Don't Call Me Daddy (Once Upon a Daddy #1) - Kelli Callahan Page 0,2
away. It’s a short enough drive to commute, but Sarah decided to get a hotel room not far from where the party is being held.
This is something of a fuck you to the company her father used to work for. He got fired, probably for good reason considering what I know about him, but Sarah swears it wasn’t his fault. She plans to vandalize his old boss’ office while we’re there.
There’s a reason we’re friends. On any other day, Sarah would have been right beside me in that gas station. I might have convinced her to snatch a Monster drink while I tried to walk out with a Red Bull, or she would have come up with something that got us into a lot more trouble. We enjoy being each other’s bad influence.
Now I just have to make sure I fit into my Halloween costume.
It’s not like I can afford a new one before the weekend.
“Ainsley, please tell me you’re not leaving the house in that.” My mother shakes her head in obvious disapproval when she sees my Halloween costume.
“What’s wrong with it?” I shrug and wink at her. “Too sexy for you?”
“Have some respect for yourself.” She sighs. “I can practically see your panties, and what the hell are you supposed to be anyway? A cheerleader? You didn’t even do that in high school.”
“I’m going to be a zombie cheerleader. I just haven’t done my makeup yet.” I smile. “Then again, all of the cheerleaders I knew were already zombies, so maybe I don’t even need makeup…”
“Do whatever you want to do, Ainsley. You never listen to me anyway.” She turns around to the stove and flips a knob; she’s slaving away on another meal I won’t even eat.
I expected her to have more to say about my costume, but I’m not going to argue if I can get out of the house without having to fight with her over it. She did let the reins go quite a bit when I turned eighteen. For some reason I thought I’d be one of those kids who had her mom’s thumb on her until she moved out of the house. Maybe I just wore her down.
There’s no time to dwell on it. I need to meet up with Sarah, and I’m already running late. That’s why I haven’t bothered with my makeup yet.
Sarah and I were originally going to ride together, but she’s planning to go see her grandmother next week, and it’s faster to get there from the city than drive all the way back here. That’s the main reason for the hotel room, although neither of us are eager to risk a DUI on Halloween night. The cops in our town are always out in full force on the holidays—especially at the end of the month when they’re trying to meet their ticket quota.
I’d prefer not to take another ride in the back of a police car if I can avoid it.
I don’t know how many times my mom is going to bail me out…
Chapter Two
Lawson
I don’t know if I should consider it fortunate or unfortunate that I woke up this morning. I certainly put some extra miles on my body last night, but not enough to break it.
That means I have to get up and drag my ass to work. Another day in paradise. Then I get to pray I don’t wake up tomorrow. Maybe the man upstairs will listen this time, but I doubt it. I think he abandoned me just like everyone else in my life.
Five years ago, I had everything going for me. I was married with a wife who loved me, two kids that I thought the world of, and the investment company I started with my best friend, Bram, was finally starting to give us the returns we dreamed of the day we put our first dollar in.
Then everything went to shit.
My son, Hudson, started gambling and got in over his head with a loan shark. I paid his debt, then he got in trouble again, and I made another payment; that kept happening until I had to sell my shares in the company just to keep his head on his shoulders.
Except that wasn’t what was actually going on. Hudson teamed up with the loan shark to extort money from me.
If that wasn’t enough to drive me over the edge, I found out that my best friend—the man I considered to be a brother—was secretly involved with my daughter, Kiana.