Page 18 of Single Mom's Christmas Wish

“I’ll ask you one more time. Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” Dakota murmurs and slowly parts her legs for me.

The music keeps playing. The drinks keep getting poured at other tables. I can hear the waiters darting back and forth with glasses, bottles, and plates, the bartenders manning shakers like nobody’s business. But what I can hear the loudest is Dakota’s ragged breath in my ear as I move my hand closer to her heated core while Reed moves in and kisses her.

Their lips meet, and the fireworks are instant as I find her panties already wet. “Fucking hell, Dakota, you want this just as badly as we do,” I conclude with a low growl.

Maddox gets up, carefully looking over the monstera plants before he comes around and settles behind Dakota’s seat. “You have the power to put an end to this at any given moment.”

But Dakota doesn’t push us away. Not yet, anyway. She’s too busy succumbing to Reed’s kiss while I draw a tender circle over her mound, the wet fabric of her panties giving me even more of that hot desire of hers.

“Oh, wow,” she manages as Reed pulls back.

I press harder over her clit. I can feel the tender nub swelling, begging for release, while Maddox’s hands settle on her shoulders. Massaging. Squeezing. He bends down and plants a delicate kiss on her cheek at the same time as he cups her breasts through the sundress. Handfuls of soft flesh that make me lick my lips and kiss her other cheek.

This will surely get us banned from the restaurant if we don’t take it somewhere else.

I want her mouth on mine more than anything. I want to taste her. I’m just about to when a pair of approaching footstepsbrings everything to a halt. We all back away in the span of a split second. Dakota’s cheeks are bright pink. Maddox takes his seat. Reed finishes his old-fashioned. And I have a glistening finger over my lips, tasting her sweetness while our gazes lock.

A waiter approaches the table to remove some of the empty glasses. “Would you like to try our dessert menu?” he asks.

“No, thank you, just the check, please,” Reed says.

“I would like to go home,” Dakota says, her voice so low that I can barely hear her.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She nods once, but I can feel her stiffening and pulling away from us. I think we reached her limit for today, and the last thing I want to do is push any further. She has already given us more than we had hoped for. It bodes well for the future. For now, however, Dakota has had her fill of decadence.

“I just want to go home,” she repeats.

“Not a problem,” Reed smiles gently. “I’ll drive you home.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,”Maddox warns me when we get home.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

The babysitter comes downstairs and greets us both with a warm smile.

“Hey, Becky,” I say. “How’s the big guy?”

“Sound asleep. He really liked the Science Museum; he was quite chatty about it,” she says. Thank heaven for Becky, our teenage next-door neighbor. A trustworthy girl with a heart of gold who’s always able to get Trevor out of his shell. I just wish we could figure out a way to do that with him as well. “I’m glad you got him out of the house. He was getting pale.”

“Yeah, something akin to a vampire, if we’re not careful,” I mutter, my mind bouncing between one too many thoughts. Reed is driving Dakota back home, and I keep going back to that warm, wet heat between her legs. The way she shuddered under my touch. “So, he told you he liked his trip to the museum?” I ask, shifting my focus back to Becky. “He barely said a word to us about it.”

“You’ll hear all about it tomorrow, I’m sure,” Becky replies. “He was exhausted. He was up for maybe another hour after you guys left. Oh! How was your date?”

Maddox gives her a hard look. “Who told you we were going out on a date?”

“Trevor did. He said you met a nice lady.”

“That blabbermouth,” I scoff, genuinely amused. “Doesn’t talk to us, but he will yammer away at Becky like it’s a frickin’ podcast.”

“Don’t be mad at him. He’s just shy, and he’s still trying to get used to living here, to this place, to everything,” Becky says. “So, tell me, who’s the nice lady?”

“She’s just a friend,” I quip and smile, then take money out of my wallet and hand it over. “For your trouble tonight. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

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