Page 75 of Shortcake
For her fourteenth birthday, I bought her a signed hardcover copy from her favorite author, fully expecting to winDad of the Year. But when she opened it in front of her friends, all I got was a quiet shrug and a ‘cool’ as a thank you. It wasn’t until later that night when I snuck into her room to say good night and found her already fast asleep, the open book strewn across her chest that I understood she secretly loved that gift.
But instead of saying all that, I simply answered with,She loves to read.Maybe I was being naive. Maybe the only reason she joined this club was so she could get out of the house and escape her grounding.
Or maybe she’s got a crush on a guy in the group, Jim responded, practically reading my untyped thoughts.
I’d be lying if I claimed the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.Maybe.
What about you? Any adult book club babes or single moms out that way?
My eyes wandered to where a ring of sweat had gathered below my beer on the side table. Dammit, I needed to find where our coasters were packed. I lifted the beer and swiped the water droplets from the table onto the floor with my palm.
Are you asking if there’s a book club with women and/or single mothers in the whole state of New Hampshire? I’m sure of it, I type back sarcastically.
Don’t be a little bitch. You know what I’m asking.
I could tell him about Addy. Hell, he’d seen her that Halloween night three years ago, although it had been brief. He might even have some good advice for me. Jim slept with lots of women. He was bound to have run into one of his one-night-stands again at some point.
My phone buzzed in my palm before I could type a response.Have you or have you not gotten your dick wet with some small-town pussy?
Then again, maybe hewasn’tthe guy for advice. Unless the advice I was looking for was a bro high-five paired with him shoutingDo it!like some sort of living, breathing Nike ad.
“Hey.”
I wasn’t expecting Addy’s voice behind me. Or rather anyone to be behind me… but especially not Addy.
Although I didn’t scream or anything in surprise, somehow my phone went flying out of my hands as I jumped.
“Whoa, sorry, dude,” she said as I spun to face her.
Oh my fucking God. Was this girl trying to kill me?
She stood in the doorway in the tiniest scrap of a green bikini I’d ever seen. Two small triangles covered her breasts with pieces of string behind her neck and back holding it all together. My eyes skimmed down her body. Bare abs that I remember licking my way down. Muscled legs that wrapped around my waist, urging me to glide into her faster, harder.
And the warm heat between her legs—also covered by a thin, skimpy triangle of cloth. One quick tug on the loops tied at her hips and she’d be bared to me.
Her eyes flicked to the floor where I’d left my discarded phone. I couldn’t move to pick it up… not without adjusting my raging hard on and revealing to her just how badly I wanted her.
One dark eyebrow lifted over her shining green eyes before she bent to retrieve it for me. Her eyes flicked to the screen, a smile tilting the corner of her mouth as she handed it back to me.
“Thanks,” I muttered, taking it back without looking at it.
I was in my damn forties. I wasn’t supposed to get humiliated by small things. I wasn’t supposed to stutter like a schoolboy when some skin flashed in my face. I was supposed to be able to handle myself, goddammit. Especially around a woman as young as Addy.
She couldalmostbe my daughter for Christ’s sake. Granted, I would have had to be just a kid myself when I had her, but still. The point remained.
She was hands off.
“I thought you were at the bar tonight,” I said, finally.
“We’re closed Mondays and Tuesdays,” she said. Then after a pause, she added, “And Keith handles the place alone on Sundays. Or… well, he’s supposed to.”
“Supposed to?”
“I can be a little bit of a control freak when it comes to my business.”
I gave a knowing nod. “Ah. So… you’re home all night tonight.” It wasn’t a question. More of a statement for me to wrap my head around while I willed my body to calm down.
“I’m home all night,” she repeated. Was it me or was her voice all breathy and wistful, too?
