Page 7 of Daddy Issues

That gets a good laugh from me and Emma while Lily rolls her eyes with a smile.

“Okay, so it’s slim pickings out there. But I’m not the only one who noticed a theme,” Emma states while I wait for the information I’m missing.

“Mhm. Our girl has an older man kink.”

Oh. That.

“You two should talk,” Lily adds as our order is called and we grab our food. The girls and I take a seat back at the picnic table outside of North Pass and eat our quick lunch, gossiping and soaking up the warm weather. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

“Homework done, Mila?”

“Yes! It’s getting so much easier. I really feel like the math is clicking!”

“I’m so proud of you, I knew you would get it! Want to help me make dinner? We’re having chicken parmesan with garlic bread.”

“Yes!”

With a smile on my face, I turn up the music from the Bluetooth speaker and pull out the ingredients for dinner with Mila by my side. She tells me a little about school but says she’s keeping the juicy details until dinner when her dad is home. I love how much this girl loves her dad. It shows the type of man he is and it’s so attractive to me. Before Mila showed up in his life, I never pictured Graham as a dad because he was just this Greek god of a man that I crushed on, but once I saw him holding a baby Mila, I knew all I wanted was to be a mom and marry a family man. Someone who would be just as obsessed with me as he is our children.

Nerves snake up my spine as the front door opens and closes, signaling Graham’s arrival home. I haven’t seen him all day and my mind is racing over how he’ll react when he finds out the truth. The girl living in his house helping care for his daughter. Shit. He’ll never see me as a woman capable of giving him everything he needs.

Mila jumps up from her spot at the bar, eager to see her dad as she races through the house and collides with his big body in the entryway. I lean against the wall, watching as the two embrace, Graham leaning over her, eyes closing as he inhales deeply, dropping a short kiss to the top of her head. He’s such a good dad and it’s such a sexy quality that my heart flutters behind my ribs, warmth spreading deep within my core. My ovaries need to calm the hell down.

Mila bounds back in my direction, and then I’m left to take all of him in. He’s wearing a pair of worn-in jeans and a plaid button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His salt-and-pepper hair is tousled as though he’s been carding his fingers through it. He bends down to take off his boots, doing a double take when his eyes meet mine, flashing with surprise as I give him a cheeky smile. God, he’s so handsome I could melt into a puddle right here on the floor.

“Hey, you, how was your day?” he questions.

“Pretty perfect, actually. How was yours?”

He stands to his full height, steps taking him closer to me as my heart loses its mind in my chest, butterflies taking flight in my stomach, warmth spreading throughout my veins.

“Let’s just say I’m glad to be home. Italian?”

My face drops slightly with those pesky nerves, and Graham doesn’t miss a beat. He studies me for a moment, head cocking to the side.

“I’m sorry if we eat it so much, I’m a decent cook but Italian is my favorite and the only food I’m good at making. I can practice some other dishes though if you’d like that.” Thanks, Mom, for a childhood of never being able to do a single thing right because my insecurities and fear of disappointing people are strong now.

His hands grasp the tops of my shoulders in what’s supposed to be a platonic touch but send shivers down my entire spine, an electric shock going through both of us as his piercing blues peer down on me.

“Hailey, that’s not what I meant at all. Do you know how happy it makes me to come home to dinner? I would never even expect you to cook, and the fact that you do? Hell, Hails, I’m so thankful. I’m sorry if I haven’t been telling you enough but having you here has made my life so much easier. You’re such a good girl, please don’t ever think otherwise. I’ll eat Italian every night for the rest of my life if you’re cooking it.”

My eyes slowly shutter closed as his words wash over me.You’re such a good girl. What I wouldn’t give for the opportunity to make him Italian food and be his good girl every night for the rest of our lives. If he only knew.

“Plus,” he says with a wink as his hands drop from my shoulders, “Italian is my favorite.”

I am so gone for this man.

CHAPTER3

graham

Pullinginto the Whispering Pines Lodge, I’m slightly nervous to meet my date for the night. It’s been more than a minute since I’ve been on one and even longer since I’ve had a hookup. But, Liam was right, I need to get my needs met. I’ve been so consumed with living for everyone but myself that I haven’t prioritized my own needs—intimate connection being one of them.

Basically, I’m horny as fuck, and it’s only gotten more intense and noticeable since Hailey moved in. An image of her and Mila dancing together in the kitchen when I got home today flashes through my mind. I stood in the entryway of the kitchen for minutes watching them, both girls lost in the little world they’ve created for just the two of them. The stereo was thumping “Party Rock Anthem”while they held their hands in the air and jumped around. Hailey was wearing a pair of loose athletic shorts, the bottom of her perky, fine ass peeking out of the bottom as she shimmied and shook.

Clearing my mind of the image, I get my head in the game, hoping like hell I hit it off with this woman and we both can have some enjoyment from the evening.

I pull up the app and open the chat, going over our text messages from last night one last time.

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