Baby Daddy Next Door

Chapter Two

Julia didn’t even bother pretending to hide her excitement.

“Oh my God.”

Ava kept her eyes on the stranger across the room. “What?”

“That man has been looking at you.”

“You said that already.”

“I know. I’m saying it again because you’re taking far too long to appreciate the emergency.”

Ava finally looked at her. “The emergency?”

“Yes. The man is extremely attractive.”

Ava glanced back toward the VIP section.

Unfortunately, Julia wasn’t exaggerating.

The stranger was still there, his attention fixed on her with a calmness that made it impossible to pretend she hadn’t noticed. He wasn’t staring in the crude, uncomfortable way some men did when they saw a woman they liked. There was something almost lazy about his gaze, as though he had all night and had already decided she was worth spending part of it watching.

He was ridiculously handsome.

Jet-black hair. Strong jaw. Broad shoulders beneath his dark shirt. And now that she’d actually looked at him properly, she could see his eyes.

Blue.

Not ordinary blue, either.

Ava couldn’t decide whether they reminded her of the ocean or some expensive shade of paint she could never afford.

She caught herself staring and immediately looked away.

No.

Absolutely not.

She had spent the entire day being humbled by life. She wasn’t about to finish it by throwing herself at the first handsome man who happened to look in her direction.

Besides, men who knew they were attractive were usually arrogant.

It was practically a law.

Handsome men walked around with the confidence of people who had never once been rejected in their lives. They knew women looked at them. They knew women noticed their arms, their jawlines, their stupidly perfect hair. They probably had women fighting over them before breakfast.

Reality check, Ava.

She reached for her glass.

“I’m getting another drink.”

Julia stared at her.

“You’re ignoring him?”

“I’m choosing peace.”

“You’re choosing wine.”

“Same thing.”

Julia rolled her eyes.

Ava took a sip, deliberately refusing to look toward the VIP section again.

For approximately twelve seconds, she managed to keep her eyes on her wine.

Then Julia grabbed her hand.

“Come on. Don’t be so boring.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t be silly. Let’s dance.”

“Julia—”

Before Ava could argue, Julia pulled her toward the dance floor.

The music was louder there, the bass vibrating through the floor and into her chest. Ava surrendered after a minute, letting herself move with the rhythm. She hadn’t realized how badly she needed to forget everything until she finally allowed herself to.

Julia danced beside her, laughing, her brunette hair swinging around her shoulders as they moved through the crowd.

For a few minutes, there was no job.

No failed presentation.

No multimillion-dollar contract.

No CEO sitting behind a desk deciding she was expendable.

Just music.

And Julia.

And the pleasant warmth of alcohol spreading through her.

Then two men approached.

They were both good-looking, but neither was quite on the level of the stranger in the VIP section.

One had sandy-brown hair and a crooked smile.

The other was taller, with dark blond hair. They both had slightly flushed faces that suggested they’d been drinking for a while.

“Hey,” the sandy-haired one said, leaning closer so they could hear him over the music. “I’m Brandon.”

He gestured toward his friend.

“And that’s Bryce.”

Bryce lifted his glass.

“Hi.”

Julia grinned.

“I’m Julia.”

Ava gave them a polite smile. “Ava.”

Brandon nodded toward the dance floor.

“Can we steal you girls for a dance?”

Julia immediately looked at Ava.

Then she wiggled her eyebrows.

Ava knew exactly what that meant.

Go on.

Live a little.

She sighed.

“Fine.”

Julia hooked her arm through Bryce’s and disappeared into the crowd with him before Ava could even protest.

Ava turned back toward Brandon.

“Apparently, I’ve been assigned to you. I’m sorry if my friend came on too strong, haha. She’s very friendly, I promise. Apparently, she just wants me to dance.”

He laughed. Ava did notice, however, that he was looking at her for a lot longer than necessary. She tried to ignore the feeling, chalking it up to the alcohol.

“I can work with that. I actually don’t mind.”

He reached for her hand.

Ava smiled. “Well, let’s dance.”

She was just about to take his hand when someone tapped Brandon on the shoulder.

Brandon turned.

The smile disappeared from his face.

The man from the VIP section stood behind him.

Up close, he was even more intimidating.

He was taller than Ava had expected, broad through the shoulders, with the kind of presence that made the space around him feel suddenly smaller.

His eyes moved briefly from Brandon to Ava before settling back on Brandon.

“Sorry, man,” he said, his voice deep and smooth enough to make Ava’s stomach give an involuntary little flip. “That’s my girl.”

Ava’s eyebrows shot up.

Brandon immediately lifted both hands.

“Oh. Sorry, man. Had no idea.”

He glanced at Ava, gave her an apologetic smile, and stepped away.

Just like that.

Gone.

Ava stared after him.

Then she slowly turned toward the stranger.

