Page 10 of Daddy's Naughty Author

I huff but go back inside and grab one from the drawer near the door and shove it into his waiting hand. “Lead the way, fearless warrior.”

KC mutters something under his breath as he turns, and despite the cold, I follow him outside. Snow crunches beneath the shoes I slipped on, and the distant glow of streetlights casts a soft light over the neighborhood. His porch is dusted with fresh snow, and something rustles near the steps.

KC clicks on the flashlight, and the beam lands on a pile of what looks like takeout bags, slightly torn open. He crouches, inspecting it, then sighs. “Well, something was eating this trash. Probably a raccoon or possum, whoever it was, isn’t here now.” He picks up the scattered trash, muttering about people who don’t secure their garbage.

I watch him work, shivering slightly but unwilling to admit it. We walk together to throw away the trash and head back to my porch. We get to the top of the steps, and I turn to face him. He hands me the flashlight back.

“Thanks,” he tells me.

“You’re welcome. Glad it wasn’t a bear.” Bears are a very real threat here. Not that they eat people, but they definitely eat trash.

“Me too. Not in the mood to stare down a black bear tonight.” A cold wind blows and I shiver violently. “You’re freezing.”

I shake my head. “I’m fine.”

KC lets out a slow breath, his gaze locking onto mine. “If you really were my girlfriend…”

The words hang between us, the weight of them shifting something inside me. My stomach tightens. “You’d what?” I ask, my voice quieter than before.

His jaw tenses, and then he shakes his head. “Nothing.”

“No, I want to know. You’d what?”

“Let’s just say I’d break the habit you have of running around in the cold weather without proper gear. At least one part of you would be warm.”

I don’t know what to say. Did he just imply he’d spank me? I mean… This is definitely the stuff my dreams are made from.

“Do I want to know what part of me would be warm?” I finally ask.

“I know what you write, RJ.”

“Yes, romance.”

“No. I know what subgenre you write. Remember when they delivered the box to my house, and I accidentally opened it? It was full of your books. I saw your penname and looked it up.”

“You know what I…what I write?”

“I do.”

“And if I was your girlfriend, you’d make sure one part of me was warm?”

“Yes. That is what I said.”

“I—"

Before I can push, before I can make come up with some sarcastic remark or change the topic or run into my house and hide, he takes a step closer. And then he kisses me.

It’s brief, just the press of his lips against mine, but it knocks the air from my lungs. Warmth floods my chest, and my fingers twitch at my sides, fighting the urge to grab onto his jacket and pull him back in. But before I can even process what’s happening, he pulls away, his expression unreadable.

“Shit,” he mutters. “Sorry. That—shouldn’t have happened.”

I blink up at him, my heart racing. “Oh.”

KC clears his throat, thrusting the flashlight back into my hands like it personally offended him. “Go inside, RJ. It’s cold.”

Numbly, I nod and turn, walking back to my place in a daze. The second I shut my door, I press my fingers to my lips, my mind replaying that moment on repeat.

What the hell just happened?

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