New series blurb and first chapter

D E S C R I P T I O N
15 years age gap?
It’s naughty.
It's taboo.
It's scandalous. It's happening.
Noah was my cocky forty-year-old client.
Dark. Enigmatic. Incurably broken… And.... incurably fine.
But, the beast in the perfectly tailored suite turns out to have a soft side.
And he's one h*ll of a devoted father.
I know I know..It’s wrong...
The young and innocent virgin with a big mouth...
And a forty-year single dad with a big ego.
A scandal is the last thing my family needs. And Noah has more enemies than I can count.
But the pink bars on the screen tell me this that little secret...
Won’t stay little for very long.
C H A P T E R 1
N O A H
I n. Out. In. Out.
The heaviness of my breath intensified as I felt a familiar burning sensation in my lungs. I increased my pace, and a delicious sense of heat and pain penetrated my entire body. Like a junkie, my body soaked it in and asked for more.
The end of my run was near, but the energy coiled inside me was nowhere close to extinguished.
A need to punch a hole through something or someone became agonizingly unbearable.
Normally, my morning jog gave me release. It was my coping mechanism. But this morning, I wanted to yell in rage at the world, to make it pay for all the fucked up things that happened.
Why her?
Why couldn’t it be me?
I didn’t have the patience to pretend I gave a fuck about someone else’s morning. She had been better at small talk,
while I hated any resemblance of it. It was never genuine, always a waste of time.
A small flame sat in my belly that I wanted to kindle into a wildfire. I wanted to take out my frustrations in a way that running couldn’t do for me anymore, to fight with claws and teeth bared. My desire to take down a bigger and more formidable enemy nearly consumed my being.
The memories of a loving, happy family were shattered when my wife died of cancer. I was left to raise my daughter on my own and run the business my father left me shortly before losing my life partner. I didn’t know what to do with myself anymore. I wanted to be the best dad and the best CEO I could be. I wanted to be the best in general, but that wasn’t possible.
My sturdy foundation began to crumble, and I was floundering on my own.
I waved to the doorman as I entered front door of my building, cooling down as I rode the elevator up to the top floor. My heart pounded against my rib cage as I took slow, steady breaths. The condo I share with my daughter resided on the top floor of the building and dominated all of it. As I hurried across the entryway to my door, I pulled my sweat- drenched shirt overhead and headed straight to the bathroom. My reflection greeted me as I glanced in the mirror. I paused and rubbed my hand along my jaw.
The beginning of a beard covered my face, and my inky hair stood on its own, disheveled and windswept. I stared and remembered a time when I would have actually cared about my appearance. I used to shave every day and never would have let my hair get so overgrown and messy.
Now I didn’t give a damn. There wasn’t a reason to care anymore. It didn’t matter that I looked like a panther ready to strike, all dark with vibrant green eyes. I had lean muscles that were prepared for a fight at any moment and a beast inside me that wanted to bite.
I didn’t give a fuck if I didn’t look like a proper businessman. I was capable of running a multi-million-dollar company regardless.
As I showered, I let my mind wander. I’d never had any desire to take over my father’s firm. Even when I was younger and thought better of the world, I would have never stepped foot in the building. But it wasn’t up for negotiation. I’d promised my father before he passed away that I would take his place. I had no plan to break my promise. Not to mention, the most important person in my life who depended on me, my daughter, Tess, needed the stable homelife afforded by my steady and generous income.
She was everything I wasn’t, so innocent and good.
After her mother passed, I’d had no idea what I would do. She was more nurturing and capable of handling issues with a gentle hand. In all honesty, I don’t know if I would have made it to where I was today without Carolyn by my side, and when she died, I’d nearly lost my mind.
Tess and I grieved heavily. Hours were lost to tears and remembering my wife’s memory. It wasn’t until I heard Tess sobbing alone in her room that the situation truly hit me. My baby girl, like me, was in pain, and she was letting that pain fester and threaten to explode.
Tess pushed me to be a better person, a better father, and a better human being in general. And her life had never been an easy one. After she was born, she’d developed an infection
that took her hearing. I had been devastated and terrified of what that meant, but Carolyn had taken the massive change in stride. She’d signed us up for sign language courses and eventually we figured it out together.
But now, just as Tess was reaching that critical point in her life where a mother would be needed most, all she had was me. And I was determined not to fail her.
The weeks after Carolyn’s death were filled with research on how to deal with grief. I quickly found that therapy was recommended for those who lost a loved one. I’d never been a fan of therapy; I didn’t like the thought of being vulnerable with a stranger. While I dreaded the thought of seeing a therapist, I knew that it would likely help Tess. I found a highly recommended therapist who was fluent in American Sign Language and was ready to talk with Tess about it when she beat me to the punch.
She was stronger than me. Tess wasn’t even twelve yet, and she knew when to ask for help, a skill I still struggled with.
Papa? Tess approached me while I sat in the living room one evening. She liked to make the sign for Dad with her fingers in the shape that indicated the letter P, her special sign for me. I muted the TV even though it was unnecessary.
Yes, baby? I scooched to the side and motioned for her to join me on the couch. What’s going on?
I- Her lower lip quivered, and she took a deep breath to try and calm herself. Papa, I want to go to therapy. She was hiccupping, beginning to sob, but her signing was clear. There could be no mistaking what she’d said.
My brows shot up toward my hairline. You want to see a therapist?
She nodded silently. Her shoulders were coiled tight as if she expected me to be upset.
Darling. I pulled her into a tight hug, then held her back at arm’s length so she could see me. I had long since adjusted to the fact that I couldn’t speak to my daughter and hug her at the same time. That’s fine. Thank you for coming to me. How long have you been thinking about this?
A week or so...
I’ve actually been looking for a therapist for both of us. I’ll call tomorrow and make appointments for us both.
She pushed me to be better and allow myself to be weak when I needed to be. The animal in me demanded I always protect Tess, but there were things she needed to experience on her own.
I’d become a guiding hand and had seen her flourish in school and at home. It made me want to laugh in the face of those who doubted me. After I saw her transform, I no longer cared what those voices said.
I would do anything for my daughter without a second thought.