Page 64 of Who's Your Daddy
No. It’s highly unlikely that she thought about me at all while she got ready.
Regardless, the look she’s gone with tonight brings with it a tease of innocence that has my heart thundering in my chest.
And the dress? Don’t even get me started on the damn dress. The deep green against her alabaster skin is nothing short of magnificent.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Her voice is quiet, her head tilted. An empty champagne glass dangles from the fingertips of one hand, her shoes from the other.
Straightening, I will myself to be even half the man she deserves. I won’t fuck this up. I won’t let my mind short-circuit, and I won’t say something stupid, like I do every time I’m in the same room as her. No walkie-talkie jokes from this guy tonight.
“Devastating.” The word is gritty, my throat dry.
Her brows lower, confusion swimming in those green irises. “What?”
“You in that dress. You’re simply devastating. Every woman we cross tonight will be devastated because she isn’t you, and every man will wish he had you on his arm. But me?” I scrub at my face, wishing I could erase every moment of my life before this so she’d be the first thing I ever see. “I’ll never recover.”
Lola’s cherry lips curve into a glorious smile. “Callahan Murphy, are you a secret romantic?”
With two steps toward her, I pluck the Jimmy Choos from her fingers. Then I guide her to the bed and urge her to sit on the edge.
“Not a day in my life, Lola,” I say. It’s the god’s honest truth. “Not a day in my goddamn life. But you, you make me want to be Shakespeare.”
I drop to my knees in front of her, lifting her foot, and slide one shoe into place before I secure the crystal strap around her thin ankle.
She shakes her head, her expression still bright. “Smooth, you Murphy men.” She bops my nose. “You’re dangerous with wine.”
With a chuckle, I hold her ankle for another second, pushing my luck and relishing the smoothness of her skin. “Let’s maybe have some water, then we can try the wine.” I ease her foot to the floor and lift the other.
Lola shakes her head, the movement sending her scent wafting around me.
It takes strength to stay where I am on the floor. I want to settle beside her on the bed and inhale her all night. I dream of wrapping her in my arms and holding her close. Of waking in the morning covered in the smell of her and going to bed to do it all again.
I’m fucking gone. And that’s a bloody problem, because tomorrow the spell will be broken. Lola will morph back into a ball of fire, while I’ll still be this damn puppy following her around, willing to risk the burn for a chance to touch her.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asks.
Her words startle me back to the moment. I’m still holding her ankle, knees on the ground, completely enraptured by her.
“Shh,” I murmur as I stand and hold out a hand. “You’ll ruin it.”
With her hand in mine, she shakes her head. But she’s smiling.
Chapter 21
Lola
“What?” I don’t have to turn in the elevator to know Cal is watching me. I can feel his attention. It’s like being wrapped in a warm, soft blanket. It makes my skin buzz with an electric energy. Or maybe that’s the alcohol. It’s safer to blame it on the champagne, but liquor has never made me feel the way that Cal does.
“I like the freckles.” The low timbre of his voice has heat pooling in my belly. “Most of the time I can’t see them. But damn are they beautiful.You’rebeautiful.”
I would never admit it aloud, but his comment about my freckles the other night floated through my mind as I applied my makeup. Normally, they make me self-conscious, but his reaction emboldened me. That and a bottle of champagne.
“It must be the light.”
“No, it’s not.” He shifts closer, his hand brushing along my cheek.
My breath catches, my heart stuttering as he continues the barely there caress, drifting across my jaw and down my neck.
The stuttering of my heart turns into a pounding beat, the desire I’ve been fighting, the one that holds me captive more and more with each interaction, washing over me.
