Page 8 of Daddy Issues

WhiskeyDad: Whispering Pines Lodge, 8pm, I’ll meet you in the bar. Sound good?

MakeMeYours: That’s perfect.

WhiskeyDad: How will I know it’s you?

MakeMeYours: I’ll wear something pink

WhiskeyDad: I’m looking forward to taking it off of you

Walking into the hotel, I try not to allow the feelings of unease and sleaziness to wash over me. It’s just a date, and who gives a shit if we use the hotel room I’ve booked to hook up in after. I get all checked in, the hotel room key weighing heavily in my pants pocket, and wander to the bar.

The place is a dead zone, except for a petite blonde sitting at the bar with her back to me. Her hair is worn in a familiar bob, the tiny script of a tattoo I’ve noticed on more than one occasion on the back of her neck confirming that my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me. I take a few measured steps in her direction, moving into her line of sight.

“Hailey?” I ask in pure shock. “What are you doing here?”

She looks up at me, her whiskey on the rocks halfway to her lips. She pauses, setting it back down on the bar with a shaky hand. Her makeup is done differently, more smoky and sultry than usual, making this already sexy woman that much more alluring.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she states as if I should know.

I wait for the punchline, but it doesn’t come. Looking around the empty hotel bar, then back to the woman sitting in front of me, it hits me like a freight train. She’s wearing pink.

No.There’s no fucking way.

“Hailey . . .”

She finally stands from where she’s perched on the leather barstool, putting her a solid six inches from me. She’s a short little thing, even in heels she only comes up to my chin. Her blonde hair dances around her face as she moves, the loose curls framing her like a damn halo. The bright swirl whiskey of her eyes sparkles in mischief, as the fluorescent bar top light hits them just right. Goddamn, she’s stunning, but explicitly off-limits.

Her rose-pink dress hugs her breasts perfectly, grazing over her hips and stopping mid-thigh. Her long legs are lifted and taut due to the high platform wedges she’s wearing. My dick strains behind my pants at the sight of her, growing harder by the second.

“Problem?” her voice nearly singsongs. She’s so sweet, so full of life, so sexy . . . off-limits, goddamnit, she’s off-limits. I say the reminder in my head like a sick and twisted mantra. It should be a no-brainer. Walk out that fucking door, Graham. She’s your nanny. Your best friend’s daughter.

Her body is mouthwatering though—those feminine curves, long legs, and a sexy, fierce confidence that girls her age carry. At twenty-two, she’s still way too goddamn young for me and it would fuck everything up in my life like an atomic bomb being dropped in the center of it.

Grabbing her by the elbow, my fingertips buzzing with uncontrolled excitement at the contact, I gently lead her to a small booth at the back of the bar. Not that anyone is here—this place is barren except for us and the bartender who’s occupied on his phone. But that could all change at any moment. And the last thing I need is to be seen at a hotel bar—of all places—with my best friend’s daughter.

“You’ve got some explaining to do, unless I am way off base, which I hope to fuck I am, so please, explain what you’re doing here, Hails.”

Surprisingly, my rough, clipped tone doesn’t make her falter, and she sits in the booth across from me, shoulders held back, chin held high. She takes a deep breath before speaking, the inhale causing the swell of her breasts to rise above the plunging neckline of her dress. Jesus fucking Christ. My dick reminds me of its presence by bucking behind my jeans. Doesn’t he understand how wrong this would be?

“You swiped right, Graham.”

My name on her lips goes straight to my straining, persistent cock, making him jerk again. She says the sentence like it’s the most obvious answer, and I guess she’s right in her facts, but, Jesus Christ, I had no idea it wasHailey.

My mind flicks back to the sexy body in the profile photo, her perky tits lifted high in the baby blue bra, her flat, unmarred tummy pierced with a barbell that made my mouth water, the barely there matching panties that just covered the pussy between her legs. I’m going to fucking hell. That wasHailey?

“Jesus, Hailey, I didn’t know that was you.” I don’t recognize my own voice, deep and husky, picturing exactly what she looks like under that dress she’s wearing across from me. The one I was supposed to be stripping my date of tonight. “I never would have agreed to this if I had known it were you.” Then it dawns on me. My profile picture is a photo of me at the distillery. My shoulders sink and my face falls. “But . . . you knew it was me . . .” The words taste like ash on my tongue as the weight of them sinks in. She fucking knew. And she came anyway.

“Because I want you.”

A deep exhale releases from my lungs as I run my hand over my face in shock. Hailey wants me? She’s a sexy young woman—not that I’m old by any stretch of the imagination—she could have anyone she wants. But she’s my best friend’s daughter, my daughter’s nanny, this is a line I can’t cross. I can’t allow myself to jeopardize those relationships to get my dick wet, no matter how badly I’d love to bend her over the table right here and fuck her for all to see.

My body vibrates with nervous anticipation. Fuck, this is so wrong. So very, very wrong. But fuck if I don’t want her.

“Hailey, I’m flattered, but this isn’t something that can happen, there’s too many issues with it. I’m close with your dad, and Jay would beat my ass, and you’re so amazing with Mila, you’ve made my life easier and happier, and Mila loves you so much.”

I’ve known her dad, Jay, since I was a dumbass teenager working grunt work at the distillery and he was running deliveries for Bean Haven. He’s more than a few years older than me, but you’d never tell. He’s the big brother I never had, and we’ve seen each other through some dark times.

She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, those whiskey eyes never leaving mine. “Thank you for saying that last part, I just want to help, I really enjoy taking care of you both, Graham.”

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