Page 64 of Daddy Issues

“I’d do it again.” I didn’t mean those shits in the parking lot. I meant all of it. The god-damn party. Giving her the apartment. I’d been down this road before, the knight in shining armor—always looking for someone to save. If it weren’t for Eli…I’d be a goner.

Fuck.

“I know.” She stroked her thumb back and forth over my pinky finger. Her skin was soft and warm against mine. I’d never been affectionate. It wasn’t my thing. But this was…something else.

I liked it.

“You sort of just did.”

“You were about to hand him his ass.” I snickered.

“I was damn sure going to give it my best shot.”

“Sexy.” I brought her fingers to my lips and kissed them.

“Mm-hmm. I was thinking the same thing.”

“You flirting with me?” I dropped our hands back to the console, hers practically disappearing in my large grip. She was so small, but I didn’t feel like a big oaf…I liked it.

Damn, I was feeling a lot of things.

“Maybe.” She chuckled and relaxed, sinking into the passenger seat of my truck. “Thanks, seriously, for last night and today. For the apartment. You—I…I don’t know how I’ll ever pay you back.”

Who the fuck wanted to be paid back? “You don’t owe me shit. Not money. Not your body. Nothing. I’m an asshole, but I’m notthatbig of an asshole.”

“You don’t want my body?”

She was looking at me, feigning shock, with those big eyes wide. Then she slowly licked her lips. It was a fucking miracle I didn’t run off the road.

“I didn’t say that.”

“So, youdowant my body.” She leaned against the console, brushing her breasts against my shoulder and nipping at my ear.

“Brat.” I nudged her back into the seat, to keep from wrecking with her and my kid in the truck.

“I can be.” She settled in, still holding my hand. “If I am, what are you going to do about it?”

My cock twitched against my jeans. Oh, there were things I could do. I wouldn’t say any of them with my kid in the truck. Because if I gave voice to those thoughts, I just might put them in action.

The surge of jealousy when I remembered Jester cracking the belt across her ass.

Her lips quirked in a small, triumphant smile.

And just like that, I forgot all the heavy shit between us and couldn’t think of anything but fucking her senseless.

Her laugh soothed a smile out of me.

“You made that too easy, big guy.”

Maybe I did, hell maybe I needed it to be.

As I pulled into The Black Cat and parked, I glanced over. She was bathed in the streetlight’s glow; her face flushed a little and her expression soft. It was more than wanting to be inside her again. Ilikedher. The entire world had tried to stomp her down, but each time she got back up.

That was something I could respect. She deserved so much better than me. Different versions of her danced around in my mind. The sexy, drunk way I’d found her at the frat party, the breathy way her lips parted right before she came, the broken way she’d crumbled at David’s, and the defiance she’d shown as she talked shit tonight.

But this was the version I could fall for. I brought her hand to my mouth again and nipped at her knuckles. “I don’t need to punish you, to make you come for me, darlin.”

“Oh.” Her mouth formed the word as she tugged her hand from mind and popped open the passenger door.

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