Page 83 of Shortcake
An hour and a half later,we had christened Addy’s basement bedroom and managed to change into appropriate clothes… just in case Harper came home.
Now, I laid on the couch, Addy draped over me as I traced lines up and down her back, my hand inside her tank top.
“What should we watch?” she asked, as she surfed various streaming sites.
“Oh, I know.” I took the remote from her and pulled up Pride and Prejudice, the movie.
She gasped. “No! I’m only halfway done with the book!”
I grinned and brushed a damp red strand that had escaped from the claw clip back from her forehead. “You said you cheated in high school and already watched the movie.” Not to mention, she also read the Cliff’s Notes.
She grabbed the remote from me, clutching it to her chest. “That was the Colin Firth version! Not Keira Knightly. And it’s been like ten years! I want to finish reading before I watch any version again.” She scrunched her nose. “Besides, shouldn’t we wait and watch it with Harper?”
My heart swelled at that. The fact that she was thinking of my daughter even when she wasn’t here. And not just in the capacity ofHarper could walk in and catch us. She was inclusively thinking about Harper. “You’re right,” I whispered. “We should watch it with Harper. After youbothread the book.”
I cupped Addy’s jaw, dragging her lips to meet mine. This kiss wasn’t like the earlier ones. It was no less passionate, but not as hurried. I took my time, exploring her lips, tracing them with the tip of my tongue. Groaning as her tongue languidly slid against mine, silky and hot.
“That still doesn’t answer the question of what we should watch,” Addy whispered, her lips moving against mine as she spoke. “Oh! I have an idea.” Addy grabbed the remote from me and pulled upThe Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. “You can pop my Clint Eastwood cherry.”
I groaned, my head falling back on the couch. “Hot tub sex, burgers on the grill, and now a classic western? You know the way to my heart, don’t you?”
I squeezed her hips harder, giving her ass a little spank. Then, I pulled her against me as I thrust my hips up, my erection nestling against her little pajama shorts. With her legs spread over top of me, I could see the little damp spot seeping through the thin cotton of her shorts and I rubbed my thumb over the wet circle. “Fuck me, Addy.”
She grinned. “Your wish is my command.” Just as she curved those delicate hands of hers around my cock over the layer of my pajama pants, my phone buzzed. I muttered a curse and reached for it, seeing Harper’s name and picture blinking on the screen.
I cleared my throat before answering. “Hey sweetie.”
“Hey Dad! We’re done at book club.”
Addy was already crawling off of me, scrambling to the other end of the couch as though Harper could catch us through the phone. “Great.”
“Are you okay? You sound weird.”
I cleared my throat again. “No, no, I’m fine. Just, um, fell asleep on the couch.”
She snorted. “It’s like nine-thirty.”
“Yeah, yeah. What can I say?” I caught Addy’s eye as I said, “I’m an old man.”
Addy smiled and pointed at herself, mouthing,My old man.
I fought my own smile and shook my head at her. “I’ll head over to Mia’s to pick you up.”
“Adam offered to give me a ride home… if that’s okay with you.”
My spine bristled. Adam. That bookshop owner’s son.
Enamel crushed enamel as I clenched my jaw, gritting my teeth.
“Dad?” Harper asked with a sigh, then added, whispering, “It’sjusta ride home. Jacob and I used to ride the subway together all the time. And those rides were sometimes more than thirty minutes.”
Yeah, I didn’t like that either. But at least on the subway, there were always tons of other people around. There was nowhere to park and hide. No seats that reclined all the way back.
Finally, I said, “Fine. But I know that it takes exactly eight minutes to drive from Mia’s house to here.” I pulled the phone away from my face briefly to glance at the time. Nine-thirty-three. “You have until nine-forty-nine to get home. Not a minute later. That gives you a full sixteen minutes to pack up, say goodbye to the group and for him to drive you here. Understood?”
“Understood,” she repeated. “Thank you, Dad. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
