Page 35 of Wilderness Daddy

“Good girl.” He rubs my bottom until I moan through my teeth, which are clamped over my bottom lip.

“God, how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make me so damn hot while chastising me.”

He chuckles and leans closer until I feel his erection against my warm, buzzing bottom. “There’s no denying we have major chemistry, Akari.”

“Is that enough, Landon?”

He drags my hair over my shoulder and I shiver involuntarily before he starts to knead the tension from my neck.

“Babe, how about a hike then?”

“No, I said anything and I meant it. Will you help me get those on?” I turn around to grab the rubber coveralls off the floor.

“You sure?”

I nod and he smiles.

“And you can spank me like that anytime.”

He winks. “Your behavior is always the mitigating factor.” He tosses the pants into the back of his truck. “Come on, let’s grab some coffee and share a piece of cake. I don’t know when I’ll get either again, but I’m sure I’ll be fishing every day.” He opens the passenger side of his truck and I jump in.

“I love cake,” I say with a giggle and he smirks at me. I frown when I realize how I’ve just let my guard down and allowed myself to get excited over cake in front of him. I shrug at myself as he walks around to his side.

“Why won’t you be able to have cake or coffee for a while?” I ask, suddenly curious. He looks at me and nods at the seatbelt, before grabbing his own and buckling himself in.

“I’m going to be roughing it.”

My brow furrows. “Roughing it?”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t elaborate and effectively shuts the conversation down when he turns the radio on. It’s some country station that I grimace at. We don’t have the same taste in music, activities, unless you count spanking, apparently, or food, except cake. How can we get married on chemistry, spanking, and business alone?

He keeps the conversation light as we share a gigantic piece of carrot cake with the most delicious cream cheese icing I’ve ever tasted. He talks about his dad teaching him how to fly fish in the river and how it’s the most relaxing thing in the world to him. And the way he describes sitting in a boat, with the lake lapping off the side and the sun glinting off the water, I almost want to trade in my monthly relaxation massage in favor of a boat.

“I wanted to share that with you, Akari. And I’ve never wanted to share it with anyone before. Besides my family anyway.” His words shock me and I can’t help but smile.

“Really?” I narrow my eyes. “Does that mean I’m not as awful as I think I’ve been?” He laughs, takes a forkful of cake, and puts it into my mouth.

“Oh, you’re plenty awful, little one. But I can’t seem to get enough of you. Besides, I’ve been imagining you naked in my boat for the last ten minutes.”

I want to complain, but my mouth is full and the way his green eyes sparkle I know that was his plan. “No fair,” I mumble through my mouthful and he presses his lips to suppress a laugh. Before I can even swallow the cake he leans across the table and uses his thumb to wipe away a bit of icing from my lip. When he pops his thumb into his mouth and licks it off I feel breathless.

“I’ll go fishing with you,” I say in a soft whisper. “I’ll go anywhere with you.”

“I have to leave, baby.” His eyes are pools of warmth and I can both see and feel that he wants to stay with me longer. “I need to do this.”

“This? Rough it?”

He nods with a smirk. “It’s the only way I’m going to get us out of this merger.”

I swallow and look down. “You mean marriage.”

He reaches for my hand but I pull it away.

“I don’t mean it like that, baby, but neither of us should have to get married under duress.”

“Right,” I say with a nod and pull my purse out. I reach inside and lay some bills on the table. More than enough for our cake and coffees, plus tip. “Listen, I’m going to marry Hattori. That way you don’t have to do anything under duress.”

“Akari?” He scoops up the money and grabs my purse to shove it back in. He’s no longer apologetic as he stabs a finger on the table and continues. “You’re not marrying that jackass. If you have to get married, it’ll be to me, got me? Now enough of this insecure garbage.” He pulls out his wallet and tosses his own bills down.

“You’ve clearly got a hero complex.” I eye him sharply. “Maybe it’s because of your mom, or maybe it’s just who you are, but I’m out. I’ll take care of my own problems. I’ll marry Hattori.” I stand and grab my purse from him. “And this isn’t me running away again, Landon Steed! It’s me doing what I think is best. At least with Hattori, one of us will be happy.” My stomach rolls at the thought. He stands then too, but I am already turning to leave the café, dialing an Uber.

“Honey, that wasn’t my hero complex talking, it was jealousy.” He still sounds upset—nothing like his usual patient self. He’s jealous? My heart kicks up its pace.

Pausing, I turn back to see him storming toward me. His brows are cinched and his dimple hidden. He swoops low as soon as he gets close and before I know what’s happening, I’m upended over his shoulder.

“And dammit, woman, I told you it’s Daddy!”

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