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  BEST FRIEND’S DAD

  AN OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE

  _______________________

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 103

  FLORA FERRARI

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series

  Best Friend's Dad

  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

  Epilogue

  Extended Epilogue

  Series

  Newsletter

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2019 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

  Book 55: Doctor Next Door

  Book 56: Possessive Policeman

  Book 57: Coached by the MMA Fighter

  Book 58: Boss’s Babysitter

  Book 59: Virgin in New York

  Book 60: Rock Star’s Baby

  Book 61: Possessive Protector

  Book 62: Possessive Australian

  Book 63: Best Friend’s Brother

  Book 64: Possessive Cowboy

  Book 65: Summer Romanced

  Book 66: Possessive Prince

  Book 67: Lovers’s Enemy

  Book 68: Cop’s Best Friend

  Book 69: Possessive Firefighter

  Book 70: Football Next Door

  Book 71: Doctor December

  Book 72: Possessive Canadian

  Book 73: Blue Collar Billionaire

  Book 74: Possessive K-9 Cop

  Book 75: Possessive Brazilian

  Book 76: Hockey Obsession

  Book 77: Possessive Boston Irish American MMA Fighter

  Book 78: Halloween Next Door

  Book 79: Possessive Russian

  Book 80: Baseball Mine

  Book 81: Cop’s Caribbean Captive

  Book 82: Instalove Island

  Book 83: Dad’s Best Friend

  Book 84: Thanksgiving with Dad’s Boss

  Book 85: Possessive Italian Neighbor

  Book 86: Possessive Portuguese

  Book 87: Possessive Christmas Cop

  Book 88: Russian’s Obsession

  Book 89: Possessive Doctor’s Christmas

  Book 90: Possessive Parisian Pilot

  Book 91: U.K. Boxing Day

  Book 92: Jealous Russian Stalker

  Book 93: Italian Mountain Man

  Book 94: Aggressive Russian

  Book 95: Possessive Valentine

  Book 96: Possessive Hunter

  Book 97: Dad’s Russian Mafia Friend

  Book 98: Russian Teacher

  Book 99: Australian Obsession

  Book 100: Russian Next Door

  Book 101: Dad’s Irish Friend

  Book 102: Nanny for the Russian Mafia

  Book 103: Best Friend’s Dad

  BEST FRIEND’S DAD

  My best friend’s dad makes me an offer I can’t refuse…“Graduate college with honors and come work for me.”

  Four years of excruciatingly hard studying later I show up at the building which bears his name to claim my position with his company.

  But there’s an entirely different kind of position this younger woman is ready to claim for the very first time with this older man.

  I may not have a lick of experience, pun intended, but dammit I read and I’ve got one hell of an imagination…and lucky for him I’m a giver.

  But how can I wow my best friend’s dad from the boardroom to the bedroom without his daughter finding out?

  Especially when all I really want is a houseful of daughters, and sons, with the only man I’ve ever wanted.

  *Best Friend’s Dad is an insta-everything standalone instalove romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

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  CHAPTER 1

  Maya

  My heart slams wildly against my ribcage as I stare up at the top of the building in front of me.

  Austin Enterprises, it says at the top. Not that I can see it from my perspective.

  I’m too close. Too close not only to the building that bears the name of the man I’ve come to see, but also too close to finally realizing the moment I’ve worked four long years for.

  I’d been a middle of the pack student in high school, but something changed the moment I graduated…or should I say the moment he made me that promise at my graduation party.

  “Graduate college with honors and come work for me,” Andrew Austin, my best friend’s dad, said that fateful afternoon.

  Something clicked inside me the moment those words rolled off his tongue. It was as if I passed over the Rubicon and went from clumsy high school girl into one that knew it was time to be a woman. Okay, I still might be clumsy, but at least I hunkered down and graduated with honors…which is why I’m here today.

  And I’d practiced for weeks to make sure my pitch to fulfill my end of the bargain with Mr. Austin was anything but clumsy.

  I practiced every question he could possibly ask. I read each and every corporate filing about his business I could get my hands on. I even stayed up all night last night listening to his most recent conference call with investors.

  I had to listen to it five times just to hear the numbers and the strategy…the direction he wanted to take the business. The first four times, or more if I’m being honest, all I could focus on was that deep voice that sounded like steel dipped in honey. The way his words had my mind spinning and my stomach tightening were such a contrast from the boys I was used to in college. Boys that were still works in progress…still trying to find themselves…still interested in short term things versus building something, like a business, or a family, as Andrew had.

  But after Andrew’s wife went off the deep end and left him to go “find herself” in Bali, all that Andrew had left was his daughter, my best friend Alice.

  And I’d found myself with the opportunity of a lifetime…to work for him and as crazy as it sounds, to get to know him better.

  To win his respect, his trust, a
nd if even one percent of my dreams could come true…his heart.

  That one simple phrase he’d uttered four years ago had inspired me more than any educator, or my absentee father, could have ever dreamed of.

  And that’s what Andrew had always kind of been to me…a father figure. I’d never seen him as anything more than that, until my high school graduation. Until then he’d always just been Alice’s dad. Granted he was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, but when you’re a kid those things don’t really click. At least they didn’t for me.

  Until that one moment, and now my moment was here. It was time to steady myself and take the long elevator ride up to the thirty-seventh floor, the top floor, of the imposing steel and glass building that stood in front of me, and then stand in front of the man who made this building his own.

  I was here to make him my own, even though he didn’t know it yet. Surely he had no idea. But he would.

