My Dad's Rival: A Steamy Standalone Instalove Romance Read online

  “I…I don’t understand, Mr. Callaghan.”

  “Please, call me Wyatt,” I tell her.

  She swallows.

  “Well, Wyatt…” She pauses, giving me time to process the way my name sounds coming from her lips. It sends a shudder of pleasure right down my spine, making me want to rip her clothes off right here and now. “I don’t understand what just happened. Have I got the job?”

  “It’s yours,” I growl. “I know potential when I see it, Lucy. I knew when you walked into the room that you were…perfect.” Little does she know that I’m not talking about the job right now.

  A small smile twitches on Lucy’s lips. “Is that business instinct talking?”

  “I guess so,” I say coyly.

  I still can’t tear my eyes away from her. “There’s something about you…I get the feeling you’ve got drive. The way you walked in here, back straight, eyes focussed, that’s the attitude I like in a company employee. And you seem like you’re perfect for the position. I’d be a fool to let you go.”

  I see a faint blush appear on her cheeks and wonder whether she’s feeling the same way

  I am. Does she realize the effect she’s having on me? Does she want to have that effect on me? I hope so. Because now that she’s here, now that she’s locked into this job, I’ll get my shot with her.

  If she feels the same, then I will make her mine forever.

  It’s a lot to process in just a few minutes. I’ve gone from thinking I’ll never find the woman of my dreams to having her sitting right in front of me, ripe for the taking. Instantly I want things that no man should want from a stranger. I want her body in every position possible, the promise of a future with her. To have children with her. It’s not like me to be this irrational.

  But this feeling defies logic.

  We want who we want, and I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. It doesn’t matter that I barely know a thing about her. All that matters is the way my primal instincts kicked in when she walked into the room. The animal inside me knows exactly what I need. The moment she walked into this office, my life changed for good, and I can’t ignore all of the signs.

  I have to have her.

  “Tell me, Lucy,” I practically purr. “What made you come here today? It seems like it was meant to be, right?”

  For a moment, I think I see hesitation cross her face. Like she wants to say something, but she can’t. Her face turns pale for a second.

  “I guess so,” she says, quieter this time. She’s less sure of herself now for some reason. “Well, my…my family encouraged me to interview. I just finished college and I’m looking for my next challenge. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. I know your company inside and out, Mr. Callaghan. I promise you, I can do a better job than any of the other candidates who wanted to interview today.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” I say. I’m obsessed with this woman already. I can’t stop thinking about the way she walked into the room with such confidence. I like that in a woman. And the fact that she has ambitions in business is just another bonus. We’re clearly passionate about the same things, and that’s attractive to me. I’m already picturing the long conversations we’ll have, the time we’ll spend together. She might only be an intern, but I can use that as an excuse to spend more time with her. I can always say that I’m training her, because the truth is, I see a lot of potential in her. Both as my lover and as an employee here.

  “Is there anything you’re hoping to get out of working here, Lucy?” I watch as her eyes drift over my body like she’s checking me out without even realizing it. It makes me grin internally. Maybe being with her isn’t such a long shot.

  “I want to learn everything there is to know,” she says after a moment of hesitation. “And…well, I guess I would like to work closely with you, Mr. Callaghan. I…I could learn a lot from you.”

  I can feel my cock throb with desire. Why does it feel like there’s innuendo laced within everything we say to one another? Implications of something more that I don’t want to ignore…if she’s got sex on the brain, then at least we have that in common. I’ve had interns with similar thoughts before. It wouldn’t be the first time one of them has taken an interest in me. But in this case, I want it too.

  I want her.

  “I’m willing to teach you the ropes,” I tell her, looking her up and down. It’s incredible how easy it is to disguise my true intentions by talking about work. When what I’m really thinking of is her spread out on my bed, her pussy wet and waiting for me to fuck her hard. She doesn’t look like the submissive type, and yet, I know she’d submit to me. I know she’d give her body over to me entirely. And the thought is so hot that I have to stop myself from leaping across the table.

  “Do you usually work so closely with interns?” she asks, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

  I smile. “No. But I think in this instance, I’ll make an exception to the rule. You interest me. I’m looking forward to having you around. Are you happy to start tomorrow?”

  “Yes,” she says a little too quickly. Then she blushes at her eagerness. The confident woman who walked into the room seems to be losing control just a little, giving in to her softer side. I like the way I can disarm her, make her a little nervous around me. It only furthers my suspicion that she’s interested in me.

  “Good. Then I’ll send you off with my receptionist to get you prepared. We start the workday at eight. You can come straight up to my office and I’ll spend the day with you.”

  “Are you sure?” Lucy asks, blinking. “You don’t need to give me special treatment.”

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  She nods and stands up, offering her hand out for me to shake. When our hand's touch, I feel a bolt of electricity shoot up my arm and I feel the animal inside me stir again. God only knows how I’m going to make it until tomorrow without being around her.

  “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow,” Lucy says. Then her eyes widen when she realizes how she’s phrased her words. “I mean, I look forward to working with you.”

