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

“Who you flirt with constantly,” Ava added.

“She’s adorable,” Becca interjected, clearly helping to pile on and get Mom excited over a girl who I hadn’t even asked on a date. “Really funny, really smart. I saw some paintings she’s done, too. She’s super talented.”

“Well, how come I haven’t heard about her, then?” Mom asked.

“Because he hasn’t asked her out yet,” Mason said. I wasn’t sure whose side he was on, but he was grinning, so my guess was he was enjoying playing both sides and stirring the pot.

“Why not?” Tom asked from the corner of the room.

“Yeah, why not?” Ava asked.

I sighed. “Uh, because she’s an employee,” I said. There was an uproar in the room, and I held my hands out for silence. “Hold on, hold on! Seriously, she probably wouldn’t go for it anyway. She just got out of a really bad relationship that she was deeply unhappy in. She’s a friend, and she’s fun to talk to, and yes, maybe we flirt some. But that’s it.”

“Ava,” Mom said with the seriousness of a general “set him up.”

“That’s not a good idea,” I said uselessly to a room of cackling hyenas. Mom had spoken. Ava had her orders, and now all I could do was sit back and let it happen.

Dinner talk moved to Tom after that, and when dinner was finished, I decided to go outside for a breath of fresh air. A million thoughts were swirling through my mind, not the least of which was a combination of anxiety and excitement about whatever was going to happen with Hannah. As I got out onto the porch, a new beer in hand, I heard the door behind me. One by one, my brothers followed me out.

“Ahh, time for business talk?” I asked.

“Nothing formal,” Tom said. “I just wanted to keep you guys informed. I know it sometimes seems like I make decisions and then expect things to happen, and I don’t want you to feel that way.”

“Fair,” Matt said. He didn’t dispute it, which Tom seemed to take in stride, but none of us said anything either. In reality, we all kind of looked to Mason as the on-the-ground leader of our merry band of brothers. He ran the bar day to day with Ava. Tom owned it all, sure, and made some decisions that were his way or the highway, but after some initial saltiness, we had all pretty well settled on the hierarchy in the bar.

“Well, I wanted to see if three of you could head out to Portland for a week to check some places out. I’ve got my eye on a couple properties, and I thought Mason, you, Tyler, and Jordan should get out there and see what’s going on,” Tom said.

There was a momentary pause, and Matt and I exchanged a glance.

“I didn’t think it was set in stone yet,” I said.

“Well, it isn’t,” Tom admitted.

“But it is. If you’re sending us out there to look at places, it means you are pretty set on doing this expansion.”

“Are you against it?” he asked. I could see the wheels turning in his head. I always could. Tom was admittedly smarter than the rest of us. Mason was the kind that could make sure it all happened correctly and the trains ran on time. I was more the type that went along to get along, doing my part to make sure things went well. I did what was asked, and I did it competently until I found something better I wanted to do. If I ever found something better.

“Not against it,” I said. “I just wasn’t aware that it was an absolute thing. Just an idea was what I was told.”

“Yeah, and if we’re doing this, why am I not going to Portland to scope places out?” Matt asked.

“Good question,” Mason added.

“Because Matt needs more experience running the day to day behind the bar,” Tom said. “You both said you’d like him to get more time back there running things. This would be a way for him to do that, plus I don’t know anyone else who would know exactly what we need in a location better than you, Mason.”

I nodded. “That makes sense, I guess.”

“Look, I know it’s a big jump, and it feels like I might be pushing it a little,” Tom said. “But this seems like a really great opportunity for us to grow from a business standpoint. I know I’m always reaching big, and it can be a little much, but if you guys aren’t comfortable, I’ll back off. This only works if we’re all in this together.”

Matt and I exchanged glances once again. I could see the wheels turning in his mind, too. Part of it was Tom’s casual cockiness, but another part of it was the adventure. I was stuck here, spinning my wheels, and hadn’t found myself something better to do. Not if Hannah wasn’t an option.

Why not Portland?

12 Hannah

The bar felt strangely empty when I got to work the next day. I already knew it was Jordan’s night off. He and I compared schedules, and I had gotten familiar with the pattern of the nights he would be off when I would be working, and also the reverse. I liked knowing when I would see him for a shift and when I wouldn’t. It was a bit strange for me to still get those butterflies when I knew I would be seeing him, especially since I was doing my best to think of him only as a friend.

But that night I knew he wasn’t going to be there, and yet there was still an emptier feeling when I walked into The Hollow and looked around. The bar wasn’t open yet, so there were no customers, and everything felt quiet.

Ava walked out of the kitchen and smiled at me as she took her place behind the bar. I walked over to her as I tied my apron around