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

reached out about doing a community mural painting on the side of the library. They’re still waiting on final approval, but that should go through in the next couple of days. I’m super excited about that.”

“I bet,” I said. “Congratulations. That’s an awesome opportunity, and I know you’ll knock it out of the park.”

“Thanks,” she said, somewhat bashfully.

“If you need any help, let me know. I don’t know if you want me walking around with a paintbrush in my hand, but I can help out in any other ways you might need.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “Thank you.”

At that moment, Ava and Amanda walked in and took Hannah to the side to discuss the theme night. I listened in for a little bit but eventually kind of zoned out, going back into the prep work. We were apparently going to be raising some money for a local cause with drink specials, which I caught, but I wasn’t part of any of that planning usually, so I went back to the tasks at hand.

The more I thought about Portland, the more I seemed to like the idea. Getting away to a new place would give me a chance to take a breath and figure out exactly what it was I wanted out of life. I was getting too old to just hang around like I had been. If I had some clue as to what it was I wanted, maybe I wouldn’t be so hung up on a waitress I barely knew.

Then I turned around and we met eyes and I knew that wasn’t true. I could be half a world away, back in the desert for that matter, and those eyes would haunt my dreams. She was gorgeous and she was funny, and she was smart. She was out of my league, for a million reasons. And she was just about the only reason I could think of why I would want to stay, and yet, she might just be enough.

I thought I heard my name, and I looked over to Amanda. She had been talking to me. She was looking at me somewhat expectantly, and I realized that while I had been meeting Hannah’s gaze, I was being spoken to and missed it.

“Oh, sorry, what was that?” I asked.

Amanda and Ava got knowing grins on their faces and looked at each other. Hannah blushed again and looked straight up at the ceiling.

“I said that you and Hannah will be working that night. If that’s alright with you,” Ava said. “Then Amanda asked if you could handle the floor with Hannah so I could work behind the bar.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “I’d be okay with that. No problem.”

“Good,” Amanda said. “Hannah, what about you? Are you ready for a big theme night on the floor?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking back at me and smiling. “I think I’d be fine with that, too.”

14 Hannah

I couldn’t wait to get started on the mural. I took some time to sketch out some ideas and come up with a few things I might want to do. I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything specific or plan out all of the details until I finalized my idea, but having a few basic plans let me start to visualize what I might be able to do.

After a few days of preparing and planning, I packed everything up and headed for the library. Just drawing things out in my sketchbook was a good way to start formulating my ideas. But it didn’t compare to being right there where the mural would actually be and visualizing the scope. It was entirely possible I was coming up with ideas that wouldn’t properly fill the space, or that wouldn’t feel right when it was actually in place. I needed to really see it.

That afternoon found me sitting on a small grassy hill to the side of the library, staring at the wall I would be painting. My sketchbook was in my lap, and I kept flipping back and forth to look at my different ideas and try to figure out which one was the most promising.

Beside me, I had books I borrowed from the library spread open to images of the town throughout history. I wanted to try to incorporate some distinct local images and make sure the mural was unique and special to Astoria. It wouldn’t be as meaningful if it could fit in on any library anywhere in the country.

I was so invested in what I was doing I barely noticed someone calling my name. Finally, it broke through my thoughts, and I looked up to see Becca coming toward me. I was happy to see her and lit up even more when I noticed she was holding her little boy on her hip. Climbing up off the ground, I brushed my pants to get any errant grass off my jeans and smiled at her.

“Hi, Becca,” I said. “It’s good to see you.”

“Hey, Hannah.” She looked at her son and bounced him a little bit. “Can you say hi to Miss Hannah?”

The chubby-faced baby smiled and tucked his head into the curve of his mother’s neck. I was instantly charmed and couldn’t help the happy giggle that bubbled up. Becca turned her head to kiss his cheek and give him a nuzzle.

“He’s adorable,” I said.

“Thank you. I’m pretty partial to him.” She looked at me, and her eyes wandered over to my art supplies and the books splayed out on the ground. “What are you up to?”

“I am actually painting a mural for the library,” I said. “I’m here trying to finalize what direction I want to go in and really get the plans going so it can get underway as soon as possible.”

“That’s awesome. I love this library. I always have. Now that I have my little buddy, I get to spend even more time here. He really enjoys listening to the stories.” The little boy started squirming in her arms, and