  I smile back at her. “And I with you.”

  When she closes the door behind her, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and the tension in my shoulders relaxes.

  It’s going to be torture waiting to see her again.

  I know I will see her tomorrow but that doesn’t mean she won’t be on my mind until then. She’s everything I never knew I needed. And I want her with every fiber of my being. Literally, everything changed the moment she walked in here.

  I will never be the same again.

  I’m already forming plans on how to win her over, making sure we work closely together…very closely. I have no reservation about her, she is the one. But would she really go for an older man like me? I mean, I’m in better shape than I was twenty years ago but there are streaks of gray in my hair that weren't there before. But from the way she was subtly but not too subtly checking me out I’m convinced that she feels the same desire for me that I do for her.

  But she’s still a mystery to me. I want to know what made her hesitate, what she seemed to be holding back from me during the interview. I feel like she came here with intentions. Maybe she saw me in one of the big business magazines and came here to win me over. If that’s her plan, it’s working.

  But it could be something else entirely. I don’t know yet.

  She hasn’t laid all of her cards on the table. But she’ll have to play her hand soon, and when she does, I’ll be ready for her.

  It won’t be long before she’s mine.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Lucy

  I’m glad that dad isn’t around when I get home from the interview, because I’ve never been so flustered in my life. My heart is racing, my thoughts too.

  I can’t stop thinking about the man who I’ve spent my whole life preparing to hate. Because from the second I walked into that office and saw him, my life changed forever.

  He was just so damn sexy.

  I’ve never really found a man I’m attracted to before, but boy am I attracted to him. He has everything…charm, charisma, a smoking body…the full package. And even though my dad prepared me for this, told me that I shouldn’t be lured in by him, I went and did it anyway.

  I head up to my bedroom and lie down. Closing my eyes, I imagine him beside me. His hands roaming all over my body, his lips exploring my lips, my neck, my breasts…

  I shudder in pleasure just at the thought. Before I went to the interview, I was searching for the perfect man, but I never expected that I’d find him there.

  And now I’m in a deep mess.

  The thing is. I could fall for just about anyone and my dad would probably be happy for me. Except for Wyatt. Because this is dad’s biggest rival we’re talking about. The man who has allegedly been stealing from his company for years. The man who he has trained me to hate. So how the hell did I come out of that interview with a brand new job and a heart filled with hope and lust?

  I shake my head to myself. I must be going insane.

  I’m rational enough to know that this is wrong. I shouldn't be thinking this way. I have a job to do, and falling for my new boss has nothing to do with the job description. I need to get information for my dad and relay it back to him, and that’s it. Sure, that means getting close to Wyatt…but not in the way I want to.

  And then there’s the fact that I’m being deceitful. How am I supposed to get to where I want to be with Wyatt if I’m lying to him?

  He has no idea that I’m a spy for his rival company. If he had any clue who I was, he certainly wouldn’t have given me the internship and he never would have agreed to work so closely with me. Because, crazy as this whole thing is, I get the feeling that
he saw something in me too.

  But if I let this carry on, it’ll be built on a lie.

  I can’t admit to him that I only showed up to the interview as a way to trick him into giving me insider information. It would destroy the bond between us. Unless I’m just completely imagining this thing between us, seeing what I want to see because I’m falling hard and fast for the one man on earth that I shouldn’t.

  I put my head in my hands. This whole thing is making my head spin. I had no idea that things were going to go this way, and now that they have, I don’t know what to do. Do I follow my heart to Wyatt? Or do I keep my loyalties to my father, the man who raised me and made me the person I am today?

  I’ve never felt less sure of myself. I’m usually so confident, so in charge of my own emotions that I don’t need to question my actions. But now, I’m stuck right in the middle of the hardest decision of my life.

  I’ve always wanted to love and be loved. In my dreams, I always imagined that when I found the perfect man for me, I’d spot him right away, and when I saw Wyatt, the feeling was instantaneous. It felt like coming home. It just felt right. Like fate had brought us together.

  But it wasn’t fate. It was my meddling dad. He’s always pushed me into the deep end, no matter the consequences. Normally, I wouldn’t mind. Normally, I find a way to muddle through. But this time, it’s a matter of the heart, and I couldn’t be more furious with him.

  If he’d never sent me to that interview, I could have lived in ignorant bliss, not knowing that the man of my dreams is also my dad’s biggest enemy. It feels like a cruel trick of fate or some kind of test to see what kind of a person I really am.

  Am I the kind of daughter who betrays her father for the first man who takes her fancy? Am I really going to risk everything just to pursue this?

  I blush. Because honestly…it feels like the answer is yes. I don’t even know if Wyatt feels the same yet, and I have no idea whether this is something we can make last, but it feels like I owe it to myself to try and find out.

  I’ve wanted this for so long as I’ve known what love is. And as much as I love the world of business, it was my dad who shoved me headfirst into it. He was the one who encouraged me to go to college, to make a career out of it the way that he did. He’s the one who paved my future for me. Now, I want to stray from the path he made for me. But when it comes to love, it’s just something that you can’t involve your dad in.

