Page 74 of The Last One You Loved
McKenna turned to the sink, wetting some paper towels. I pulled her hand from the water and drew her up tight against me with Mila still clutched to my chest.
“Good morning,” I said, and I kissed McK’s forehead before I even gave it much thought. Mila giggled, and McKenna’s eyes went round, looking between my daughter and me.
“It’ll just take a minute to clean it all,” McKenna said, a little breathless, gaze landing on my lips and then journeying back up. I smiled, loving the way her look had lingered and knowing she wanted our kisses as much as I did.
I put Mila down, bending to meet my daughter’s eye. “Go get undressed, start the water in the tub, and I’ll be there in a minute to help you with your hair.”
She sighed. “Fine. But do we still get chocolate-chip pancakes?”
I had a million and one things waiting for me at the station, but I was supposed to be off today. I’d planned on spending the first day of Thanksgiving break with my girl long before McKenna had shown up. Bruce would call if he needed me urgently. And sometimes, I needed to step away from a case in order for the pieces to glide back together, time and distance giving me the clarity I needed.
I tugged gently on Mila’s loose braid and asked, “How about we go to Tillie’s for breakfast, and then, after, I take you both to the ranch for a horseback ride?”
She stared at me for a minute before her face broke into an enormous smile. “That would be thebestdayever!” She turned to McKenna. “Right, McKenna? Wait. Do you even know how to ride a horse? I know how to ride a pony, but Daddy says I’m too small to ride the big horses on my own yet, even though Papa says Daddy was littler than me when he started riding.”
“Mila. Breathe,” I reminded her.
She took a breath as McKenna said, “Your Papa taught me how to ride, too.”
Mila’s eyebrows shot up. “You are sooooo like me! I mean, we look the same, and we like the same things. We’re definitely going to be best friends.”
McK and I shared a glance at her words, at the fact Mila had realized they looked alike. But neither of us said anything as Mila skipped from the room, puffs of powder going everywhere as she did.
As soon as she was around the corner, I turned back to McKenna, wrapped my arms around her waist, and drew her up close. She held herself tight but didn’t pull away, and I didn’t give her a second to start talking. Instead, I put my lips where they’d been aching to go since I’d walked out of the house the morning before harder than I’d ever been.
As soon as our mouths touched, her body softened, leaning into me.
She tasted like cocoa and hints of sweetness that had always been her. I licked her mouth, her cheek, down her neck, and along her chest, everywhere the dust had settled. I groaned at the sight of her pebbled tips through the thin tank, and I set my mouth on top of one, sucking through the fabric, inhaling chocolate and her.
She gasped, fingers digging into my shoulders, arching into me.
I reached behind her, tugged the pull-out sprayer from its hole, and flicked it on with my pinky. Then, I shot water all over her face and chest.
She screamed and blustered, pulling away. “Maddox!”
Water dripped from her hair, and her thin top was now completely see-through, clinging to her.
I laughed, enjoying the sight of her disheveled and sticky. God, I wanted her that way for other reasons. She reached for the faucet, trying to turn it off or grab it from me, and I easily kept it away, spraying her more and drenching us both in the process.
“You’re on your own now,” she said as she stepped away and put the island between us. “You can clean it up. I’m going to shower.”
My laughter followed her as well as my gaze, taking in the way her hips swayed across the room. At the archway, she looked down the hall, as if making sure Mila wasn’t there, then she pulled the tank top over her head, and my body, that had already been hard, jumped to full alert.
“Too bad I’m too old to have help in the bath,” she said with a sultry smile.
I let the faucet go with a clang and set chase. She shrieked and took off down the hall with laughter bubbling from her lips, but by the time I got to the guest bath, she’d already closed and locked the door behind her.
“You’re never too old for that kind of help, McK. I promise after I’ve made you too sore to walk, I’ll give you a bath,” I said through the door. She laughed, and I knocked on the wood. “Just remember, you started this.”
“You’re the one who sprayed me,” she said.
“You’re the one who tempted me,” I told her.
“God, just go help Mila.”
I chuckled, my entire body stiff with desire as I walked away, thinking about every single thing I was going to do to McKenna Lloyd and just how much we were both going to enjoy it.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
