Page 20 of The Heartbreaker
“Both.” He placed his hand on my thigh. “Come on. You’re being too easy on me.”
“How many shifts have I worked at the strip club?”
“This would be the end of your third.” He moved in a little closer. “You want four to five kids. You’re from the Bay area. You came to LA for college and didn’t leave because you love the weather. Get you by the ocean with some sun, and you’re a happy girl. You want me to keep going?” His brows stayed high, and so did his grin.
Why was that smile so addictive? A perfect set of straight teeth and thick lips, surrounded by scruff that had felt so soft during our kiss.
“Show-off.” I sighed.
“I told you, I listen.”
“You’re running out of boxes to check off on the I’m-one-of-the-good-guys list.”
“It’s not intentional, it’s just who I am.”
I didn’t know why, but there was a tightness in the back of my throat. “I like that about you.”
“Yeah?”
I shrugged. “It’s refreshing to know my words are being heard since my past is filled with guys who are on the asshole list.”
And those assholes hadn’t heard anything I ever said. They didn’t bother to listen. And they had done very little to make me happy.
That was what I got for being attracted to the bad boys.
“It wasn’t always a strength, but it became important when I had my little girl. I want her to grow up knowing we’re not all the same. And when she’s old enough to date—God fucking help me—I want to be a good role model for what she looks for in a guy.”
A man who had reshaped himself to be the best example for his daughter.
There was literally nothing hotter.
My God.
I took a couple of deep breaths to cool myself down. “I get the sense you’re an amazing dad.”
He bit the side of his lip. “What makes you say that?”
I was around a lot of fathers. I knew the difference between amazing and emotionally absent. It took a lot more than just talking about your daughter—something he’d done very early on in the night—for me to form that opinion. It was something I could see in his eyes, by listening to the activities that he had her involved in and the way he joined her, how he’d described his priorities, how he had almost full custody, and how there were signs of his little one everywhere I looked.
“It’s just a hunch, combined with the way you look whenever you bring her up.”
He exhaled. “I talk about her too much, don’t I?”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t bother me at all—I actually love it.”
“Tell me, Addy, from the little that you know, what else do you love about me?” He paused, his stare narrowing. “There’s a reason you agreed to come home with me. I want to know what that reason is.”
I could feel the heat move across my cheeks. “The way you kissed me. That’s one.”
“You liked the way my mouth felt on yours.” His voice was deepening, almost becoming grittier.
“And the way you touched me.”
“I barely did that. I only touched your face”—his hand grazed my cheek—“and your waist.” He lowered and held the center of my side. “Are you wondering what else these fingers are capable of?”
As his thumb stroked my stomach, I sucked in a deep breath. “Along with a curiosity of what it would be like to be with an older man.”
That made him laugh. “Just how old do you think I am?”