“Excuse me?”

He looked at her.

“Relax.”

Ava folded her arms.

“Relax?”

“Yes.”

“You just walked over here and scared off a perfectly harmless man.”

“He wasn’t harmless.”

“And how exactly would you know that?”

“He’s drunk.”

“So?”

“So, he was looking at you like he’d already decided where the night was going.”

Ava blinked.

She looked over toward where Brandon had disappeared.

Then back at him.

“That’s none of your business.”

“No, actually, it isn’t.”

“Then why did you interfere?”

The corner of his mouth curved slightly.

“Because he was drunk, and you are slightly drunk, and that is not a good combination.”

Ava stared at him.

“You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough. I’ve been watching you all night. Also, I saw you drink three glasses of wine over there. You must really hold your liquor.”

Ava ignored the part where he admitted he’d been watching her and focused on the rest of his statement.

“Oh, really? I don’t remember hiring a babysitter.”

He stepped closer.

Not enough to touch her.

Just enough that she had to tilt her head slightly to maintain eye contact.

“You have a very smart mouth, don’t you, mama?”

His gaze briefly dropped to her lips before returning to her eyes.

His eyes were so beautiful, she would rather die than tell this pompous man that.

“It’s called defending myself, but thanks for the concern. No, thanks.”

Ava turned back toward the stage and began dancing on her own.

The stranger moved behind her and leaned closer, whispering in her ear.

“May I do the honor of asking you to dance with me?”

Ava turned around.

“Since you asked nicely.”

They began dancing. Then the music suddenly changed to something slower.

The stranger smiled. “If the DJ insists, he gets what he wants.”

They slipped into a slow-dancing position and began moving together.

“You may not be too bad, after all,” Ava said. “At least you were concerned about me.”

“The irony is that’s what my line of work is.”

“What?”

“I’m a surgeon.”

“Wow, that’s cool!”

The stranger rolled his eyes playfully.

“This night isn’t about me, though. It’s about the pretty girl I’m dancing with.”

“Nice. I see what you did there. Removing yourself from talking about yourself, eh?”

Ava giggled. “I understand you, though. Well, you revealed yourself as a surgeon, so I’ll reveal a bit of mine.”

She paused before continuing.

“I got fired from my workplace today. I flopped a presentation that cost my company a huge contract worth millions.”

He turned her around and bent her down in a playful dance move before bringing her back up.

“You shouldn’t feel too bad,” he said. “People have done worse. Trust me, this is life. You’re still gonna do worse things. It’s a never-ending cycle.”

That made Ava laugh out loud.

“No truer words than these.”

She looked into his eyes.

“Thanks, Mr. Wise Guy.”

They continued dancing in silence until he suddenly pulled her closer.

Ava felt the solid strength of his body against hers.

“Christ, you have a lot of muscles.”

Without thinking, she began caressing his chest and then his biceps. She froze when she realized what she was doing.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”

“I assure you, I don’t mind it one bit. If you do want to see my bare muscles, I can show you.”

He smirked.

“Are you trying to get yourself naked, young man?”

“Maybe. If you’re getting naked with me. Doesn’t sound fair when it’s only me being naked.”

His hands moved to her hips, caressing them slowly.

Ouuu... she liked that.

She liked that very much, especially when his touch brushed against her thighs.

She moved closer until their chests were pressed together and whispered into his ear.

“You’re not playing fair.”

She pulled back and looked into his eyes.

“I don’t play fair if I badly want something,” he replied, maintaining eye contact.

Ava feigned consideration, then sucked lightly on his earlobe.

A low grumble escaped him, sending a rush of heat through her.

“Whoops,” she murmured.

The stranger smiled.

“Nice to see you’re playing not fair, too.”

They both laughed.

He slowly moved his hands from her hips before grabbing her ass.

A moan escaped her.

She bit her lip to keep the sound from coming out again.

“You are damn sexy, you know that?”

His eyes remained fixed on her lips as he molded her ass in his hands.

He continued, “You like that, don’t you? Because I like it too.”

The words turned Ava on even more.

Ava kissed him.

He moaned against her lips, leaving one hand on her ass while the other moved to the back of her head, angling her neck as he kissed her deeper.

They finally broke apart, both breathless.

His eyes were dark with desire.

And in that moment, Ava became certain that she wanted this man to f**k her.

“Let’s finish this kissing in your car.”

As if he understood exactly what she meant, he took her hand and began leading her away.

Then Ava remembered Julie.

“Oh, wait. I came with my best friend. I can’t just leave her here.”

He looked at her.

“You mean the brunette who was with you on the dance floor? She left a while ago with a blonde-haired guy.”

“Oh.”

Ava blinked.

“Yeah. Maybe you should have your own happy ending.”

He winked.

Ava placed her hand in his.

“Lead the way, big guy.”

And they both left the club.