The Billionaire's Substitute

Rachel, The Tease

The last thing Rachel expected to happen was to walk out of the steamy bathroom, ready to get dressed and then stumbling upon a breakfast prepared for her by her fiancé. Her loving fiancé left a white colored wooden tray upon the bed, the sweet smelling scent of pancakes causing a smile to spread across her face. She approached the tray and reached for the cup of tea. The scent of peppermint waking her up. She sipped it, strolling into their walk-in closet to get ready for the day.
Ava hadn't cried yet, she assumed Ethan had taken care of the little girl while also making her breakfast. If he'd spoil her like that throughout their many years of their upcoming marriage she'd be a happy girl, living a comfortable life. Ethan wouldn't be able to get rid of her even if he wanted to.
She placed her cup of tea on the dresser and picked out a comfy outfit. She'd head into town with Ava, meeting Ryan at Emma's Haven. The charming rival of Gabriel Starr was looking forward to meeting little Ava. She knew Ava would steal his heart right away. She also knew that Ryan probably needed to talk to her concerning his little problem at the office. She had no doubt about that man not sharing his issues with others. It was a weakness he couldn't afford to have in their competitive world. She'd listen and be as supportive as she could be. All Ryan Parker really needed was a listening ear.
Getting dressed in a lavender colored sweater which felt as soft as the fur of a puppy she wore jeans underneath it and covered her feet with lavender colored socks and military boots. She pulled her hair up into a half bun and left the walk-in closet sipping her cooled down.
A smile spread across her face again when her eyes fell on the tray with a plate of pancakes. She polished off those pancakes and took the tray with her to the kitchen. Rinsing the dishes and placing them in the dishwasher, she called Ethan to thank him for the lovely breakfast. It was a kind gesture she wouldn't forget about.

"Good morning." She greeted when he picked up his phone, "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

She heard the smile in his voice, her mood couldn't get any better even if she tried to watch a feel-good movie while eating chocolate ice-cream drizzled with caramel. Now she craved chocolate ice-cream drizzled with caramel, but she had to fight it. She'd treat herself to either a classic cheesecake or a brownie at Emma's Haven.

"You know why I'm thanking you." She lowered her voice as she peeked into Ava's room, she couldn't help but to chuckle when she noticed her little girl was sitting up and playing with the stuffed pink elephant toy which Gabriel made fun of, "Ava is up so I'm going to freshen her up."

"I fed her before I left."

"You're truly amazing." She smiled.

"Stop being so creepy." Ethan retorted, "Thank me later. You know what I want."

She stopped in front of her baby's crib and gently brushed her fingers over Ava's cheek, "Oh, you think I'll do that to thank you for breakfast and taking care of Ava?"

He let out a soft laugh, "I was more or less hoping you'd do that."

She pouted her lips, "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in."

"Such a tease."

She pressed her lips together when she heard Gabriel yell things at Ethan about being indecent and losing his appetite. She placed her phone between her shoulder and ear and took Ava out of her crib. The little girl settled into her arms, tightly holding onto her sweater with her little fists.

"Anyway, thank you for all the sweet things you did this morning. I appreciate you. Also, I wanted to let you know I'm meeting with Ryan later this morning for coffee at Emma's Haven. He wanted to meet Ava so you know, coffee sounded like a good idea to me. Have a good day, see you tonight. Bye babe, love you." She ended the call and placed her phone in the back pocket of her jeans, "Daddy won't like that, but we don't care, do we?" She quietly asked Ava, "Daddy will forgive us if we're being cute."