Page 19 of Love at First Bite
A note?I wanted to laugh at myself. Did men even leave notes nowadays? This wasn’t a historical romance. This was real life.It was a one-night stand, and now he was done. For all I knew, I overstayed my welcome.I couldn’t help the negative thoughts even if a large part of myself didn’t believe them. He wouldn’t have just left. But what did I know? I’d never had the traditional family other than my grandmother. But even she was gone now. The only family I had were my friends.
Guilt started to prickle to life. I’d left them.
I’d met some guy and left them behind.
I chewed on my lip. I didn’t date. When I tried, it always fizzled out before it became anything for some reason.Because it wasn’t your sexy, mysterious vampire daddy!A voice in my head shouted.
I pulled the sheet up over my body, contemplating how to get the hell out of here.Don’t run away,a voice whispered in my head, and I frowned as Rosie’s words about trying something new popped into my head. Getting out of our norm. I shifted closer to the edge of the bed and winced. I had definitely done that.And now I am deliciously sore.I had a feeling I would be thinking about what had happened Halloween night for the rest of my life. And I would be reminded of it with every step I took for at least three to four days.
Scanning the room for my dress, I remembered the way we’d woken up in the middle of the night. His green eyes searched mine in the darkness before I’d reached for his face to brush a lock of dark black hair off his forehead. He’d pulled the dress off when I’d straddled him. Just the reminder of that second round, how hot and sweaty we had both gotten, made me wet. Riding him and coming twice to his one had been mind-blowing.
The door to the bedroom opened, andboom!There he was.
I blinked once, twice, unable to believe my eyes. He looked like a hero from a romcom in gray joggers that hung dangerously low on his hips and messy dark hair I’d tugged on late at night.
The whole picture complete with a tray of food in his hands.
And just like that, my heart softened, and hope started to bloom inside of me.
His green eyes twinkled before he set the tray on top of his dresser and walked over to me. I didn’t blink. I wanted to memorize every possible detail of his masculine face in case this was where he said it was fun, but it was time for me to head home. That we had been a moment and not the start of something so beautiful I didn’t dare dream of.
He surprised me by sitting on the bed and moving me so I would straddle him before resting a hand on my hip while the other tucked a stray hair behind my ear.
“Good morning.” He smiled, and my poor stupid heart skipped a beat.
“Good morning,” I whispered, my voice raspy from sleep and screaming daddy last night. I opened and shut my mouth. I still didn’t know his name. “This is hardly fair,” I decided to point out. His head tilted to the side a bit, and his lips twitched.
“Why’s that, baby girl?” I blushed. Shit. I’d called him daddy!Ohmygod!
“I’m naked, and you’re not,” I pointed out, still holding on to whatever sassy, bold part of me he had brought to life. Or had she been there all along?
“Hmm.” His eyes dipped, and I felt my nipples harden under his stare. They rose and met mine, warm and hungry. “I can see that, but we can fix that after we talk. That sound okay?”
Uh-oh. After we talked. That doesn’t sound good.
This was definitely going to be a brus- off. A polite one, probably because he was older and wiser, but a brush-off nonetheless.
“Umm, okay.” I swallowed and cleared my throat.Rip it off like a Band-Aid.“What do you want to talk about?” I asked just as his fingers moved into my hair, making my eyes flutter shut. That felt good. He rubbed the back of my head, and I leaned into his touch.
“How did you sleep?” he asked, his magical hands relaxing me.
“With my eyes closed,” I responded, and my eyes popped open at the accidental sarcastic response. Before I could apologize, he laughed. The sound filled me from the inside out. I liked his laugh. No, I loved it.
“You?” I asked, and his eyes softened.
“Better than I have ever slept in my entire life.” I blinked. My mind slowly processed his words. “Okay,” he sighed, tipping my head back so our eyes locked. “I wanna talk to you, and this is going to sound crazy, and honestly, it’s partially why I want you naked on my lap.” Confusion must have shown on my face because he started to explain. “That way, you can’t run off on me,” he said with a chagrined smile.
“You’re married,” I guessed.
“What? No.” He frowned.
“You’re engaged?” I guessed on a second try.
“No.” He laughed. “I like your imagination, baby, but there is no way if I had someone, last night would have happened. I’m not that guy. I’ve never been that guy.”
“Oh, umm…” I pressed my lips together and tried to ignore the heat that bloomed on my cheeks. “That’s good to know.”
“This is going to sound crazy but…” He shrugged. His fingers never stopped caressing my face or massaging my scalp as he spoke. “Here goes.” His hands fell to my sides.
