Chapter 1

Riley was sitting on a weathered old bench at the edge of the property. The spot was level and slightly uphill from the main grounds of the estate where the party was in full swing. Her back was turned to the festivities and her eyes were cast down, her face half obscured by the long, silky strands of chestnut brown hair dangling in front of her. She looked up briefly to meet her father’s eyes as he approached, but then back down again almost as soon as he made eye contact.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said as he crossed what was probably once a garden and sat on the bench about an arm’s length from her.

“Sorry. I should’ve let you know where I was going, but I didn’t really know myself. I just found this just by accident.”

“It’s nice up here.”

“Yeah.”

“Away from all the people.”

“Yeah. Sorry to keep you away from your friends,” she said quietly.

“They’re not my friends. Just business associates. I guess I spend too much time working to have any real friends,” he told her, realizing how pathetic it probably sounded.

“Okay. They all seem to really like you, though.”

“That’s only because I make them lots of money.”

She was still looking down, as if it were painful to look at him. Her spine was ramrod straight and her shoulders squared off, left bare by the ruffled top of her little black dress. The ruffle made her tits look smaller than they were, although they were proportionately round and thick as her entire body. Her legs were bare, too. They were crossed and mostly exposed by the tight hem as it rode close to her hips.

The ripe curves of her body looked very tightly packed into her dress. The moment Chance had seen her wardrobe choice earlier in the company’s hotel suite, his fascination for his daughter reached a new level. Between her subtle makeup and sexy yet elegant dress, along with her outward veil of calm, she immediately came off as being older than sixteen. It was only after a good, long look at the features of her pretty face that someone might suspect she was still in the midst of her teens.

“It’s okay, Riley. We can go if you want to. I’m sorry if I made you feel pressured to come. I didn’t mean to.”

“You didn’t.”

“Okay, good.”

“I could tell you’d be disappointed if I hadn’t, though.”

Chance thought a moment. “Not disappointed. Something else. I probably wouldn’t have bothered coming without you, but I didn’t want to influence you,” he said.

“It’s okay, I’m fine. Really. I don’t mind staying. I just felt like walking around a while.”

“Sure.” He nodded, looking at her sideways. Sometimes it was like her skin was talking to him, whispering delicate secrets. “I don’t want this to sound bad, but I guess I wanted to show you off,” he finally admitted.

She looked at him without instantly glancing off the way she usually did. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Lots of reasons.”

“You’d be the first.”

“I find that really hard to believe.”

“Why? I mean, I’m not the kind of thing anyone wants to show off.”

“You just don’t see yourself the way other people do. Especially a proud father.”

“Proud? Really?”

“Very,” he said. “More than you can possibly imagine.”

That brought a smile to her supple lips, even if it didn’t last too long. Still looking at him, her expression turned to one of curiosity mixed with a touch of confusion. It was the longest she’d held eye contact with him since he first picked her up at the airport three weeks before. He could tell she was thinking about something, and he gave her all the time she needed.

“There’s something I want to ask you,” she finally said, looking back at the ground. “But I don’t know if I should.”

Chance sighed. “I hope you know you can always ask me anything. Or talk to me about anything.”

“Easy to say.”

“True.”

“How do you see me?” she asked after waiting a short while longer.

Chance made an attempt to organize his thoughts before saying anything, but his mind wouldn’t cooperate.

“I’ll just be perfectly straight with you, whether you think I’m nuts or not,” he said after a pause. “I’ve never seen anything like you. Never anything so beautiful or so ... so ... perfect. You took everything I thought I knew about love and beauty and tossed it in a blender. Just by showing up and saying hello.”

“You’re right,” she said. “You’re nuts.”

She looked down again, but her face was flushed and he could tell her eyes were welling. Chance smiled and let his eyes drift over her legs before looking at the ground like she was. The tightness of her short dress made her thighs look plump, shapely and satin-smooth. He’d meant every word he said. She was beautiful, but she was something more than he could explain. He couldn’t explain those recurring urges to feel how soft and smooth she was, or to taste her fine skin and hear the sound of her sighs.

But he couldn’t very well explain that to her, either. She was his daughter, after all, even if he hadn’t known she existed until a month ago. He had no idea what a father was supposed to do or feel like. He was completely lost, but at the same time he couldn’t imagine life without her.

He had only known Riley’s mother briefly. It was a brief fling for a good time only, and Jill, Riley’s mother, had never contacted Chance to tell him she was pregnant. She’d raised Riley on her own, and never told the girl anything about her father until a couple of months ago. Jill had decided to get married, and was cold as ice in telling her own daughter she wasn’t part of her plan to start a new life.

“I’m sorry if I’m difficult,” she told him. “I guess I’m just not used to someone wanting me around.”

There was a strain of defeat in her tone, and Chance’s heart nearly melted. Yet he felt angry at the same time. He kept calm, though, and put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“I want you forever,” he said. “I only wish you’d been with me all along. I’d make sure you’d never spend a single day wondering how much I love you. And I’m sorry if I’m difficult, too. This is all just as new to me so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. I can definitely love you with everything I’ve got, though. No matter how bad I might screw up otherwise.”

“Works for me ... Dad.”

Chance felt a rush of electricity pass through him. It was the first time she’d called him Dad, and it gave him a feeling he couldn’t begin to describe. What he wasn’t ready for was the way it made his cock flush with heat at the same time. He pulled her a little tighter and kissed her cheek. His lips landed so close to the corner of her mouth he figured it was wrong, but he didn’t care, and she didn’t seem to either. After, she actually rested her head on his shoulder and snuggled in as close as she could. He was looking at those amazing legs of hers again, wishing he could touch them just long enough to see what her skin felt like.

“I thought men were only supposed to show off their wives or girlfriends,” she said. “I didn’t know they did that with their daughters, too.”

“I’m not sure, either,” he said. “But I don’t care. This one does.”

“I’m really nothing special. Why would you even want to show me off?”

“Because you’re mine, first of all. And you are something special. You’re so much more beautiful than you realize. And you’re so smart, everyone here thinks you’re in college.”

They both laughed.

“I wanna hug you really bad right now,” she said. “Can I?”

“Oh my god, babydoll. I’m your father. That means you never have to ask. If you want to, you just do it. Anytime, anywhere.”

Tentatively, as if she were afraid of something going wrong, she put her arms around his body. Chance turned to face her as much as he could from his seat on the bench and put his arms around her in return. She laid her face against his shoulder and they just held each other. After a moment or two, the girl started crying.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” her father asked.

“Nothing. Everything’s perfect. It’s just ... I never got hugged by my father before.”

“Oh baby, you’re gonna have to get used to it now because your father is never gonna let you go.”

“Promise.”

“Forever.”

“Dad? Is it weird that we really hardly even know each other yet, but I feel like I love you more than anyone in the world?”

“Of course not, babydoll. I feel the same way so I guess we can be weird together. Besides, we have a very special bond, you and I.”

“No one ever called me things like that.”

She cried even harder for a moment, and Chance took her face in his hands and wiped away the tears with his thumbs. “I can’t believe how perfect you are,” he said softly as he studied her face. Then, without thinking what he was doing, he kissed her beautiful mouth. It was careful, but it was still a lover’s kiss, and his pulse beat harder when she kissed him back the same way. They held each other even tighter as they kissed, and it wasn’t long before their mouths opened together and their tongues began to explore and twirl together.