Baby Daddy BOSS: An Age Gap, Billionaire, Secret Baby Romance, page 4
He tugged my hand lightly. He was looking up at me with those bright green eyes of his and pouting with his lower lip.
“Use your words,” I instructed.
The bills could wait. I’d contact work, but for now, I needed to take care of the most important person in my life.
“Get ready?” he asked.
I nodded, “Come on then, can’t be late for daycare.”
I laughed as he hurried ahead of me to his makeshift bedroom. It was part of the living room I’d partitioned off. One day I’ll be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment at least. I dream of the day when he has an actual bedroom, and I have one of my own. An apartment where we don’t have a stove with two burners broken and lights flickered because I couldn’t afford to replace them.
I dream of having sheets and socks without holes, and I don’t have to buy everything we need from discount stores.
Yet, that time in our life is still a long way off. Knowing that I work with his father, a man who could help supplement his son’s life whether he wanted to or not, was so tempting.
But I didn’t want to rely on anyone else. I have had no reason to so far. And the thought of upending everything, because Aldric may wish to be a part of Ciro’s world scared me to death.
I would have liked to say I felt calm on my way out from dropping off Ciro. But as soon as he left, everything from that morning came crashing back down on me. Without his cheerful voice singing along to the radio and babbling words that weren’t quite anything, I couldn’t help but remember the stack of bills on the counter.
I imagine the numbers in my savings draining away into the negatives. My jaw wiggled back and forth as my hands gripped the wheel tighter. I was starting today off so wonderfully well.
It wasn’t a surprise that I was on edge when I got to the campus and walked through the office door. My irritation levels were sky-high. And it was only made worse by the realization that Aldric was running later than usual today. He left a scattered pile of notes and information on my desk.
Of course, it took up far more room than necessary because it was haphazardly spread out. A muscle in my cheek ticked as I stared at it dumbly.
I placed my stuff next to my desk and began collecting everything into a clean and manageable stack. It wasn’t large, and there was absolutely no reason for it to have spread everywhere as it had. Absolutely none.
“What an ass,” I murmured.
As if summoned from the depths of his disorganized desk itself, Aldric walked through the door with a low whistle, “Hm? Ass? Talking about me, are you?”
I whipped around. Clenching my hands so tightly that I could feel the bite of my nails into the meat of my palms, “Yes, actually. What the hell do you think you were doing? Why would you throw papers on my desk like that? There’s barely enough room as it is?! What if you lost something important in the process?!”
After spitting out my disdain, I drew in a breath, glaring at him like he was the cause of everything. He was, technically, in a lot of ways, at least.
He was the cause of the immense joy in my life.
He was the cause of my stress, not being able to support my son, and being stuck lying every day about who I was. It was all this man’s fault. And on top of it, I got buried under the hospital bills from years ago when my mother finally passed. All this was somehow his fault.
“Oh,” he raised a brow. “Touchy about your desk, are you? It seems like you’ve already fixed the problem, though.”
I could scream, but instead, I snarled, “There shouldn’t have even been a problem, to begin with. If you just observed people and cared enough to be a decent human being, there wouldn’t have been!”
I was raging, and that unbearable anger was unfairly pointed at Aldric, but I couldn’t care. I was blinded by my inability to stay afloat in my life.
“And taking two seconds out of your day to straighten some papers is really that much of a burden,” he asked, his voice cool. “Are you sure something else doesn’t have your panties in a twist?”
I did scream then, though it was muffled as I tried to keep it lower in volume. I threw up my hands and stalked away to my desk in hopes of getting prepared for the day.
But I could barely focus since I could hear Aldric shuffling around behind me and repeatedly clicking the top of his pen. He normally did this, fidgeted, and made incessant noises that made me desperate to reach across the room and smack him. Though I often was able to ignore it with no more than a grimace.
But today, I couldn’t deal with it. Today I actually couldn’t force it down; instead, I reacted like an idiot.
“Seriously, what are you, a child?” I hissed, clasping my head in my hands and digging my nails into my scalp.
“I thought we had already agreed I was at the park the other day,” he shot back. “For liking fruit cups.”
“Just,” I sighed, trying to relax my heaving chest. “Just stop being so annoying.”
“If you could point out what it is I’m doing, that’s more annoying than usual?”
“Oh my god,” I huffed. It was only mid-morning, and I felt exhausted. How could this man turn me into a bratty teenager in two seconds? “Stop clicking your damn pen.” I chucked an eraser at his side of the room; it fell harmlessly to the side of his desk. But it gave me a sense of relief with just the action.
“Who’s the child now?” he asked, resting his chin on his knuckles with a smirk curving his lips.
I hated him, hated how gorgeous he was, and how much I longed to kiss him again as much as I wanted to smack him across the face. He watched me through hooded eyes, a mischievous sparkle in those golden-brown irises.
“Ok. Before this little back and forth goes any further and before we jump into prep for the day. I wanted to let you know I don’t find you as completely lacking as I originally thought I would,” he said. And once again, the backhanded compliments seemed to be his specialty.
