Chapter 2
TALIA
Landing a job at K-Corp’s daycare was a dream come true for me.
The investment firm owners were all family men and had put their money where their mouths were when it came to building a space where the children of their employees spent their time—and they had a considerable amount of money since they were all billionaires.
I thought it was a long shot when I applied since I only had a high school diploma, but they’d still asked me in for an interview. When I got the call telling me I got the job, I did a little dance around my bedroom before rushing out to share the good news with my parents.
Now that my first day was here, I was more than a little nervous. I’d never had a full-time job before, but I was looking forward to working with kids. I figured it would be good practice since I wanted to have a whole slew of my own when I found the right man.
Not that I had a ton of opportunities to meet a guy who wanted the same thing as I did. The boys I had gone to school with were nowhere ready to settle down because of our age. But only being eighteen didn’t matter to me since my mom hadn’t been much older when she got pregnant with me.
All thoughts of my mom and the babies I wanted in the future fled when I walked through the doors of K-Corp.
My mouth was dry, and my palms were sweaty as I headed up the elevator after going through security.
But when I exited the lift and heard the happy sounds of kids, my nerves fled.
Rushing down the hallway, I walked into the entrance of the daycare area wearing a wide smile.
“Hello, Talia,” Susan greeted with a smile. She had taken over the running of the center after Blair Kendall had stepped down, as I’d learned when she interviewed me. “We’re so excited to have you on the team.”
“Thank you.” My answering grin widened when an adorable little girl who looked to be about three years old ran past me.
“I ready to pway,” she shrieked.
Susan crouched down with a laugh. “You’re always ready to play, Renata.”
“She really is,” a woman said from behind me.
Turning, I saw that she was holding the hand of an equally cute toddler boy and was very pregnant. He blinked up at me with sleepy eyes, and my heart melted. “Hey, sweetie. I’m Talia.”
“Tawa,” he echoed before popping his thumb into his mouth.
“That’s right, Austin.” His mom smiled down at him. “Remember, Miss Susan told us Talia was going to start helping in your class today.”
His sister ran over to his side as he nodded and said, “Uh-huh. And she gonna pway with me.”
“Only if you ask her nicely because we don’t boss people around…right?”
“Riiiiiiight,” Renata huffed, rolling her eyes. “No bossin’ round.”
“Thanks for talking to her about that, Dakota. We’ll see how long that lasts.” Susan picked up Austin and settled him on her hip before holding out her other hand for Renata’s.
The little girl slid her palm against my boss’s and beamed a smile at me. “See you later!”
Susan glanced at me. “Give me a minute, and I’ll be back out to get you clocked in and ready to start your first day.”
Renata and Austin’s mom laughed and shook her head. “Fair warning, they’re a handful.”
“But also super adorable.”
“They’re tricky that way, which is how I ended up with another on the way again so soon.
” My gaze dropped to her rounded belly, and I felt a pang of envy.
Dakota was at most eight to ten years older than me, but she already had two children and was expecting another.
“Along with the fact that my husband is irresistible.”
Such a lucky woman. “How far along are you?”
“Tomorrow,” she sighed, shaking her head. “But this little guy doesn’t seem to be in a rush to be born.”
“Aw, you’re having another boy?” She let out a little gasp as she nodded, and I glanced down to see a ripple of movement in her rounded belly. My fingers itched to feel it, so I asked, “Can I touch?”
She nodded with a laugh. “Sure.”
I pressed my hand against her stomach and laughed when there was a thump against my palm. “Oh wow.”
“Yeah, he’s got a heck of a kick.”
“He sure does,” I agreed, my eyes going wide when there was an even harder bump.
She rubbed the side of her belly and let out a low groan. “Now I just need him to kick his way out of my body, metaphorically speaking.”
“I’m sure it must be difficult, but maybe you can think of these last however many days as your last hurrah before you have three kids under the age of four at home.”
“Holy crap, you’re right.” Perking up, she flashed me a grin. “I like how you think. We should be more than just coworkers. We should be friends.”
I smiled back at her. “And I like how you think.”
She snapped her fingers. “We should seize what little time I have left before I’m on maternity leave and go out for dinner tonight.”
