Boss Daddy: A Secret Baby Romance by Black, L. (good books for high schoolers .TXT) 📕

notes on a pad of paper to one side and occasionally tapping something out on a calculator.

“Hey,” I said when I walked in. “Ava said you wanted to talk to me.”

Mason looked up. “Oh, hey, Jordan. Yeah, come in. Sit down.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked as I took a seat at the table.

“Everything’s fine,” Mason said. I relaxed a little, but my shoulders still felt tense. I didn’t think they would release until I knew for sure what was going on. “I got a call from Tom today. He’s been really pleased with the reports he’s getting from the bar and thinks we could do more.”

“More?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“He thinks that since we are doing so well drawing in the crowds, we should start looking into building up even more. Mom’s doing well now, and she has everything she needs, but he pointed out that three of us have families now and wants to make sure we can all make a good living for ourselves.”

“So, what’s he talking about?” I asked. “Does he want to expand?”

“Kind of,” Mason said.

“It seems like most of Astoria comes out to the theme nights as it is. I don’t know how much more business we could actually get unless we’re bringing in people from other towns. Some travel in as it is.”

“Well, that’s sort of the point. He’s not talking about expanding to another location here in Astoria. He had an idea to open another location in Portland.”

“Portland? That would be a hell of a commute. Who would run it?” I asked.

“He’s leaning toward you and Matt. Neither one of you have families that keep you locked here, and both of you know the ropes of running a bar. Together, you’d be able to build it up and get it running like this one,” Mason said.

“Wow,” I said, sitting back. I felt a bit dumbstruck and a little blindsided by the whole thing. “That would mean I would have to relocate, wouldn’t it?”

Mason nodded. “Yeah. Like you said, it would be too much of a commute. If you were really going to build the place up and get it successful, you would need to be right there, hands-on and involved. That would mean moving to Portland. At least for a while.”

“Wow,” I said again. It was probably among the worst reactions I could have had. There had to be something more meaningful, but I couldn’t come up with any other words.

“What are you thinking?” Mason asked a few seconds later when I had stared silently across the table without looking at him.

“I’m trying to figure that out,” I said. “I love it here. Astoria is my hometown, and I’ve never planned on leaving it after I came back from the service. This was always going to be where I landed. But I understand where Tom is coming from. Getting another location going could mean huge things for the family, and if anyone should relocate to do it, it should be those of us who wouldn’t have to uproot entire families to make it happen. It’s just hard to really wrap my head around.”

“Well, don’t let it get to you too much. Nothing is set in stone. It’s just an idea. We’re trying to figure out all the details and the logistics. It’s just something to contemplate.”

I nodded and got up to go back out to the bar and start working. It might have just been an idea, but the thought was stuck with me now.

6 Hannah

I had just finished up washing the dishes from lunch when my phone alerted where I had it sitting on the counter away from the potential disaster of the sink. Wiping my hands on a dish towel, I picked up the phone to check what it was. My first thought was that it might be Ava from the bar sending me a message asking if I could come into work early. Instead, it was an email notification. I knew what it was before I even opened it. My parents had made a deposit into my bank account.

Samantha had asked me why I didn’t just close that account and open a new one if I didn’t want my parents’ money. But I didn’t want to go through the hassle of reassigning all my automatic payments and getting all new cards. Plus, if my parents were insistent on sending the money, I would at least put it to good use by way of charitable donations.

Letting out a sigh, I went into the living room and dropped down onto the couch. My laptop was sitting on the coffee table, and I opened it so I could go through my usual habit after getting such a deposit. The website I had bookmarked let me scroll through a wide variety of different causes and campaigns so I could choose something meaningful and worthwhile to donate the money to.

I had just settled on the first of a couple of different causes I was going to donate to when my phone rang. Glancing over, I saw Samantha’s name on the screen.

“Hey, Samantha,” I said as I answered.

Pinning the phone between my shoulder and my ear, I continued the process of making the first donation.

“Hey,” she said. “What are you up to?”

“My parents sent another one of their deposits into my bank, so I’m finding places to donate the money.”

“Hannah, you’ve got to be kidding me. That is so ridiculous. You’ve got to stop.”

I was used to that reaction from my best friend. It was how she always reacted when she found out I was just giving away all the money my parents sent to me rather than keeping it for myself. According to her, I should just enjoy it and maybe even have a little bit of fun knowing that they were still sending me money even when I had no intention of doing what they wanted me to do.

But that wasn’t something I could bring myself to do.

“Too late. I’ve