Page 64 of Defending her Heart

I pray it isn’t the latter.

Paisley is the last to get picked up, and I not-so-secretly hope it’s because Nash has the afternoon off and wants to see me. Notthat we’ll be able to do anything about our animalistic lust at school or with his daughter attached to his hip.

I feel his presence behind me. Paisley looks up and bounces to her feet. “Daddy!”

I keep my back to him and pick up the puzzle pieces as I hear Paisley cover Nash’s face in kisses. God, it’s adorable how much they love each other.

“How was your day, Sweet Pea?”

“We made turkey hands and wrote on our leaves for our thankful tree.”

“I can’t wait to see them. First, go pick up.”

When she comes back over to the puzzle, I let her finish putting everything away and go over to Nash.

He tucks his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and dips his chin. “Nice scarf,” he says with a knowing grin.

“Apparently a vampire attempted to suck my blood last night. I couldn’t scare the kids with the mark he left behind.”

“Are you sure it was blood he was sucking, Gravy?”

Oh, lordy. I squeeze my thighs together and drop my gaze to the front of his jeans. “Easy there, Nash Potato, or you’re going to find yourself in a precarious situation with no...gravy to soften the...blow.”

He furrows his brows together and I don’t even care that what I said doesn’t make sense. There’s sexual innuendo in there somewhere.

Nash’s brows soften, then his glorious mouth breaks out into a smile. My insides quiver into a pool of liquid lust, then congeals when I see a flash of pink attach itself to Nash’s leg. He scoops up his daughter and tugs on her ponytail, pointing that delicious smile at her.

I shouldn’t be jealous of his daughter. I’m not. I wish all children received love and attention like Nash gives Paisley. ButI wouldn’t mind being on the receiving end of such affection either.

Not that I’m looking for anything more than sex with Nash. One day, though, when my heart is ready to love again, I hope to be as cherished as Riley is by Walker. Or Mindy is by Darius. Or even be the reason a room lights up like Paisley is to Nash.

“Say thank you to Miss Wentworth,” he tells Paisley.

“Thank you, Miss Wentworth.” She holds out her arms for a hug. Nash doesn’t release her, so I step into their space as she stretches to me.

I curl one arm around her and Nash snakes his free arm around my waist, tugging me in tighter so I’m brushing against hardness. He squeezes my ass, then releases me as soon as Paisley drops her arm.

“Behave yourself,” I say to Nash, then drop my gaze to Paisley.

“I’m always a good girl. Right, Daddy?”

“You are, Sweet Pea.” He drops his voice an octave and adds, “And I bet Miss Wentworth is a good girl too.”

Fuck. Me. Now.

This man does not play fair.

He reaches down and tosses Paisley’s backpack over his free shoulder and takes his phone from his pocket as he walks out the door.

Rude. Couldn’t even say goodbye before leaving. At least the quick brushoff helps alleviate some of the pressure between my legs.

My phone lights up on my desk and I pick it up, reading the message from Nash.

NASH POTATO: 9:00. Bring the gravy.

I WENT TO NASH’S HOUSEtwice this week. Monday and Wednesday night. Thursday was Thanksgiving and I assumed he was busy with his parents. We didn’t discuss it. We didn’t discuss much, just how many orgasms I would get and in which positions we wanted to fuck.

On Thursday, my mom, sister, and I spent the day as we usually do.

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