Hot Neighbor (Hot Billionaire Daddies #8) - Suzanne Hart Page 0,1

turn to face Kim now. A soft smile dances on my lips. I’m laughing at myself. At my stupidity.

“You know, the only reason he was sleeping with me was because he wanted to get inside information on the company. He was using me. I was too young and too new to this game to realize I was a pawn in the race,” I say.

Kim sighs deeply and shakes her head.

“I know this already, Blaire. You’ve told me. How were you supposed to know what his ulterior motives were?” Kim asks.

“I should have trusted my instincts. Men are assholes.”

“Not all men!” Kim exclaims.

“Well, all the men I’ve met are. They can’t handle a woman who is successful and knows what she wants. All they really want to do is pull me down. They can’t deal with my ambition,” I say.

Kim is watching me with gentle eyes, then she comes over and throws her arms around me.

“One day, you will forget about Stephen. You will meet a man who will prove you wrong. You’ll get over him,” she says.

I let her hug me, but those feelings are still coursing through my veins.

“I’m over Stephen. I feel nothing for him except rage. The only reason I still allow myself to think about him is as a reminder to never fall for it again. The last thing I want to do is be weak,” I say and turn and walk out of my bedroom.

1

Trevor

I try to avoid looking at her pictures on my phone. She’s gone. It’s been a year. Nicola, the mother of my child, has been dead for one whole year, and it still feels like I don’t know how to do this. Any of this.

When I first met Nicola, I didn’t think she would play such an important role in my life. We met at the gym. She was pretty. I flirted and then she surprised me by asking me out for a drink.

I rarely kept it in my pants back in those days. Six years ago, I was thirty-one and thought I was invincible. I was supposed to bang her, then forget about her. The usual. We had a fun night together.

Seven weeks later, she showed up at my office. This office. She had all the blood-work results from her doctor. She was pregnant and said it was mine.

I had never been in that situation before. I’m not even sure how I avoided a pregnancy scare for all those years. When I looked into Nicola’s blue eyes, I knew she wasn’t lying. I trusted her. Even though there was no real emotion between us, at least there was trust.

I asked her what she wanted. All I wanted was to be a part of this baby’s life. I came clean. I told her the truth. I didn’t know how to be a father, and I remember the way she laughed at me then. She knew what I was. A lone wolf. A man who had never dreamed of having a family. She said she wanted nothing from me, just wanted me to promise I would always be there for our child. A promise I can easily keep, because I have never loved anything with the ferocity with which I love our baby.

The baby who is not a baby anymore. She is a little girl of five, who never really got to know her mother.

It was supposed to be Nicola’s first real vacation since Anya was born. It was supposed to be my first time looking after her alone. I had tried to be involved in Anya’s life as much as possible before that. I saw her often. I took her out for ice cream or to the park, but she was going to spend the whole week with me while Nicola went to a ski resort with her friends.

A fatal skiing accident. That’s what killed her. Nicola and I were friends, despite the complicated relationship. When they called me, Anya was asleep in her bedroom. I was awake and working as usual. I couldn’t believe it. Nicola was gone. Just like that. Anya would never see her mother again. She was only three. What would I do? I didn’t even know what to tell her.

I am her father, and I didn’t know how to be that.

“Mr. Davenport?” A voice interrupts my swirling thoughts. I didn’t realize I’ve been sitting in my chair, staring at my phone with wild eyes. I have just one picture of Nicola that I avoid looking at.

Erica,