Page 1 of Wanted: Unwavering Daddy

Chapter One

JOHN

“Boy, I’m home!” I called out as I searched for Will, hoping he didn’t have his headphones on. I had no idea what he’d planned for this morning, but It wasn’t unusual to come home and find one room or another torn apart in our three-bedroom, two-bath penthouse. He lived to redecorate. Although, recently, I wasn’t sure that was true anymore. At first, I thought maybe he was bored, but lately, I wasn’t so sure it was boredom at all.

I found him in my office, staring transfixed at the larger of the three monitors sitting on my desk with his gold headphones covering either side of his head, which explained why he didn’t hear me. He often used my office when I wasn’t home to browse for new furniture or clothes, but it was yet again, the image of a child’s nursery on the screen that shocked me.

He’d never expressed a desire for children, but this wasn’t the first time he’d been perusing children’s furniture and accessories. I’d also found a magazine opened to a layout of a child’s nursery that was shoved under the couch, and I’d caught him more than once shutting off his cellphone quickly when Iapproached. But not before I’d spied the colors and prints of childhood shining up from the screen.

In our eight years together, Will had never been shy about telling me when he wanted something. He batted his lashes and murmured, Daddy, in that breathless way that still made my knees go weak. Something about this was different, and I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. I’d never given the idea of raising kids much thought, but I wanted Will to be happy, so if he wanted to grow our little family of two, then we would.

Unsure how he’d react to me seeing what he was looking at, I headed back into the kitchen to start lunch preparations while pondering the idea of bringing a child or children into our home. It would be an adjustment, for sure, but I’d get used to the idea. It was the timing that concerned me the most. Will had been urging me to quit my job as a venture capitalist, and I wanted to, more than I’d ever let on. But not if we were expanding our family. We had more than enough money for just the two of us, but I’d want to give any future children a better life than what I’d had. There would be diapers, braces, cars, and college to think about. Plus, Will. If my boy liked reinventing the interior of our home now, I couldn’t imagine him with our child.

Our child. Phew. I’d give him a little more time to approach me on his own, and then I’d have to sit him down for a talk.

“Daddy,” the love of my life squealed, wrapping his arms around my neck from behind and pressing close against my back.

Craning my neck around, I dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Hello, boy. What have you been up to today?”

He groaned dramatically. “I feel like I’ve been waiting a thousand years for you to get home from work. I think you should fuck me for being such a bad Daddy.”

Huffing out a laugh, I set the carrot and peeler down on the cutting board and turned, pulling him tight. “You do, huh?”

He tipped his chin down, fluttering his eyelashes up at me. “I do. It’s only right.”

“What about lunch?”

He waggled his eyebrows. “You can feed me your protein.” He licked his lips. “It’s my favorite after all.”

I did like to give my boy whatever he wanted, so I picked him up, threw him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and smacked one hand on his tight little ass. “Your wish is my command.”

Will squealed as I strode through the penthouse for our bedroom. Normally, I’d make him eat lunch because recurring stomach aches had also become an issue for him lately, but I so rarely took a half-day off, and today it was actually to go meet up with our friend Roland and help him with the planning of his new business, so I wanted to give Will the attention he deserved first.

As I walked down the hall toward our bedroom, I asked, “What do you want, boy? What’re you in the mood for?”

“Well, I’ve been a very bad boy, professor. I didn’t get any of my homework done last night.”

Oh, so my boy really wanted to play. Changing directions, I went into my office, where all the monitors were now black. I guessed he still wasn’t ready to talk about it. That was fine. We had time. I set him on his feet next to the desk, then I sat down in myoffice chair and steepled my fingers. “Where is your homework?” I demanded.

Will immediately pushed out his lower lip, and my little actor’s eyes swam with fresh moisture. “Well, you see, professor, my mom?—”

I smacked one hand down on my desktop. “What’s your name again? I swear you’ve been in here a million times, and I still can’t remember it.”

“W-W-Will,” he stammered.

“Will what?”

“Edwards. Will Edwards.”

I bit back a grin at him using my last name. We’d decided years ago that we didn’t consider marriage necessary. I’d kept my lawyer busy for weeks after we’d first gotten together, making sure that Will would be taken care of in every way possible if anything ever happened to me, but Will tended to use my last name when we played. Which I was more than fine with.

“Okay, Mr. Edwards. This isn’t the first time you’ve wandered into my office after class with excuses. You’re a college student now. Your mommy doesn’t get to write you a note to excuse a missed assignment. It’s your responsibility.”

He blinked furiously, forcing a tear to well up and spill over. I watched it roll down his smooth, pale skin and sighed like I was exasperated. “And do you expect your tears to move me, Mr. Edwards?”

“No, sir. I’ll do better. I swear.”

“You better. Today will be a zero, so?—”

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