“I would love that,” I readily agreed.
“Great, let’s trade cell phone numbers, and I’ll meet you at The End Zone at five thirty,” she suggested. “Since I’m leaving at four today, that will give me enough time for my husband and I to drop the kids off at my parents’ place so they can get some grandparent time tonight.”
I’d heard of The End Zone, but I had never been there before since it was a popular club. I didn’t even realize they served dinner. “Umm, that sounds like a great plan except…I’m not twenty-one.”
“No worries.” She waved off my concern. “My husband is friends with the owner, so you’ll be able to get in without a problem. I’ll have him call Axton to let him know we’re coming.”
I glanced down at my jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt with a grimace. “I don’t get off work until five, so I won’t have time to go home and change. Is what I’m wearing going to be okay?”
“More than okay.” She turned to leave but paused in the doorway to add, “You’re so pretty, you could show up in a potato sack and still turn heads.”
My cheeks were flushed with pleasure when Susan returned to help me get situated for my first day.
The next nine hours flew by—in the best way possible—and I was headed to The End Zone before I knew it.
Luckily, I had lipstick in my purse that matched the red my mom had talked me into doing when she took me for a mani-pedi this past weekend.
The pop of color helped me to feel a little less out of place as I walked up to the nightclub entrance.
I paused in front of the door and gulped before giving the bouncer my name when he asked for my identification. “Umm, I’m Talia Finch. I think Dakota—”
Before I could finish my explanation, he tilted his head and said, “Go ahead. She’s already here.”
Dakota waited for me just inside, with a hostess hovering next to her with a couple of menus in her hand. “Oh, good. You’re here. I’m starving.”
“I’ll make sure your server brings you a bread basket when she comes to take your order,” the hostess promised as she led us toward a table.
Dakota beamed her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
The staff must’ve known her well because the hostess had only made it halfway across the room when our server showed up at our table with two glasses of water and a basket of bread. “Here you go, Mrs. Yarrow. Would you like a glass of juice tonight?”
“Yes, please. Cranberry.”
When the server’s attention shifted to me, I said, “That sounds good to me, too.”
“Great, I’ll be right back with those.”
Dakota popped a bite of bread into her mouth and moaned. “Mmm, so good.”
“It looks amazing.”
I had just slathered some butter on a piece when she cried, “Darn it. I totally forgot I was going to order a kiddie cocktail with lots of cherries.”
Glancing around the club, I didn’t see our server, so I set the bread down and offered, “I’ll run over to the bar and grab one for you.”
“It’s so sweet of you to offer, but I can probably wait until she comes back. Maybe.”
I laughed at the doubt in her voice and how her bottom lip puffed out. “No worries, I’m going to get two since a kiddie cocktail sounds good to me, too.”
Her expression brightened at my answer, and I hurried over to the bar near the entrance. It hadn’t seemed busy when I arrived, and I was lucky enough to catch a bartender’s attention as I approached. “Can I get two kiddie cocktails with lots of cherries please?”
He nodded. “Sure thing.”
As he turned to grab a couple of glasses, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said, “If you have a cherry problem, I can help you with that.”
I turned with a grimace and muttered, “No thanks.”
“C’mon, don’t be like that.”
He shifted closer, and I scooted to the side so I didn’t get stuck between him and the bar behind me. Pasting on a fake smile, I murmured, “Sorry, but I’m not even here alone.”
This guy just wouldn’t take no for an answer, and I didn’t want to pull Dakota into any drama. Racking my brain for an explanation that would get him to walk away, I blurted, “My boyfriend is outside taking a phone call.”
“Sure he is, babe.”
He rolled his eyes, and I knew he wasn’t buying my excuse.
When I glanced over his shoulder, my gaze landed on a big guy who was sure to intimidate him.
He was about six feet two inches of pure muscle with blond, slightly shaggy hair, bright-blue eyes, and tanned skin.
He walked with the confidence of someone who knew his place in the world and was also the hottest man I’d ever seen in person.
His sexiness—and how he just reacted to a woman who tried touching him—was going to make what I was about to do a lot easier to sell to the creep bothering me…as long as he caught my hint and went with the story I was about to spin.