CHAPTER 1

RAMSEY

"Uptown funk" by Bruno Mars which happens to be my ringtone woke me up in the early hours of the morning.

I reached for my phone on the bedside table and picked up.

There were some calls I could ignore but when it comes to James, I couldn't ignore anything about him,he wasn't just my best friend,I regarded him as family.

"Yo! What's up?"

"I'm driving over to your place with Mel"

I sat up. "Why?"

"I'm leaving today on my business trip, remember.My flight leaves by 10:pm."He reminded my sleepy brain.

He had informed me before that he was going on a business trip,he would be in Korea for a month and he needed someone to look after his eighteen years old daughter.

He had been weighing his options, saying it would be me or her Aunt.

I had greatly wanted it to be her Aunt, Sarah.

I didn't want Mel in my house.

"What about Sarah?"I asked.

"Her shifts at the hospital wouldn't make it possible for her to watch over Mel at night"

I sighed.

Normal eighteen years old could take care of themselves when provided with the basic things they needed but James doesn't want to leave his daughter all by herself because of something terrifying that had happened to them.

She had graduated from high school and I wonder if he would even let her go to college.

"Ramsey, please don't let me down.Just let her stay with you for a month. I already told her not to be nosy or talk too much so she won't really cause any discomfort in your house. I just want to be at peace knowing someone is watching over her.You're like her second father"

And that's the problem.

I have a dirty secret which makes me feel angry at myself each time I think about it.

I don't see Mel as my best friend's daughter.

I see her as a woman.

This is driving me nuts.

This is practically a girl who I know since she was a baby.

I had visited her with gifts at the hospital.

I had watched her grow up, played with her and at times,babysit her when her parents had date nights or something.

But when she turned sixteen.

Her boobs got bigger....her ass so round and her hips made me want to hold onto it and fuck her senselessly.

I tried to figure out what went wrong with me.

I thought maybe it's because I'm a womanizer.

So I continued fucking a lot but when I'm alone,I see Mel.

I'm what you call a man-whore.

I'm not the marrying type and I certainly can't picture myself having kids.

Commitment scares the shit out of me.

When my best friend's daughter turned eighteen,she got more womanly...more feminine,so lovely.

I tried to stay away from James' house as much as I could.

I most times meet up with him at bars and clubs.

I felt if I saw her less,I would think of her less.

This forbidden thoughts has to stop.

I respect James.

He has helped me a lot in the past.

And Melissa... she's such a sweet little girl who deserves someone younger not a thirty-eight year old man.

I'm thirty-eight while James is thirty-nine.

Natalie,his late wife had fallen pregnant for him at a quite young age.

They had been so crazily in love and had decided to keep the baby.

Seeing Natalie and James together made me believe that there's really something called "True love" but the cruel hands of death snatched her away from this world when Melissa was fifteen.

Father and daughter had been so broken, especially Melissa because she was in the car.

The two of them had gone shopping for James' birthday,they had wanted to throw him a surprise party.

A truck driver who had lost control of his brakes had brought grief to my best friend and his daughter.

Ever since,he had been highly protective of her,not only because she was all he had left, she's also traumatized.

So I keep asking myself.

Why?

Why do I see this girl and feel this magnetic pull towards her?

I am not interested in girls her age.

I've always wanted women who were experienced, sophisticated...who knew how to fuck without getting feelings attached because I'm never reciprocating them.

This has to be a curse.

A curse that has to be broken.

Melissa is my best friend's daughter.

Melissa is too young for me.

She's off-limits.

But I have to help James with this.

I can't think of any excuse to give to him.

It'll only be for a month.

I'll be her guardian.

I'll be like a father to her.

Maybe then, I'll stop having other stupid thoughts about her.

"Alright,James.It's not a problem at all.She can stay with me until you get back"I agreed.

"Thanks bro. I knew I could trust you"

"Don't mention"

And then he hung up.

I can do this.

A few minutes later,they arrived.

When I opened the door,my breath caught as my gaze fell on Melissa.

Fuck!

She had gotten more beautiful.

"Good morning,Ramsey"She greeted

I swallowed.

Ramsey.

Shit!She shouldn't say my name like that.

It sent my thoughts,haywire.

I quickly composed myself.

"How are you,Mel?"I asked, leading them into my house.

"I'm fine"She replied,shyly with big lovely eyes.

"Mel,you can go sit in the living room while I talk to Ramsey for a sec"James said handing her luggage over to her.

She knew her way around my house because she's been here a couple of times.

I watched her rode her luggage away,I secretly took note of her ass...damn! I'm such a pervert.

"Ramsey, she has two credits cards with her so she doesn't need to bother you if she needs anything.And also,if she goes out with her friends, please don't let her stay out late"James requested.

"Got it"

"Her nightmares aren't constant anymore.The therapist is really helping a lot though she gets them a few times,you only have to calm her down with soothing words,you know"

I felt sad for James.

He really is a strong man.

I was there with him when he was informed that his wife passed away and his daughter fell into a coma.