poster child for hard work ethic and punctuality if she’s anything like you.” Stroking Rick’s ego was also another way to help him.I’d learned a few years back when we met at that charity golf event that he was a prideful man. But he was also a good man, and a good friend.

“It’s just that?—”

“Rick!” I heard, and I recognized the voice as Melanie instantly. His head jerked to the side and we both turned to see her walking down the hallway from the back door. Even in the dim light with the sun creating a silhouette of her aging form, Melanie was gorgeous. Rick was a lucky man.

“Yeah?” he called, scowling.

“Jeb is having a hard time with the grill. Can you come help?” She steepled her fingers under her chin and tilted her head slightly as she smiled at him. Then she winked at me as he ran a hand across his comb-over and balding head.

“Yeah, I’ll come.” Rick glanced at me and said, “Just hang out a bit. When I see Soleil, I’ll find you and introduce the two of you.”

I laughed as Melanie dragged her husband away, then meandered with my drink in hand through the lower level of the house. Two living rooms, a formal dining area with a breakfast nook, two powder rooms, a laundry area, and finally a game room—all decorated in very modern lines and colors.

The noise level in the game room was off the charts. I discovered it was the source of the thumping music, which barely overpowered the shouts of several younger adults engaged in a drinking game. Their volume was what drew me in, but what kept me there hovering at the door was the curvy, shapely form of a buxom beauty who wore a skimpy, bright-red, string bikini—over which she had a white crocheted cover-up.

She tossed her curly hair over her shoulder and looked back at me as a few other women around the table fixed their eyes on me. She was gorgeous—full ruby lips, dark hazel eyes. If I didn’t know Rick so well, I’d have sworn he’d been hiding herfrom me all this time. Surely this was the woman he’d arranged to introduce me to once our business of meeting with Soleil was finished and the real party set in.

She made my dick twitch just thinking of how incredible her lips would feel wrapped around it. But I knew as well as anyone else, beauty was only skin-deep, that the real treasure was always found in a woman’s soul. While Rick was excellent at picking good-looking women, he failed to find ones who stimulated me intellectually most times, and after the loss I’d suffered, any woman I plowed forward with would have to be incredibly special. I wouldn’t pass judgment on this particular beauty, but it would take a miracle to find someone to break the curse over my heart.

“Hey,” she said, wiggling her fingers. She batted her thick, dark eyelashes at me and bobbed a shoulder. “Wanna play?”

“Nah,” I shouted over the din of music and laughter. I held up my glass that was now half empty and grinned at her. “Gotta pace myself.”

The way she strolled toward me, abdicating her apparent role at the head of the table, looked more like a serpent closing in on prey. Her curves swayed and caught my eye—a little on the thick side, but just the way I liked my women. I liked something to get my hands on, and this woman had that je ne sais quoi. Her eyes devoured me as her lips clung to the hurricane glass in her hand.

“I’m Sunny,” she said loudly, thrusting her hand out.

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