Baby Daddy (Dirty Daddies #2)

Prologue

Dani Hart was drunk enough to think flirting with the hospital administrator was a good idea.

That alone should’ve been her first warning sign.

The ballroom at the downtown hotel glittered with expensive lights and polished smiles as doctors, nurses, and administrators from St. Jacobs Medical Center mingled during the annual charity fundraiser.

Music drifted through the room while waiters carried trays of champagne and tiny appetizers around like they were feeding royalty.

Dani hated events like this. There were too many rich donors, too many fake smiles, and way too many people pretending they weren’t judging everyone around them.

At least the open bar made it tolerable.

“Okay,” Aliza said from beside her. “You’re staring again.”

Dani immediately looked away from the man across the room. “I’m not staring,” she lied.

“You absolutely are,” her friend insisted. Dani groaned into her champagne glass as Aliza laughed softly beside her. Unfortunately, her best friend wasn’t wrong, because Jonnas Black stood near the donor table looking unfairly attractive in a black suit that probably cost more than Dani’s rent.

He was tall with broad shoulders and dark hair that was always slightly messy, like he’d already been running his hands through it all night. And those eyes. God, even from across the room, she could feel them when he looked at her.

“You need to stop doing that,” Aliza muttered.

“Doing what?” Dani feigned innocence, even though every dirty thought she ever had was running through her overheated mind right now.

“Looking at my husband’s best friend like you want to eat him alive,” Aliza said, spelling it all out for her.

“I’m not looking at him like I want to eat him alive, Aliza,” Dani insisted, keeping up her lie, even though she knew her best friend could see right through it.

Aliza grinned. “Honey, I watched you almost walk into a waiter because “Hospital Daddy” smiled at you.”

Dani nearly choked on her drink. “Oh my God,” she hissed. “Do not call him that.”

“Why not? It fits. Plus, if I have to put up with everyone calling my husband, “Doctor Daddy,” then I can call Jonnas whatever I want,” Aliza said.

“No, it really doesn’t fit,” Dani muttered under her breath.

Aliza leaned closer conspiratorially. “You know he’s been watching you, too, right?”

Dani’s stomach flipped instantly. “No, he hasn’t.”

“Yes, he has.” Her friend was relentless.

“I’m sorry, weren’t you the one who told me to stop looking at him. And now, you’re telling me that he’s been looking at me. I’m picking up mixed signals here, Aliza,” Dani said. “Plus, you’re wrong. He’s not looking at me.”

“Well, if you don’t believe me, just take a look for yourself,” Aliza insisted. Dani risked another glance across the ballroom and immediately regretted it, because Jonnas was already looking at her. Heat flooded her cheeks, and the bastard smirked.

“Oh my God,” Dani whispered, mortified.

Aliza burst out laughing. “You’re in trouble.”

“No, I’m drunk,” Dani slurred. She should have stopped drinking about two glasses of champagne ago, but she hadn’t.

“Same thing,” Aliza insisted. Dani downed the rest of her champagne in one swallow, and that turned out to be another mistake, because ten minutes later she found herself standing beside Jonnas Black at the bar while her entire body buzzed with alcohol and nerves.

“How many of those have you had?” he asked, eyeing her drink.

Dani shrugged. “Enough.”

“That’s not a number,” he breathed.

“Why? Are you my boss right now or just a friend who’s concerned about me?”

His mouth twitched slightly. “Maybe a bit of both.” The deep rumble of his voice slid straight through her, melting her girl parts.

Everything about this man felt dangerous—not in a bad way, but like he could charm just about any woman in the room right out of their clothes.

Dani blamed the alcohol for the way her body reacted to him, but she knew that was a lie.

For some crazy reason, she had been thinking about him since Aliza and Elias’s wedding a few months back.

Hell, Jonnas played through her nightly fantasies, and then, she’d have to come to work and face him and pretend that she hadn’t just been shouting out his name in her dreams all night long.

