Page 10 of Daddy Vibes (The Anti-Bachelorette 2)

When I step back, my eyes lock with his. His eyes look sad, which I wasn’t expecting. He just softly asks. “You’re leaving?”

I don’t know how to respond to that, so I just nod my head yes. Emory says a few more things to me before she says goodbye, but I barely listened to anything she was saying as my eyes kept glancing back to his. I give her one last smile, and then I turn and leave with Killian.

We pull up to my place 20 minutes later, and then Killian’s phone rings. He sighs as he looks at it. “I have to take this quick.” I just smile and nod, and he steps out of the car to talk in private. I’m not sure what to do exactly, so I just slowly walk over toward my front door. He finishes the call pretty quick and walks up to me. “Sorry about that.”

I give him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. Do you want to come in?”

He smiles at me, and then sighs as he places a hand on the wall beside us. “I can’t. Something came up at work that I have to take care of.”

I open my mouth in surprise. “It’s 10 o’clock. What could you possibly need to “take care of” now?”

He just smirks at me. I roll my eyes. “Oh my God. You really are in the mob aren’t you?”

He grins and leans in close to me. “You know if I answer that question, I’d have to either kill you or take you as my bride.” He places a few kisses down my neck and then pulls me closer and places a kiss on my mouth. I kiss him back, but when he pulls away a few moments later, I don’t feel sad about it.

Don’t get me wrong. There was nothing wrong with the kiss. There just wasn’t any spark between us. It doesn’t make sense. He’s super hot, he’s got that dangerous vibe going for him, that sexy accent. All the boxes are checked that should make him perfect, but for some reason I’m not even turned on. Ugh. Eric has ruined me. Apparently I am only turned on by boring, safe dads who don’t even want to sleep with me now. Fuck, if I can’t get turned on by pretty much the hottest guy I’ve ever seen, who will be able to do it for me? Am I destined to be celibate now for the rest of my life? Ugh!

???

Eric

After Angela left with that guy, I went to the bar and grabbed another drink or two or three. This is my sixth? Seventh? I sit back down at the table, and Alaric turns to me. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

I just grunt. “I’ll just take tomorrow off. I haven’t even taken any vacation this year. I think I deserve a day off, don’t you? You can handle everything, can’t you?”

He just laughs. “Of course, but if you keep this pattern up then you’re going to be taking a lot of vacation days this year. You need to work things out with her before you become a drunk who doesn’t show up to work anymore.”

I just roll my eyes at him. “Just let me have this one night please.”

He pats my back. “Sure, but how about we pour another drink at home. We don’t want you embarrassing yourself in front of all your colleagues now do we?”

I smile back at him. “You’re a good friend Alaric.” I pause. “Well, except when you slept with my daughter behind my back.”

He rolls his eyes. “I thought you weren’t going to hold that against me anymore.”

I shrug. “I’ve had a rough night. Just let me have it.”

He grins again. “Alright, let’s get you home.”

I blink a few times as we walk toward Alaric’s truck. When did the ground get so wobbly? I stumble slightly as I try to reach for the door handle. I hear Emory giggle behind me. “Dad, are you drunk?” I glance over my shoulder. “No.”

She just laughs again. “You so are. Alaric, help the man out.”

I glare at him. “Don’t you take another step.” I quickly hop in the truck and lean back in my seat. Emory just laughs again. “You know I’m telling Angela about this right?”

I close my eyes and place a hand over my face. “This has nothing to do with her.”

This makes both Alaric and Emory laugh. She looks back at me. “Dad, you aren’t fooling anyone here. When is the last time you drank more than a few beers? I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen you drunk before.”

I groan and lean my head back again. “What’s your point? I’m sure she’s just fine with that tattooed guy that we’ve never met before. We’re all such good friends just letting her leave with a perfect stranger. Sounds really safe.” I pause. “Maybe I’ll just call her.” I reach for my phone in my pocket and pull it out. Alaric looks over to Emory with wide eyes, and she quickly reaches into the back seat and grabs my phone away from me. “Hey!”

“You are not calling her! Leave the girl alone. If she wants to take her sexy date home and have her way with him, it’s none of your business. You already blew your chance.”

I breathe in deeply at her words. “You think she’s going to sleep with him?”

Emory laughs out. “I would!”

Alaric glares over at her, and she just shrugs. “What?” He makes a disgusted face at her, and she just laughs. “Oh c’mon! You know the man was hot!” He just rolls his eyes.

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