Chapter 2
RHETT
When Katie’s mother showed up with the girl in her arms, swearing she was mine, I did not question her.
We did have a fling a while back, and though I have never seen her again, what she told me was enough to convince me.
Her new man didn’t want to raise another dude’s daughter, and the second I put my eyes on Katie, I knew I wouldn’t ever let anyone harm her.
So I took her in. Just to make sure she would be fine.
Now, I never planned on having children.
A man like me doesn’t get plenty of women interested, and I learned years ago not to create any expectations.
The ladies eye me at the bar and they want to know what it’s like to have a man my size.
Six-seven and wide enough I have to turn to enter and leave places, they’re interested in my bulk, in feeling small and protected.
But once the sexy times are over, they don’t want to introduce me to their families.
I would steal the spotlight. Their friends would feel intimidated.
Kids get scared and dogs bark. It’s like a horror story, but I got used to it.
And I knew, I always knew, that something better would come along.
Something more important. Turns out it did.
Katie’s mother introduced us, and within a couple of hours, Katie was calling me Daddy as she ran up and down the living room.
Of course, I was in a panic, worried about her tripping and getting hurt.
My heart also became so full I knew at that moment that was what I wanted for my life.
If all I did was raise her, then I would be happy.
Just one problem. Turns out children need a lot of attention. Single mothers who have to work out of home? I don’t know how they manage. Mothers of two or more children? God bless. Women are superheroes.
Katie has energy. A lot of energy. She gets up early, runs and climbs, and teaches herself how to cartwheel.
Then I shower her, and she manages to pull all her clothes out of the closet and try every one of them in the space of five minutes as I put together cereal and milk.
I don’t know how she manages. When I was a boy, I was not like that.
I was happy to sit in front of the TV and eat my breakfast on Saturdays.
Katie has to do three things at the same time.
She eats, watches TV, plays with her dolls, and asks me questions about what I’m doing every thirty seconds.
It’s impressive. Or it would be impressive if I weren’t halfway to desperation.
None of the daycares in the area have free spots. The ones farther from me do, but they don’t want a mysterious six-seven tall man with a young girl who has just become his daughter. The ink hasn’t even dried on the updated birth certificate. Many think I’m a fake. One has even called the police.
Without daycare, she has to stay with me.
Luckily, I work from home, because no one would guess, but I’m a nerd.
The kind of nerd that teaches himself less-used systems and then receives tons of money to consult on these systems. IT has amazing pay, and I’m glad I’ll be able to put Katie through good school when the time comes.
For the moment, it seems money won’t change the minds of the people in those daycares. So I need a nanny. Someone to keep Katie distracted and fed while I work hard. Someone who will keep her tiny fingers and her glass of milk away from my computer.
What I needed was a nanny. And I was desperate enough to accept the first person who looked trustworthy, no experience needed.
Did it have to be her?
Melodie Walker took the job right away. Snatched the decision from my hands the second Katie accepted those donuts. She showed up on time the past three days, and though she said she has no experience, she gets along perfectly with Katie, as if they’ve known each other for years.
Sounds perfect. That should be the end of the story.
But as I sit in my home office, staring at my computer screen, the cursor blinks back at me, questioning.
I can’t focus. Can’t put my mind to anything.
I keep drifting. Drifting to the sound of clear laughter coming from the living room.
The chuckles and the hushes as Melodie asks Katie to keep it down.
The two chat and talk and laugh. I could close the door to the office, but I don’t want to.
The sound of them triggers something I never felt inside me. A call to something I don’t expect. Something I don’t want to think about.
A knock comes on the doorframe. I lift my head from the blinking cursor and the empty screen and find Melodie there. She smiles, softly, shyly. Something tugs low in my stomach.
“Yes?” I ask, my voice coming out rough with disuse.
“Coffee and cupcakes?” And I don’t know if it’s the way she says it or the way she’s looking at me, but this woman. She starts a fire inside me, just from looking at me.
She’s gorgeous, sure, with her rich, shiny black hair falling to her shoulders in soft waves.
Big, expressive eyes, perfect full lips.
And those curves, fuck. And I’m not a man for cursing.
But those curves deserve to be adored. Praised.
She’s round and soft, her hips and her breasts swaying gently with every step she takes.
She’s a sight of beauty, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this attracted to anyone before.
It’s something burning deep within me. Her beauty, the way she put her foot on my door and demanded the job. It’s how well she goes with Katie and the sound of her laughter.
She’s young and beautiful and full of life. Everything I am not. My perfect opposite. And yet...
“Mr. King?” She arches an eyebrow.
I swallow hard. My pants grow tight. Just because she used my last name? What in the— “Sure,” I reply, reaching for my wallet. “I’ll keep an eye on Katie while you go.”
“Oh, no, no.” She chuckles. Melodie enters the room, just one step, putting a hand to her flared hip. God, she’s beautiful. “I baked them. Impressive, I know.”
A smile tugs at the corners of my lips. “That is impressive. But it’s not on your list of tasks. You don’t need to worry about cooking.”
“In this case, baking.”
“Baking.” Another tug to my lips. What is she doing to me? “Still applies.”
“Well, I wanted cupcakes, and Katie helped me. So, we’re all good. Now, they’re chocolate with sprinkles, and I brought my own coffee because yours is garbage, with all due respect. Good thing we’re neighbors. I don’t know how anyone can live with coffee like that.”
I arch an eyebrow. “The coffee is not bad.” And I usually drink it to wake me up during long shifts, so it doesn’t need to taste good, just bitter.
“No, not bad. Awful.” And she smiles, and it’s beautiful. I have never been a man for swooning or any of those things, but this woman has me on my knees. I can’t stop staring at her. It’s like watching yourself grow obsessed with someone and being unable to stop it.
No, that can’t happen. It’s not someone, but my daughter’s nanny. I need to be here for Katie, not worrying about women. Need to be a good father, present and caring. Besides, Melodie and I are too different.
She’s twenty years my junior. I checked. A woman so bright, beautiful, and young? She’s just being nice to me. There’s no way she would look twice at a man, big and old, like me.
I clear my throat twice. Focus. I have to ground myself. “I’ll come by later,” I tell her, forcing myself to gaze at the computer. “Thank you.” Because I cannot start something like this, not now. Not with a daughter I just learned I have, not with so much work to do.
Not with a woman so bright and so delicate I could break her between my fingers.
I can’t bear the thought of hurting her.
Even when I imagine her full curves lying on my bed, beneath me, legs spread for my taking, I can’t stop the thought of potentially hurting her.
I’m too big, too heavy, too thick. There are so many ways I could wound her.
No, that won’t happen. That won’t ever happen. And I have to do everything I can to cut these feelings short, whatever they are.