Page 28 of The Billionaire Dating Dad

Tonight she would tell him how she felt even if he didn’t feel the same. She’d tell him because he deserved the choice to back out or not.

What if warm nights were all he wanted?

She shoved the thought from her mind. The truth was far better than not being honest. And at least she’d know where she stood. “After that performance we need dessert.” Violet stood. “Pecan pie or ice cream?”

“Both!” Maddie leaped off the sofa, running toward the kitchen.”

Dimitri took her hand, linking their fingers, he pressed a kiss against the back of her hand. The gesture tickled her skin, sending warmth along her arm. “Hey, are you okay?”

Violet stared at their hand, curling her fingers around his for the briefest moment before detangling herself, but he kept theirhands cocooned. “I’m happy,” she confessed. “I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself happiness.”

“It’s peaceful, isn’t it?” Dimitri rested his forehead against hers. “I thought I knew what joy was until Maddie came into my life and introduced me to its untapped depths. Fear, wonder… delight.” He kissed her cheek, the corner of Violet’s lips as they parted in awe. “And you Violet—”

“Daddy! Violet!” Maddie called, a note of impatience ringing in her voice.

Dimitri smiled. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”

Violet flushed. They hadn’t talked about what would happen to their involvement after the three months he’d asked for were up. Let alone what any type of relationship would look like for Maddie, a child who clung to the hope of her mother returning. While Maddie caught glimpses of them teasing and laughing together, they refrained from being overly affectionate in her presence.

Perhaps tonight would give Dimitri and her a step toward clarity, and a glimpse of a happy ever after.

Dimitri’s thumb caressed the back of her hand in circular patterns just before he severed their connection. The loss of their nearness and the skin-to-skin contact was profound, vibrating like pinpricks on her palm. Every cell in her being was hyper-aware of Dimitri as he silently maneuvered the kitchen to help Maddie scoop salted caramel ice cream into the plates on the counter.

“Thank you,” Dimitri said when Violet added slices of pie to their plates of ice cream. His hand skimmed her lower back and when she peered in his eyes, she saw gratitude, affection, and a longing that mirrored her own.

The longer Violet stared into the magnetic current of his brown eyes, the more drawn she was. She swayed closer.Beckoning the slightest connection that promised to ignite her body into flames.

Hot.

Wicked.

Needy sparks of fire. Did he feel the bond between them tightening, flexing, and adjusting each time she sought to put a lid on the growing passion between them? Her emotions only dug deeper each time she tried to deny him. Deny them.

The doorbell rang, breaking their trance.

“I’ll get it!” Maddie cheered.

Violet glanced toward Dimitri in a wordless exchange. The days had grown into months, and would soon approach a year since Maddie last saw her mother. They did not doubt that she was happy and had adjusted well to living with her father, but each time the doorbell rang, they saw the hopeful spark that lit up her face, followed by disappointment. And in his way, Violet realized that Dimitri often tried to save his daughter from that disappointment.

“No you will not,” Dirmitri said to his daughter. “Finish your dessert, it's almost time for bed.”

“Ahh,” Maddie pouted.

“We’ll answer the next one together, I promise,” Dimitri said, kissing the child’s forehead, before leaving the kitchen.

“Hi…” The voice at the door was unfamiliar to Violet.

“May?”

Maddie dropped her fork, the clank of metal against ceramic echoed Violet’s surprise, then the piercing cry from her soul.No! How?Nothing prepared her for May’s return. She looked at Maddie through a cloud of her own shock, too late to slow the moment or give Dimitri any time to gather his thoughts before Maddie bolted from the kitchen.

“Mommy!”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Dimitri

Dimitri stood rigid as he peered at the woman on the other side of his doorway. She was leaner than he recalled and her cheekbones were more pronounced. Her hair was chopped short, making her toned features appear almost boyish.

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