Mr. Big Daddy (The Mr. Big Series Book 3) Read online

  Mr. Big Daddy

  S. E. Lund

  MR BIG DADDY

  Copyright 2019 S. E. Lund

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Also by S. E. Lund

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Alexa

  Westhampton in late fall was still beautiful.

  I stood at the window and looked out over the beach in front of the house. The sun was setting and from my vantage point, I could see across the ocean to the rapidly darkening horizon. The trees on the property had all turned color and fallen, so while the trees were barren of leaves, the shrubs were still green and overall, it was peaceful out on the ocean.

  Luke was still in town, but he would arrive soon. I had Friday off, and so we would spend Friday and the weekend at the beach house. The house was Luke's favorite place in the entire world outside of Bora Bora, so we tried to spend as much time there as possible on the weekends. I had finished a busy week teaching my seminar and working on my latest paper. I had one full day that I could spend with Luke and not think of anything. After that, it was back to the old grind.

  I loved the old grind, so I wasn't complaining. I knew I was lucky. I had Luke, I had the pregnancy and I had my scholarship. As long as those three things were going well, my life was perfect. Sure, Luke could afford to pay for my tuition and expenses if I didn't have a scholarship, but having it meant a lot to me. It meant that Columbia University thought I was a good bet, that I would go somewhere, and I would be something in the future. If they didn't feel that way, they wouldn't have funded my graduate education. So, I didn't want to lose the scholarship and worked hard to make sure my grades stayed at the absolute top of the class.

  My morning sickness was still a problem, but it remained confined to the mornings. I had another four weeks to go before it was supposed to let up entirely, and was frankly impatient for that part of the experience to pass. While I had always read about morning sickness when I considered becoming a mother one day, I hadn't realized how debilitating it was. It drained my strength and my motivation. I had to rearrange my classes so that I didn't have one first thing in the morning, and most of my work was done in the afternoon or evening. I was taking a self-directed class so I could do the work completely on my own, and that helped a lot, but it was still hard. I had a new respect for pregnant mothers who had to go to work every day and weren't in as good a position as I was. I could rearrange my schedule. Most mothers couldn't and that made me appreciate my circumstances even more.

  While I waited for Luke to come to the beach house, I put on some music and prepared our supper. I marinated some ribs in a nice honey garlic barbecue sauce, and washed lettuce for a salad. There was a baguette on the counter that would be heated up and we had a nice bottle of non-alcoholic beer for me and cold craft beer for Luke. I missed having my beer after class but considering I was pregnant, I wasn't going to do anything that might hurt the baby.

  At around 6:30, I heard a car drive up in the driveway and glanced out the side window to see Luke in his vehicle. He had driven to Westhampton by himself without his usual escort and I intended to give him the word about that. Things have been quiet on the Blaine front for the past couple of months, but that didn't mean he couldn't show his face or make his presence known at any time. Luke was just sick of being followed everywhere he went, and I was as well, but after what happened to Candace, I didn't want to take any chances.

  Luke got out of the car and walked to the front door, looking every inch the billionaire space investor, dressed in an expensive dark grey suit and crisp white shirt. He'd cut his hair now that we were back in civilization and kept his beard well-trimmed, but he was still just as handsome as ever.

  I wiped my hands on my apron and went to meet him giving him a big kiss and hug when he entered the front door.

  "There you are," I said, unable to keep a huge smile off my face.

  "Here I am," he replied and squeezed me. "How's mama and baby? It's so good to see you. I've had a hell of a day and I need some Lexi time."

  He removed his jacket and slipped off his shoes.

  "I'm all yours," I said and took his hand. I led him into the kitchen and handed him a cold beer from the fridge. "Here you go, my love," I said. "This has been waiting for you but not as impatiently as I have been." I picked up my non-alcoholic beer and took off the lid and we clicked our beer bottle necks together and toasted each other.

  "To us," Luke said.

  "To us," I replied with a smile. "Long may we reign."

  "So, my queen," Luke said and sat at the island. "How was your day?"

  "Great," I replied. I told him about my seminar, and he watched while I put the ribs in the oven. They had already been precooked, so all I had to do was caramelize the barbecue sauce. Dinner would be ready in less than an hour, so we had enough time to catch up on our respective days.

  "Tell me how your day went," I asked.

  Luke took in a big breath and then exhaled heavily. "If you want to know the truth," he said. "It sucked the big one."

  "How come?"

  Luke made a face of disgust. "John and I spent the entire day trying to convince another investor to go in on project with us. For some reason, he's hesitant and I don't understand why. We have a lot of experience in startups and we have connections, but he's giving us the cold shoulder. We have another meeting tomorrow, so I hope he's more positive then, but I'm getting this strange vibe off him."

