Page 20 of Wrong Idea

“A couple too many.” And fuck if that wasn’t the truth. I hated not having eyes on her in the laundry room. I was tempted to split the cameras I’d ordered so only half were set up at her apartment and the other half where she worked at the resort.

“You smell good,” she noted.

“I do?” She nodded just as I set her down. There was something about the way she looked at me that made me want to ask where that had come from, but she looked down at the picnic I had set up, and her eyes widened.

“Oh my god, you did this?” she gasped, and I nodded, slightly nervous. Was a picnic by the lake with cookies and coffee and flowers a cheesy thing to do? “This is… wow. No one has ever done anything like this for me.”

“Good.” I winked, taking her hand as we sat down on the picnic blanket. “These are for you.” I handed her the daisies. She looked at them, and her eyes softened.

“They’re beautiful.” She smiled down at them with appreciation reflecting in her gaze. I had a feeling she would have been just as impressed whether it were diamond earrings or a balloon. Max was so many things. Sweet, kind, and humble. Hardworking, dedicated, and loyal. But most of all, she was mine.

“They reminded me of you. Happy and sweet,” I shared before taking her hand in mine. My eyes dropped to our fingers, the contrast of our light and dark skin beautiful and alluring. “How’s work been?” I asked, gazing back up at her. A breeze picked up, and I tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She leaned into my touch. I fucking loved how easily that came to her. Like she knew she was mine and I was hers. I’d been more than prepared to work hard to break down whatever walls she had set around her and crack whatever shells she might have had. But I didn’t have to do that. Our souls recognized one another’s on a deeper level.

“It’s been okay. Not too bad.” She shrugged. I might not have known her very well, but I knew she wasn’t the type to complain about much.

“How was cleaning the boss’ office? He behave?” I asked, digging myself deeper into this mistaken identity shit I had stupidly put myself into.

“He wasn’t there, thankfully.” She smiled, but I bit the inside of my cheek. I hated how apprehensive she sounded about meeting me. The real me. I knew how stupid that sounded. If shemet me, this whole thing would be over. I was almost positive she would run away from me.

“This is one of my favorite spots of the resort.” Her words snapped me out of my momentary freakout.

“Really?” I looked around, loving that we had that in common.

“Oh, for sure. Top three.” She grinned, and I couldn’t help myself. I needed her closer. Max’s eyes widened, but when she figured out what I was up to, I felt her body relax, letting me settle us closer.

I shifted our bodies, widening my legs to fit her body between mine. Her front pressed against mine while the two of us looked out onto the lake. The bright moonlight reflected against the water, making it look like a pool of glitter and sparkles. Everything around us looked ethereal. Like a whole other world. It was easy to forget who I was and who I wasn’t. I held her close and breathed in her soft feminine scent, not wanting the moment to end.

“Did you eat?” I asked. She made a sound I knew was to appeases me. “Baby, you gotta take care of yourself.”

“I’ll make a PB and J when I get home.”Home.My teeth grinded down. She wouldn’t be home for at least another four hours. She’d gone in early to help housekeeping, something I had been responsible for.I should have thought ahead. She is mine. If I am claiming her, I need to watch over her a hell of a lot better than this.This was something that wouldn’t be repeated. Max was mine, and I took care of what belonged to me. My girl needed to eat three meals a day.

“I should have brought you something,” I muttered, and she simply gave me more of her weight.

“You know you don’t have to take care of me,” she whispered into the night air, and I held her closer. She turned around, and when our eyes connected, I could have sworn our hearts spoketo one another. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a while now, honey.”

“And you’ve done a great job, baby, you have. But now, I get to take that on. I want to be the one who takes care of you.” I kissed her temple, meaning every single word.

I’d never felt this for anyone. Not even for my brothers. Sure, I’d taken care of them and made sure they didn’t get in trouble, but it wasn’t anything like I felt for Max. My sweet girl was mine. Mine to love and cherish. Worship and protect with my life if I had to. I reached for a cookie.

“Daddy shouldn’t be giving you sweets when you haven’t eaten a proper meal, but it’s better than nothing.” I could make out the blush on her cheeks before she took it from my hand and settled her body back against my chest.

“Cookies,” she whispered happily. “Oh my god,” she moaned, making my dick take notice. Not that it hadn’t before this. The beast between my legs didn’t miss a beat when it came to anything Max did.

“These are my favorite. Did you get the from the kitchen at the resort?” I licked my lips

“Yeah,” I rasped, hoping it somehow didn’t give me away.

“Those are incredible. I love that they have walnuts in them.” She sighed happily, polishing off the sweet treat.

“I have a baggie of them for you to take. How much time do we have?”

“I told Oli I was going on my lunch break, so”—she took her phone out and sighed—“ten more minutes.”Ten minutes.Shit. It was nowhere close to how much time I wanted with her. Who the fuck was I kidding? I was a selfish greedy bastard. If it were up to me, I would want all her time. There wouldn’t be a minute I’d lose.

“Do you want me to start walking you now—“ I started to offer, but the words died on my tongue when surprised me.

My girl took initiative, turning her body and straddling me, sitting her cute ass on my lap. Her delicate hands rested on my shoulders while her thighs draped over mine. In this position, we were eye level, not to mention how perfectly it lined our bodies up. I could feel the heat of her untouched pussy against my hard length. I was a forty-two-year-old man. I should have had a better grasp on my self-control, but Max tethered it. She made it hard for me to concentrate on anything but her.

“Thank you for tonight,” she whispered before leaning forward and kissing my cheek.

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