Falling for my Baby Mama

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Prologue

Sully

I haven’t heard from my brother or Mick for two days. Tyler texted when they got back to Denver, then went radio silent. It isn’t like them, but then, I have a feeling they worked out their issues while they were up in the mountains.

Another brother paired off. 

I don’t expect the melancholy feeling that hits me, but it makes me rise out of my chair and step out of my office. There in my outer office, Audra Baker has her head bent over her phone. She has her curly red hair down today, and I have to fight the urge to touch it. It’s been like this since I hired her a couple of months ago. 

“You can stand there staring at me, or you can come over here. Either way, I’m not yelling across the office.”

Is that why I can’t get the woman out of my head? She has no fucks to give. She does her job well, but she really doesn’t take any shit off me. 

I do love a strong woman, probably because I was raised by one.

And just like she told me to, I make my way over to her desk.

“Have you heard from them?”

“Yep, I was just texting with Mick.” She looks up at me and smiles. All of a sudden, I feel like I’ve had a punch to my gut. That smile is dangerous, as are her blue-grey eyes. They always seem to sparkle with some kind of inside joke. 

“And?”

“They’ll be here early Monday morning. She said neither of them had anything on the books, which she’s right about.”

I nod. “I’m just glad they’re alive.”

She leans back in her chair, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. Dammit. Now I must fight every urge I have to look at her tits. Audra is well-endowed with the kind of tits that would overflow my hands. 

I have big hands—just for reference. 

“Got any big plans for the weekend, Boss?”

God, when she calls me boss like that, it makes my dick twitch. She draws it out in that soft sultry voice of hers. I always wonder how she would sound saying it while bent over my desk. 

I clear my throat, pushing away that idea right quick. I don’t need to get a boner while standing here in front of her. 

“Work.”

She shakes her head. “You need to do something else other than work.”

I know what she’s saying. Not that I haven’t heard that from my mother at least five times a day and from my siblings any number of times. Even from my father, who is getting ready to step down and let me take over Sullivan Security. 

The office door opens before I can answer her, and my brother Alyx and his fiancé Lizbeth step in. 

“Hey, Sully,” Lizbeth says, letting go of my brother’s hand to rush over to give me a hug. 

Alyx growls in response, and Lizbeth just shakes her head and rolls her eyes. 

“Hey, Audra. How are you doing?” Lizbeth asks, ignoring Alyx.

“Doing well. Trying to convince the boss he needs to do something other than work.”

“That’s a brick wall there, Audra. He’s always been like that,” my annoying brother says. 

“So, what are you two doing here?” I ask. 

“We’ve decided to get married in March,” Alyx announces it wearing one of his rare smiles.

So soon. Damn. I’ll probably be an uncle before long with the way my siblings have all paired off. 

“That’s fast,” Audra remarks.

They both nod. “Work makes it hard,” Lizbeth says. She’s a schoolteacher. “If we don’t do it then, then we have to wait until the summer if we want to take a honeymoon. But we don’t want to wait, and we’re already living together. So, we’re going to do it the weekend spring break starts.”

“It will be tight, though. I mean, finding a place to have it,” Audra says. 

“We’re going for something small, and according to my father, no expense is too great.”

Lizbeth and her estranged father are just now getting to know each other, and I have a feeling he’s using her wedding to try and get on her good side. 

“Hey, can I talk to you?” Alyx asks me. I nod, and we go into my office. He closes the door, which has me wondering what the hell is going on. The look on his face has my stomach tensing. I’ve been worried that since my brothers are all getting married—I’m assuming Tyler will ask Mick sooner rather than later—some of them might leave the family business. It isn’t always easy to work for a security business and maintain a relationship. The long hours and a touch of danger depending on the assignment can make it impossible to build a good foundation. Our parents are an exception, but then, our father was a Marine, and our mother was accustomed to that kind of life.

“What’s up?”

“I was going to wait to ask you, but I wanted to do it before the other two found out about the date.”

“Ask me what?”

“I’d like you to be my best man, Sully.”

Relief fills me first, then it hits me how real this is getting. While Alyx isn’t leaving the company, our family is expanding, and things will change for all of us. 

But the request…I never expected it, and it hits me right in the gut. 

“Yeah,” I say, clearing my throat and wishing away the strange emotion that’s hitting me. “I’d be honored to be your best man.”

He nods. “We were also looking for Mick, and Lizzie was going to ask her to be her maid of honor.”

“Ah, she and Tyler are out today.”

He frowns. “I thought they came back on Wednesday.”

“They did.”

“What the hell are they doing?”

For once, I let our youngest brother Raine’s bad influence control my mouth. “Each other.”

There’s a beat of silence, then the perpetually grumpy Alyx starts laughing. 

“Damn, it’s about time. That was getting really old.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Speaking of old, being the oldest and not paired off…that’s gotta bother you.” 

