Chapter 5

Gage

James had sent over the contract from the new potential client a week ago, and while I had looked it over five times, the language was trickier than usual, and I was getting a headache. I thought about calling Lauren to set up our date and make sure she was going to look over it for me, and if for some reason she couldn’t, I was going to have to turn it down based on the fact that it was too difficult for me to decipher. I had a feeling that was the point.

My phone rang, and I glanced down to see if it might be Ollie or the staff calling from the house phone. I still hadn’t made up my mind to work at home and didn’t want to get anything going at the moment that would confuse Ollie or give her hope that I’d be around more often. The last thing I needed was for her to pitch a fit every time I had to go into the office.

“Hello?” I waited to hear who was calling, hoping my daughter was behaving herself.

“Mr. Riley, this is Helen. I’m afraid there’s a disciplinary problem with your daughter.” So much for that. Helen and Ollie were still not getting along too great.

“What is it this time, and where is she?” I was hoping she’d be close and I could talk to her. I didn’t want to resort to spankings as my own father had, but I knew I was going to have to take a firm hand with her one way or another. She needed to know who was boss. It sucked that her voice melted me like butter. I still felt like I was making up for lost time.

“Olivia’s upstairs in her room, sir, and I’m afraid she’s not going to come down anytime soon. She’s sulking because she doesn’t like salmon, which you requested for dinner, and with Ava gone, that would leave any cooking to me.”

I hadn’t thought that Ollie might not like what I ordered, but it was Ava’s day off, and I had always had Helen order something per my request.

“What does she want?”

“She wants pizza, sir. But might I remind you that she has had pizza four times this week?” Helen let out a breathy sigh. “I’m also afraid that there isn’t any money left in the grocery account from ordering said pizzas.”

“Could you connect me to her room, please? I’ll take care of this.”

“Sir, might I ask that while you’re at it, you ask her if she’ll clean her room? Her toys are strewn all over the upstairs. The hallway, the bath, and even your bedroom and bed, sir.”

“Yes, Helen. Thank you.” I waited as the call was transferred to Ollie’s room, and finally, her sweet little voice came through the phone.

“Daddy, is it really you?”

“Yes, it really is. Why don’t you want to eat the dinner I requested? It’s one of my favorites, and you should try it.”

She made a sound like she was thinking it over. “I don’t like pink fish, but I’ll take a pink cupcake if you have one.”

“No, but I tell you what. If you will be a good girl and pick up the toys you’ve dragged out, I’ll bring you home that pizza.” I smiled as she cheered and breathed a sigh of relief. I knew I was spoiling her rotten, but I couldn’t help myself. It was so much easier to oblige.

“Okay, Daddy, I’ll pick them all up.” She gave me a little giggle, and before I could say another word, she was making smooching noises into the phone. “Big kisses, Daddy.” Then she hung up the phone.

I laughed and hung up. Hopefully, things would work out before I got home. I needed her and Helen on the same page. I’d have to talk to both of them about it, and I knew it would be better once I was working from home full time. If I decided to do it. I was still debating it.

I decided I’d pack up the contract and gather my things to leave early. Being the boss, it was nice to come and go as I pleased, and I added grabbing a pizza to my to-do list before heading home as I walked to the elevator.

When I got on and pushed the buttons, my phone went off. I was shocked to see Lauren’s name pop up, even though I’d been the one to add her to my contacts. Perhaps she didn’t want to wait for me to call; perhaps she’d gotten in early. I was surprised how my nerves were suddenly on edge when I answered. “Hello? Lauren?”

“Hey, Gage. I’m sorry to bother you, but Noah had given me your number, and he said that you might be the only person who can help me.” Her tone seemed a bit desperate.

“Well, that depends. What do you need help with?” Her voice was as lovely as ever, and it sent a tingle to my cock. I cursed the damned thing and knew better. Noah and I had always held our own, but not even I could take him if he was crossed over his sister.

“My car broke down, actually. I called for a tow, but they said it could be more than an hour, and I’m only about twenty minutes out of town. I know it’s getting bad out, but I hoped you could come and wait with me?”

It was far too dangerous for her to be stranded on the highway in the bad weather. When and if that tow truck showed, something could have already happened to her. “I’m on the way. Text me your location, and I’ll put it in the GPS.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you so much! I’m really worried out here. I’m close to the old truck stop where that couple was murdered.” Even I’d be a bit nervous about being there.

