I’ll love this woman until I die. Longer if I can.
“Dad!” My daughter, Olivia, barges into our room. Tessa gasps, freezes and falls forward, shielding her breasts on my chest.
“Tessa! Oh my God! Dad!” Olivia’s mouth drops open as I roll Tessa off and cover her with a blanket. When her boyfriend walks in and sneaks a peek at Tessa’s naked ass, I lose my shit.
“Both of you, out! Wait for me in the kitchen. Now!” I bark at the pair of party crashers and wrap a sheet around my waist. “Now!”
“Dad! What are you doing with Tess! You should be ashamed of yourself!” Olivia stomps out, looking strangely heavier than the last time I saw her.
“I should go.” Tessa peeks from under the blanket. “I can’t believe she’s here. I haven’t checked my messages since yesterday afternoon. This is not the way I wanted her to find out.”
“Don’t you dare leave. She might as well get used to us now. This won’t go away. She can accept us, or she can bitch and moan for the next twenty years.” I kiss her tear-stained cheek.
“What happens in twenty years?” She raises an eyebrow.
“Well, she’ll be forty. Your forties mellow you out.” I laugh and watch her honey eyes go wide.
“What is it?”
“I can’t believe I had sex with a forty-year-old man. How scandalous.” She smiles through tears and rests her head in my lap.
I tug her hair, bring her face to mine and kiss her sassy mouth. “You’re half my age and you could barely keep up.”
She gasps. “I kept up just fine. I’m new to this and I was working with some hefty equipment. I think the State of New York requires a special license to operate that kind of equip... for crying out loud. Olivia is waiting.” She shakes her head and giggles.
I take her beautiful face in my hands and gaze into her warm eyes. “I’m telling her we’re getting married. Are you okay with that?”
Her eyes narrow. “I didn’t hear a proposal, Dr. Young.”
I chuckle. “Sweetheart, you were screaming so loud last night, you would have missed a bomb going off over Long Island Sound. But I asked, and I’ll ask again with a ring once we’re back in the city. I want her to know we’re not fooling around. This is our life. Me and you from now on.”
Her eyes well with tears. “You make it impossible to be sassy with you, mister. Of course, it’s okay. But I have a feeling she’ll play this to her advantage. I won’t betray her confidence, but she’s here for a reason. She has news. News you won’t be thrilled to hear. Remember that when her rant goes over the top.”
I kiss her hand. “I love being a team. I love you, Teresa Franco. I love that sassy mouth. And you better believe I have plans for it once everyone leaves.”
She points to the door. “Just go. I want to speak to her after you. If she’s willing.”
Eighteen
Tessa
“Getting married? You’re marrying my father? Tessa! Have you lost your mind? He’s twice your age. He’s my Dad!” Olivia’s arms flail about in anger as we take a slow walk on the beach to discuss this strange turn of events. I let her vent. She has a right to be shocked. She has every right to consider this a betrayal of our friendship.
But I hope in time, she’ll warm up to it.
To make matters worse, the jig is up. As soon as Calvin confessed our plans to marry, Daniel jumped the gun and ruined her upper hand by announcing their engagement. News of her pregnancy slipped out minutes later. Olivia hates losing her leverage. He’ll get an earful on the way back to Manhattan.
“May I speak?” I interrupt her tantrum.
She frowns as she nods. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I love him, Olivia. I adore him. I fell in love with him the very first time you introduced me. Why do you think I never wanted to be with anyone else? I saved myself for him. For six years, I’ve hoped that one day we’d meet and fall in love.” I sigh and look away. I don’t want to cry in front of her. Pity shouldn’t motivate her forgiveness.
“Did he know?” She snaps, sarcastically.
“Of course, not. He didn’t even recognize me when we met here. Things just happened. I know it’s fast and it looks crazy, but we realized we’re the other half that’s been missing all these years. Now that we’ve found it, we don’t want to live without it.” Saying it out loud makes it real. I know he and I are in this together, but I don’t want to lose my best friend. Straining to hold back a flood of tears, I walk away to give her some space.
“Hey! Where are you going?” She hollers as she chases after me.
I wave her away. “I gotta go home. I’ll come back.”
She gains. “Are you crying? Tessa Franco, are you crying?”
“No!” I wipe my tears and run at full speed.
“You’re crying! Come back here!” She runs after me.
I’m no match for her speed. Olivia was a track star. Cursing my name into the wind, she hurdles a little boy’s sandcastle, flies through the air and tackles me to the ground.
“For Pete’s sake, Olivia! You’re pregnant! Think of the baby.” I land face down and scramble to get away.
“He’ll get older, Tess. Will you still want him when he’s fifty? I don’t want him hurt again. If he loves you as much as he says he does, he won’t live through your loss.” She helps me up.
“Yes, of course. We want children. We want to spend our lives together. This isn’t a crush. I love him. I’m madly in love with him. I’ll love him when he’s sixty and seventy and eighty.” I dust myself off and walk towards my place.
“Ew! Eighty! And he wants babies? How can you do this to me? My baby will be older than his aunt or uncle!” She pushes me forward and I stumble in the sand.
“Oh, shut up. You’ve been bitching for months about your poor, lonely Dad. Now, you don’t have to worry about him anymore. I’ll take care of him.” I wag my eyebrows. “I’ll take excellent care of him.”
“Cut that out! Am I supposed to be okay with my best friend being my stepmom? This feels so weird and gross.” She whines.
“And here I was hoping you’d call me Mommy.” I clench my fists with excitement.
I finally got to use that line.
“You’ve been practicing that line. Haven’t you?” She smirks and walks with me the rest of the way.
I nod. “Longer than I can remember. And I am so sorry. I know this feels creepy, but I really love him. Big love. Forever love. Plus, think on the bright side.”
“What bright side?”
“I’ve got a date for your wedding!” I jump in the air and kiss her cheek.
She exhales with exasperation. “And what about Daniel’s Aunt Jenny? I text her photos of my Dad for the past three days. What the hell do I tell her now?”
I laugh out loud. “That skank is not my problem. Your Dad is mine. M-I-N-E. Mine. And if your Mom sniffs around him again, I will take her down with a swift roundhouse kick to the head. Just like this.” I demonstrate my moves and almost lose my balance.