Page 5 of Bedding the Baby Daddy

Chapter Two

Dante was about half a second away from dropping to his knees and thanking the ever-loving universe that he’d talked himself into coming to this party tonight. Even as he’d driven over here, he’d known it was going to be just another exercise in futility. He’d get to see Aurora, flirt with her for as long as she could possibly stand his presence, and then he’d leave. He knew the routine at this point. He’d been doing it for four years.

She was the one woman that he couldn’t get out of his head. She’d steadily rejected him with exactly zero holes in her armor and it wasn’t difficult to guess why. It wasn’t because she wasn’t attracted to him—he saw the flare of desire in her eyes even when she tried to hide it. And it wasn’t because she found him unlikable or dull—another thing she was bad at hiding was the smile she couldn’t quite bite back at times. He suspected Aurora’s refusal to entertain any possibility of dating Dante was because of his reputation for being a ladies man. God knows he’d earned it. But most of that was in his past. Once his little sister, Michelle, had come to live with him, he hadn’t exactly been in a position to carry on as he had been. And the truth was, the lifestyle had already started to bore him. Now, there were plenty of nights when Dante found himself kicked back, watching Inside Out with a little girl at home. Or, unfortunately, sometimes watching it with her in a hospital, since Michelle had a rare blood disease called Von Willebrand disease, which required quite a few trips to the doctor’s office and even a live-in nurse at times. He found a woman when he needed one, but it wasn’t often. His life was a far cry from the clubs and bars that he used to frequent.

But he didn’t miss his old life much at all.

He did, however, miss Aurora when they were apart. And that was just his bad luck.

He wasn’t pining for her, wasn’t in love. He didn’t know her well enough to love her. But he knew they would be good together if she ever gave him a shot. When his aunt had invited Michelle to stay the night with her tonight, Dante had thought, what the hell? Why not go and get rejected by Aurora again.

Funny how getting rejected by her was far more appealing to him than dating any other woman.

Now here Aurora was, the dim light of the hallway wrapped around her like a blanket, her huge, gorgeous hazel eyes blinking up at him through the dark, the red silk dress she wore making Dante certain she’d taste like cherries.

All the blood in his body rushed south at the exact same time his breath left his chest. He felt as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff, trying to time the ocean waves so he wouldn’t hit the shore when he took the leap of his life.

His body screamed for him to close the distance between them. It was two steps. They’d stood two steps apart plenty of times in his life. But tonight, for some reason, it was two steps with the knowledge that she wanted him and was finally ready to do something about it.

He found himself leaning toward her but then his brain wrapped a leash around his dick and yanked himself backward. The phrase for some reason echoed in his head as he crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed Aurora. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told her that she was the most beautiful woman in any room she ever walked into. Dante often found himself with a racing heart and sweaty palms when he sat across from her at business meetings.

And here she was, those gorgeous, plump lips parted, just a peek of her pearly teeth. Her eyes looking up at him like, touch me. But there was something else there, too.

For some reason, she’d said. For some reason she was considering being with him.

“Mind if I ask what the hell happened to change your mind after four years of turning me down flat?” He heard the words leave his mouth and could barely even believe it. Why the holy fuck was he questioning her?

Aurora’s expression immediately flattened. Her hand came to her lush hip as she tossed her mane of glossy blonde hair back over one shoulder. “Look, Callaghan. Either you want me or you don’t. This offer expires in about five seconds.”

Welp. He’d tried. And when she put it like that…

Dante’s body yanked the leash back away from his brain and he closed the distance between them in one giant step. He had her backed up against the wall, her eyes wide, and her arms pinned up over her head in two seconds flat.

The heat kicking off of her skin was insane. Almost feverish. She was searing him even through their clothes. He circled her wrists in one of his hands and the other one trailed down the outside of one of her pinned arms. His hand stuttered as he dragged it down her side. Jesus. Her skin was literally softer than the silk of her dress.

Dante leaned forward, crowding her. He was deeply obliged to see heat flare in her eyes, to feel her panting breath wash over him. His eyes dropped to her lips, and then he was leaning forward, wanting nothing more than to suck on that lower lip that had haunted him for half a decade.

Aurora quickly turned her head to one side, giving him access to her long, sleek neck, but avoiding his mouth.

It wasn’t lost on Dante. So that’s how it was going to be, huh? No affection at all? Not even kissing. Well, that was fine by him. He’d take however much he could get. That was the story of his life, actually. And he didn’t see why tonight would be any different.

He ran his nose from her collarbone up to her ear. Her smell was completely natural, bare. Nothing manufactured or sprayed on. It was just woman, earthy, raw, somehow delicate, like a leaf unfurling in the first weeks of May.

He couldn’t restrain the groan that her scent tore out of his throat. The sound of it was desperate, even to his own ears. Time to get things moving. He took a step back from her and her eyes fluttered open in surprise.

“My car’s out front.”

He started to tug her toward the coat check but she stumbled behind him, yanking at his hand.

“Wait,” she said and then tugged that fucking lip between her white teeth. “There’s a perfectly good coat closet right here.”

She looked up at him from beneath her thick fringe of lashes, her dark eyes like a black hole sucking him in. Dante considered the option for all of two seconds before he dismissed it.

“I’m not going to fuck you within 100 feet of George fucking Junior.”

Aurora laughed, obviously surprised by his words. He turned just in time to see the light of humor dance over her face. It made his chest tight to see it.

“Besides,” he continued. “Coat closets are for a fast fuck with clothes on. If we’re doing this, Aurora, I’m not going to be interrupted while somebody looks for their other glove. Fuck no.” He stepped back and took her chin in his hand, staring her right in the eyes. “If we’re doing this, it’s not going to be some discreet close-your-eyes-and-think-of-England. If we’re doing this, then it’s going to be absolutely indecent. You and me. Destroying each other. Understood?”

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