Page 1 of Daddy’s Accidental Little Helper

CHAPTER ONE

Stephanie

"Hey, Stephanie, I need you to refile these and get more flyers printed off for my open house," demanded Vicky as she dropped the mountain of work on my desk. "Hurry up, will you? Skye will be in any minute now, and the last thing we want is for her to see how badly you've been slacking." I wanted to protest, but I didn't dare.

Vicky had been with the small real estate and property management company ever since the beginning, and the last thing I wanted was for her to use her reputation to destroy mine. It didn't seem fair, but I needed this job. I was so close to saving enough money to pay for my real estate license, and this job was my ticket to getting the experience I needed to get out there and make a name for myself. The last thing I needed was for Vicky to ruin it by lying about the unfair amount of work piling on my desk.

Ever since Skye had started working from home with her new partner, Derek Lanberger, an uptight lawyer with a scandalous reputation, Vicky and Rob had taken every opportunity to make as much money as possible without doing any work. If anyone deserved the commission or the extra bonuses for the work, it was me, but both Vicky and Rob made sure that wasn't the case. They stuck up for each other whenever Skye came back to the office, and it was a miracle that she hadn't fired me after the last mixup.

"Hello, everybody," said Skye as she brushed through the doors and into the office. She stopped when she saw the files piled up on my desk. "What's going on here?" I started to respond when Rob came out of nowhere.

"Stephanie was running late this morning, and she has yet to finish filing everything," he informed her as he shook his head in disappointment. "Vicky and I have been trying to help her catch up, but, thanks to how late she's been all week, we're behind on our call lists as well." I started to open my mouth, but Vicky swept in, nodding in agreement.

"It's true, Skye," she said as she gave me a concerned look. "I don't know what's going on with her, but her bad behavior is getting out of control." Skye turned and looked at me.

"Is this all true?" she asked, and I looked around at each of my coworkers.

Both Vicky and Rob were giving me a warning look, daring me to say anything besides what they had already said, and Skye was watching me, impatiently tapping her fingers against her arm. Part of me wanted to break down and cry because of how upset and helpless I felt, but the other part of me wanted to scream at them about how they were full of shit and tell Skye the truth. Before I had a chance to decide which reaction to go with, Derek walked into the office.

"What's going on?" he asked as he looked around at us all. Skye turned to look at him, and I frowned when, for the briefest moment, she gave him a childish smile.

"Someone around here isn't doing their work, and I have a feeling it isn't who they claim it is," Skye said before turning back towards me. "I want you to go to my office, please, and wait there. I'll be in shortly." I tore my eyes away from the big, strong, intimidating Derek and nodded meekly, fearing the worst.

"Yes, ma'am," I said as I hung my head in defeat before heading into the other room.

As soon as I was in her office, I sat down in the chair across from Skye's desk. It was more of a placebo or a symbolic item anymore, especially since she was never at the office. Everyone half expected her to make Vicky the supervisor, but she had yet to do so, which seemed to anger Vicky even more. As soon as I was alone, Derek came in and closed the door, separating me from the rest of the office.

"Great," I muttered under my breath. "I'm going to get fired because of those two assholes." I stared down at my shoes and shook my head.

It wasn't fair. I was so close to getting my real estate license, and I could have gotten out of here if needed. All I needed was a few hundred dollars, and I could afford it. The fact that I had been so close and was about to lose everything made me so angry tears started streaming down my face before I could even stop them. If only everything had worked out differently.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked a gentle and kind voice, and I turned to look towards the speaker. It was Derek, and my ears burned in embarrassment as I stared at him.

"Yes," I said as I wiped my face, desperately trying to clear away my tears. "It's nothing." Derek was about to respond when Skye entered the room.

Her face was as red as my own, and her green eyes flashed angrily before turning soft as she entered the room. Skye was everything I was not, even if we were the same size: confident, beautiful, commanding. I was meek, plain, and easily overlooked. Even though she was short, her bright eyes and perfect blonde hair helped make her appear even more perfect. My dark brown hair and chocolate eyes made me just another face in the crowd, and that's why I always got passed over in the dating game. Who would want someone like me when people like Skye dominated the world?

"Are you okay?" Skye asked as she sat down at her desk. Her complexion was back to normal, and her eyes were soft like grass, not cold like emeralds. She stared at me intently, and I couldn't help it anymore. I was hurting too much.

"You're going to fire me, aren't you?" I asked, tears welling up once again. She looked startled as she stared at me in disbelief.

"What?" she asked as she watched me. "No, of course not. Why on Earth would you think that?" Derek's phone rang, and he stepped out to answer it, leaving us alone. "Is it because of Vicky and Rob?" Seeing that enough of the truth was out, I didn't see any point in hiding it anymore, so I nodded. Skye rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Stephanie, I just fired them both! Derek had security cameras installed when I started working from home, and we saw how they were treating you. I came in to see if my suspicions were correct, and they threw you under the bus and made you feel like you had to lie. While I'm not proud of you lying to me, I'm not going to hold it against you." I sniffed and wiped my nose.

"You're not?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"Of course not," she said. "I want to offer you a better opportunity."

CHAPTER TWO

Xavier

"It's about damn time!" I snapped when Derek answered the phone. "I was almost afraid that you were going to make me leave you a voicemail." Derek chuckled through the phone.

"Sorry, my friend," he said, and I imagined him shaking his head. "I'm at the office with Skye, and she's dealing with some rebellious employees who tried to blame the secretary for their failures." I smiled a little.

"You need back up?" I asked as I looked out the window of my vehicle. "I can be there in a few minutes. I was just on my way to the office." Derek sighed.

"No, I think she's got everything covered," he said, and I could hear the relief in his voice. "She already sent the two assholes packing, and she's talking to the secretary right now. From what she told me, she's going to make the secretary the supervisor so that she can monitor everything in the office and run back and forth, reporting back to us so that my Little doesn't have to stay at the office all day." I laughed.