Page 1 of Master Daddy

Chapter 1

Luke

“Hmmm, to work out or not to work out,” I mutter. “That is the question.”

I rub my eyes in an attempt to adjust to the morning light as it seeps in through the part-drawn blinds on my bedroom window.

“Urgh, Buster, what time is it?” I ask, casting a quick glance over to my stuffie, Buster. “I know, I know, time to get my butt up and out of bed, right?”

Buster simply looks back toward me with his big brown bobcat eyes. It’s hardly great motivation to get out of my warm and super-cozy bed when I know I could just as easily grab my lifelong best friend stuffie and allow myself to go back to sleep for at least another hour, maybe two.

It’s six in the morning and if I want to get a workout in today, then it needs to be now. I’ve got a morning shift at Mr. and Mrs. Peplinska’s grocery store, followed up by an afternoon until close shift at Jonathan Melville’s stationary store.

And when I’m done at both those places… I’ll be beat.

I know what I’m like. The second my work shift at the stationary store is done, the only place I’m going to want to be as right here, at home. And the very last place I’d want to be is at the gym.

Don’t get me wrong, I love training and getting fitter and stronger is something I’ve been working toward pretty consistently over the last few months. But it has to be at the right time for me to be in the mood to do it.

And what’s very much the wrong time for lifting weights and working my glutes on the hip thruster is after a long day’s work!

“Okay… I’m up,” I say, a wry smile on my face as I do my best attempt at springing myself up and out of bed.

Still a little hazy, I take Buster under one arm and walk out of my bedroom, down the short but sweet corridor of my apartment and into my snug little kitchen.

“Okay… overnight oats and a pre-workout drink it is,” I say, injecting a little cheeriness into my slow morning wakeup. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. And neither will my body! But I’m making a start at least…”

I take a seat at my round breakfast table and put Buster in his usual position next to me. As I begin to work my way through the overnight oats, I look out of my kitchen window…

With views over the nearby park and in walking distance of the main hubbub of my little town, I love my apartment. It might not be a mansion or one of the fancy-Nancy townhouses over on the other side of town, but it’s super-convenient, comfortable, and has enough space for me.

Oh, and it’s mine.

I might only be twenty-six, but a couple of years ago I worked for a single year in a finance job in the city. I truly hated every minute of it, and by the end of the twelve months I was close to totally losing myself, so much so that I knew I just had to get out.

However…

In that solitary year of making big bucks, I earned enough money to be able to buy this place outright.

And I don’t care that my former colleagues are all living in penthouses and driving Porsches now either. I know from experience that earning money when you really don’t love what you do will never bring you happiness, no matter what the financial reward.

When I left the city to return home to Hardrock Park, I left behind money, fancy bars, and a whole ton of stress that I just didn’t need in my life. Oh, and I also left behind a pretty crappy boyfriend too. But the less said about Patrick the better.

I’ve got everything I need in my life now. Fun jobs, an awesome apartment, my stuffie, and a bunch of friends who love me for me, and not for what I can do for them.

Maybe you could say the only thing I’m missing is a certain special someone to keep me warm at night, but I guess I’ll find him too one day. But it’s no rush. Right now I’m kinda okay with it just being me. And after my less than positive relationship—okay, totally toxic relationship—with Patrick, I think it’s probably a good idea to give men a wide berth for a little while longer.

Anyway…

Right now I need to finish these oats, slurp my pre-workout drink, and haul my ass to the gym. I’ve got a long and hectic day ahead of me, and I know it’ll just fly by as long as I get my training session done and dusted.

“Okay, Buster, it’s time to move my ass out of here and into the gym!” I chuckle, finishing off my drink and putting it, along with my oats bowl, into the kitchen sink. “We’re going to lift heavy today. And nothing is going to stop us!”

* * *

I arrive at the gym and it’s nice and quiet, just what I would expect for this time of the morning. The music is playing and as I look around, I can see the other early birds getting on with their training with smile son their faces and sweat on their brows.

With its bright interior and selection of top quality machines, it’s the kind of place that gives everyone a chance to work out and enjoy themselves while they get fit. I love the fact that there’s a big painted sign on the gym’s largest wall that reads: