Page 5 of Her Older Single Dad

My eyes meet Piper’s before we burst out of our chairs. Instinctively, we both leave my office speed walking down the hallway to Bella’s room. Once inside, it’s clear that the only place large enough to fit both of us is the closet. It has your typical assortment of little girl closet things like mismatched socks, an old dollhouse, and just enough room for Piper and me to stand pressed together.

Which we do while I pull the door closed to secure our hiding spot. The darkness of the closet feels intimate and warm. Or maybe that’s Piper’s luscious front pressed against me.

“How long until she finds us?” Piper whispers, her breath soft against the exposed skin at the base of my throat. I’d unbuttoned my shirt in hopes to rile her, but it’s backfiring now.

“She usually counts as high as she can…somewhere around twenty, probably,” I reply, my voice gruff. It’s her scent, like dark chocolate—bitter, and sweet, and addicting.

“Oh no,” she shares a quiet, breathy laugh. “We practiced counting this week. I’m pretty sure she can get a bit higher now.”

Sure enough, it seems like an inordinate amount of time passes. Every time Piper moves against me, my cock grows harder in my pants until it’s straining at the zipper. There’s no way she can’t feel it, too. But I don’t think she minds if the way her breaths come harder, making her breasts rise and fall sensually against my chest, is any indication. My hands find her hips, pulling her against me, and she tilts her head back, her plump, tempting lips parted in invitation. My head is lowering to meet her lips with mine when we hear the classic refrain from down the hallway, “Ready or not, here I come.”

Piper stiffens against me, the friction causing my cock to stiffen even more. The closet door swings open.

“I found you,” Bella says sweetly. Her presence is enough to douse any physical evidence of my desire for her nanny.

But I still want her. The coals are still burning. My gut still churns, heavy and hungry. I go after what I want, in business and in life, but I have never wanted anything or anyone like I want Piper. Fuck the contract. With or without it, I’m going to make her mine.

Chapter 4

Piper

It isn’t always easy to get all four of us in one place at one time, but it’s worth it whenever we can make it happen. Daisy, Hannah, Allie, and me. I’ve got a few more sister friends out there, but these three make up a core of my made family.

With Hannah’s wedding just around the corner, we’ve been seeing more of each other than normal, which I don’t mind at all. Tonight, we meet at Daly’s, a local Irish pub and one of our favorite places. It’s casual and cozy, with a long, polished bar of dark wood, leather-topped bar stools, and all the varieties of Guinness anyone would ever need. Hannah arranged tonight’s little get together and emphatically declared that we talk about “anything butthe wedding.”

Her statement is enough to have the rest of us eyeing each other. Looks like something might be wrong in paradise. Or maybe she’s just done with the stress of it all.

“Since we’renottalking about me, let’s talk about you ladies,” Hannah declares once we’re halfway through our first round of cider. “Daisy, how are things with your scrumptious cowboy?”

Daisy blushes enough that her cheeks match her red hair. “They’re going well,” she admits. Then she promptly takes a long sip of her cider, presumably so she doesn’t have to say any more. And she doesn’t. We all met her new hottie at the bachelorette party a little over a week ago. Daisy is a lucky woman, and Harrison is an even luckier man. I’ve never met a sweeter girl than Daisy.

“What about you, Piper? How is the new job?” Hannah asks.

“That’s right!” Daisy smiles at me. “Tell us everything.”

“Bella is four years old and completely adorable. She’s like a playful old soul,” I say, jumping into the topic of Bella because she’s so easy to brag on. “Want to see pictures?”

I pull out my phone and the girls “ooh” and “ahh” appropriately.

“Wait a minute,” Hannah says, her finger stopping me from swiping. “Who is that?” We’ve stopped on a photo I couldn’t help taking.

“That’s Bella’s dad, Elijah.”

In the photo, Elijah is reading Bella a story before bed. When I walked by the open doorway, I had to stop. He’s wearing casual clothes, a t-shirt and jeans. But the golden glow from the lamp makes everything a bit more romantic.

“He’s hot,” Hannah states baldly. Okay, not just romantic.

The girls nod their agreement. I find myself nodding with them as we all stare at the pic. Elijah’s got a little five o’clock shadow on his chiseled jaw and the muscles in his arm and shoulder are perfectly captured as he turns the page of the story book. Even now, I’m tempted to run my fingers through his rumpled hair.

“Speaking of, isn’t that your boss right there?” Allie asks. We all look to the front of the pub. She’s right. Elijah just entered the restaurant and is prowling toward our booth. She always was the perceptive one. “You should have told us he was a hottie. We wouldn’t have teased you so much.”

“Or maybe we would have teased you more,” Hannah adds, giving him an appreciative once over. “Damn, girl.”

My cheeks burn, but I don’t disagree. What can I say? They’re right. Elijah is one of those men who captures all the attention when he walks into a room. Whether it’s charisma or just an overwhelming strength of purpose, I don’t know. I just know that it’s damn arousing. Especially when that strong personality is focused on me.

Like it is right now.

“Piper.” That’s it. He just says my name and my mouth dries. It doesn’t help that he looks good enough to eat in a gray, three-piece suit that seems tailored to fit him perfectly.

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