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

already chosen the first of the recipients for the day, and the process has begun,” I said.

“So, you haven’t given it all the way yet? You can stop now. Keep some of it for yourself. That way you can feel good and have money to use.”

“I totally hear your suggestion, but I’m going to have to pass. I don’t want any reason for them to think I need them or their money to get by. They love thinking I can’t possibly survive without them, or that I’m going to crash and burn. I have no intention of failing, and I don’t want them to think for a second they made any contribution to me making it on my own,” I said.

“And you’re sure you don’t need it? That you’re doing alright on your own?” Samantha asked.

“I don’t have the lifestyle I used to. I’m not going to pretend that. But I make really good tips at the bar, and I can afford to live without their money. I don’t need to have that life anymore,” I said. “I’m comfortable how I am now.”

Samantha let out a heavy sigh, and I could almost see her nodding. “I sometimes wish I could be free of that life, too.”

“Really?” I asked.

I was a little shocked. I knew Samantha longed for a more carefree life sometimes, and that she felt like she might have missed out a bit by jumping right into marriage and motherhood rather than spending some time by herself when she was younger. But I also knew she enjoyed the money and the luxury that life afforded her. It was surprising to hear her sounding so wistful about not having it.

“Yeah. I’m tired of all the stuffy parties I have to attend all the time. I’m tired of having to limit myself to one glass of wine at those parties because my husband doesn’t want me to get out of control,” she said.

“Well, maybe he has a point there, Samantha. You know how you can be,” I said with a hint of a laugh.

“Sure I do,” she said. “And I don’t have any intention of getting like that in front of his work people or the society crowd. But I’d like the opportunity to, you know? I’d like to feel that sense of freedom like if I wanted to drink myself silly and do a dance on the copy machine, I could.”

“Do copy machines still exist?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “I mean… I think they do.” We both fell silent as we contemplated the potential extinction of office equipment. Suddenly, she snapped out of it. “Anyway, I just sometimes feel like I’m being slowly crushed. Like those parties and the people and the rules and everything are coming at me from all the different angles and just gradually smooshing me into something totally unrecognizable.”

“Are you thinking about leaving him?” I asked.

She let out another sigh.

“I can’t. I love my children. And I really love my husband, too. I genuinely do. And the kids need their daddy. We need to be together as a family. It’s just a lot sometimes,” Samantha said.

I pulled up the next individual campaign I decided to donate to and started inputting my payment information.

Shaking my head, I switched ears to take some of the strain off that side of my neck. “I can’t even imagine being married with two children. Of course, I spent a lot of the last five years dating a guy I hated, so that might be coloring that conviction a bit.”

Samantha let out a dry puff of laughter. “Maybe. Speaking of which, though. I ran into Ethan the other day.”

“You did?” I asked.

Just the thought of him getting anywhere near my best friend made my muscles tighten and my skin crawl. As much as I would like to think Ethan as a human being had some kind of control over himself and wouldn’t do anything horrible just to get my attention, that was just my wishful thoughts at play. In reality, I knew he wasn’t above going through someone else to get to me, and I worried that was exactly what he was preparing to do.

“Yeah,” Samantha said. “It was actually pretty awkward because we were both standing in line at Starbucks and noticed each other. We couldn’t just pretend we didn’t recognize each other, so we talked a little. He didn’t waste any time at all. He immediately asked if I knew where you went and if I knew when you were going to be coming back.”

“What did you tell him?” I asked, nervous about what that might mean.

“I told him I hadn’t talked to you,” she said. “I said you dropped everyone back home and went off the grid.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling relieved. “I shouldn’t be encouraging you to lie, but that makes feel much better.”

“I’m just so glad you got away from that guy. I couldn’t stand him from the very beginning,” she said.

“I know you couldn’t,” I said. “You made it pretty obvious. I just didn’t see the same thing you did.”

“And now?”

“And now I’m really happy I got away from him, too,” I admitted.

That evening I went to the bar and was glad to see Jordan was working the shift with me. I smiled at him as I walked through the back door. He smiled back, and my heart fluttered in my chest.

“How are you doing today?” he asked when I got closer.

“Doing pretty good. How about you?” I asked as I tied my apron into place.

“Can’t complain.”

We spent the rest of the night flirting, our banter sometimes leaving me breathless. It had been a long time since I enjoyed talking to somebody as much as I enjoyed talking to Jordan, or since someone had been able to keep up with me and even best me the way he did. By the middle of the shift, I wasn’t even thinking about the deposit anymore. I was just thinking about this life I was building and how my conversation with