“I thought administrators were supposed to be boring,” she blurted. “But you look like you’re having a pretty good time tonight.” She nodded at the glass in his hand.

One dark eyebrow lifted. “And I thought nurses were supposed to have filters, and not get drunk at company parties,” he said.

“I had a filter.” She held up her empty champagne glass sadly. “Then it disappeared with about my third or fourth glass of this stuff.” That actually made him laugh, and the sound surprised her. It was warm and real—not the polished fake laugh he’d been giving donors all night.

“You’re trouble, Dani Hart,” he said.

Her pulse jumped. “Aww—you remembered my name,” she teased. Jonnas was notorious for bedding women and then forgetting their names the next morning. Aliza had told her all about her new husband’s best friend. It’s one of the reasons why she stayed as far away from him as possible.

“I know all my nurses’ names,” he said, reminding her that he was technically her boss.

“That sounded less sexy than I hoped for,” she mumbled more to herself than to him. Still, his eyes darkened slightly, and she kind of liked that she could get a reaction out of him.

“There it is again,” he murmured.

“What?” she asked, innocently batting her eyes at him.

“You’re flirting with me, just like you did at Elias and Aliza’s wedding,” he said.

Dani’s face burned instantly. “I am not flirting with you, and I didn’t flirt with you at their wedding,” she insisted. It was a complete lie, but she wasn’t about to admit that she liked him.

“You sure about that?” he asked. No, she was absolutely not sure about anything at this point. She had been very aggressively flirting with him, and judging by the look in his eyes, he knew it.

Before she could embarrass herself further, Elias appeared beside them carrying drinks. “There you are,” he said to Jonnas before eyeing Dani knowingly. “Aliza’s looking for you.”

“Oh God,” Dani muttered. “Did she send you over here to save me?”

“No,” Elias said dryly. “She sent me over to see if Jonnas was corrupting innocent nurses again.”

“Hey,” Jonnas muttered, pretending to be offended. Dani laughed despite herself.

The four of them ended up together for the rest of the evening, talking and drinking far more than any of them probably should have—well, except for Aliza, since she was pregnant.

By midnight, Dani was pleasantly buzzed and dangerously relaxed, which was probably why sitting beside Jonnas suddenly felt natural.

His hand brushed her lower back while guiding her through the crowded ballroom at one point, and her entire body reacted instantly.

And if she was reading him right—he noticed.

“You okay there, honey?” he asked quietly. Jesus. Dani nearly melted into the floor at the term of endearment. She shouldn’t react this strongly to simple nicknames, but she did. Hell, she always had, and something told her Jonnas understood that instinctively.

By the time the fundraiser started winding down, Aliza had crossed her arms and officially entered “Mom Friend” mode, telling Dani that she’d order her an Uber. “I can drive,” Dani insisted, knowing that it was a lie as soon as the slurred words left her mouth.

“Absolutely not,” Aliza announced. “Neither of you is driving.” She looked over at Jonnas, who was probably having the same conversation with Elias.

“I’m fine,” Dani insisted. She didn’t feel like leaving the party yet, and that had everything to do with the way Jonnas was currently staring her down.

“You just tried to put your purse into the punch bowl,” Aliza challenged.

“That happened one time, and I didn’t end up doing it,” Dani said.

Aliza snorted. “It happened about thirty seconds ago.” Elias and Jonnas walked across the ballroom, joining their conversation, and she knew that she was about to get ganged up on.

“You tell her that we’re getting her an Uber?” Elias asked.

“Yep, and she insists that she’s fine,” Aliza said.

Jonnas loosened his tie slightly beside her. “I can drive Dani home,” he offered.

“No, you can’t,” Elias said immediately. “You’ve had almost as much whiskey as she’s had champagne.”

“I’m bigger than she is,” Jonnas insisted.

“That’s not how alcohol works,” Aliza deadpanned. Dani giggled, and Jonnas looked down at her. Just that one look made her feel warm all over. Yeah, she was in trouble.