  I frowned. "That's too bad," I said. "I'm sure there are a lot of others who you could connect with for funding. Besides," I said. "I thought you had enough money on your own to do something."

  "I have lots of money, but for these kinds of project you need more than one company or one that's so huge it can do it on its own. Astra Investments isn't big enough -- yet. For what we want to do, we need to team up with someone really big. We need to get a couple of investors together as a consortium, and approach one of the really big companies. It's all about power."

  "I'm sure things will work out," I said and started ripping up leaves of lettuce. "You just have to give it time. I know you're excited about this and want to get going right away but you've got your entire life ahead of you."

  "I know, I know," Luke said and took a long pull on his beer. "I'm just impatient to get going. I wanted something in place by the time the baby comes so I can spend the first six months with you looking after the baby. I don't want to be distracted from our time together."

  I put down the lettuce, dried my hands and went around the island to where he sat. I slid my arms on his shoulders and leaned in to give him a nice warm kiss.

  "You are so wonderful," I said. "I am so looking forward to those first six months with you. Don't worry, things will work out. I have faith in your ability. Your enthusiasm will help you find some investors. If not, you'll find them after the six months are up. We have our whole lives ahead of us."


  "I hope you're right," Luke said. "I just want everything to work out."

  We took our beers and went into the living room, plopping down on the sofa in front of a roaring fireplace. Above it, the flat screen showed the latest basketball game. To pass the time while we waited for our supper to be ready, we watched the Knicks.

  Later that night, after we had finished cleaning up from supper, Luke put on some music and pulled me into his arms.

  "Let's dance," he said his voice soft. "Pretty soon you'll be so big we won't be able to so I want to enjoy you as much as I can.”

  I laughed and slipped my arms around his neck. I kissed him and then nuzzled his nose with mine.

  "And by dance do you mean dance or something else?"

  I narrowed my eyes and met his. He laughed out loud at that.

  "Guilty as charged," he said. "You know me too well. You know that when we dance, it usually always leads to something else."

  "I do know you so well," I said. "And I love you."

  "I love you, so much."

  We danced until we decided we didn't want to dance anymore. At that point, Luke took my hand and led me to our bedroom, a gleam in his eye the entire way.

  "Do you want a bath first or afterwards," he asked.

  I smiled. "It's up to you."

  "After," he said. "Just feeling your body against mine made me impatient and I don't want to have to wait to taste you."

  That sent a wave of desire through my body.

  Luke began pulling at my clothes and so I reciprocated, removing his as well. We were both smiling, happy at how the evening had progressed. Before long, we were both naked, and he pushed me down onto the bed and laid on top of me, his erection hard against my thigh.

  He kissed me deeply, his tongue finding mine. Soon, I forgot all about everything except Luke, his hands and mouth and tongue.

  Later, after we were finished, we lounged together in the huge bathtub in the bathroom off our bedroom, the water warm and soapy. I sat across from him, my body submerged in the bathwater, while Luke held my foot in his hands and massaged it, kissing each toe in turn.

  "So, what's new in the world of international relations? What are you teaching your students about the nuclear arms treaties?"

  I smiled. It was the absolute last topic of conversation I was interested in discussing, after a three-hour seminar on it.

  "I'd rather talk about your birthday party," I said, and tickled his ribs with the toes of my other foot. "Who are we going to invite? Of course we want Dana and little James. John and Felicia, your father and Candace. Mara and Jan. Who else? Mr. And Mrs. Thorpe?"

  "Yes to all of them," Luke replied and squirmed away from my toes. "It'll be the first birthday I spend without Mother."

  "I know," I said and pouted, trying to appear to feel bad. "I'm sorry things fell apart between you."

  "It's her own fault," Luke replied. "She chose to be a total bitch about us. If she wasn't so controlling and actually accepted that I loved you and nothing was going to change that, she would be invited."

  "It's still hard for you," I said.

  "No, it isn't," he replied, his tone firm. "I don't feel bad at all. Frankly, I've grown sick of her meddling in my life. Good riddance."

  I nodded, glad she wouldn't be invited. I still wasn't completely over the nasty things she'd said about me and how she was willing to show those photos of me being sexually assaulted by Blaine to Luke to convince him to leave me.

  Still, it had to be painful for Luke, even if he didn't admit it. She was the only mother he'd had for most of his life. Not having her support had to be hard.

  I hoped my love for him would make up for it.

  Correction: I would do everything in my power to make up for it.

  Chapter Two

  Luke

  Something wasn't right.

  I didn't know what it was, but something in the way Jonathan Randall listened to my final pitch told me that he never intended to invest in the joint venture I was proposing. He had the bearing of a man who could not be convinced, no matter how good the deal and no matter how much money he could possibly make.

