Page 78 of Snowed In with My Best Friend's Dad

Then it came to me. This had to be Miranda’s stepmother.

"Miranda is such an independent woman. She doesn't know how to be there for an important and powerful man like you. And I'm not just talking about in bed, although that too. I know how to make you look good out in the world. I'm trim and toned, working out all the time—at one of your gyms, in fact. I know how appearances mean everything. Miranda is a nice girl, but she can’t represent your brand.”

“What are you after, Loretta?”

“Like I told you. You need a woman who understands your needs and your business needs. I can do that so much better than Miranda.”

Wow. I’d met a lot of women who wanted to be my woman, but none had laid it out quite like Loretta. What the hell had Peter seen in this woman? Or what had Loretta seen in Peter? The only thing I could think of was his wife’s inheritance.

"I think you overestimate your appeal, Loretta, if I may call you that. The truth is, Miranda is the most beautiful woman I've ever met. I have to admit I find it a little bit disturbing that you would try to seduce me, knowing my relationship with Miranda."

The agreeable, seductive exterior vanished. Her eyes narrowed. "It's no more disturbing than your sleeping with your college-age daughter’s friend."

I suppose she wasn't wrong, but I wasn't going to take the bait. "The point is I'm not interested in what you're offering."

She leaned forward, practically sneering at me. "That's fine. It's clear that you're a bit of a pervert, anyway."

I felt that dig in my psyche, wondering if that was true. Was my love of a woman half my age a perversion? How could it be? She made me a better man. A happier man.

"My goal was to be able to help you manage Miranda and not ruin your reputation,” she said.

"I don't know where you get off thinking that I need that. Because I don't."

She sat back, giving me a satisfied smirk. "You might want to rethink that, Mr. McKinnon. Once I go to the press and tell them about how the hotshot businessman has slept with his daughter’s friend and gotten her pregnant..."

I ground my teeth, wanting to haul this woman out of the bar and out of my life.

“I wonder if people will continue to do business with you when they learn that your coed lover is pregnant with your child, but she still lives in a hovel.”

“What do you want?”

“A hundred and fifty thousand would be nice.”

"What's going on here?" Dunk said, looking from me to Loretta. His expression suggested that he thought I was picking up this woman.

"This is Miranda's stepmother. She's trying to bribe me or extort me. I don't know which it is, but I know when I talk to my lawyer, he’ll be able to sort it out."

She looked at me, incensed. "It's all true. I haven't said anything that isn't true."

"I'm not suing you for defamation. I'm suing you for trying to get money out of me to keep you quiet."

“I’m shocked that you’re out with the boys, drinking it up while Miranda is stuck at home with her drunk father. You really are a piece of work. Wait until I tell her.”

My eyes narrowed. "Is Miranda part of this?” Even as I asked, I felt guilty about it.

"You don't think you owe her anything after what you've done to her?" Her response wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no, either. It didn't make any sense that Miranda would try to get money from me when I spent all my time trying to show her how much I wanted to give her. But maybe that was the answer. Maybe in showing her the kind of life I could give her, she fell in love with the money and not me.

Loretta stood. "I'll be in touch for your answer." She turned and strutted toward the bar door.

"It's a no," I called after her.

Dunk sat down, but I stood up. He looked at me in confusion. "Where are you going?"

“I need to go talk to Miranda."

Dunk stood up, stepping into my path. "Maybe that's not a good idea when you're pissed off. Isn't that the kind of behavior that got you in trouble in the first place?"

It was, but there was no way I was going to be able to calm down until I knew for sure whether Miranda had duped me.

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