Best Friend's Dad
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.