I shrug and lie to the brother, who I consider my best friend. “Hasn’t, really.”

“Oh, well, we’re off to see Mom and Dad. You’ll be there on Sunday for dinner?”

I nod. “Always.”

Mom had a rule if we were in town: We all had Sunday dinner together. Missing it could really be bad for the person who had the nerve to ignore Mom’s standing order. 

He leaves me with my thoughts, which, as I said, I lied about. I haven’t thought about marriage for years. When I was in the Marines, I was deployed more than I was home, so I rarely had long-term relationships. When I left to start working for my father, I didn’t have the time. 

Now I’m staring at forty and realizing that I might have just left it too long. 

“Hey, Boss, I’m going to head over and pick up sandwiches from that shop we like. Do you want me to grab you something?”

For a long moment, I can’t say anything. As I stare at Audra, a fantasy I’ve had since I hired her flashes through my mind. I want more than anything to get up from my desk and walk over to her, cup her face, and kiss her like my life depended on it. 

But I push that need away, even as my dick throbs and my entire body is urging me to do just as I fantasized. 

“Yeah. Can you get my usual?”

She nods and offers me a big smile. “Be right back.”

And then she’s gone.

I know I can’t cross that line, and even if I was a man who had time for a relationship, Audra Baker is not the woman for me. She’s too good, too sweet, and definitely would expect happily ever after. 

I’m not a man made for family life, and I accepted that a long time ago. No matter how much Audra makes me want to be different.

* * *

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One night of passion teaches Sully that some things are out of your control. 

Being the oldest and most stable of the Sullivans hasn’t always been easy on me. I mean, who really wants to grow up to be the person who has to remind EVERYONE to turn in their expense reports? But I do what I have to to keep Sullivan Security running. Even ignoring my attraction to my executive assistant, Audra Baker.

The woman has smart mouth I want to kiss. But she’s in my employ and I knew when I hired her there would be no touching. Being a responsible adult doesn’t allow for things like that.

But when one of my brothers gets married, we both have a little too much wine at the reception, and end up in bed together. And in the shower. And the couch. Well, just all over that hotel room.

We both agree that we shouldn’t carry on the affair, only, I can’t stop thinking about it. And six weeks later, we find out that vivid memories are not the only thing we created that night.

There is no way I’ll be able to walk away from her, and I’ll do anything to prove it to her, even walk away from Sullivan Security.

Chapter One

Audra

Usually, I hate weddings. I didn’t even enjoy my own that much. Probably because I had nothing to do with the planning, and it screamed money. That’s so not me. 

But there is one thing I do like at weddings. THE CAKE.

If I know there is no cake, I won’t show up. I mean, what the actual hell? Who has a wedding without cake? And yes, I have been to one, and it was horrible. If I am going to listen to you make your vows, there better be some damned cake.

Thankfully, Lizbeth and Alyx have cake. I have a feeling she probably tried to make it herself, but I know that Alyx wouldn’t let her do all the work. And just so you know, I would have shown up to this wedding even without the cake. These two people are so wonderful, I wouldn’t miss their wedding. 

As I stand off to the side, I watch the crowd and enjoy my second piece of cake. Don’t judge. This is the groom’s cake, and it is decadent and sinful. And truth be told, it is about the only decadent and sinful thing I have had in my life for a long time. Maybe ever.

As if to prove me wrong, Fate sends something decadent and unquestionably sinful into my path. 

“Enjoying a bit of cake, Audra?” a deep, male voice asks. He’s so close I can feel his breath on my skin. 

I know that voice. I hear it almost every day of the week, and it follows me into my dreams. The owner stars as my favorite subject in every dirty thought I’ve had over the last four months. 

I sneak a glance at my boss, Sully Sullivan. Of course, he looks spectacular in a tux. The man was built for fine clothes with his broad shoulders and long legs. The dark slate grey suit seems made for him and knowing him, it was. Is he wearing suspenders? Yeah, I’m fascinated with everything about this man, everything he does, wears, and says. I’ve never been obsessed with one of my bosses before this. Being an office manager leaves me working with them for long hours, and most of them were so much older and happily married that it was never an issue. Also, none of them looked like Francis Sullivan. 

I sneak another glance as I pummel into my cake. Am I eating to keep my mind off my attraction for my boss? Yes, yes, I am. I mean, I don’t think any woman in her right mind would blame me. He’s got the hot alpha male looks that women love, especially in their office romances. 

I’m average in height, but I feel tiny next to him. He’s at least six-five, lots of it muscle he gained while he was in the Marines. His dark hair is threaded with just enough grey to make it sexy—including the beard he’s grown. It should make him look older like it does for many men, but for Sully, it makes him sexier. 

