Page 58 of The Billionaire's Virgin

Chapter Nineteen

Reed

As I walked into the living room, I noticed that the dining table had been set for one. I had had a really late night the previous day, and I had got home at almost three o’clock in the morning. I had peeked into Jenna’s room and found her sleeping peacefully with Nobby, one of her favorite stuffed animals. I had tiptoed into the room, laid a kiss on her forehead, and then tiptoed back out again.

I had gone to my room, hoping to find Taylor in there, but she had fallen asleep in the guestroom. I suspected that she didn’t feel right about sleeping in my bed when I wasn’t there. It was an intensely personal thing to do, and she still wasn’t sure what was appropriate and what was not given the fact that I was her boss.

I had tried hard to blur those lines a little so that Taylor didn’t feel like I was her boss in the traditional sense of the word. But it was hard to do when Jenna was around and we needed to keep things clear and professional. We were always friendly, but there was a level of intimacy that we couldn’t show in front of Jenna. There were little moments when I would grab her hand or brush my fingers against her breasts.

There was something exciting about the fact that we had to sneak around, however. It almost felt like we were teenagers again. I knew that Taylor enjoyed the sneaking around, but she was nervous too. She was always looking towards Jenna, worried she might see something. It amazed me how maternal she had become towards Jenna. Even other people seem to make the same assumption. Everyone naturally assumed that Taylor was Jenna’s mother.

She was just so maternal towards her that sometimes even I found it easy to forget. I had meant to get to bed immediately last night considering it was so late, but I couldn’t do it knowing that Taylor was in the guestroom. So I had walked in, thankful that she had left the door unlocked. She had been sleeping soundly, with her hand under her head and her eyelashes fluttering softly.

I felt myself get hard, but I didn’t want to disturb her. So instead I leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. She stirred slightly in her sleep and responded to the kiss.

“Reed?”

“Sorry,” I had whispered back. “Go back to sleep. I just wanted to kiss you.”

“Kiss away.” She smiled, even though her eyes were closed. “What time is it?”

“Late,” I told her. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Okay,” she had sighed and fallen back to sleep.

I had meant to wake up early so that I could see Jenna and Taylor off, but by the time I woke up, I knew they would have left already. But apparently, they had left breakfast for me. The table was set beautifully. There were croissants that were still warm with cold butter and a delicious looking omelet with crispy chili on top of it for garnish.

There was also a glass and a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice next to my plate. Marveling at how much Taylor could get done in a short space of time while juggling a four-year-old at the same time, I sat down to my breakfast, wishing that both my girls had been there to enjoy it with me.

I caught myself just in time. Had I just referred to Jenna and Taylor as ‘my girls’? Jenna definitely was, but Taylor… we had just started a tentative relationship. It surprised me how fast I had fallen for her and how quickly I was beginning to imagine the future we might have together. It wasn’t very hard to imagine considering it looked a lot like the present… except that we could share it with Jenna, and that made all the difference.

The moment I sat down, I noticed a piece of paper held down under the jug that held the orange juice. I pulled it out to find two separate notes. One was from Jenna, and the other one was from Taylor. I read Jenna’s first. It was written in bright blue ink in her childish handwriting.

“Hope you like your breakfast, Daddy,” Jenna had written, keeping her message simple and heartfelt. I was sure that Taylor had helped her with the spelling. “I love you very much.”

I folded up the letter; it was the first one Jenna had ever written to me and placed it in my shirt pocket. Then I read Taylor’s.

“You were sleeping when I woke up, and you looked so peaceful, so I didn’t want to wake you. Have a great day, and I’ll see you tonight. Love, Taylor.”

She had signed off with ‘love,’ and I wondered if she had just slipped that in unconsciously or if there was a deeper significance there. She wouldn’t just slip the word in… would she? I knew I was probably reading too much into things. After all, my feelings had accelerated to such a level that I sort of hoped that Taylor’s had too. I was starting to realize that I didn’t want to hide from Jenna for very much longer. I wanted to tell her about Taylor and me soon; I just didn’t want to jump the gun.

I put Taylor’s note into my shirt pocket too and then I finished breakfast, washed up, and headed to work. I was heading up when the doorman called out to me. Today, Karl was on duty. He was a balding middle-aged Irishman with an eternal smile.

“Mr. Davis,” he said, waving at me. “Good morning to you.”

“Good morning, Karl,” I replied. “How are you today?”

“Excellent, sir,” he said. “I saw your bright-eyed lass leave this morning with Taylor. The two of them have a real bond.”

“I’ve noticed.” I smiled.

“I have something for you,” Karl told me.

“You do?” I said, frowning.

“It was on the desk when I arrived this morning,” Karl told me. “A letter with your address on it.”

Karl passed me a small white envelope that was sealed tight. The stationary looked impressive, and it immediately piqued my curiosity, but I noticed that the letter was not addressed to anyone in particular.