  I knew him from all those years of being around him. I saw how well he treated Alice, and after studying the business side of him in college, I came to understand just how well he treated everyone in this world.

  There was a reason he was so successful and so well respected. And I wanted nothing more than to win his respect and become successful in his eyes.

  I’d purposely stayed away these last four years to fulfill my end of the promise he’d made me so he’d see that I had been working hard, so he could see how successful I’d become. I wanted him to see how I’d done everything I could to become the best version of myself, even though right now I might not feel my absolute best. I’m practically hyperventilating.

  As much as I didn’t want to put pressure on myself, I knew the only way I could measure success in my own eyes was to put that sparkle in his. I wanted to be his everything, just like he was for me…even though he didn’t know it yet.

  No one knew my secret, no one but me.

  I breathe in deep, my nostrils flaring. There’s even a term for it called nasal wing dilation, I studied body language in preparation for this moment. I want to be able to read him, just like I know he’ll be able to read me. He’s normally very calm and his body language doesn’t give anything away. I want anything, the smallest clue, that lets me know I’ve got a chance. Just an opportunity to get my foot in the door and then I’ll smash that thing wide open and bust in, making the most of my opportunity to come work for him…and more. To win his respect, and his heart.

  I breathe in again, oxygenating in advance of taking action.

  I can’t wait any longer. The time is now. Just like he inspired four long years ago, he’s inspiring me all over again…and this time he’s not even standing in front of me.

  That’s power, and I want to be close to it, to him.

  “Show time,” I say under my breath.

  I plant my left foot and take a big step forward with my right. The sound of my panty hose ripping cuts through the air, but I don’t care. Nothing can stop me. I didn’t come all this way to make excuses now. I’d crawl up to that top floor at this point.

  I’ve got an appointment with destiny, and no way am I going to be late.

  CHAPTER 2

  Andrew

  “What’s this?” I ask as I hit the button to the intercom that’s connected to my personal assistant, Lamia’s, desk.

  “What’s what, sir?”

  “It says I have an appointment in five minutes.”

  “Once second,” Lamia says. I hear her long fingernails move frantically over her keyboard as I keep the button held down so I can get an answer as quickly as possible.

  Today’s a manic Monday already, and I have no idea how this new item appeared on my calendar, suddenly making it more hectic.

  “Apparently your daughter overrode your calendar, sir. There’s a note that says it’s an interview with her friend Maya Middleton. She didn’t enter the item properly into your schedule which is why it just appears blocked out as green, but no text attached.”

  I pause, wondering why my daughter would have entered this into my calendar, and then it quickly hits me.

  I’d promised her friend a job at my company if she graduated college with honors. Was that really four years ago? Where does the time go.

  I reach inside my desk and pull out a picture from the top drawer. It’s my Alice and her entire soccer team after they’d finished their first season. I remember lining up for that picture. I was the assistant coach, and made it to every single game and practice.

  I run my hands over the glass frame, and a smile covers my face. Alice looks like she’s yelling, her entire mouth bright red, no doubt from having just polished off one of her favorite cherry popsicles. She used to eat one after every match, or every day if I’m being honest. Heck, I’d even let her have one five minutes before dinner. I’m such a pushover when it comes to my only child. She gives me one look with those eyes and I can’t say no.

  My own eyes skim the picture, but I don’t have to look far to see her best friend Maya right next to her. Alice has one arm wrapped around her shoulder as her other arm extends toward the camera with a single finger held up. I can’t tell if she’s doing the famous “we’re number one” thing, or reminding the world that they only won one game that entire season. Wow, we stunk. I laugh. But we sure had a great time.

  I can’t help but focus in on Maya. She doesn’t look as happy and as carefree as Alice. There’s something even a bit sad about her, and I know why.

  Her deadbeat dad ran out on her when she was so young and it pushed her mother to OD on heroin. I still couldn’t believe it. I’d read about the opioid crisis in our country, but it was just words on a screen until it hit close to home.

  After that Maya spent a lot of time over at our house. She was a nice kid, and a perfect friend for Alice. Maya was always so respectful, even to the point of being too nice. She never wanted to touch anything in the house or even sit on the furniture, preferring to sit on the floor. I tried to coax her out of it, to make her feel at home in our house, but she never seemed to. Poor kid.

  As much as she struggled with what happened in her life I never struggled with the idea that she was the greatest friend my Alice could ever have. I remember one time when a girl from another team did a slide tackle a little too hard into my girl and immediately Maya was there on top of that other girl beating her to a pulp.

  The school tried to chock it up as anger issues and wanted her to go to counseling. Fortunately, I had the means to keep her name off of any records and out of any kind of therapy. Therapy can be good, no doubt, but I didn’t think she needed it. I may have been wrong, but in my opinion she was just a kid figuring things out. And I’d never fault anyone for being so damn loyal to their best friend.

  The world needs more people like that…a lot more. When you find someone like that you hold onto them tight. That’s exactly what I told Alice and that’s exactly what she did.

  But where did Maya go?

  I mean, I know she went off to college, but it seems like she lost touch with Alice and I. Then again, why would she have a reason to reach out to me?

  I smile, realizing apparently she’s still a big part of Alice’s life if Alice took the time to override my schedule and make an appointment for her best friend, or bestie as the kids say.

  Alice hasn’t overridden my schedule in years. It’s been so long I almost forgot she had the means to do it. I gave her access to my schedule years ago after her mom walked out on us. I wanted my baby to know that she always came first, and that if she ever needed me all she had to do was block out the time and I was there.