Innocent Getaway (Innocence Series Book 2) (6 page)

Chapter 1

BRUCE

“What am I supposed to do with a seventeen-year-old girl?” I asked, leaning forward, placing my elbows on the desk. “I’ve never even met the girl.” It’s been a long fucking week and now this. I can feel the tension snaking up my spine, which I’m sure will lead to a massive headache that will fuck up my whole day.

“You’re now her legal guardian, so you better figure out what you’re going to do with her,” Jim, a junior associate at the firm informs me. I have the urge to throw him out of my office or just fire his ass, but this isn’t his fault. This was my own doing. I knew Debra, my ex-wife, had a daughter, but I’d never met her in the two years that we were married. Hell, I barely knew Debra outside of a working environment. Sure, we were married, but it wasn’t your typical marriage.

I was racking my brain, trying to remember everyone who attended. The funeral actually looked like a work meeting more than anything. The small group in attendance was made up of people she worked with and a few clients. I don’t know why I didn’t notice that before. No friends or family showed up, only other lawyers from the firm, but it made sense, neither she nor I had lives outside of this office.

Debra’s father, Steven, had passed last year, and he was the only family member I’d ever met of hers. Steven used to be a senior partner at the firm before I took his place. The thought of Debra’s daughter not being at her mother’s funeral never crossed my mind. Debra only talked about her daughter a handful of times in the five years I knew her. I can’t even recall a time when she went to visit her, and I know her daughter never came to our penthouse.

“When will she be arriving?” I ask while pulling up today’s itinerary on my computer. My schedule, as usual, is a mess and completely full.

Ever since making senior partner and taking over Steven’s caseload, I work fifteen-hour days. He’s the reason I’m in this situation now and having to become a guardian. It should’ve been him taking in a seventeen-year-old girl. She’s was his granddaughter, after all. But now that he’s gone, I’m the only one who’s left.

It hasn’t helped that we haven't picked a new lawyer to take Debra’s place at the firm since she died. She’s only been gone six weeks, but someone needs to be hired fast. She carried a giant workload on her own, and even distributing it amongst the staff, it’s more than we can handle on top of our own cases.

I met Debra when I joined the firm fresh out of graduate school. She had already been with them for years. Her father was a senior partner, so it was a no brainer what law firm she wanted to make partner at. I always knew there was no other firm I wanted to work for. I’d only heard great things about the place, it was known to be the best and my own father really pushed me into joining them. He and Steven had gone to college together, but my father went politics, something I had no desire to do.

After I walked in the door, we both made strides to get to the top. She’d already been trying for years but wasn't making much progress. Case after case, we always got paired together. We were both dedicated and worked hard for years, earning our chops and making a name for ourselves. But Debra was constantly passed over for promotions because of her sex and because of her name.

If she was given a promotion it always looked like it was favoritism, so instead the bump would go to me. This frustrated both of us, as we were both friends and colleagues and each giving more than one hundred percent. It’s never fair being a woman in this line of work, and after a few years, we hit a roadblock.

The firm decided to create a new opening for a partner and I was being groomed to take it. I knew that Debra deserved it as much as I did, but I wasn’t sure what to do. Then one day Steven took Debra and me aside and we came up with a plan.

After I moved into my new role as partner, Steven would retire. The kicker was, he would only retire after Debra and I got married. After the license was signed, he would then set his retirement in motion.

Once the ink was dry, and with help from another founding partner, we had the majority vote and were able to secure Debra a spot in the firm as Steven’s replacement. Everybody won. Steven knew his family name was secure in the company, and his daughter wouldn’t have to worry about her future at the firm.

I was a workaholic already and didn’t have a social life outside of work. When I did find myself out for the evening, women were just attracted to the suit and the money. Women made things messy and complicated, and I didn’t need either in my life. Debra and I both had the same motivation and drive, and neither of us had time for love. Our arrangement was the perfect, until Debra suddenly passed away, leaving me to pick up all the pieces of their family. A family that wasn’t even really mine.

“She’ll be here tomorrow. She’s packing up the rest of her stuff from the boarding school today. She graduated last weekend,” Jim says, shaking me from my thoughts.

