Christmas With My Best Friend's Dad Read online

  Was that inappropriate to think? Probably. I tucked those thoughts away. It wouldn’t do to lust after my daughter’s friend like some sort of creep. I just couldn’t help but notice that she was realty blossoming. I hoped that she was as happy and flourishing as she seemed. I was sure that she had a boyfriend, or several that were all drooling over her as they should have.

  “Well, thank you for the sandwiches, Dad! They were really good.”

  The two girls hopped off the stools and put their dishes in the washer.

  “We’re gonna go put our things away and get everything all scheduled. You said you sent me a list of things you had planned?”

  “I did. It’s in your email.”

  Rachelle snorted. “Email. You know that text is a thing, right?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I retorted. “Just tell me what you guys are up to and we’ll plan everything out.”

  The two of them left the kitchen, already talking to each other, but I swore before they left that Stella glanced back over her shoulder, her dark, dark eyes sweeping over my entire body with an expression that I couldn’t quite determine.

  And then they were gone. Leaving me to shake my head and wonder if I needed to maybe start dating again. Clearly my head was not in the right place.

  Stella

  I woke up to loud swearing, the epithets strung together like only an expert could wield. Stelle rolled onto her side and grabbed her phone, realizing that it was already eleven AM.

  Goodness! I had definitely slept in. Usually I had either work or college that would force me to be up and at ‘em by eight in the morning at the latest, but it had been nice to turn off all my alarms.

  Honestly, I probably would have kept right on sleeping if it weren’t for the diatribe going on in the bed across from me.

  Rolling back over the other way, I blearily saw that it was Rachelle having a heated conversation. I wondered who on earth she would talk to in that way until I belatedly her her hiss the word ‘mother’.

  Oh.

  While Rachelle’s mother loved her and wasn’t anything like mine, she was still selfish and temperamental. I mean, she had to be in order to repeatedly cheat on Anthony. And having a selfish, self-obsessed mother sometimes seemed even more troublesome than my situation.

  Eventually my friend hung up and looked to me guiltily, a slight blush to her honey-birch cheeks. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “It’s alright. If I slept until noon I’d be stuck up all night and it’d ruin my sleep schedule entirely.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You do realize this is vacation, right? Ruining your sleep schedule is half the fun.”

  “Yeah and trying to get back onto that for the work week is decidedly not fun.”

  “You really are the life of the party. But…” she took a deep sigh and I could tell that something was up. “Maybe that will work out for the best. I’ve got some bad news.”

  I raised my eyebrow, sensing this was actually important. “My mother decided to get a butt lift, and when she came home for recovery she found out her boytoy left her while she was in the hospital, so she has no one to take care of her. Her sister is flying in, but she won’t make it until Monday at the earliest.”

  I groaned. “So, you have to go and care for her?”

  Somehow, she looked even guiltier, which was silly because none of it was her fault. “I mean… I don’t have to. I know we’ve both been looking forward to this for a while.”

  I definitely had, but in that moment, I very suddenly realized that if she left that I would be completely alone for several days with her father.

  Oh.

  Oh.

  Surely there was nothing I could do about that. Nothing I would do. …right? I mean sure, I had daydreamed about several situation like this, but that didn’t mean that I… but what if…

  A knock sounded at the door and Rachelle called to ‘come in’. Anthony cracked the door, his head peeking in.

  “Is everything alright?” His eyes swept over the both of them, clearly looking for danger. Before she could even really react, his gaze traveled up her small shorts and tank top with no bra. It made me blush vibrantly, suddenly feeling like I was naked, but then Rachelle was explaining everything and taking the attention off of my soft form.

  “Remember that surgery Mom was getting? She got it and her latest boyfriend left her so now she needs me to come help her for a couple days.”

  Anthony frowned, and I really felt for him. It was clear that he loved and adored his daughter and that he didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her because of college, so now his ex was stealing what little time he did have scheduled to be with her.

  It irritated me to no end. I would kill to have a loving parent like Anthony and here Rachelle’s mom was, trying to ruin that.

  I liked to think that my attraction to Anthony had nothing to do with my own absent father however, but I was sure that Freud would have a field day with me. When I had first met him, I had been scared and uncomfortable because parents were scary and uncomfortable. But after a couple of visits my suspicion had waned and I almost began to view him in a positive light.

  Now that didn’t mean that I had him a crush right away. Nah, I didn’t even really have any sort of attraction to anyone until I was at least fourteen. My life was far too stressful and filled with self-loathing to have a crush on anyone.

  It had started subtle. At first, I realized that I really loved his hair. It had been much shorter then, but his locs had been dyed to a russet sort of blond that stood out against his dark skin in a way that just fascinated me down to my core.

  After that it had been his hands. I had asked him for help in making Rachelle something really special for her birthday. We had settled on making a set of steps so she could reach the top shelves in the kitchen. Anthony had cut and built most of the wood, but I had sanded and painted it. I remembered watching his hands as he worked, the muscles and sinews between his finger looking so powerful and masculine. That was probably the moment when I realized that I might have been a little into him.

