Page 12 of Triplet Babies for My Billionaire Boss

Chapter Five

Rodney

Danielle arrived at six, a half hour early. It was one of her strong suits, and I found it impressive. When she rang my doorbell and I opened the door, she took my breath away. She wore ripped jeans so tight they looked painted on and a simple tank top that accentuated her curves. Less really was more.

Every time I thought she couldn’t look any hotter, she did. When she was at the office, dressed in attire that was theoretically appropriate, she still turned me on. Now, dressed in casual clothing, it was that much worse. Or better, depending on how I looked at it.

“Danielle!” Tommy cried when he saw her and ran toward her.

“Hello, little nugget,” Danielle said, kneeling with her arms open wide. “I can’t believe how big you are. What is Daddy feeding you?”

Tommy giggled, letting Danielle wrap her arms around him. Danielle had been watching Tommy for me since just after Chrissy passed away. He had grown up without a mother, and Danielle was the only mother figure he knew. I knew he was starting to feel the absence of another parent, especially when his friends were talking about it, but the knowledge that Danielle was as good with Tommy as she was gave me a little peace of mind.

“Okay,” I said. “I put some chicken nuggets and fries in the fridge for you guys to heat up. If Tommy finishes his food, he can have a chocolate.”

Danielle nodded. I turned to Tommy.

“I don’t want to hear from Danielle that you misbehaved. You know she’ll tell me.”

Tommy nodded. “But she’s totally on my side,” he said.

I shook my head, and Danielle giggled.

“Well, he’s grown up since I last watched him,” she said.

And she was right. Tommy was ten going on seventeen. He was acting more and more like a teenager, and it made me wonder what the next eight years were going to be like.

“I don’t think I’ll be back too late,” I said to Danielle. “It’s a business dinner. I want to skip out before coffee.”

Danielle nodded. “Take all the time you need. We’ll be perfectly fine.” She smiled at Tommy who bounded up and down on a high of excitement that Danielle was here.

“Thank you for being here on such short notice,” I said. “Walk with me to the door?”

Danielle nodded, and we walked away from Tommy.

“He’s been a little difficult lately,” I said to Danielle when we were out of earshot. “I’m not sure what the problem is, but I think he’s going through a tough time at school. The kids are starting to point out differences between each other, and since Mother’s Day, it seems they haven’t been leaving him alone about it.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Danielle said. “I can imagine it must be hard. I’ll see what I can do to distract him and let you know how it goes. But I don’t want you to worry. I’ve got this covered. Go out and enjoy yourself.”

I smiled, relieved that I had someone like her in my life to make things easier on Tommy.

“Right. Then, I’m off.” I said goodbye to Tommy and Danielle before heading out the door. When I drove to the restaurant where I was meeting Mark and a few other business associates, I was able to relax. I knew Tommy was in good hands.

Lately, I had been worrying about him. When Tommy had been three months old, my wife had died of a heart attack. It had come out of the blue with no warning. There was nothing we could have done to prevent it. Her death had shattered me. I had been left alone with a baby I didn’t know how to take care of, and I had been in over my head. Mark and Nina had helped me out where they could, but it was Danielle that had pulled me through. She had offered to babysit Tommy, and from the start, it had worked perfectly.

I was a single parent and consumed by my work, often occupied with meetings and phone calls. At first it hadn’t mattered so much. Tommy was too young to know the difference, but as time marched on, he became difficult, resentful. I wasn’t sure if it was because he grew up without a mother–he had been too young to know her and a life with one parent was all he’d known from the start. I was starting to think his anger was rooted in my absence.

At least, Danielle was there to act as a kind of mother figure to him. He had grown very attached to her, and I didn’t blame him. Danielle was a wonderful person, and she spent quality time with him, something I didn’t always have time to do. If I’d had a choice, I would have given Tommy the life he deserved, giving him all my time, but I was making the best of the situation.

After school, Danielle had gone away on a gap year, and it had been hard on Tommy to say goodbye. She had been the only “mother” he had ever known. She had watched him for me a few times while she was in college, but it hadn’t been nearly as often. Ideally, I would find a wife again, and Tommy would have a new mother, but I didn’t see how that was going to happen.

I didn’t date, apart from a few one-night stands. It had just been me and Tommy. Maybe one day I would find someone I could fall in love with again, but it seemed unlikely. Who would be able to fit into my life?

All I saw for our future was more of the same, and I could only hope that my relationship with Tommy hadn’t been permanently damaged because I hadn’t been able to be two people, to be a mother and a father.

My thoughts drifted to Danielle again. There was no doubt I was attracted to her. God, those jeans. How I would love to rip them off her. Just like that, my thoughts went from paternal to primal. I could think of a hundred and one things I would do to her.

I pulled up in front of the restaurant we had agreed on and let the valet take my car away. The seating hostess took me to the table I had reserved. Mark was already seated early. This was where Danielle had gotten the charming trait from. I pushed the thought of her as far back as I could. I couldn’t sit next to her dad and think dirty thoughts about her, imagining what I would do to her and trying to picture her naked. Mark wouldn’t know what I was thinking, but it felt wrong.

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