Page 17 of Detention with Daddies

“No. Not at all. Please come in. Have a seat. This is my son, Ivan.”

She sits beside him, peering at the tablet in his hand. “Hello, Ivan. Ooo, is thatRisk and Rain 2?”

He turns the screen to her so that she can see it better. “Yeah, it’s my new favorite.”

“I play that in two-player mode with my brother on his days off.”

My son’s eyes light up and he sits straighter in his seat, leaning closer to her. “Really? What’s your username?”

“LiveLawless. Add me. I could use another teammate when Theo’s busy.”

We watch him plug in her name, and he grins to himself.

Olivia turns back to me, mouthingsorry, but I enjoy how easily she connects with Ivan. Most other adults ignore him or talk to him like he’s a much younger kid.

I shake my head and offer her a smile to let her know I appreciate how she included him in this interaction. It speaks further volumes about her.

“Thank you for coming. I just wanted to check in with you.” I clear my throat. “I saw you with Angelica, Britney, and Jeremy at lunch today. I noticed that they seemed to upset you, and I wanted to be sure if something needed to be done about it, that I did it.”

Olivia blinks at me for a few seconds, looking taken aback by this, but her features quickly soften to approval and gratitude. “It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with my whole career, Dr. Rivers.”

“Matteo.”

The flash of her smile is its own reward for doing my job. I like her smile. I like having her smile at me like that even more. Causing it.

And I enjoy how she says my name far more than I should.

Ivan is staring at me from under his lashes. He’s not as stealthy as he thinks he is. Am I? Or is my pleasure from being the center of her attention obvious even to him?

“Matteo, I appreciate your concern, but their attitude toward my project is exactly why I’m pursuing it to begin with. There’s no need for you to intervene. I’m a big girl. I can handle criticism, even if it’s distastefully given. And when I can’t handle it, I promise to come to you.”

I sit back and study her, folding my arms across my stomach. She doesn’t droop or fidget under my attention.

My son though, more openly peers at me, bouncing his attention back and forth between us like we’re in a standoff.

Maybe we are. I need to be sure that she’s not simply saying this to protect them. Or herself from any potential repercussions of looking like a tattletale.

Since Angelica saw me clock their interaction, I’m sure it wouldn’t pan out that way, but that trio has been known to be petty. Any more special attention from me might make it worse in the long run, especially with Angelica’s past flirty behavior with me.

Ivan smirks as the silence goes on. It’s obvious he likes how willing she is to sit in it with me. Waiting me out. How competent she is. Confident in her own mind. Her own choices.

It has my thoughts turning in an incredibly inappropriate direction.

Would she fill my silences in other ways? Not take offense when I don’t jump to make her feel comfortable with them?

Imagining filling them by pulling breathy gasps from her as I busy my mouth elsewhere. Seeing how often and how loud I can make her moan…

Shaking myself out of that downward spiral, I finally nod at her. “Alright, Olivia. I believe you.”

The pleased look she gives me sparks more than one dirty thought in the back of my mind. The part I’m trying desperately to suppress.

What is it about this woman that has me so easily spurred on? So easily distracted?

Olivia leans forward, and it’s a hard-won accomplishment not to look down the V-cut of her top and the line of cleavage that appears when she does so. It’s more than enough to see it in my peripheral vision.

“Thank you, Matteo.”

I take a slow breath. “You’re welcome, Olivia.”

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