Page 91 of Role Play
“Just for tonight,” I whisper, almost incoherently.
The music envelops us, and I try to memorize every detail—the feel of his arms around me, the scent of his cologne, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my cheek. I want to capture it all, preserve it for when this night is just a memory.
“Don’t be mad at me,” Forrest says suddenly.
“It would be impossible right now.” I nuzzle deeper into his chest.
“When you said earlier that we should have a lot of sex, what exactly does that mean? How much sex is a lot for you?”
I chuckle. “Worried I’m going to wear you out?”
“Answer the question, Sora,” he breathes out, not matching my humor, too focused on the answer.
“I don’t know, like twice a week? Or is that excessive? What’s a lot of sex to you?”
His Adam’s apple leaps, then falls as he swallows heavily. “Um, yeah. Same. Twice a…week.”
He’s normally a fantastic liar. Right now, not so much. And the rock-hard cylinder suddenly pressed against my stomachtells me what’s definitely on his mind. “Soon. Not tonight though. Tonight, I want the night to end exactly like this,” I confirm.
Stars in the sky. Stars in my eyes.
But the brightest star nestled on my left hand for now.
chapter 20
Forrest
“Daddy, are we there yet?”
Dakota’s voice pipes up from the back seat for the fourth time in fifteen minutes. I glance at her in the rearview mirror, her tiny legs swinging impatiently, barely reaching the edge of the car seat. Her favorite stuffed bunny, Mr. Flops, is clutched tightly in her arms.
“Almost, Koda. Just a few more blocks.”
I check the time on the dashboard. We’re running about twenty minutes behind schedule, but that’s to be expected when you’re moving with a four-year-old. The morning had been chaos—Dakota insisting on packing her toys herself, which meant unpacking and repacking her princess suitcase three times; the unexpected phone call from Rina about a client cancelation; Taio making a last-ditch effort to convince me that moving is a mistake.
“You’re blurring lines, man,”he warned as he helped load the last of our boxes into the rental SUV.“Playing house with a client won’t end well.”
I reminded him that Sora wasn’t technically a client, which earned me an eye roll and a muttered,“Whatever helps you sleep at night, my guy.”
But now, with Dakota fidgeting excitedly in the back seat and the brownstone just minutes away, I’m not second-guessing my decision. This arrangement with Sora is the best solution for everyone involved—Dakota gets to stay in her school, I get more time with my daughter, and Sora gets…well, whatever it is I’m giving her.
Three days have passed since our night on the yacht, and my thoughts keep drifting back to the weight of her in my arms as we swayed beneath the stars, the whispered “what-if” that hung between us like a fragile promise. I’m still not sure what to make of that moment. Because when I saw the ring on her finger, it messed me up a little.
Knowing I’d never, ever be able to afford something like that for her. Unless maybe I worked triple-time as an escort, but therein lies the problem. What woman would want to marry an escort? Even when I leave this all behind, I can’t lie to my future wife. Who would accept my messy past?
“Daddy, is Sora nice?” Dakota’s question pulls me from my thoughts.
“Very nice,” I assure her, turning onto Sora’s tree-lined street. “You met her before, remember? At the coffee shop?”
“The lady who gave me the cookie?” Her face lights up with recognition.
“That’s right.”
“I like her,” Dakota declares with the absolute certainty only a child can muster. “Does she have toys?”
I chuckle. “You brought your own toys, Koda. But she painted your room purple, just like you like.”
Dakota gasps, her eyes widening. “Myvery ownpurple room?”
