Page 49 of Pucking Daddy

“I’m not asking you to fall in love with me,” he says.

“Good, because that would be a hard no.” The audacity of this man. As if I’d just fall at his feet.

Something flickers in his expression, gone as quickly as it came.

“You once said you’d do anything for her,” he continues. “For Lily.”

“Jaxon,” I cut in, stepping back, needing space. “That’s unfair. Let’s just… pause for a second. I need to understand how your brain went from custody battle to marry the nanny in what feels like five minutes.”

“It wasn’t five minutes.”

“Feels like it.”

His mouth presses into a thin line.

“As I said, my lawyer raised the idea,” he says. “Not you specifically. Just… a partner. A stable household. Marriage carries weight.”

“And your brain went—perfect, I’ll just pick the closest available woman?”

“My brain went,” he says, sharper now, “that I’m running out of options.”

And now I see it—real fear, right there beneath the surface.

“I could lose her,” he adds, quieter. “Do you understand that?”

I do.

God help me, I do.

“But this is completely insane.”

“Maybe,” he admits.

I blink. “You… agree this is insane?”

“Yes.”

“…Okay, now I’m even more concerned.”

A ghost of something almost like amusement flickers in his eyes.

“I know how this sounds,” he says. “I do. But it’s not about us. It’s about creating the best possible situation for Lily. And like I said, it could mean complete financial security for you.”

My mind races through objections. This is crazy. Inappropriate. The kind of thing that happens in movies, not real life.

But it could also wipe out Danny’s student debt in one go.

When I left home at eighteen and left him behind in that mess, I promised he could be whatever he wanted. Study whatever he wanted. That he wouldn’t have to worry about money.

I couldn’t really go back on my word when all he wanted was to pursue his Bachelor of Architecture.

“I’m asking you to help me keep my daughter. In return, I’ll make sure you have everything you need to build the life you want.”

And then I think about Lily.

The way she looked at me when I made her happy pancakes. The way this job already feels like the best thing that’s happened to me in years—complications and all.

"I need to think about it," I hear myself say.