Page 39 of Mister Daddy

15

Abby

Imust be in a dream. That’s the only explanation for me walking down the carpeted hallway with Carter by my side, holding my hand protectively within his big one.

“You don’t have to do this,” I whisper again. “This is way too much and I don’t even know what to say.”

He merely shushes me while pulling me along with a determined look in his gaze.

“Don’t speak sweetheart. You deserve this. One thing I’ve never understood is why the girls who deserve it the most think theydon’tdeserve it. By contrast, the girls wholeastdeserve it always want all sorts of knick-knacks and trinkets. It’s confounding and damn perverse, come to think of it.”

I nod, looking at the ground.

“I just never thought it would happen to me,” is my quiet reply. “It’s like a dream come true.”

He pulls me into his arms quickly, looking down into my startled gaze.

“Good,” he growls. “I want to be your Prince Charming, and I want to sweep you off your feet, Abby. I want you to live your happily ever after because that’s what cruises are about. Wish fulfillment and helping you reach that next tier of happiness.”

Tears come to my eyes because there’s no way Carter could possibly know how over the top this is. The old Abby dated guys, sure, but they weren’t exactly generous. The opposite in fact. One of my old boyfriends, Taylor, used to conveniently “forget” his wallet all the time, and he’d ask me to pay for all sorts of things. It wasn’t just a meal here or there, or a movie ticket to the latest blockbuster. He had me paying for things like his entry fee to a season of intramural soccer, as well as his cable and phone bills. It was awful, and I still remember it.

“Please Abby,” he’d whined. “Do this for me, okay? Just this once. My cell phone bill is due in two days and I can’t risk getting it turned off.”

I stared at him with my hands on my hips.

“Just this once? I picked up our tickets to your fraternity’s formal for us last week, and that was a hundred bucks. That’s a lot.”

He looked down at his hands with a pout.

“I know, but I don’t get my paycheck until the end of the month, and you know that. Can’t you just spot me? I swear, I’ll pay it all back, and you know how the phone company is. If you’re late, they start dinging your credit score and I can’t afford that either. It’ll just send me into a death spiral where I won’t be able to get a job when employers see that I have a terrible credit score.”

I squinted at him. I’m pretty sure that the phone company does not in fact report to the three major credit bureaus. Plus, I was pretty sure that a lot of employers don’t check your credit report. Isn’t that against the law? But I was too tired to put up a fight.

“Okay fine,” I said with an air of defeat. “I’ll cover your phone bill this once, but not anymore. And you have to pay me back for everything that you owe me because you know that I’m here on scholarship. I have loans too, you know.”

Immediately, Taylor’s face was all smiles and he was like a golden labradoodle, happy as can be.

“Of course,” he chortled. “As soon as I get my paycheck, I promise. You’ll have that money in no time.”

The problem was that Taylor never paid me back. I don’t even know what he did with the money, actually, but it doesn’t matter. After a few months of dating him I realized I couldn’t go on like this. I could barely manage a student lifestyle on my own, and certainly couldn’t afford to support a second person on my measly part-time job.

So we broke up, but not right away. I’m ashamed to admit it but I wanted Taylor to like me, and I wanted to be seen around campus holding his hand. After all, my so-called boyfriend was from a rich family, and looked like he was descended from the Kennedys. He had thick brown hair, startlingly blue eyes, and an athletic build that spoke of football games at Thanksgiving. For a girl like me from the wrong side of the tracks, it was nice to date a preppy rich boy. But unfortunately, my pocketbook couldn’t take it, and Taylor and I broke up after one too many arguments.

But now, with Carter, things are completely different. The billionaire wants to treat me, and I know he isn’t going to forget his wallet. Heck, he owns this entire ship, so it seems unlikely that he’d have to do anything other than wave his hand and say, “It’s mine.” How did I get so lucky? Another warm wave of happiness rushes through my form and I look up at him as we stop before the jewelry store.

“Thank you, Carter. If I don’t get a chance to say thank you later, I just want to say it in advance now.”

He leans down and presses a gentle kiss to my lips.

“Of course sweetheart. Anything for my best girl.”

With that, he ushers me into the brightly lit space and my mouth drops open with awe. It’s gorgeous inside the jewelry store. The walls are pale cream, with a fluffy pink carpet underfoot. Glass cases line both sides of the room, and gorgeous gems sparkle and twinkle beneath the spotlights.

“Hi, may I help you?” asks a friendly looking older man with bifocals and gray hair. “My name is Truthers. Is there anything you’re looking for specifically?”

Clearly, Truthers doesn’t recognize Carter, but Carter merely smiles at me. I know now that my man actually doesn’t love the mumbo jumbo that comes with being CEO. He’d much rather go unnoticed as one of the crew, rather than fawned over with every need met.

“Hi Truthers,” he says in a low voice. “We’re just looking for something special for this young lady here. Is there anything you’d recommend?”