“I think you can officially become the official T.A. of your very own biochemistry class. You are off probation. Congratulations on teaching this batch of dumbasses for this semester. I can spend more time in the lab, you can spend more time on your own.”
My anger seemed slow from a boil to a simmer at those words. My eyes widened, and my heart began to slam against my ribs. I got the job. I wasn’t going to get passed around or have to wait again.
“Really?” I asked, my voice coming out breathy and incredulous.
He smiled, a true soft expression this time, “Really.”
Chapter 9
Aldric
Our arguments had not abated; the more we interacted, the more they seemed to grow.
I couldn’t take full responsibility for them, but I also couldn’t say I was trying to stop them. I could say Roseline worked better when she was angry, when I was stressed, and when the research wasn’t going well; all of this was true.
But it was also true that I adored her spark and loved hearing the sass in her voice. Nonetheless, I found myself staring at her and learning far more about Roseline than I needed to.
I discovered she liked peanut butter granola bars, meal-prepped frequently, and was obsessively organized. And if I messed up what she had painstakingly planned, this was the quickest way to start a fight.
She was quick to argue with me but equally quick to laugh with anyone else. I think I liked her smile as much as I liked her glare. It wasn’t fair to have her so distracting and entirely off limits, right in front of me, surrounded by a barrier keeping her out of my reach.
She screamed the word forbidden as she sat across from me that night, her curly hair tucked into a loose bun with spools tumbling out to frame her face. Her eyes flicked over the essay in front of her.
We had recently handed out the first big test for the semester, and while she graded the written work, I graded the multiple choice. Roseline had done an excellent job creating this test, and I was oddly proud even though I hadn’t done much to help her.
Honestly, she had come to me already prepared to teach. She was one of the most advanced bio-chem teaching assistants I had ever met.
“How would you grade this part? I think it changes a lot of what they are trying to say, but it’s almost as if they correct that in the next sentence and compensate for it".
Her voice sliced through the near silence in the office, and I almost jumped, hoping she didn’t notice me staring.
I needed to get my shit together. I grabbed the paper from her and read over the part she’d marked lightly with a pencil.
“I would take off some points but not the usual amount,” I said slowly, seeing her confusion right away.
“What the hell was this kid doing? Why didn’t they take out that sentence?”
“Like you keep saying, they’re a group of dumbasses,” she fought back a smile.
“We all are until a certain age,” I murmured. “Some of us never grow out of it.” “Hm?
Are you talking about yourself?” she asked, and I winced; I didn’t realize I had spoken loud enough for her to hear.
“Of course not,” I snorted when I sometimes still felt like I was clambering to find a handhold on the ladder of the world.
She looked at me, resting her hands before she finally perked up and said, “Oh! I have something for you.”
I raised a brow, this from the woman who seemed to hate my guts. I couldn’t imagine it was anything good. Yet, she pulled out a small fruit cup, one of the ones I’d seen in her bag, and a plastic spoon.“I suppose I should thank you. It is, however, a little lackluster. For y’know, giving me a chance,” her smile was shy, and the atmosphere between us that night was different.
The vibe between us was soft and warm compared to the usual crackling sparks waiting for gasoline. She looked at me with glittering eyes as she pushed the fruit toward me, and I reached out to take it, my fingers brushing hers.
Her soft skin reminded me just how much of a woman she was.
She was so beautiful.
With a smile, I looked down at the citrus-filled fruit cup; she remembered. That was why my chest was warming, and I felt like I could open up to her for a moment.
“My family, back when I was a kid, had several different citrus trees on their property. Of course, the usual lemon and lime, but the oranges and blood oranges were my favorite. I looked forward to the time of the year when I would smell the blossoms opening. Because I knew we were close to the fruit coming on,” I said softly, a strange ache causing my heart to clench.
She looked at me with a pinched brow, “Where are you from?”
I laughed and shook my head, “The place I’m talking about, I wasn’t in for very long. We left when I was around eight, but I think it will always be a place I long for. I’ve not gone back. Greece is still beautiful even in my fragmented memories.
”She smiled something that flirted with the edges of sad sympathy, “I didn’t realize you were originally from out of the country".
Roseline didn’t push for more information and wasn’t nosey when others probably would have been. That was probably why I told her more, things I hadn’t told anyone but my once-upon-a-time wife.“Mm, I’ve been here long enough that I am probably more American than Greek. I don’t think many people back home would welcome me, at least not my extended family. Here I have my mother and brother, though I don’t necessarily feel lonely. Especially with all my research,” I chuckled, brushing off the awkward prickling sensation in my gut.
“I think having a family that cares about you, no matter how little or how big, is a huge gift in this world,” she said slowly, looking down at the paper under her hands. “My family was never quite supportive. Not until they were in trouble and needed my help. My father died before we could reconcile, and my mother ended up coming to find me only after she got diagnosed with cancer and was far enough along that she couldn’t live alone. I left their house as soon as I could, to be honest.”
Silence fell between us as I began to open the small plastic cup holding the orange and grapefruit segments.
