Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
“Really?” she whispers. “You’d do that for me?”
I squeeze her hand again before dropping a light kiss on those luscious lips. She’s soft, fragrant, and so fucking sexy that I want to push her to the ground and fuck the living daylights out of her right here on the kitchen floor. But instead, I nod seriously.
“Of course, baby girl. I’d do anything for you. What are you looking for? A position at a day care? Substitute teaching? Working as a school psychologist?”
“Oh, I’m not qualified to be a school psychologist yet,” Haley says quickly. “I’d need to go back to school for that and get a Masters in Social Work at the very least.”
I nod.
“Perfect. Do you want me to pull some strings over at St. Cloud State? Or Marymount? I know some folks there and we could get you admitted by next semester.”
Haley colors, looking surprised, before biting her lip.
“Well, maybe I’m not ready to be a student again,” she hedges. “Things are just moving so fast!”
I shrug and grin at her.
“Speak the word, baby girl, and I’ll make it happen.”
Haley smiles again, almost glowing with joy, and it makes me feel good to know that I made her happy. It feels right to do everything in my power to help this woman, and to support her in whichever direction she chooses to go. Haley is mine, and slowly but surely, she’s realizing it too.
But then she shoots me a questioning look.
“But Daddy, we’re not using protection when we’re intimate,” she says in a small voice. “You know I’m going to get pregnant soon if we don’t start using something.”
I drop another kiss on her bare shoulder.
“I know, baby girl, and I love that about you. I love knowing that you’re ripe and fertile, and that every time I come in you, you might conceive my child. It’s what I want – to see you grow big and swollen with my child in your belly.”
She blushes red.
“But what about all these career plans we just talked about? And school too?”
I shrug.
“You don’t have to do any of them, if you don’t want, sweetheart. Or you could do all of them, and we could find a nanny to help care for the baby while you go back for your degree. Two, or even three nannies, if that’s what it takes.”
Haley nods slowly.
“I see what you mean,” she murmurs. “But there are still too many unanswered questions, Chase. We need to address them before doing something as momentous as starting a family.”
I put my fork down and hold my hands out wide.
“Shoot, honey. I’m all ears.”
The young blonde pauses a moment, and then turns to me, her expression serious.
“Well, there’s the issue of your divorce from my mom. Brenda put on a lot of weight while you were married, and I acknowledge that. But just now, you were telling me that I should gain twenty pounds. But if you like bigger girls, then why did you leave my mom?” she asks in a slow voice. “I know there’s a difference because I’d still be “smaller” even at a bigger size, while my mom is just big, big. But it’s because of her medication! She didn’t choose to blow up. It’s the steroids that did it to her.”
“That’s right,” I say in a low voice. “Yes, Brenda blew up and yes, I understand it was because of her medical issues. But ultimately, that’s not what drove my decision to ask for a divorce.”
Haley is still for a moment, but then she gives me a forthright look.
“Then what drove your decision?”
I take a deep breath before meeting her eyes square.
“There are a lot of factors that go into the dissolution of a marriage, and it’s hard to say exactly what caused the rupture. But the long and the short of it is that we’d been struggling for a while. Yes, Brenda hurt her back and was on a cocktail of drugs for years. She gained weight, but it wasn’t just that. It was a lot of things.”
“But like what?” Hailey inquires in a plaintive voice. “Tell me, Chase.”
My heart squeezes in my chest because am I ready to reveal the real reason that I left Brenda? Because I was ungodly attracted to her teenage daughter, and could no longer live under the same roof as sexy jailbait? But I don’t want Haley to feel bad about the dissolution of my marriage, so I hem and haw.
“There were a number of factors,” I say in a smooth tone. “We weren’t seeing each other much because I was working a lot of hours, and your mom needed someone because of her injuries. She was bed-bound and there are only so many hours of Netflix you can watch in a day. I wasn’t there for Brenda, and that’s on me. The divorce was my fault.”