  “Can you just tell her no?”

  “I mean… I can. But…”

  Anthony sighed. “You’re worried about her.”

  “Yeah.” Rachelle shook her head, letting out a groan. “And I told her not to get the stupid butt lift, but you know how she is. Once she gets an idea in her head, that’s that.”

  “I do indeed know that.”

  “I’m really sorry, Dad.”

  “It’s alright. At least come give me a hug. When do you need to go?”

  “Honestly as soon as I get dressed.”

  The two hugged, rocking back and forth and I felt guilty again. It was probably wrong to lust after my best friend’s father, but I couldn’t help it.

  It had been sixteen when I had my first sex dream about him. It had been awkward and intense, and I remembered waking up with a very strange sensation between my thighs. Soon after, I’d ordered my first vibrator online and the memory of that dream had gotten me through many hormonal teenage nights.

  It had pretty much gone on from there, my crush on him always lingering in my periphery. I had never pursued him because I knew that I was underage and because he wasn’t worth my friendship with Rachelle. But I couldn’t deny that I was drawn to him like a moth to the light.

  The two parted and I was drawn out of my thoughts. “Well, if you have to go, why don’t you wash up and I’ll set up a driver to take you to your mother’s. I’d fly you there, but she’s only a two hour drive and I don’t think they have planes that go that sort of distance.”

  “Yeah, it’s too bad you never bought that private jet that you were eying. It would be convenient.”

  “Honey, I love you, but I don’t think I would let you take a private jet for something that’s only eighty miles away.”

  “You say that now, but I bet I could get you to.”

  “Probably.”

  He laughed, and they shar
ed another hug before Rachelle headed out to the bathroom. That left Anthony and me in the same room and my breath caught.

  Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice and instead sent me a regretful look.

  “I’m sorry that all of of this is happening, but I’m sure me and you can still have a pretty fun time.”

  Oh? Could we?

  “Yeah, I’m sure we can, Mr. Sternlicht.”

  “Please, call me Anthony.”

  “O…okay.”

  “Well, I better get to those travel arrangements.”

  With that he left and closed the door, but my heart was beating a hundred miles a minute.

  Maybe… maybe this was the time that dreams might come true.

  After all, we were all adults now.

  Right?

  Anthony

  I went to my work laptop, setting up an order to the driving service I used the most. Usually I liked to drive myself, but neither my ex or I wanted me anywhere near her place. Besides, it would be rude to leave Stella alone.

  I was a bit disappointed in my ex’s decision to go through with the butt lift. Although our relationship had been ruined in every way possible, I still thought she was beautiful and that she didn’t need to alter her body. But she was obsessed with what she saw in magazines and on the television. Since we’d parted, she’s gotten a face lift, liposuction, started extreme dieting and doing goodness knew what else.

  Not that there was anything wrong with any of those procedures. I supported a woman or man being able to do what they wanted with their body if they were a responsible adult. But it didn’t feel like she was doing these things for herself, but rather because society told her that was how she was expected to look.

  It was sad, but she certainly didn’t want my opinion on it. She knew that I was incredibly attracted to plus sized woman. Thick thighs. Belly rolls. Softness everywhere. It was like hugging an incredibly sexy cloud. Some of me wondered if her body transformation was just to spite me, but I certainly hoped not. Now that we were apart, my opinion of her hopefully didn’t matter at all.

  I finished setting up the arrangements and closed my work laptop. Heading to the kitchen, I’d figure I’d make Rachelle a little travel bag in case she got hungry on the two-hour trip. But before I could even pull out some veggies, my phone rang.

  Expecting one of the shops, I was surprised to see it was Stella’s mother calling me. We hadn’t talked since her daughter was a junior in high school, so I couldn’t imagine what she wanted.

  “Hello?” I answered cautiously.

  “Is my daughter there with you?”

  I was surprised at her vehement tone, but I responded with my normal calmness that I used with annoying customers or partners. “Yes, she is. She has her phone on her if you need to speak with her.”

  “No, I don’t need to speak with her. I wanted to talk to you.”

  “I see. What about?”

  “I just want to know why you think it’s appropriate to have my daughter over at your house for spring break.”

  “Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but your daughter and my daughter are best friends.”

  “Of course, I know that. But I had a whole trip planned with my girl and now it’s ruined because none of you told me about this. What am I going to do about all the money I wasted?”

  Right.

  Of course, that was what this was about.

  For the tiniest moment I thought that maybe Stella’s mom was actually concerned about her daughter. But no, this was just her way to try to wheedle more money from us.

  “What kind of money did you waste?”

  “Trip money!”

  “Uh-huh. What was the trip?”

  There was a beat of silence as she thought. I enjoyed that moment, almost able to hear her thoughts over the line. “Camping!”

  “Oh, camping? I didn’t know that Stella liked camping.”

  “Yeah, well I’m her mother. I would know what she likes.”

  “Indeed, you would.” I smirked to myself. “I didn’t know that camping was that expensive?”

