Page 54 of Babydaddy To Go

The bar is a bit more crowded now that it’s late enough for tourists to be drinking after their long days of walking and enjoying my city. Even with her boobs, it’s going to take Samantha a while to get another drink.

“We could ditch her,” David suggests. The thought is tempting, but she left her phone on the table and it would definitely disappear if we did. I’m not enough of a monster to let that happen.

“We’ll just say we’re old and have to get home for bedtime,” I grumble.

David agrees. On the table, Samantha’s phone lights up with a text. A quick glance towards the bar shows that she’s managed to push her way to the front of the small crowd. She’s sufficiently distracted, so she won’t notice if I peek at her phone.

I’m glad I do.

“Alyssa is gone! Success!” the text reads.

I snatch the phone off the sticky bar table and read it again to be sure I’m not just seeing things. Nope, that’s what it says.

Another text comes in. “She just boarded the train.”

What? Alyssa is leaving? And what do these texts mean?

Did Samantha have something to do with what happened between Alyssa and me?

I’m about to rush the bar when Samantha appears beside me. I don’t give her a chance to make any flirty remarks before thrusting the phone in her face.

“What is the meaning of this?” I ask.

“What are you talking about? You went through my phone?”

“Explain why you and this random number are discussing Alyssa,” I shout, unable to control my anger.

David stares on in amazement. If he were anyone else, I’d be worried he’d pull out a camera to film the drama. Thankfully, he wouldn’t do that.

“I don’t know what this is,” Samantha says when she sees the messages. “I’m not involved in this.”

She can’t meet my eyes and her cheeks are flushed. She hasn’t had enough to drink to exhibit these signs, so she must just be lying.

“Tell me what you did!”

Samantha starts to shake when I tower over her.

“Fine!” she cries. “Alyssa didn’t deserve you. I just wanted you to see the kind of person you should really be with. Me!”

I scoff, disgusted. “I wasn’t interested before, and I’m sure as hell not interested now. You destroyed a woman’s life and possibly her career because you thought you had a chance with me? Dream on.”

Maybe it’s harsh, but she deserves it. Without another word to Samantha or David, I sprint out the door to find my driver waiting curbside. I jump in the back and urge him to drive as fast as he can to Alyssa’s apartment. If Samantha deceived me before, maybe the text was a hoax, too. Alyssa may still be in town. I may be able to fix this.

I ask my driver to wait and rush to Alyssa’s door. She doesn’t answer when I knock and there’s no movement inside. Dammit!

A young man enters the building and heads for the stairs. I recognize him as the landlord’s grandson. We met a couple weeks ago when I dropped Alyssa off.

“Excuse me, do you have a key to open this apartment?”

He eyes me wearily.

“Technically, yes, but I can’t open someone’s apartment for you. That’s illegal.”

“Come on, you’ve seen me with the resident.”

The man shrugs.

“True, but for all I know you could be a psycho ex.”