“Lock the doors, and if anyone but me shows, you keep your doors locked and closed, okay?” That was a horrible place to be stranded, and with the weather, the tow truck was probably backed up worse than they thought.

“Will do, and don’t think Noah hasn’t already warned me. He told me to call you right away.”

“Glad I can help. I need to make a call, and I’ll call you back when I’m close. If you have a charger, go ahead and charge your phone.” The elevator opened, and I headed out to my car. The snow was falling pretty good, and I knew I needed to get to her before it got much worse.

“Okay, thanks, Gage.” Her voice had always been so sweet and sincere, but that was just what kind of person Noah’s sister was. I had to keep reminding myself that she was his sister, or else I was liable to let this get out of control. It had been too long for me with all of the Olivia stuff and the accident, not to mention that I’d been so busy with work and hadn’t been anywhere to meet anyone.

I wondered what she’d like to do if I took her out. I planned to ask her about the dinner and the contract once I got her safe and warm.

I dialed home and asked Helen to speak to Olivia. “She’s upstairs cleaning her room, sir. She’s looking forward to the pizza you promised her.”

“Ah, about that. I had a friend call and tell me that they’re stranded, so I’m afraid the pizza isn’t going to happen, at least not until later.”

Helen let out a sigh that grated my last nerve. “That’s why you shouldn’t promise her things for good behavior. Good behavior is its own reward, sir.” I felt bad enough that I couldn’t follow through, the last thing I needed was for her to make me feel worse.

“Will you just put her on the phone, Helen? Please?” I held my breath until I heard the phone click to hold. I wasn’t used to dealing with women as much as men in hard hats, so it was rare that I’d thrown in a “please.”

“Daddy? Did you get my pizza? I like the kind with pepperoni and Colorado bacon.”

“Canadian bacon, baby, but I can’t bring the pizza home. I’ve got to go help a friend who is stuck out in the snow, and once I pick her up and bring her home, it will be too late. You may need to let Helen make you something.” She’d just have to understand.

“No, Daddy. You promised me. I cleaned up the house and everything.” The disappointment in her voice made me feel like a piece of pond scum. But those feelings didn’t change the fact that I had to go help Lauren.

“Thank you, Olivia, but as I said, it will be too late. Be a good girl for Daddy, and ask Helen to make a sandwich, or how about a grilled cheese and some soup?”

The phone was quiet. “Olivia?”

“Fine, Daddy.” Her mother used to say fine when everything wasn’t, and damn if she didn’t sound just like her. I wasn’t a fan of her sass, either, but I knew some of that stubbornness had come from me.

“Thank you, baby. Daddy loves you. Maybe I’ll have time for a story.” I pulled my lips in tight and wished I hadn’t opened my mouth. What if I didn’t have time to do that, either? I’d already made one promise I couldn’t keep. This parenting thing was too new. God knew I didn’t want to be the type of hard-ass my own father had been, and the only other example was Mr. Patrick, who was Noah and Lauren’s father. He’d always been especially hard on Noah and treated Lauren like a little flower.

Ollie hung up the phone without another word, again something her mother would do. Katrina and I had a good relationship at first, but then, just before she’d found out she was pregnant with Ollie, she left me for someone else. I’d taken a paternity test and made sure Olivia was mine, but I couldn’t stand by Katrina for obvious reasons. I was there for her financially, and when she got killed in a car accident, I paid for her burial. I’d done right by her in the end, and I’d continue to do right for our daughter until my dying day.

I hadn’t found much time for a steady relationship since ours, but I had bedded many women before I’d left the country, and a couple after. Since the plane crash, I hadn’t been with anyone, and only because I knew anyone I brought around would be a part of my daughter’s life and not just anyone would do. I needed a good woman; someone who would love me, someone who cared about me and would not only be faithful but be a shining example for my daughter. It seemed that was a tall order.

The closer I got to the rest stop where Lauren was supposed to be, the more I wondered what she’d be like. She was only a few years younger and had been a freshman when I was a senior. She’d been a skinny little girl, all knees and elbows when she was younger, and Noah forgive me, it didn’t take her long to blossom into a knockout with curves in all the right places and hair you wanted to grab hold of and lead her to her knees with.

I had tried not to think those things about her, but it couldn’t be helped, and while I didn’t focus on them too often, I was only human.

It wasn’t as if I didn’t have plenty of other pretty girls vying for my time, but I’d always thought if any one of them might actually care for me, it was probably Lauren with her crush.