  But how do I do this?

  Do I just keep all of my secrets close to my chest? Or should I be honest instead, blow my cover, and accept the consequences? Wyatt would feel betrayed and my dad would hate me for this, but maybe the sooner I’m honest, the sooner they can both forgive me.

  But it’s such a risk. I don’t know whether I could survive the blow of losing Wyatt when I’ve only just found him. It sounds insane when I think about it. We may have only just met, but that connection I felt the moment I saw him…it’s unbreakable on my end. It’s something I’ll never be able to let go of.

  I want things that no woman should ever want from a stranger, but I want it all with this man.

  And I can’t stop it.

  I hear my dad open the door downstairs and my heart freezes. What am I going to tell him when he asks about the interview? I haven’t got any of this figured out yet. I need more time to get my head straight. But he’s already coming upstairs.

  I still feel flustered, like I’ve got a permanent blush on my cheeks, an after-effect of my time with Wyatt. What if my dad senses that something is wrong? What if he changes his mind and tells me to quit the internship? Then I won’t ever get a chance to see Wyatt again.

  But there’s no time for more questions because my dad’s here already. He pops his head around my bedroom door, grinning wolfishly.

  “Well? Did you get the internship?” That is the first thing he asks.

  I sit up a little straighter and clear my throat.

  “Yes.”

  He whoops and then rushes over to kiss me on the top of my head. “That’s my girl. I knew you’d be able to do it. How was it? Did you meet the big man himself?”

  “Yeah, I did…he seems…pleasant.”

  He laughs. “Good one. So, was there a lot of competition? Did you beat the others easily?”

  I hesitate. “Well, kind of. Wyatt said he wanted me as soon as I walked into the room.”

  I wait to see if he picks up on any implication there, but he’s so busy celebrating this win that he doesn’t seem to notice the tension in my voice, the nerves on my face, or the way I fidget with my hands. He sighs, shaking his head with a grin on his face.

  “This is brilliant. We’re finally going to be able to take Wyatt Callaghan down for good. And it’s all because I have the best daughter in the world.”

  “Dad…is this the right thing to do? Are you sure about this?” I have to ask.

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” he declares. I sigh. My thoughts exactly, I don’t know exactly what I was expecting. But I’ve never been more sure that I want to pursue something in my life…and what I want to pursue is Wyatt.

  I’ve made up my mind. I need to get closer to Wyatt.

  I have to know whether there’s something there. I’m willing to risk everything for this chance, as they say, there is no risk without a reward or so I think the saying goes. After all, my relationship with my dad is on the line.

  And so is my heart.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Wyatt

  It’s been nearly twenty-four hours. Nearly twenty-four hours without her beside me. My body is rigid with tension, and my cock has been throbbing painfully since I met her.

  Lucy…

  She’s everything that I’ve been waiting for all my life. The reason I held off from settling with any other woman. I knew she’d come along someday.

  The woman of my dreams.

  And boy, did she fill my dreams last night. I imagined taking her body in every single position imaginable. The places on her body that I’d explore with my hands, my lips, my tongue. But when I woke up, there was no relief, because my bed was empty.

  I need to make her mine.

  It doesn’t matter that I barely know a thing about her. It doesn’t matter that she’s at least half my age.

  Forget that she’s my employee and it makes this a taboo fantasy.

  I want her, and I’m going to have her.

  She hasn’t even arrived for her first day soon, and I already know it’s going to be almost impossible to keep my hands off her. Yesterday when we met, my eyes couldn’t tear away from her luscious body. She awoke the animal inside me and it’s been restless ever since, desperate to make its move.

  But I have to do this right. This isn’t just some woman that I want to sleep with, even though my thoughts can’t seem to stray from the things I want to do to her body. This means more than just sex to me. I know this woman is an important part of my future. She’s the woman I want to make babies with. The woman I want to wake up to every day. And because of that, there’s a delicate balance to this I have to let her know I’m interested without scaring her off. I have to make her see that she belongs to me without coming on too strong, too intense, or risk scaring her off.

  So that’s why I plan to ask her out to dinner tonight. I’ll tell her that it’s a business dinner to discuss her future and job prospects…and maybe we can talk about that a little, but my true intention will be to get to know her better. And by the time dinner is over, I’ll know whether or not it’s the right time to make my move on her.

  Maybe I’m moving too fast, but I’ve spent the last forty years waiting for the woman of my dreams to come along. Now that she’s here, I don’t want to waste a single moment. Hell, maybe she’s already taken. But that won’t stop me. I’ll fight tooth and nail for her if I have to. No other man is any match for me.

  If it comes to it, I'll gladly take on any competitor that I come across. I’ll prove to her that I’m the only man worth her time.

  Maybe I’m being overconfident. Perhaps she doesn’t even see me this way. After all, she came to me looking for an internship, not for a lifetime partner. But there was something in the way she looked at me. There was an innocence behind her confident persona, and I think she’s looking for me to cure it. Show her the way.