Page 57 of The Single Dad

The kids crowd around to watch as the birthday boy plays the ring toss. A watchful group of parents encircles them, making sure that they stick together.

Cole and I keep an eye on Archie as he takes his turn playing the game. We groan with him in commiserate disappointment when all five of his plastic rings bounce off of the bottles, but his head doesn’t stay down for long—another kid is about to give it a try, and he hurries back to watch.

After a little while, I feel a gentle touch on my upper arm.

I turn in surprise to face Cole. There’s a mischievous glint in his eye. He smirks at me and jerks his head to the side.

“We could probably slip away for a moment,” he says quietly. “I saw a few other parents head off to get food—they just got back, and they’re keeping an eye on Archie and the others. Do you want to take a ride on the Ferris wheel?”

I glance in the direction he indicated, and sure enough, a candy-colored Ferris wheel looms over us, lights flashing as it turns. I look back at Archie, who is engrossed in the ring toss game, and around at the other parents, keeping a careful eye on all of the children.

“Sure,” I decide. “Why not?”

I follow Cole away from the cluster of parents and kids. Around us, the air is thick with the smell of funnel cake and hot pretzels. Kids rush past us, yelling in delight, and couples wander after them with hands linked.

The line for the Ferris wheel is short, and it takes only a few minutes for Cole and me to reach the front. The ride attendant pauses the wheel so that we can climb into our car. Cole pauses outside of the entrance, gesturing.

“After you,” he says.

I climb into the Ferris wheel car and take my seat. Cole sits beside me, and the ride operator starts the wheel turning again. The ground begins to fall away from us as we cruise upward toward the sky. The lights and tent-tops of the carnival area look distant from up here.

I let out an involuntary, breathy laugh. I’m nervous, and not just because of the height. It just occurred to me that any of the moms paying attention will have noticed that I disappeared with Cole; how must that look to them?

“Something wrong?” Cole raises an eyebrow at me.

“No,” I assure him. I hesitate for a moment, then add impulsively, “Just thinking about how this must look.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been getting some looks from the other parents,” I admit, wanting him to be aware of it—if this is going to be a problem, I want him to have some warning. “They probably think I’m sleeping with you.”

I can feel his gaze on me. “Their opinion doesn’t matter to me,” he says. “Does it matter to you?”

I shake my head, realizing suddenly that it doesn’t. I worried mostly about how this would reflect on him, but aside from a mild annoyance, the opinions of these women couldn’t be less important.

“And besides,” he adds, sitting back and looking out over the amusement park. “You’re not, are you?”

Something in his tone makes me fidget in my seat. The air suddenly feels ten degrees hotter.

His voice is low when he speaks again. “You’re not sleeping with me. I’ve imagined it, a thousand different ways, but I’ve never fucked you.”

I draw a breath, closing my legs. My heart pounds in my temples. I swallow and whisper, “I’ve imagined it too.”

His gaze slides back to me, his eyes blazing with heat. “What kinds of things do you imagine?”

His hands on my wrists, his thumb against my hip as he pounds into me. His voice in my ear, his breath hot on my neck—

A shudder goes down my spine.

“I probably shouldn’t say,” I tell him, trying to brush off his question. I’m being good. I’m not crossing that line, even though I really, really want to.

There’s a jolt as the Ferris wheel stops. I glance around, realizing that we’re at the top; the cars to either side of ours are slightly lower.

“You know,” says Cole, his gaze innocently fixed on the horizon, “one of my fantasies is being stuck with you at the top of a Ferris wheel, and making you come with my fingers.”

My breath catches in my throat.

He continues, his voice low, dirty, filthy. “I’d get close to you, like this…” He slides to the side, closing the space between us so that his arm brushes mine. “And I’d slide a hand up your skirt to touch you.”

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