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

night and get a slice,” I said. “When I was eleven, I caught him doing it, and it became a weekly tradition for the two of us. Sneaking down and eating a bit of Mom’s delicious dessert before going back to bed.”

“Is it an old family recipe?” Hannah asked.

“Sort of,” Mom said. “My mother wasn’t much of a cook. Just made the basic stuff for us kids to eat, but my father’s mother was brilliant. She left him a book of recipes, which I still have. It’s all handwritten, and some of them are almost a hundred years old.”

Mom had separated some small plates and had just carved off a few pieces for us. I was already diving into my slice when Hannah took her first bite. Her eyes widened, and she looked over to me. Her mouth hung open.

“I know,” I said.

“But,” she began.

“I know,” I said again.

Mom smiled, and we ate our dessert quietly for a few minutes before Mom cleared her throat.

“Now,” Mom began, making my ears perk up. “Jordan told me that you might need a place to stay for a little while to avoid an ex-boyfriend?”

Hannah glanced at me before going into it. I knew it was a touchy subject for her, as it would be for anyone, but since I was asking Mom to make space for her for a little while, I had to tell her why.

“Yes, I might,” she said. “It’s a whole situation, but Jordan is just trying to look out for me.”

“He’s like that,” Mom said, smiling at me. “He’s a good boy.” She turned back to Hannah. “Well, I have a lot of room now that none of my boys live here. I went ahead and got the old guest room ready anyway, just so you wouldn’t have to stay in one of the boys’ old rooms. No pressure, but if you want to stay here with a doddering old woman, you have a place.”

“That is very sweet of you, thank you,” Hannah said. “I’m honestly not sure what I’m going to do, really. And you don’t seem doddering to me.”

“Aren’t you sweet?” Mom asked, then turned to me. “I can see why you like her so much.”

“Mom,” I began.

Hannah put her hand on mine, and our eyes met. She smiled. I decided to let it go for now, since Mom was being on pretty good behavior otherwise.

“Well, that was delicious,” Mom said. “I’ll be in the kitchen cleaning up. You two make yourself comfortable.”

“I think we’re going to get going actually,” I said.

“But we should help with the dishes,” Hannah said, standing. She didn’t look at me, but I got the feeling she was intentionally offering to help for multiple reasons, one of which was to make Mom feel like we weren’t rushing off.

“Oh, I can handle it,” Mom said.

“Please,” Hannah said. “You cooked all this wonderful food, let me help you. Jordan and I can handle dishes. You should get a chance to relax.”

“Thank you, dear,” Mom said, stunning me. As she walked away, I turned to Hannah, who shrugged, and we made our way into the kitchen.

A half-hour later, we hugged Mom goodbye and got back in the car. As we got on the road, I cleared my throat. It had dawned on me that I had been pushing Hannah a bit.

“Hey, so, you don’t have to make a decision tomorrow if you don’t want to. But I would feel a lot better if you made sure all your doors were locked,” I said.

Hannah smiled and nodded but stayed quiet for a few minutes. When she did speak, it broke the comfortable silence.

“I really like your mom,” she said.

“She really likes you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” I said. “She’s a bit pushy about the whole kids thing usually, but I’ve never seen her abdicate household duties to a girl one of us brought over, no matter how tired she was. She trusts you with her kitchen. That’s big.”

“That makes me feel good,” Hannah said. “I adore her. She’s funny and sweet. How I imagine a mother should be, you know?”

I nodded, grimacing a little. It hurt to hear how she felt like she missed out on the family experience.

“Well, if you let her, she will mother you to death. So be wary.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for it,” she said. “I really don’t know how I feel. I might want to stay there. I don’t think I can make a decision right this second.”

“That’s fine,” I said.

“I just don’t want to be a burden. Yet, I don’t want you to worry about me so much.”

I turned to look at her. A burden. How in the world could she think she was a burden?

“I don’t feel like you’re a burden at all,” I said. “I just don’t want to pressure you into something you don’t want to do.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I am an adult. I am independent. I can take care of myself.”

I picked up her delicate hand and pressed my lips to it. We were pulling into my driveway, and I was looking forward to getting inside and starting the evening that tended to end the same way. A very desirable way.

“I know,” I said. “I didn’t mean to imply you were incapable of taking care of yourself. I just want to make sure you’re okay. If there is anything I can do to make sure of that, I want to do it.”

She smiled and raised my hand to place a kiss on it.

“Thank you,” she said. “Now, what are we going to do with all these leftovers?”

22 Hannah

I tried to hold off waking up for as long as possible the next morning. I knew as soon as we were up, Jordan would have to get ready and leave for Portland. The reality of him actually leaving wasn’t something I had let myself think about since he told me he had to go.

In truth, it still felt strange to even consider being stressed about him not