Page 41 of Hot Zone

I put away the food, grabbed a beer and my book, and got situated in my chair. Hopefully the book would be a good distraction because Mars wasn’t wrong. Somewhere along the way, I’d stopped having fun. I actually couldn’t remember the last time I did something just because I enjoyed it.

I kept busy enough working on the house, but that had always been more of a matter of having something to do, not because it was something I had fun doing. Hell, I didn’t even know what I liked to do anymore.

When Steven was in school, I was the sports dad. I helped coach his traveling soccer team, and that ate up a lot of my time. But it was something I did for him, not because I loved the sport. Then he was grown, and I focused on the house instead of picking up a hobby that could be for me. That was probably something I needed to fix.

I was contemplating that when Mars sashayed into the room, and let me tell you, there was no other word for it. He sashayed, and fuck me, he looked good. He was wearing a pair of black leather pants so tight that they looked painted on. He had on a black, mesh, cropped tank top that was stretched across his chest, a pair of kitten ears, and a collar with a bell on it.

“I decided just to go with the one I bought. What do you think?”

He spun around to show me the tail he was sporting. He gave his ass a little wiggle before turning back to face me.

I took in a deep, steadying breath because my instinct was to tell him there was no way in hell he was going out dressed like that, but of course, it was none of my business.

“Samuel?” He bit his lip. “Shit, I should have gone with something else, shouldn’t I? It’s silly.”

I put down my book and stood up, walking towards him. “You look amazing. Sexiest kitten I’ve ever seen.”

“Really?”

“Really.” I tweaked one of his ears and smiled down at him.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come?”

“I’m sure. Besides, I don’t have a costume.”

“Sure you do. You could come as a silver fox.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ha, ha, aren’t you funny. You just go and have a good time. Call me if you need anything like a ride home.”

“I will, but I should be good. Mika’s driving, and he isn’t drinking tonight. I think that thing with the guy at the club still has him pretty shaken up, so he wants to keep a level head.” A horn beeped outside, and Mars grinned. “Speak of the devil. That must be Mika. I have to go.”

“Okay, but if anything changes, you know how to reach me.”

“I will, and if I decide not to come home, I’ll shoot you a text ‘cause I know you’re a worrier.” He headed for the front door, and I trailed behind him down the hallway to the front door.

“If you decide not to come home?” I wasn’t as stupid as I sounded saying that, but seriously, it hadn’t occurred to me he might not come home. It should have. He was young, sexy, and single. There was no reason he should be spending his weekends here with me.

He shrugged and then reached for the door. “Yeah, who knows? Maybe tonight’s my night, and I’ll find someone who actually wants to kiss me.”

And with that parting comment, he was gone.

Mars

I shut the door behind me and laughed. Samuel’s face. Oh my goodness, I wish I had a camera.

I hurried down the sidewalk and hopped in Mika’s car.

He backed out of the driveway and got on the road before turning to look at me. “So, did it work?”

“I don’t know. He said I was a sexy kitten, but he didn’t come with me, so it’s hard to say.”

Mika had been convinced if Isexyed it upwith my costume that Samuel wouldn’t be able to help himself, but I was pretty sure Samuel’s self-control was iron-clad. I had to admit that while it might not have worked as well as I’d have liked, he’d definitely noticed.

“Well, who knows, maybe you’ll find someone else tonight, and you’ll forget all about your sexy silver Daddy.”

I’d told Mika what Samuel had said about being a Daddy, and Mika hadn’t been surprised at all. He said the couple of times that he’d met Samuel, he gave off Big Daddy energy.

“I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about the Daddy thing, but I want Samuel, so I don’t see me finding anyone else. But you might. I’ll be your wingman. Just tell me what kind of Daddy you’re looking for.”

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