“Though I’m not alone, I still have someone in my life who cares,” she said softly. My eyes narrowed as I took in what she said, scooping out a piece of grapefruit to chew on thoughtfully. Did she mean she had a romantic partner? “Boyfriend? Girlfriend?” I asked curiously.
Though I would admit, my curiosity was not benign. I wanted to know, and that part of me had its agenda; I was probing to see how available she was in my way. I wanted to slap myself over the head, but the question was already out there, hanging in the air.
“No,” she said, her vague answer drawing a line that she didn’t want to offer any more explanation. I respected it, pulling back but realizing that her lack of enthusiasm about her relationship status meant she was likely single.
I also ignored how interested I was in that fact. I ignored how happy I was about the assumption.
She had turned back to her papers when she frowned again, pursing her lips, and I nearly laughed because I knew what that look meant.
“Show me,” I said, wiggling my fingers at her. She looked up at me before sighing and standing to make her way around the table. That surprised me. I expected her just to hand it over once again. But instead, she leaned against the table, her thighs right beside my hand and her pencil skirt tight across her soft hips.
I swallowed hard. She had no idea what she did to me. She began to explain to me what she thought the student was trying to say and then leaned over to point out what they had written instead. Her perfume tickled my nose, a light floral scent that had my mouth watering at the thought of how wonderful her skin would taste.
As she moved closer, my fingers splayed, and my pinky brushed against her leg. Roseline’s breath caught, her words stuttering for a moment, but neither of us said anything about how our skin touched. I didn’t mention how my attention had shifted to the tip of my finger, which was still pressed against her silky thigh.
She didn’t do anything but continue to talk with a tiny tremble in her voice. I wanted to push her, like always, push beyond her walls and test that barrier that kept her curtained from me.
I wanted to taste the sinful fruit that was her lips as it muttered words above me about things I couldn’t care less about right now. I needed to focus on the job at hand, yet my hand was moving, and a smirk was turning my lips upward as I tilted my chin to rest it on my knuckles. When my palm lifted to trace over the meat of her thighs, her back straightened as if a steel bar had been shoved into her spine.
I inhaled sharply, biting my lower lip as she stared at me in disbelief, but she didn’t fight it. Instead, her muscles tensed as I caressed them. I leaned into her space this time, my face just inches away from her and my hands boxing her in on either side. She slid back slightly, arching her back to create space between us, a space where our breaths mingled, and the heat grew between our bodies.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Something I’ve wanted to do since the first day,” I murmured, dipping my face until it brushed against her jaw and giving her an experimental kiss on the soft edge.
“Haven’t you thought about it too?”
Her eyes flashed, and I saw her desire to rebuke me; she squirmed, fighting her hunger, but there was also something else, a moment of panic. I pulled back slowly. I didn’t want to push this if she was actually against it.
“I- I have,” she whispered, and I swore I misheard her except that her eyes were cast down to the side, and her cheeks were flushed. “How about we experiment together,” I grinned, dropping another kiss to the dip between her collarbones. “Let’s see how good we can make each other feel.”
She sighed, and her body shivered; her muscles seemed to give out under her, and she laid out on top of the table we’d been working on. The free tendrils of her hair tangled about her in a wild mess of curls, beautiful and feral, just like the look in her pale green eyes. I towered over her, watching how she shifted her thighs wider and her skirt rode up so I could slot myself between them.
“I’m tired of fighting this,” she sighed.
I groaned; the breathiness of her voice went straight to my cock, and my head spun with how quickly my blood moved south. I stretched above her, bracing myself on my forearms until my torso pressed against hers. My fingers lazily traced the edges of her bra strap under her blouse, teasing her shuddering ribs. My fingers slowly flicked open the top few buttons on her shirt, letting the fabric part show her creamy chest underneath and, finally, the beginning swells of her breasts.
I pressed chaste kisses to her cheeks, jaw, lips, and ear, feeling her wriggle beneath me as my hand lightly palmed her chest. She arched beneath me, pressing closer and turning into a beautiful bridge beneath my weight. I turned my lips from face down her smooth neck and then scraped my teeth gently over the curve of her collar bone.
I couldn’t help but smirk as her hands flew to my biceps and squeezed. My tongue flicked out to trace down her sternum until I stopped at the plush spill of flesh from the cups of her bra and pecked soft butterfly kisses over the silken skin. Her fingernails dug into my shirt, and she hissed, “Stop teasing.”
I sighed. Finally, I felt like I could move forward like she finally wanted this as badly as I did, and I wouldn’t have to turn back in the middle of it. I opened the rest of her buttons and pushed her bra out of the way so I could suck one of her nipples and gently pinch the other one until she was writhing beneath me. Her breath came out shallow and fast, and her body seemed unable to stop moving; jolts rushed through her with each calculated roll of my tongue against her skin.
Her flushed face was unbelievably beautiful. One of my hands reached forward and cupped her pink cheek as I stroked my thumb across the hollow. She whined and leaned into my touch; the heat of her skin reminded me of a freshly lit fire, and it was almost too hot. But I couldn’t stay away; like a moth drawn to her flame, I was eager to burn in her desire.
