Page 20 of Warming Up Coco (Santa Daddy)

“Thank you.” My lips trembled. I tried to smile through the tears, but they had a mind of their own. A couple escaped and started to roll down my face, but Lucas wouldn’t have that. He brushed them away with the pads of his thumbs.

“I haven’t… you know… tried again. Not after that.” I felt the need to explain.

“I don’t blame you,” he muttered. “Fuck.” I watched as he winced, and my brows bunched.

“What is it?”

“You went through that, and I treated you the way I did this past year.” His green eyes opened. Pain shined in them.

“Lucas—”

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m fucking sorry, Coco.”

“What about you?” I asked, changing the subject. “Have you ever taken a chance on someone?”

“She’s in my arms as we speak.” My body relaxed on its own accord, melting into him.

“Lucas,” I whispered.

“I’ve never been in a relationship. Never had a girlfriend. And most definitely have never been the guy you take home to mom.”

“My mom would love you.” I giggled. He looked at me like he didn’t know what to do with me. “I’m serious.” I rested my cheek on his chest. “Lucas?”

“Hmm?”

“What are we doing here?” I asked as I stared outside. The sun was starting to set, and the sky was a flurry of beautiful colors. Colors that might have clashed and not matched anywhere other than in the sky at sunset.

Kind of like Lucas and me.

“Baby girl, Coco, look at me,” he ordered. I turned to meet his green gaze. “Right now, I’m trying to show you I have another side to me when it comes to you.”

“Daddy?” I asked and watched as his nose flared.

“Yes,” he rasped. “Daddy is there for you any time, any place,” he vowed, and I knew he wasn’t just giving me pretty words. He meant it. “But honestly? Fuck.” He cleared his throat. I could see a flash of worry in the pools of his eyes before it disappeared. “I should wait to tell you this. I should play it cool, let you get to know me nice and slow so I can earn your trust and not rush you.”

“Why do I have a feeling you don’t have a patient bone in your body?”

“Because you know me. I might have been a dick of a boss, but when you really think about the past year, all the time we’ve spent together, even if I forced you to work overtime and kept you way too late… you have to know… I love you.” My heart warmed inside my chest. “There wasn’t a moment I didn’t worry about you. From making sure you ate well, to your safety and ensuring you got home safe and sound, to taking care of those damn student loans.”

“What?”

“You didn’t accept my offer to pay them off.”

“You said it was a program your company offered,” I argued, “I didn’t want to take that opportunity away from anyone else who might have needed it more. I was getting by just fine.” He shot me a look. I chewed on my lower lip before I groaned. “Okay!” I sighed. “Maybe I didn’t take you up on it because I was being a brat, and maybe…”

“What?”

“Maybe… I didn’t want to finish paying my student loans… yet.” His brow rose, and he looked at me like I was crazy. A laugh escaped from me.

“What I mean is,”—I shifted and moved, turning my body to straddle his thighs and rest my hands on his shoulders—“you’ve been the worst. You know that, and I know that, but I didn’t make it any easier.” His lips twitched, and my breath hitched.

In the last three hundred and sixty-six days of knowing him, he’d never smiled, and now, today of all days, he was handing them out like Oprah did free cars. And each one felt like a miracle. A gift. One I knew I wouldn’t take for granted.

“I didn’t make things easier. I have a bratty side.” That earned me a full-fledged smile. “But if I’d paid off the loans, I’d have to get ready to take the bar, which would have meant me leaving you. Despite you being bosshole of the year… I don’t know… no matter how hard I tried to not like you, not want you… I still did.”

His eyes shut, and his forehead pressed against mine. “You have any idea what a gift you just gave me, Coco? You telling me that? I love you, Coco. I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you interviewing for the position through the security cameras. But love isn’t something I know a whole lot about.”

“Lucas—"

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