His dark eyes never miss a thing.  He’s constantly observing and judging. Sure, I see a bit of humor in them from time to time, but he’s always so damned serious. I guess that’s why I’m always giving him hell. 

“I keep telling you that our meetings would be so much more interesting if you would have cake at them.”

I’ve made that suggestion several times. He ignores me, but I feel it amuses him every time I mention it. Like right now, his dark gaze dances just enough to make me think he finds it amusing, but he doesn’t crack a smile.

“You do, indeed.”

Who talks like that? Well, other than the hot hunk of man standing next to me. It should be stiff and proper, but when it slips out of him, it’s seductive. GAH. 

“I bet you could ask Lizbeth where she got this cake. I’ll set it up for the next meeting.”

Instead of being annoyed—as many of my former bosses were at my humor—Sully gives me one of his rare smiles. “I think we better leave all that sugar out of the office. Can you imagine Raine on sugar every day?”

I chuckle. The youngest brother of the group is always hyper, so sugar would probably not be a good idea.

“Okay, I’ll give you that.” I glance up at Sully and try to suppress the shiver that dances down my spine. Not in a bad way. Well, unless lusting after the boss who sees you only as an employee is bad. Okay, that is probably bad, and it figures that the one man I feel this kind of attraction to is my unattainable boss. 

I force my attention away from him. If I stare at him for too long, I will probably lose the firm control I’ve kept for the last few months. I’m sugared up, and I’ve had more wine tonight than I have for probably over a year. Okay, so two glasses mean I’m a lightweight, but it also means I am a little tipsy. And it’s been a loooong time since I’ve had any romance that did not involve batteries. After my divorce, I tried to date a couple of times, and nothing too serious and absolutely no sex. My love life is a barren wasteland, which pretty much sums up what my love life has always been. 

“Is something wrong?”

I glance over at Sully, and he motions toward my plate. I have apparently mangled my cake. 

“Nope,” I say, giving him a blinding smile and hoping that I don’t have chocolate cake stuck to my teeth.

“Are you sure? You seem…angry with the cake.”

I shake my head. “No.”

He cocks his head to the side, and I know that he’s trying to figure something out. This is what he does when he’s thinking about something and, apparently, that something is me. 

Don’t get me wrong. I would be happy to be the object of his attention, but this is more clinical. Like, he wants to figure out why I might be angry so he can fix it. Sully is a fixer, the oldest brother who takes care of everyone. The only kind of care I want from him involves orgasms. 

Before Sully can ask another question, the DJ calls the groom and his new bride to the floor for their first dance, but for a long second, the two of us don’t pay any attention. Staring at him is dangerous. Like, I might jump his body and climb him like a tree dangerous. I force my gaze to the dance floor to watch the bride and groom dance. 

This was a rushed wedding for no other reason than Alyx wanted his ring on Lizbeth’s finger as soon as possible. They shouldn’t be a match at all. Alyx is typically the grump, with tatted-up arms and a mean growl that probably scares away any rabid dog. Lizbeth spreads sunshine and happiness. 

But somehow, they fit each other. As we watch them dance, my heart sighs. 

“They really are sweet together.”

“She makes him smile.”

I offer Sully a smile, but he’s frowning. “That doesn’t make you happy?”

“No. I mean, yes, it makes me happy. It’s just weird. He’s usually grumpy.”

I laugh because it’s true. The fact that Alyx the grump fell for a kindergarten teacher who sprinkles happiness everywhere she goes is just so sweet. “Yeah. It is, but it’s also nice.”

The couple moves around the dance floor, and it takes me back to my wedding. It started out big, with a splashy wedding covered by every social media outlet in Denver. 

It’s odd to think that we didn’t even last five years. 

“What’s wrong?”

I glance at my boss again and try not to sigh. That beard is going to be the death of me. He is already a pretty man, and the beard adds a roughness to his features, making me want to kiss him. 

“Nothing. Just thinking back to my own wedding.”

His eyebrows lower, and he frowns. Damn, he looks mad and, yes, I find that sexy too. My ex was right. There is something wrong with me. 

“I didn’t know you were married. It wasn’t on your intake form.”

From any other boss, I would feel uncomfortable with that comment. My marital status is not any of their business. But with Sully, it’s like he wants to know everything about everything. He wants to know who is married so he can show respect. He wants to know if there’s going to be a freak snowstorm so he can make sure his brother and new sister-in-law can get out of Denver for their honeymoon. He acts like he needs to take care of everyone in his orbit. 

“Divorced. Three years ago.”

Something close to relief fills his expression, but I have no idea why. For some reason, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I never know what men are thinking. I was married for four years, and I never understood why Ned did some of the things he did. Still, I can live my fantasy of having a man like Sully be interested in me. It would never happen, but hey, a girl has a right to her dreams, right? 