“I’m just supposed to take in a girl I’ve never met and let her live with me?” I snap, still agitated and taking it out on Jim. What the fuck do I know about raising a young girl, or even making a home for one? I knew nothing about family.

“The girl does have a trust fund.”

“It’s not about the money. Can’t she just stay at the boarding school? She turns eighteen in a week. Legally she won’t need a guardian after that, and I’m sure she can find her own place before she starts college in the fall. She’s going to college right?”

I bring up tomorrow's schedule. Fucking hell, I have a dinner meeting I can’t miss with one of the firm's biggest clients.

“I’m not sure of her plans for college, but as for the next week she’s solely your responsibility. Do with her what you wish.”

My cock jerks at his offhand comment.
Do with her what you wish.
As if she’s mine.

Apparently I need to get laid. I’m getting hard at the idea of owning some young thing that doesn't know what to do with a dick. I rub my eyes and try to think of the last time I had sex.

Debra and I might have been married, but we never shared more than a quick embrace for public events. All I’ve had to get me off over the years is my hand. While we were married, the last thing I needed was some scandal about how our nuptials were a sham or that I was cheating. After her father passed, we talked about getting a divorce, but we never got around to it with our busy schedules.

We never planned for anything in the event of something happening to either of us, and now I’m a widower...and apparently a stepfather.

Well, I guess I’m a stepfather for the next week or so. I can handle her for a week. I can keep busy while she stays in the condo. I’m never there anyway, and how hard can it really be? I’ll look into helping her find a condo to stay at until it’s time for her to start college. I bet there are probably a few units available in my building, and it’s the least I can do. Her mother and I may have not been close, but we did help each other out when needed.

“Fine, I’ll leave a key for her at the front desk for when she arrives, and I’ll have one of the rooms set up for her. Is there anything else I should know? Any problems?”

“I don’t think she’ll give you any problems. Her academic records are spotless with no mention of bad behavior. She volunteered at the library, and it seems that’s where she spent most of her time, from what little info I could gather on her. Hell, I was shocked when I found out Debra had a kid, she never talked about anything but work. But she seems like a good kid. I don’t think she’ll be much of a burden.”

I nod my head in agreement. I knew Debra for years, lived with her, and often forgot she had a daughter. It wasn't until Jim was going over and settling Debra’s estate that we remembered her. It’s probably why she missed the funeral. I don’t think she knew about it.

“Well, I guess that’s settles it.” There’s no point to fighting the issue and look like a fucking asshole. How hard could it be to live with a seventeen-year-old girl for a few weeks?

That next evening….

The house line rings, and I know it’s the doorman calling. They’re the only ones with the number. Thank fuck she’s here before I need to head out for my business dinner. I at least want to show her the place before I have to go, but I thought the doorman would just give her the key. I don’t know the girl, but I don’t want her to be alone when she’s here for the first time. I can make some kind of effort, but I thought she would’ve been here hours ago.

“Frank,” I say, knowing it’s him. He was at the lobby desk when I got home, and he informed me she still hadn’t picked up the key.

“Good evening, Mr. Archer. A Ms. Sullivan is here to see you.” Well shit, I might have welcomed this if Debra’s daughter wasn’t going to be here any minute. Holly Sullivan is the daughter of one of the firm’s biggest clients and was well aware that my marriage was one of convenience. On multiple occasions she let me know she’d love to be in my bed.

I’d toyed with the idea years ago. She was hot and exotic looking with long dark hair and even longer legs. But I always decided against it. Now that I was single, coupled with not feeling a woman's body against mine in years, I was beginning to rethink things. She’d be discreet and the goal is mutual—sex.

“Please send Ms. Sullivan up,” I tell Frank before hanging up, grabbing my suit jacket off the back off my chair, and powering off my computer. I figured Holly would be meeting me at the dinner with her father, but I guess there was a change of plans.

Looking in the mirror, I adjust my tie. Maybe Holly and I could go back to her place after dinner. Fuck, I don’t have any condoms, but I bet she does. Holly is walking sex and just what I need. Maybe I could fuck some of the stress out of my system.

