Ward's Independence Day_An Older Man Younger Woman Romance Read online

  WARD’S INDEPENDENCE DAY

  AN OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE

  _______________________

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 54

  FLORA FERRARI

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series

  Ward's Independence Day

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Series

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2018 by Flora Ferrari.

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS

  Book 1: Baby Lust

  Book 2: Veteran

  Book 3: Built

  Book 4: Bambino

  Book 5: Rescued

  Book 6: Leader

  Book 7: Professor

  Book 8: Burned

  Book 9: Worldly

  Book 10: Pistol

  Book 11: Policed

  Book 12: Driven

  Book 13: Lucky 13

  Book 14: Lumberjacked

  Book 15: Protector

  Book 16: Carpenter

  Book 17: Italian Stallion

  Book 18: Gardener

  Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin

  Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter

  Book 21: Cocky CFO

  Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th

  Book 23: Mechanic

  Book 24: SEAL’s Secret

  Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch

  Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée

  Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina

  Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter

  Book 29: Veterans Day Daddy

  Book 30: Cowboy’s Christmas Carol

  Book 31: Police Officer’s Princess

  Book 32: Statham

  Book 33: Bodyguard

  Book 34: Greek God

  Book 35: Billionaire Single Dad's Babysitter

  Book 36: Mountain Man

  Book 37: SEAL’s Justice

  Book 38: Royal Romance

  Book 39: Doctor Mountain Man’s Special Delivery

  Book 40: Crocodile Dan D

  Book 41: Mountain Man’s Secret Baby

  Book 42: Doctor Bad Boy’s Secret Baby

  Book 43: Cop’s Babysitter

  Book 44: Nanny for the Cop Next Door

  Book 45: Small Town SEAL’s Saving Grace

  Book 46: Cop’s Fake Fiancée

  Book 47: Billionaire’s Nanny

  Book 48: Cowboy’s Babysitter

  Book 49: Steamy

  Book 50: Brother’s Best Friend

  Book 51: Possessive Professor

  Book 52: Firefighter’s Babysitter

  Book 53: Soldier’s Secret Baby

  Book 54: Ward’s Independence Day

  WARD’S INDEPENDENCE DAY

  When a rock hard alpha male firefighter pulls a five-year-old girl from an overturned car on the I-5 on a Southern California morning he has no idea the kind of pull she’s about to have on him.

  Now an orphan, and a ward of the state, he can’t bear to see her sent to a foster home. And he feels personally connected. With his fireman connections he calls on city hall and becomes her guardian.

  But this older man knows nothing about raising a young daughter, but there’s a first time for everything and he’s up to the challenge of being her protector and single dad.

  But this Independence Day will be her independence day in more ways than one. It’s her eighteenth birthday and she has a choice to make now that she will no longer be a ward.

  She can go her own way or acknowledge that her guardian and protector has become more than just that…so much more.

  They’ve both experienced many first times together, but there’s one first time this virgin ward is saving especially for her gorgeous guardian.

  These last few months she sees her handsome firefighter less as her guardian and more like the man of her dreams.

  She’s hoping sparks will fly this 4th of July and lead to a California romance that celebrates Independence Day in more ways than one…

  *Ward’s Independence Day is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

  CHAPTER 1

  Finn

  3rd of July

  She runs her forearm across her brow wiping away the sweat that’s quickly accumulating under the hot summer sun.

  I keep the blinds opened just enough so I can see her but she can’t see me, not that she’d turn and look back across the street. She’s fully engrossed in her work.

  I’m so proud of her. A day before her eighteenth birthday and she’d saved up seven thousand dollars just from her high school job. She had turned her love of gardening into a small landscaping business that’s undisputedly the best in town.

  Seven thousand dollars is a lot of money for a teenager, and tomorrow on her eighteenth birthday she’ll be free to do with it as she pleases.

  Technically she could do whatever she wants with it today. I may be her guardian but I trust her and her decisions completely.

  What I don’t trust is myself.

  I’ve thought of ways to try and convince her to stay, but deep down I know it’s contradictory to the values I’ve instilled in her.

