All Chapters of More Than Just Her Stepfather: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

As we neared the end of dinner, I tried once again to draw Jenny into a conversation, but she seemed completely determined to ignore me, which only added to my frustration. I knew she was angry at me, even though she had no real reason to be. All I wanted to do was talk to her about why she was so upset at me, but I already knew. It was because of Ryan. There was no other reason for her new behavior, especially not after how close we had been the last few days.“Jenny, I was wondering if you wanted to go to a movie with me and Becky tomorrow?” I asked her softly.She stiffened as she put her fork down. “Miss Caroline, can we leave?”I clenched my jaw tightly as Caroline turned her head to look at her. Jenny was really angry with me. Fuck! She really was feeling some type of way about Ryan, and I wish he would see it.“Jenny–”“I thought you were going to stay with me until I had to go back to the orphanage,” Becky said, her voice wavering with unshed tears.Before Jenny could say anyt

After regaling Becky with stories of mine and Raj’s childhood while I did her hair, I took her back into the other room to say goodbye to Naomi, who gave her a hug before making grumpy noises while I pecked her lips, making me want to scrunch up my face in agitation. She had been extra grumpy in the mornings with me lately, and I couldn’t stop the pang of worry that hit me at her attitude. I shook my head to push the conversation I had with Natalie the night before out of my head. I wasn’t going to let myself think about that. I took Becky’s hand, and led her out of the room and into the kitchen, where I immediately drew up short when I saw that Natalie was inside, bent over a trash can. Oh, this was fucking great! What in the hell was she doing in here? I had already told her that when Becky was at the house, she was not to be in the public areas. She looked up at me guiltily as she straightened up.“Daddy Rip, who is that?” Becky asked innocently, making me sigh.I picked her up, se

NaomiI yawned as I climbed into my car. I wanted nothing more than to climb back into bed and sleep for another 12 hours, but I had to get to class. As soon as I pulled out of the driveway, I called Caroline to apologize for my earlier attitude.“Hey, Naomi! Is everything okay?” she asked the moment she answered.“Yes. I just wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier,” I told her, making her laugh.“It’s totally okay, honey! I’m grumpy when people wake me up too! No harm done!”I frowned at my infotainment center when I realized Caroline was driving. “Why aren’t you at the office? Did Rip send you out on an errand again?”“Yes, but this one was important!”“What is he having you do?” I inquired curiously.“Becky has a show and tell today, but didn’t have anything to take, so I’m getting her something,” she informed me, making me groan.“Oh, no! I didn’t know! It’s okay, Caroline. I’ll get her something and take it to her. Do you know what time it starts?”“Yes. At 1 PM.”“Okay,

RipI yanked my shirt over my head, dabbing at the sweat on my forehead. It was 2PM and Jon and I had already been at the construction site for 12 hours, doing everything we could to help bail out his brother-in-law, who just so happened to be our biggest partner. The 6 hours of heavy rain we had gotten the evening before had completely flooded the site, and we were diligently working on saving what we could. After finishing here, I was still going to have to go back to the office and notify the client and see how he wanted to handle this disaster. This was the exact reason that I didn’t allow our clients to choose their own locations without a thorough investigation from us, but this particular client had decided to switch companies during the build, which was also another thing that was frowned on.I hated even more that I had been called away from Naomi in the middle of talking to her about everything. Thinking about the night before was the only way I was making it through the day,

“Daddy, are you okay?” Becky asked worriedly.I nodded as I sat up and pulled her onto my lap to hug her tightly. “Yes, princess, I am. I love hearing you call me Daddy.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Naomi blinking back tears furiously. I reached out to take her hand, linking our fingers together as I smiled at Becky. “Did you eat, little one?”“Not yet! Mama Naomi ordered pizza for us,” she told me. “It hasn’t gotten here yet. She wanted to wait to eat until you woke up. I’m already ready for bed, see?”I looked down at her pink pajamas with Disney princesses all over them. “So I see, princess. What are you and Mommy watching?”“Rip,” Naomi sniffled.I squeezed her fingers before shifting Becky off my lap so I could get up. “I’ll be right back.”I got up to use the bathroom, and by the time I got back, Naomi was gone, but before I could ask where she went, Becky smiled widely at me.“Mama Naomi went to get the pizza. She said she’d be right back.”“Ah. Okay.” I moved over to th