Page 37 of Sweet Heat

“Hi. I’m Suzy. I saw you sitting here with your sister and wanted to come over and say hi,” she gushes, her eyes flitting to me before lowering her voice. “I wanted to see if you would sign your baseball card for me. My dad is your biggest fan.”

He’s not the only one.

Suzy continues to push her breasts out, stepping too close, and I can’t stop the growl that comes from me. Absolutely freaking not. Blondie grins, excited by my challenge, and her smile turns nasty.

“I’m out withmyomega,” Miller retorts, his eyes lighting up with adoration at my show of aggression. “If your father wants something signed, please have him come to an event.”

He turns away, clearly dismissing her. She coughs a few more times until she’s practically choking.

“There’s probably water on your table,” I say pointedly, and she stomps off.

“I think she wanted more than your signature,” I tease, stabbing my fork into my pasta. He chuckles and shakes his headbefore eating his meal with relish. Something within me knits back together, and a fraction of the guilt I’ve been carrying around for the last seven years lifts from my shoulders.

Something about Miller’s sudden desire for me still seems a bit odd, but the reason eludes me, so I set it aside to enjoy the rest of dinner with the hottest man alive.

The girls are never going to believe this.

Chapter Twenty

“Is it weird that I wish this night didn’t have to end?” Posie sighs, relaxing in the passenger seat. Our discussion cleared a lot of the awkward tension in our relationship, leaving us to bask in the glow of just being together for the rest of dinner. And it has been awesome—joking, talking, and flirting without any of the awkwardness. So, I totally understand her sentiments. It gives me an idea. The streetlights glow overhead, illuminating the empty town, which is devoid of bustling people and traffic.

Taking the next right, I steer my SUV toward the local high school. Posie sits up, peering outside with the cutest little nose wrinkle. The shops fly by, blurring as we move through the town center and onto more open roads. We aren’t far.

“Where are we going?” she asks excitedly.

“You’ll see,” I answer, driving another few feet before pulling into a deserted parking lot and stopping in the middle. It’s dark, but the lines on the pavement all still visible. She looks at me quizzically, her lips quirking into a naughty grin.

“Miller Phillips!” she mock-exclaims. “Are you taking me parking?”

She gasps and clutches at fake pearls, as though offended, before breaking out in a tinkling laugh that shoots right to my heart. The sound is so carefree and light that I can’t help but want to hear it again—every day for the rest of my life.

“Maybe, if you’re a good girl.” I reach for her hand, bringing her knuckles to my lips and grazing them as I inhale her mouthwatering perfume. “But first, a driving lesson.”

Tugging her hand back, my pretty little omega crosses her arms across her chest and curls in on herself. The meek behavior slams against all my protective instincts, and I can’t even begin to help it when I pull her into my lap and loose a rumbly purr. Her softness molds against all my hard planes, fitting together like a perfect puzzle, and I revel in the feel of her body flush against mine.

I’ve been waiting forever.

“If you never want to learn, that’s all right with me. I’ll hire a beta chauffeur to be at your beck and call, taking you anywhere you want to go at a moment’s notice. An ugly one. A chick. Yeah, an ugly chick chauffeur.” My thoughts go off on a tangent as I consider quitting the team to become her driver, struggling with trusting her safety to anyone else.

“I want to learn,” she says hesitantly. “My parents said I can’t move out until I do.”

Posie bites her lip and fixates on my bicep, tracing the ink peeking out of the bottom of my sleeve. It’s the remembrance tattoo I had done for my parents. Her touch there feels so innately right. Pushing up my sleeve, she reads the names and bends forward to press her lips against it.

“I miss them, too,” she admits, and the trauma bond we share glows brightly in my chest. No one will ever get it the way she does. No one else loved them the way we did. Being with someone who remembers my parents as vividly as I do, who’s been through it all with me. It’s a gift I wish we didn’t share, but a gift all the same. “Just being in a car makes me nervous. And being responsible to drive…”

She trails off, but I understand what she’s not saying. She’s afraid that one mistake could mean death, not only for herself but for others. The reason someone else’s mom and dad don’t come home.

“You would never drink and drive,” I remind her with a squeeze.

“No. But I’m clumsy. And easily flustered. I make mistakes, Miller,” she whispers, her scent syrupy with nerves.

“This is the perfect place then. We’re the only car in this lot. All the birds have gone to sleep.” She snorts at the mention of the birds, rolling her eyes. Freaking cute. I kiss her sweet lips, and she groans, the car filling with the scent of her desire, and I almost lose my purpose. “There’s no pressure. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”

“Okay,” she says with a nod. “Let’s try.”

With a whoop, I feel for the button to the left of my seat, pressing down when I touch the hard surface. A whirring soundfills the car as the bucket seat slowly moves back, giving me room to maneuver Posie between my legs.

“Wait, you aren’t going to sit in the passenger seat?” she giggles. But they cut off abruptly when I spread my legs and situate her right in front of my already semi-hard cock. I finesse the position until she’s using my chest as the seatback, but able to reach the pedals with ease.

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