  Hard work. Self reliance. Setting out on her own and making this world her oyster.

  She knows she’s got my complete support, but I know that she’s been looking forward to her eighteenth birthday for years.

  It signifies her becoming an adult, at least in the eyes of the law.

  But in my opinion she became an adult long ago. The way she carries herself. The way she never makes excuses for anything. The way she’s devoted to her studies and her small yet growing business.

  But her business isn’t the only thing growing these days.

  And that’s exactly what concerns me most.

  She’d always just been like a daughter to me. That and nothing more. Sure the court refers to our relationship as one of a guardian and ward, but I never liked those terms much. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right. She’s my daughter and I’m her father.

  And I’ve watched her grow up like any proud papa would these last thirteen years since we’ve been together.

  But this last year there’s just been something about her growth that I can’t pretend not to notice no matter how hard I try. The way she fills out her tops. The way her hips are just a bit bigger. The way the back of her jeans have a little more curve than before. If anyone knows about late bloomers it’s the gorgeous gardener across the street who’s making Mrs. Smith’s rose garden look like the toast of the town right now. And she’s the same girl I shared French toast with this morning…something many fathers and their daughters do every morning I’m sure.

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p; But no matter how much I tell myself I’m her father, technically I’m not. And that small technicality is what’s making me question everything right now.

  Ev-ery-thing.

  These last few weeks I feel like I’ve gone from the dad who taught her how to drive a car to the guy who has to pump his own breaks when it comes to the thoughts he’s been having about the young woman who he shares a home with.

  And it would be nothing more than four walls and a roof without her. She makes it a home. It’s her eye, and her touch, that’s led this place from being nothing more than a glorified man cave to an actual home a place with art on the walls, small visual touches that lift my mood, and of course everything being so clean.

  And it’s not just her breaking her back to keep the place clean and decorated. Not that at all. She’s shown me how colors and shapes compliment and contrast one another and I’m much better at keeping my place looking presentable and like a human being who with two working eyes lives here.

  I tell myself I’ve taught her a lot of things, but in reality she’s taught me just as much if not more. Funny how that works sometimes.

  But what’s not going to work at all is if she packs up and leaves tomorrow morning like she’s been planning on for years.

  She’s certainly ready, but the reality is I’m not.

  By day I’m a firefighter afraid of nothing and no-one, but tomorrow I’m afraid I’m going to lose the best thing that ever happened to me.

  And I’m torn. I’ve always encouraged her to spread her wings and fly, but there’s no saying that she needs to change her nest to do so.

  She can still live here with me. I can still be her anchor, her rock, as she always tells me I am. That doesn’t have to change one bit.

  But it’s up to her. I have to know my role and let her do what she needs to do, no matter how difficult tomorrow becomes for me.

  On the other hand I need to do what I need to do, and that’s tip the scales in my favor. The scales that she’ll weigh when it’s time to make the decision that could change everything.

  And I’m determined to let her know I want her here with me but not because I’m her guardian.

  Because I want her for my own…forever.

  CHAPTER 2

  Finley

  At this hour the sun hits Mrs. Smith’s big windows at just the right angle and I have a clear reflection from across the street.

  I don’t look right at his reflection because I don’t want him to know…

  Know that I see him standing there watching me.

  But more importantly to know that I’m watching him just as intently as he’s watching me.

  He always does his workout at this time of the morning, at least when he’s not at the station. And by the time he’s finished he’s got on nothing but a pair of short shorts and a light coat of sweat dripping from his body. And in the reflection it’s like his body is glistening in the morning sun like a beautiful ocean…just one covered in muscles and holding a coffee cup.

  I have to get out of the house at this time, even though Mrs. Smith prefers I do her gardening in the evening when it’s cooler. But I can’t. I can’t be in the house when he’s working out.

  Watching his muscles ripple. Smelling his scent. I know he wears deodorant, but still there’s just something about the way he smells when he’s exerting all that energy getting all hot and sweaty. It’s like his deodorant is overpowered by the rich, dark, woodsy notes that escape from his pores and always find their way right into my nose and then make my panties tingle.

  And my panties have been tingling a lot recently.

