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

“I’m going to kill him,” Jordan said through gritted teeth.

The sound of a car flying out of the lot made us turn, and we saw Ethan speeding away.

“You can’t go after him,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Because he isn’t worth going to prison for. I just have to try to ignore him and not give him any indication he’s getting to me at all. Eventually he will get bored and go away,” I said.

“It’s that ‘eventually’ I don’t like,” he said.

“I know. I don’t, either.”

“You’re probably right, but I want to make sure that really does happen. From now on, I don’t want you to be alone.”

As the words sank in, I didn’t know how to feel about Jordan’s assertion.

27 Jordan

Ethan was really starting to piss me off. The fact that he would have the gall to even get anywhere close to her after what he did to her house was incredible, and if I could have gotten my hands on him, I would have ripped him to pieces. Hannah stopping me was probably exactly what she said, good because it kept me out of prison.

Apparently, his prints were nowhere to be found in the house. As far as the cops were concerned, it was a break and enter and vandalism, but they couldn’t go after Ethan without evidence. It frustrated the hell out of me, but Hannah just wanted to let it go. She thought that him doing that to her place “got it out of his system” somehow, and that he would disappear eventually.

I wasn’t so sure.

It had been a pretty quiet few days since the mural run-in, but that didn’t mean he was gone. I didn’t trust him not to be watching us from somewhere and ready to strike at the worst possible time. I didn’t want to be paranoid, but my instincts were kicking in, and I was extremely frustrated not to be able to go scan every car in every parking lot and make sure.

Driving by all the hotels and motels in town was a slow crawl, but I did it anyway. Hannah thought I was out with Luke usually, and most of the time I was. But we were both on reconnaissance. I scanned every parking lot for his car and found nothing. I knew there were a few houses in Astoria that were rented as vacation homes, but I had no idea where they were and online searches came up with nothing. Wherever he was staying, he was keeping out of sight. Even Luke thought he might just be gone, but I couldn’t buy that. Not yet.

It was about time to leave for work, and I was putting on my shoes when Hannah came into the living room dressed to go.

“Umm,” I began.

“I’m coming to work, Jordan,” she said.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“It is,” she insisted. “I can’t just keep hiding out. It’s giving him way too much power over my life to never go anywhere or do anything. I have to be able to go to work and get back on track with my life.”

“I understand that,” I said. “I do. But I don’t trust that he isn’t hanging around here somewhere. What if he attacks you?”

“Well, you’ll be there, won’t you?”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“Then I am much more worried about how he will survive than me.”

She grinned, and I returned the expression. Hannah was right. By the time he got within touching range of Hannah, I would have already ripped out his eyes and used them for dice.

“Okay,” I said. “You’re right. I’ll drive.”

We headed out to the truck and drove through the early evening darkness to get to the bar. When we arrived, the place was already rocking. Getting inside, we went to the back, put on our aprons, and kissed before opening the door and disappearing into the din of The Hollow.

The money was flowing in off some really decent tips, and when I felt like I couldn’t take the people anymore, I would switch with Mason and go behind the bar and make drinks for table orders. It helped give me a little break from one-on-one interactions while also giving me the best view of the clientele. From behind the bar, I could see the entire floor, and if Ethan walked in, I would know.

My eyes were peeled for him the whole night, and as closing time got closer, I began to relax. If he had planned on coming in, he would have done so before then. And I would have ripped him into little, tiny pieces, stuck them on skewers, and had a barbeque.

As the night got closer to being over, I was on the floor and noticed Mason had taken a call in the hallway. I didn’t think much of it, but when he got off, he headed over to me. The look on his face told me that the news he was going to tell me wasn’t something I particularly wanted to hear.

“Hey, can we talk for a minute?” he asked.

“I have three tables. Can someone take care of them?”

“Yeah, let me get her,” he said.

Mason walked back to the bar, said something to Ava, and pointed to the three tables that were still sitting. They were regulars, and we usually let them hang out a bit later than others, provided they were drinking water or soda and their drinks were done by lights up. Ava came over, and I handed her my book with their orders so she knew what they would want if they wanted refills.

“Come with me,” Mason said. I followed him down the hall and to the door outside. As I passed the kitchen, Hannah came out carrying a plate of mozzarella sticks. We maintained eye contact as I backed through the door, and when it closed, she was standing in the hallway, sadness in her eyes.

“I guess I know what’s coming,” I said. “It was Tom, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Mason said. “He said the licenses are