“We’ll call you both an Uber,” Aliza insisted.

But Dani shook her head immediately. “No.”

Jonnas looked equally stubborn. “I’m not leaving my car downtown overnight.”

“You’re both idiots,” Elias muttered.

“Probably,” Dani agreed cheerfully. That was the truth.

She should’ve listened to her friends. She should’ve let Aliza put her into an Uber and send her safely home.

Instead, an hour later, Dani found herself standing inside Jonnas’s penthouse apartment trying not to stare too obviously at the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

“This is insane,” she blurted.

Jonnas tossed his keys onto the counter. “What is?” he asked.

“That you live here,” she said.

His mouth twitched slightly. “It’s just an apartment.”

“It’s bigger than my entire apartment building,” she said. That earned her another one of his rare real laughs. God. She liked that sound way too much.

“You want water?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Good girl,” he breathed. Something about the praise in his voice made heat curl low in her stomach.

Jonnas handed her a glass before loosening his tie completely, and Dani watched him a little too closely.

Next, he rolled up his sleeves, and she noticed his strong forearms and tattoos that he had kept hidden under his suits.

Her brain was officially malfunctioning.

“You’re staring again,” he murmured.

“I blame the alcohol,” she lied. Actually, she should blame the fact that she hadn’t gotten laid in a damn long time.

“I don’t,” he countered. The tension between them thickened instantly, and Dani’s breath caught as he stepped closer. He was standing close enough that she could smell whiskey and his expensive cologne. He was close enough that she suddenly forgot every coherent thought in her head.

“You should go home,” he said softly.

She blinked up at him. “Do you want me to leave?” she asked, hoping like hell that he didn’t.

“No.” The honesty in that single word shattered her remaining restraint.

Dani crossed the room and kissed him first. The kiss was messy and desperate.

Jonnas groaned against her mouth immediately, his hands gripping her hips hard enough to make her gasp into his mouth.

And then, everything spiraled beautifully out of control.

He backed her against the kitchen counter, kissing her slowly and deeply until her knees weakened. “Careful,” he murmured against her lips. “You’re gonna fall, baby girl.” Baby girl—that nickname hit her like lightning.

A soft sound escaped her before she could stop it, and Jonnas froze. His eyes darkened with dangerous understanding. “There it is,” he said quietly.

Dani’s face burned. Oh God—he knew. Somehow, he already knew what she liked. “You like that?” he asked softly. She should’ve denied it; instead, her body betrayed her completely as Jonnas’s hand slid up her throat gently, tilting her face upward. “Use your words.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

The approval in his expression nearly destroyed her. “Good girl,” he breathed. Dani whimpered as need crashed inside her so hard it made her dizzy. Jonnas kissed her again, slower this time, more controlled, like he was savoring her reactions—like he enjoyed unraveling her.

“Bedroom,” he muttered against her mouth.

Dani barely remembered getting there—only pieces of their night stayed with her.

His hands carefully undressing her, and the way he kept praising her softly every time she obeyed him.

And God, the safety she felt beneath him as he covered her body on the bed, plunging into her without permission.

She had already given that to him when she let him take her back to his bedroom.

He wasn’t rough with her, even when she begged him for more.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against her skin. No one had ever said things like that to her before—not like him. Not like they meant them. Dani clung to him helplessly as he guided her through every moment with steady confidence.

“Look at me, baby girl,” he growled. She did instantly, and the approval in his eyes made her entire body tremble.

“That’s it,” he praised softly. Everything about him overwhelmed her—the weight of him on top of her, the calm authority in his voice, and the way he touched her like she was precious instead of temporary. And when they both found their releases, the whispered praises were nearly her undoing.

Afterward, Dani ended up curled against his chest while his fingers lazily stroked through her hair.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt safe with another person.

“You okay?” he asked quietly. Dani nodded against him sleepily.

“Good girl.” That soft praise followed her all the way into sleep, and neither of them realized that one reckless night was about to change both of their lives forever.