It’s at that moment that I realize I’ve been staring at him like a teenager with a crush, but before I can say anything to end the awkwardness, the DJ breaks in with an announcement.

“Let’s have everyone else join the bride and groom on the floor.”

Sully looks toward the dancefloor. He flexes his jaw. When I follow his line of sight, I see his family pairing off. I understand. Even before my failed marriage, I was the only one not paired off. My brothers all married young. It sucks being the only single one in the family.  Against my better judgment, I set my plate on a nearby table, then do something that I know is probably a huge mistake. I know what it’s like to be the odd sibling out, so I reach out and touch his hand.  

“Let’s go.”

He glances at me. “What?”

“Let’s dance. You can dance, right?”

He nods, his gaze centered on me. It shouldn’t make me feel that special, but it does. 

“Then, let’s go.”

He clears his throat. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

I blink, thinking he’s rejecting me because he’s disgusted by the idea. But then I remember the look in his eyes just a few moments ago. There’s one thing Sully insists on, and that’s office decorum. I find it kind of hilarious because his family is never proper. 

“I promise not to step on your feet,” I say, grabbing his hand and tugging him behind me. Sully is a large man, but he follows along behind me like a little puppy. Why that image came to mind, I have no idea. It just does. I find it so odd that he does what I order him to do half the time. His siblings act like he’s immovable, but I just shove him along, and he does what he needs to do. 

The song playing is a country ballad, some man singing about dying a happy man. I have no idea who it’s by, but it’s just slow enough that Sully will have to hold me in his arms. I know I’m bad, but this is the one time I’ll get to live out my fantasy. 

I turn to face him, and he hesitates, searching my face as if looking for some kind of reaction. I have no idea what that’s about, but I swear, if he leaves me hanging, I’ll make his phone go off every half hour with an alarm with The Thong Song as the ringtone. 

He steps closer, slipping his hand down to my waist and retaking my hand. He starts to two-step, guiding us around the dance floor, expertly turning us at the corner and pressing me closer. 

With him holding me, I can feel his body heat, smell his woodsy cologne. When he shifts me closer on the next turn, he pulls me even closer, so my entire body is pressed up against his. There is no hiding his erection against my hip. 

My brain goes blank as my nipples go hard, my entire body sparkling with need. Francis Sullivan is turned on by dancing with me? He’s one of those guys you know has control over every emotion and feeling. The fact that his cock is hard—and let me just say freaking amazing—means he can’t control himself around me. 

That couldn’t possibly be true, right? I mean, my ex lost interest in less than three years of marriage. And let me just tell you, my ex doesn’t command the room like Sully. He walks in, and women titter and drool. He keeps to himself, and to a lot of women, it’s like crack. They all want to tempt the one man who doesn’t seem to be interested. 

But apparently, at least for right now, he’s turned on by me. 

Sully leans down so that he can whisper in my ear. “That’s why we shouldn’t be doing this.”

Is he saying he’s felt like this before now? I lift my head and look at him. His dark eyes are watching me, his gaze gauging all my reactions. 

I swallow. “That doesn’t bother me.”

His frown turns darker as he turns us again. I should have known Sully would be an excellent dancer. He does everything perfectly, but sometimes, he gets lost in the details, worried that he needs to make everything just right. One thing I learned thanks to my failed marriage is that life is sloppy. 

I gesture with my head for him to bend down. When he’s close enough, I whisper what I’ve thought since I walked into the office that first day for my interview. Thanks to sugar and alcohol, I finally have the nerve. 

“I’d be lying if I say I hadn’t thought about it.”

He shudders. The move is so subtle, I’m sure no one else saw it. But I felt it, over every inch of my skin and deep into my soul. 

“Audra, telling me things like that is a bad idea,” he says, his voice rough with need. “Besides, as tempting as you are, office relationships are not good for office morale.”

“I think it would be good for morale. Especially ours.”

I knew he was out of my league from the moment I met him, but the fantasy was there, shimmering, tempting. I would be lying if I said I never screamed out his name when I used my vibrator. 

“How about this? One night. That’s it.” His eyes flare with barely concealed need. God, this man is going to kill me. “We go back to being coworkers tomorrow, and no one needs to know.”

He turns us again but still says nothing. 

I figure at this point, I might as well take another giant leap. Granted, I won’t beg, but I will offer him a chance…both of us a chance. I know he doesn’t really date, and I haven’t had a date in months either. We can take this break together and enjoy each other.

The song ends, and we end up standing there staring at each other. I need to take this opportunity because I know it’s probably the only one I will ever get with Sully. He’s my fantasy, and I just want not to be lonely tonight.

“Room 828. Ball’s in your court, Sully.”

I turn and walk away. I feel his attention on me, but I ignore it. Or I try my best to. I head over to where most of the family is hanging out and try to forget I just propositioned my boss, and I might possibly be out of a job.

End of Excerpt