  “Well you’d be wrong. I had to, uh, I had to rent a car. And rent the campsite. You know! And it’s too late to cancel all that! I’m out a good bit of money.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you are. I’ll tell you what, Mrs. Lawrie, I know you’re an incredibly busy woman and I don’t want you to have to deal with this, so why don’t you send me over all your reservation numbers and I’ll make sure to call them for refunds. Anything they won’t refund, I’ll make sure to compensate you for.”

  “Oh, uh… that’s not necessary. I can do it myself.”

  “No, I insist, I really do. Just send me your confirmations and I’ll handle all of it. It’s the least I could do. If I recall right, you have my email still from the girl’s senior trip, right?”

  “Uh… yeah, I do.”

  “Perfect! Send those to me as soon as you can.”

  “…alright.”

  She hung up and I almost laughed gently to myself. She was so easy to circumvent. But the mirth was stolen right from me when I remembered that this was what Stella dealt with all the time. How awful. It made me want to go give the girl a hug.

  I turned, shaking my head, but I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing and the next thing I knew, there was a shattering sound. Looking down, I realized that I had knocked over the coffee pot from the counter and it had broken across the floor.

  “Dammit!” I hissed, looking at the mess. Both the broom and the paper towels and the dish cloths were too far for me to reach.

  Before I could try to leap out of the epicenter of shattered glass, I heard a skittering sound and then Stella was in the kitchen.

  “Are you alright?” she asked, clearly concerned.

  I looked to her, intending to tell her that everything was fine, but then I saw what she was wearing.

  I was used to seeing her in oversized hoodies and t-shirts nearly down to her knees. But now she was dressed in only a burgundy romper that barely covered her round, luscious ass or her cleavage. It seemed like one bounce the wrong way and one of her breasts would just launch itself out of her outfit.

  “Uh, it’s alright. I got it. I-”

  But she was already moving to grab the broom and dust pan. Approaching him carefully with flip flops on her feet for safety, she swept up the mess enough for me to get out and head for a bag.

  I pulled one from a cabinet and turned to her, ready to kneel down and hold the dust pan, but she made a great show of bending over, her romper riding even higher between her cheeks as she went.

  Her pale skin caught the light in the kitchen, each rounded curve of her cheek calling to me to reach out and feel their softness. Naturally I resisted them, but I couldn’t help but stare in shock for a few moments. I felt like I had just randomly wandered onto some sort of porn set and I didn’t know what to make of it. Surely it was all in my head, the just imagination of a forty-year-old man who had gone far too long without getting laid.

  I really needed to start dating if the consequence of focusing on my work was just going to be to pay too much inappropriate attention to my daughter’s best friend.

  Shaking my head, I forced myself to ignore her butt and bend so that she could dump the glass into the bag. It didn’t take us too long to finish up, and when we did, she smiled at me like nothing had happened.

  “There we go. That’s not so bad, is it?” She said with a shrug. That definitely made me feel like all of this was in my head and I was grossly desperate.

  I turned to go to the trashcan and as I did, she went to walk around me, bringing us face to face and closer than we had ever been in our lives.

  She was so much shorter than me, somewhere around five three, so her nose would have been touching my chest if she wasn’t peering up at my face. I could almost feel her heartbeat through the air and for a strange moment I couldn’t breathe.

  Suddenly I was so acutely aware that she was a woman that it was phy
sically painful to me. And yet I couldn’t move away. It was like I was caught in the moment and there was no escape.

  But just as soon as it happened, the moment was over, and I was stepping around her.

  “Uh, I have a few more things I need to work on in my office before Rachelle leaves.”

  “Okay. Sounds good. We’ll have to figure out what you and I are gonna do while she’s gone.”

  “Yeah… we’ll have to do that.”

  I rushed to my office, trying to act normal, but the entire time I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was that all about. If I wasn’t going to be able to control myself around young women, then I was in much worse shape than I had ever thought.

  Stella

  My heart hammered in my chest as I made it upstairs and finished repacking Rachelle’s suitcase.

  I certainly hadn’t been intending to tease Anthony when I had heard the crash. I had been in the middle of deciding what legging I wanted to wear with my breezy romper when it happened, so I had just thrown the thing on and ran down the stairs. But I saw the way his pupils widened when he saw me and to my surprise it wasn’t disgust on his face, but attraction.

  Or at least I thought it was.

  So, when I had gone to clean up, something had come over me, a side that I told myself I didn’t have time for, and I found myself acting like a woman from some sort of soft-core video. I bent over in a way that was completely impractical, but I could just feel his eyes on me as I cleaned up.

  And to be honest, it was utterly electrifying.

  There wasn’t really any other way to say it. It was like all of my naughtiest and dirtiest dreams were coming true all at once and that was just from him looking at me. But I could tell that he was really, truly seeing me as a woman and adult, not just his daughter’s friend, and that thought was intoxicating.

  Now that I was back up in the room, able to breathe and think clearly again, doubt started to creep in. Maybe I was so overtired and overworked that I had misinterpreted the entire situation.

  Ugh. That was annoying. I was replaying the whole scene in my head with a more negative light and now I felt more uncertain than ever.