I make my way to the elevator and wait for it to arrive. I own the entire top floor of the building, but I actually might need to look into getting a new place. Debra and I got such a big place to begin with so we had our own space and didn’t get in each other’s way. Now it’s entirely too large for just me.

When the door opens, Holly comes strolling in, swaying her hips right towards me. Her heels click on the marble floor, and I see the doors slide closed behind her. Her long chocolate hair is stacked on top of her head, exposing her bare shoulders. The red dress she’s wearing is pasted to her like a second skin and shows off her long legs. They are made to look even longer because she’s wearing the kind of shoes men like to fuck women in.

“Are you finally going to take me up on my offer? We have ten minutes before we need to head out, and I bet I could make you cum before then,” she says, getting right to the point.

Holly was never one to beat around the bush. She knew I never took her up on her offer out of respect for Debra, but now things have changed. She wraps her arms around my neck, her heels make her so tall she’s almost at eye level. It’s impressive, being as I’m six four.

“Is that so?” I tease, pulling her closer and looking into her dark brown eyes. Her tart perfume fills my lungs, but my body doesn’t seem to react. Maybe it’s been so long since I’ve had sex my cock doesn’t remember what it’s like to have a woman so close. I’m giving him the green light, but he doesn’t even move.

“Yeah,” she whispers against my mouth, but before her lips touch mine the elevator chimes. I pull back from Holly. The elevator doors slide open, revealing something that makes my limp cock finally grow with need. It presses hard against my zipper and I suddenly ache. If that’s little Sophie, I’m totally fucked. I’ve never seen something look so perfect and pure before. She’s perfection. My whole body has come alive like a punch to my system.

“Holly, if you’ll excuse me, I need a minute,” I say, pulling myself away. Before I take a step I turn around and adjust myself because my hard cock is obscene in these pants. Holly gives me a sultry smile and an eyebrow raise, but I don’t explain that this wasn’t her doing. I’d rather her think that than the idea of my getting hard at the sight of my stepdaughter.

Fuck, what is wrong with me? I just looked at Sophie and I was at full attention. Get it together, Bruce.

Taking a few deep breaths, I get my body under control the best I can. I turn back towards the elevator and walk over to where she’s standing. She’s got Debra’s blue eyes and it shocks me that they don’t look stressed or sad. I never realized Debra’s had looked like that until now, as I compare them with Sophie’s bright and happy sapphires. It’s strange how it hits me with just one look. She’s short, at around five three, and has lots of curves, the perfect size to fill my hands. Her body looks like a mature woman’s would, not something you’d expect on a seventeen-year old. She’s wearing jeans and a tank top that does nothing to hide her full breasts. Her long, wavy, blonde hair falls down her back and makes her look like she’s been freshly fucked. Jesus Christ, this girl is a bombshell. My thoughts race, on the one hand I’m fantasizing about what I want to do to that sexy little body, and on the other I’m beating myself up over how I shouldn’t be having these thoughts. Her legs are thick and my mouth waters thinking about how I could sink my teeth into the insides of her thighs. I can feel my heartbeat in my cock, and I try to focus on anything but my forbidden fantasies.

“Please excuse me, I was expecting you earlier,” I say in a clipped tone. I didn’t intend for this to be our first encounter, and it’s a bit embarrassing for her if the blush on her cheeks is any indication. Her skin is so milky and pure; the slightest blush makes her look so innocent. My God, she looks untouched.

My dick throbs at the thought but I immediately dispel it. She’s my responsibility for a week. Just one week. I can do this.

“Let me show you around a bit. I’ve got an engagement tonight and I need to leave.”

She nods her head a little and follows me around the place. She seems shy and quiet, which is fine with me. I have a fleeting thought of someone taking advantage of her innocence, and I realize she’s never been on her own outside of boarding schools. She’s been in France, so coming back to America on top of being out of school must have turned her upside down.

I shake my head to banish my worry. This isn’t my problem. I’m helping her get a new place and then we’re finished. She’s on her own.