  He’s always been the perfect father figure for me, and continues to be, but there’s just something about him recently. Or maybe it’s something about me. When I look at him the word “dad” doesn’t pop into my mind any more. As a matter of fact no words pop into my mind, but a whole lot of feelings do.

  Some of them I understand, and some of them are very confusing. But if I’m honest with myself I know they aren’t confusing. They’re only confusing because of the relationship we already have. Ward and guardian as the state calls it. Father and daughter as we call it.

  But recently I see it more as two lovers dancing around the obvious with neither one wanting to make the first move.

  Maybe it’s a woman’s intuition, but I feel like we both know. It’s inevitable, but neither one wants to put themselves out there. Not because it’s wrong or dirty or anything like that. There’s just some taboo undertone that is so strong it’s stopping us every time one of us gets close.

  And right now I’m very close to sticking this spade straight in the dirt and marching back across the street and doing some really dirty things with him.

  I laugh under my breath as I dig up another weed.

  “Some dirty things, huh Finley?” Like I even know what those things are.

  I mean, yeah, I’m not oblivious. I’ve got the Internet and friends, but that’s no substitute for experience…and I’ve got exactly none of that.

  High school is a time to try lots of things, but I’ve never thought of trying anything with any of the boys my age. Yuck. They’re just so immature and…I don’t know really. Just not men yet I guess. But plenty of men aren’t really men to me either. They’re more like overgrown boys.

  Not him.

  He’s the real deal. He’s responsible. He’s masculine. He’s never juvenile in his behavior or words. And he always treats me with complete honesty and like an adult. It’s been that way since we first met thirteen years ago.

  I really appreciate that he tells me the truth, not what he thinks I want to hear.

  And the truth is that I have no idea how I’m going to get out of here tomorrow without something happening between us.

  I can barely contain myself.

  They say eighteen-year-old boys are horny? They say women peak sexually around thirty or so? Well whenever he’s around I feel like both an eighteen year old boy and the most aggressive cosmo drinking cougar of all time.

  But only for him.

  And that’s what scares me.

  Because as young and naive as I know I might be, I do know this is real. And I also know it’s lasting.

  How could any man compare to the man who stepped in and raised me after my parents died? How is that kind of heroism, selflessness, and courage ever going to be matched?

  It’s not.

  And it’s also one of the many reasons I know we’re a perfect match. Not just now, but forever.

  And that’s as long as I want to be his and him to be mine.

  And when the clock strikes midnight and I’m officially eighteen that’s exactly what I hope happens.

  He’s put me in a position to succeed time and time again. But tonight I’m hoping he puts me in a different kind of position.

  One that will take our relationship to the next level, and complete our fairy tale story…or should I say make it a complete success…for both of us.

  CHAPTER 3

  Finn

  That afternoon

  There’s been a weird vibe over the day so far. We’re talking less than normal and it’s like she’s trying to keep busy to avoid thinking about what happens tomorrow.

  I want time together. I need time together.

  And I knew if I started making chocolate chip cookies she’d quickly join me in the kitchen.

  Chocolate chip cookies had created a special bond between us.

  When I first became her guardian she didn’t say a word for about three days. She would just sit in her room and I was lost as to what I could do to bring her out. I ridiculously thought I’d be able to get through to her.

  I couldn’t.

  I don’t know if my approach was off or if she just wouldn’t let me.

  Then I threw all my ideas out the window and just though, “What would I want if I was a kid right now?”

  I watched some YouTube videos and a few minutes later I was attempting to make chocolate chip cookies.r />
  And a few minutes after that I heard the creak of her door open. I tried not to turn around and look, but eventually curiosity got the best of me. When I turned I saw those beautiful eyes of hers staring out from behind the edge of her door. Her head quickly popped back inside like a gopher’s going into its hole.

  I’d blown my chance, or at least that’s what I thought.

  But a few minutes later I turned to grab some flour and there she was standing in my kitchen.

  “That’s not the way you do it,” she said. And she was right. I had no clue what I was doing, even after watching the video.

  Less than an hour later the cookies were done and we were on the couch eating them with a glass of milk each.