  "So," I said when I'd finished the pitch, a sense of futility building inside of me. "What are your thoughts? Do you have any questions?"

  Randall shrugged, noncommittally. "Not really. Like I said, I'll have to think about it for a while. It's a big risk, investing in the space race."

  "Big risk, but big reward," I said, pointing to the chart on the wall, showing how much the space industry and associated technologies had grown in the past decade.

  We spoke for another ten minutes about our plans for the future and then he said goodbye, shaking my hand and assuring me he would be in touch, but I distinctly got the feeling it was one of those 'Don't call us, we'll call you' situations.

  In other words, he was not going to join Astra Investments and invest in the project.

  Once he left on the elevator, I returned to the boardroom where John and two of our technical experts were gathering up the presentation materials.

  "What did you think?" John asked as I slipped my files back into my briefcase.

  I sighed. "I don't think he ever seriously intended to invest," I said, keeping my tone measured, despite the sense of dejection I felt. "I think he was just scoping us out, see what we were planning."

  "His loss," John said and shrugged. "We have two other partners. We'll find someone else."

  "We have to," I replied and left the boardroom, heading down the hall to the coffee room for a much-needed coffee. I checked my watch. It was almost five thirty. If I left Manhattan now, I would get back to the beach house in Westhampton by six thirty. John followed me and waited while I stared at the empty coffee pot, deciding whether to fix another pot and stay to work late, or go home to Alexa.

  It was an easy decision.

  I put the coffee pot back onto the burner and turned to John. "I'm going home," I said and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I have a beautiful loving wife waiting for me, who probably spent all morning puking and all afternoon teaching first year students about international relations."

  "How is Alexa doing? Is she coping?"

  "She's a trouper," I said and together, we walked back to my office. "Remember -- it's my birthday tomorrow. The party at the beach house starts at six-thirty. You promised you and Felicia are coming. Jim Thorpe will be there so we can pick his brain for people to contact."

  "Tomorrow?" John asked, frowning. "I'll have to check our plans. I don't know..."

  I made a face at the thought that John forgot about our plans and wouldn't come to the party. Then I saw the sly grin on his face. He was joking of course.

  "You bastard," I said and threw a piece of paper I'd crunched up into a ball at him instead of the wastepaper basket beside the door.

  I closed my laptop, then I went to the door, briefcase still in hand.

  "Bring Felicia. Be there or be square."

  "Wouldn't miss it," he said with a grin. "You really don't mind if I bring Felicia? No awkward silences?"

  "None whatsoever. If you two are happy, which you seem to be, I'm happy."

  "Good," John said and rubbed his hands together, his eyes twinkling. "I'm very happy and I think she is, too."

  "Perfect," I said, and John followed me down the hallway to the elevator. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  "Are you staying at the beach house all week?"

  "No, we'll probably be in Monday at noon when Alexa has class. We'll spend the weekend decompressing and then come back into town once she's ready. Her nausea usually subsides around eleven, although she tends to be tired for a few hours afterwards, but she's tough."

  "Pregnancy's not much fun, is it?" John said as the elevator doors opened. "I'm sure as hell glad I don't have to do it."

  "Me, too," I said. "See you tomorrow night. My father's banker is coming. He's got some connections in the military. We can strategize with him about who to approach next and how to get a military contr
act."

  "Sounds good," John said and gave me a nod while the doors closed, and I descended to the lobby of the building.

  Once again, I'd forgotten to call the security service to let them know I was leaving early and decided to just forgo it for the night. So, instead of waiting for the vehicle that would escort me to Westhampton and the beach house, I took my car and drove home alone.

  It felt good to be on my own again after months of having security following me, tailing me, or escorting me everywhere.

  I arrived at the beach house and entered the front doors to the scent of something delicious. Alexa met me, giving me a big hug and kiss. Immediately, the cares and stress of the day faded, and I felt my blood pressure drop, my body finally relax.

  Alexa had truly become my soul mate, and it was with her that I could truly feel myself.

  "You forgot to call the security detail again," she said, scolding me. "We agreed we'd use them until Blaine was back in jail."

  "I know," I said and squeezed her, tickling her to distract her. "I'll remember next time."

  We kissed and when she returned to the kitchen, attending to something on the stove, I followed her, reaching for her the entire way. When I got to her, I stood behind her and ran my hands over her very responsive body. Her belly was still not showing for she was only ten weeks along.

  "Aren't you hungry?" she asked, craning her neck so she could look at me, one eyebrow quirked.

  "Always," I said, my hands gently squeezing her breasts, which were exceptionally tender.