Page 1 of Daddy’s Accidental Little Fighter

CHAPTER ONE

Hannah

"Well, I must say that your resume seems to be extremely small, but I am impressed by your accomplishments," Vicky, the hiring manager for Darling Realty. She frowned a little as she looked up at me from her desk. "Are you fresh out of high school?" I lowered my gaze and nodded.

"I graduated this last summer," I informed her, "and I just got my real estate license." She sighed as she reviewed the application.

I had always dreamed of working with real estate, and, as soon as I turned eighteen and graduated high school, I had worked to get the license. Not only had I gotten the highest score in my class, but I even had a letter of recommendation from my instructor and Skylar Benedict, who had hosted an interning program for the class in order to help us get a little experience while we got our license. Unfortunately, by the time I had finished my classes and got the license, I wasn't able to join her staff. According to Stephanie, they had hired more staff than they needed and told me that I would be the first to know. Not seeing any other choice, I had gone to the next place I could think of: Darling Realty. After several minutes of consideration, Vicky finally sighed and shook her head.

"At this point in time, I don't know if we can go through with the hiring process," she told me, and my stomach churned in knots as I stared at her. "You see, interning while taking the class to get your real estate license is not the same thing as getting experience while you do so, especially not while working with Benedict and Lanberger Realty." I frowned in confusion at her, wondering what she meant by her statement. After she reviewed the paperwork once again, she shook her head. "Come back to us when you've worked as a realtor for a year." I shook my head at her.

"That's not fair," I told her, unable to stop myself. "Are you saying that because you expect more than real estate experience? Or do you have something against Skylar Benedict that you're taking out on me?" I saw the way she hesitated and realized I was right. Whatever was prompting her to say no was entirely personal, and I was grateful for the recorder in my pocket, which I had hit "Record" on the second she told me she couldn't continue. "So, it is personal business between you and Skylar?" She leaned forward, a strange look in her eyes.

"Yes, if you must know, it is personal business, and that's how I want it to stay," she hissed venomously. "Personal and private." With that, she leaned back in her chair. "Now, get out of here. I don't need to be reminded that the bitch ruined my life…" Clearing my throat, I rose to my feet and nodded.

"Well, thank you for your time," I said as I picked up my purse, thankful for the spare resume and letters of recommendation. "I'll see myself out." With a rude, dismissive wave of her hand, Vicky dismissed me from her office, and I made my way out onto the main floor of the office.

Rather than leaving as I had implied, I looked around the office to take in my surroundings. Seeing that no one was looking, I snuck off deeper into the office. If the hiring manager was going to let her personal feelings get in the way of the company's affairs, I was going to make sure they knew about it. So, I was going to do the one thing I could do in this situation: look for Bianca Darling and Lance Lanberger. Pretty soon, I came across a long hallway of conference rooms and corner offices, and I knew I had to be getting close. Each door had a name on it, and I scanned each door, looking for either name. Finally, after a few tries, I finally found the right door and took a deep breath, preparing myself for what was beyond the door. Once I was prepared, I knocked, and the door swung open.

Two people were in the room, and the mane had the woman bent over the desk as he pounded into her from behind. My jaw dropped as I backed away in horror, desperately reaching to close the door. The woman's face was pressed to the desk, and the man's eyes were rolled into the back of his head. As if sensing my presence, the man's eyes shot open, and he stared at me.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded loudly, and I shook my head.

"It's not what it looks like!" I told him, raising my hands up in the hair. "I swear, all I did was knock on the door, and it opened. I didn't do anything else!" The man shook his head as he looked from me to the woman and back.

"Just close the door," he told me, and I nodded and lowered my gaze as I closed the door.

Well, I was done for… Any chance I had for getting this job was gone as soon as they saw me. Today was not my day, and I wanted to die of embarrassment. It wasn't long before the man and the woman both walked out of the office, and they stared me down as they straightened their clothing. I lowered my gaze, still red in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry about that," I told them. "I was just… I…" As I stumbled over my words, the man held a hand up, and I closed my mouth. Seeing that I was quiet, he nodded.

"Let's not talk about that, please," he told me. "I would prefer to go on from here pretending that never happened." When I nodded, he continued. "Now, how can I help you?" Before I could answer, Vicky and a few more people came down the hallway.

"There's the intruder," Vicky shouted before seeing the man and woman. "Mr. Lanberger… Ms. Darling… I'm so sorry this trespasser bothered you. I'll have her removed immediately." Just as security started towards me, I turned towards the two people.

"I came here looking for a job, but your hiring manager said that she wouldn't hire me because I was an intern at Benedict and Lanberger Realty," I told them, and everyone froze.

CHAPTER TWO

Ashton

The moment I heard the racket that Vicky had started over an applicant, I knew that we were in for an interestingly awkward situation, but this was even more juicy than I expected. It was very clear that Bianca and Lance had gone back to their office for something a bit private, so I could only imagine what was going on back there. As soon as I saw Bianca and Lance with a strange woman, I knew immediately what happened, and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw them. Everyone stopped to look at me, and I couldn't help it. Instead, I approached them with a small smile.

"Well, this is awkward," I said as Lance and Bianca stared at me. I knew that, if Lance wasn't my brother, I would have been beaten or fired. "What's going on here?" Lance raised an eyebrow at me before shaking his head.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out right now," he agreed, and everyone looked at Vicky, who shook her head.

"This applicant got mad because she didn't qualify for a job as a real estate agent and snuck into the office to go over my head," she informed us. "After realizing that the applicant was still in the building, I called security and went looking for her." Vicky narrowed her eyes at the woman and shook her head. "The fact that she's making a scene in front of everyone clearly proves that she's lying." I stopped and looked at the young woman, trying to figure out who was lying and who wasn't.

The young woman was just standing there amongst everyone, a stunned look on her face. She looked like she was fresh out of school, and she dressed professionally, looking like she was trying to look much older than she actually was. It made me grin the way she reminded me of a child playing dress up. Lance and Bianca looked confused until I looked around at everyone present.

"Alright, people, the party is over," I told them. "Everyone, get back to work already." Lance nodded in agreement as he followed my example.

"Right," he said as he pointed at Vicky. "My office now." He then looked at the young woman. "I would like to talk to you as well, please." Finally, he turned to me. "Care to join us?" I nodded, and Bianca looked down at her watch.

"I better get back to work as well," she said as she turned back towards her office. "I still have a lot of flyers to finish working on." Lance smiled at her.

"Go ahead," he told her. "I'll come check on you once I'm done here." As soon as she disappeared into her office, Lance turned back to the rest of us. "I thought I said my office…" Vicky and the young woman followed his example and made their way over to the office, and I saw the wink Lance gave me before disappearing into his office. As soon as we were all seated, Lance looked at each of the two women. "Now that we're alone, please tell me what happened." Vicky didn't hesitate for a second.