Falling For Her Billionaire Baby Daddy

Rachel smacked herself on the forehead with her palm when she pulled up to Zoe's daycare center and found Derek's car parked there. She had completely forgotten that today was his turn to get their child from the center. She'd come up with the rotation pickup and drop-off routine for Zoe because of how awkward it felt for her to do that activity with Derek. Especially when other parents were doing the same as a couple and she didn't want to send out the wrong signals to whoever was watching.

Now here she was running into the same person that she was doing her best to avoid. Well, she could still salvage the gaff, she thought and quickly put her gear on a reverse.

Unfortunately, her escape was stalled when a car horn blasted from behind her, forcing her to stop. A blue station wagon had parked behind her and the woman inside was already unbuckling her seatbelt to get out of the car. "Crap!" Rachel exclaimed in annoyance.

It would take her a painstakingly expert maneuver to squeeze her car out of the parking spot that she has now been boxed into.

"Hello, ma'am," Rachel called out to the woman from the station wagon as she passed.

"Please, I need you to do me a favor. Could you please move your car a bit? I need to get out of this spot right now and your vehicle is way too close to mine for me to get out."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Could you please give me a few seconds? I really need to pick up my son right now, I'm already late for a meeting," said the woman, hurrying away toward the entrance of the daycare center as she spoke. "Ma'am!" Rachel called out in exasperation, but the woman had already disappeared inside. "Damn it!"

"Rachel? What are you doing here?" Asked Derek, coming toward her car window.

He was dressed casually in a white T-shirt, blue distressed jeans, and a pair of white Yeezy trainers. He looked positively delicious as Fiona would say.

"Hi, Derek," she said with exaggerated enthusiasm to hide her embarrassment at being discovered.

"You look good," she blurted out without meaning to.

"Thanks," he said with a grin. "You don't look bad yourself. What are you doing here today? Did you forget today was my turn to pick up Zoe?"

"Actually, I did," she confessed. "But it's ok, you can still take her home. I'll just zoom out of here as soon as the person parked behind me leaves. I'm sure I'll get home before you two."

"Ok. I'll go get her then," he said and walked away, giving Rachel a view of his perfect male butt moving in those jeans.

"Stop it," she said to herself.

She had no business fantasizing about Derek's butt. That's not what she's supposed to be doing at all.

As he approached the entrance of the building, the station wagon woman came out with her son. When she saw Derek, she smiled so widely, showing all of her teeth.

He nodded at her and said hi before going inside. The woman turned around to admire him as he walked into the building.

"Tart," remarked Rachel under her breath, even though she knew the woman couldn't hear from that distance.

"This is insane," she muttered to herself.

Rachel wasn't the jealous type but here she was feeling possessive of a man who wasn't even hers, to begin with. Why was she setting herself up for another disaster?

History has shown that Derek was a man who got involved with women on his own terms. So, that essentially meant that he wasn't the right candidate for her to develop strong feelings for.

She couldn't afford to get involved with him again except she wanted to be heartbroken a second time. Rachel was seriously starting to think about going to that speed dating thing this weekend. Maybe meeting someone to take her attention away from Derek was what she needed now.

When she got home, she got busy in the kitchen by making a bowl of fruit salad for Zoe to snack on before she had lunch. She was glad to see Zoe and Derek coming in through the front door just as she dropped the last piece of apple into the salad bowl.

"Perfect timing!" She said. "Hi, darling. Come hug your mommy."

Zoe ran into her arms squealing with joy. "Mommy!" She screamed happily.

"That's my girl," said Rachel, embracing her daughter tightly. "How did daycare go today?"

"Yay," said Zoe. "Wed!"

"Do you mean red, darling? I like the color red too. Now let's go over to the kitchen sink and wash your cute little hands, and then you can have some fruit salad." "Mm," said Zoe, following her mother into the kitchen.

"Thanks, Derek," Rachel said, realizing that she had completely ignored him while she welcomed her child home.

"Sure," he said and dropped Zoe's school bag and lunch box on the couch. "I'll be on my way out now."

"No, Mommy. Stay!" Zoe yelled and ran out of the kitchen to where Derek stood. She grabbed one of his legs, holding onto it tightly. "Bye, Mommy. Bye."

Derek glanced at Rachel with a questioning look, waiting for her response to their daughter's request.

"Of course, your Daddy can stay for lunch," Rachel said quickly. "Right, Derek?"

"Sure," Derek said, following her cue. "Come on, Zoe. Let's go do justice to that fruit salad. I'll race you to the kitchen."

Father and daughter ran into the kitchen, laughing excitedly. They descended on the bowl of fruits with so much gusto that even Rachel was tempted to join them.

Zoe was the happiest of the three as she laughed delightedly, watching her parents compete for the title of the fastest fruit eater.

"Ok, that was fun," said Derek when the salad bowl was finally empty. "We should do that again."

"Nacks," Zoe announced.

"Zoe! You just finished eating a bunch of fruits," Rachel reminded her. "Let that settle in your stomach first before you get a snack, ok?"

"Okie," said Zoe with a grin.

Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you're on Ne5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now!

"Oh, that's a new one," Rachel commented. "Who did you learn that from?"

Zoe ignored the question and fiddled with one of her tiny pigtails instead.

"OK, guys. Why don't you two go chill in the den while I get lunch ready?" Rachel suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea," said Derek with a playful wink directed at her, before leading Zoe to the den.

It wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but that little wink made Rachel's heart do a flip. She shook her head as if to clear her mind of the silly thought that was slowly brewing there.

Whether she was ready to admit it or not, she could see now that she was becoming attracted to Derek. Fiona's words were coming back to haunt her.

Would it be so wrong if she gave Derek a second chance in her life? For someone who initially hated the idea of being a father, he was certainly doing a fabulous job at it. So perhaps he could also be a great partner, no?

Rachel couldn't believe that she was indeed contemplating the idea of becoming romantically involved with Derek again. If someone had even remotely suggested it to her back when she was pregnant with Zoe, she would have cursed them with the vilest words known in the human vocabulary.

But here she was making that same suggestion to herself. She sighed and did her best to focus on the task she was dealing with in the kitchen.

Maybe she was hesitating to explore that possibility with Derek because he hadn't made any moves on her yet. She didn't know if he still found her attractive or if he only saw her as Zoe's mother.

What if he wasn't single? What if he had a woman stashed away in New York or wherever else was his domain?

A man who was that attractive and rich wouldn't have a shortage of female admirers who were ready to show up at his doorstep when he called for them. So it would be laughable to assume that he was indeed single and unattached.

As Rachel began to set the table, a clever thought occurred to her. There were smart ways to find out the answers she needed without asking directly, so she would do just that and see where that led. "Lunch is ready!" She called out and both Zoe and Derek got on their feet and ran into the kitchen without a moment's hesitation.

Sitting at the table and eating together with the two of them made Rachel happier than she could have ever imagined, and a part of her wished that this could be a normal part of her life someday.