Page 2 of Seducing Daddy

To build a fire, wrap her in blankets, and have my way with her as she sipped hot cocoa, cozy on the couch, ignoring the fact that I was on the floor in front of her, doing my best to make her come with my mouth. To shower her with presents early Christmas morning, just to watch the glow of delight in her eyes.

I took a swallow of my woefully unspiked eggnog, mustering the courage to speak to Jolene and her chaperone.

Unfortunately, she rarely went anywhere alone.

Her best friend, Jessica, or Nonna was always at her side, making asking her out on a date in private an impossibility.

Did she do that on purpose? Was it yet another tactical maneuver to keep men at arm’s distance?

Thank God, I’d never seen her out with another man.

If I did, I might not be so successful in keeping my crush a secret. Just the thought of another male expressing interest in her was enough to make my vision cloud red with anger.

Don’t be a coward, Pritchett. Just go over there and talk to her.

God knows I did enough speaking in this town. I ought to be used to it by now. Unfortunately, it was a job requirement. Coming up with an hour’s worth of things to say every Sunday was a duty I didn’t relish, and sometimes I wondered why people listened to me at all.

But then, this was the path I’d chosen for myself.

It was a matter of survival. Meditation helped me to regulate my larger-than-life emotions so that I responded versus reacted, and eventually, the practice morphed into prayer. Even though when I prayed, I knew God listened. There was no answer from Jolene to indicate she returned my interest. Since I met her, my entire body filled with a lingering ache. I made my petition to find release, but Jolene and her distance continued to drive me absolutely fucking insane.

Say something, you fool.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Just then, Jessica came barreling into the living room. Her huge, lumbering husband was at her side, wearing a suit, as usual. His wife dressed up like an elf for the party, wearing a miniskirt that shot out from her waist like a bell, red-and-white-striped tights, long, pointed green shoes with giant jingle bells at the end, and a Santa hat that stuck straight off her head like a cone. She bounced up and down on her toes, giving each of her two wing-women a squeeze. “Can you believe Christmas is almost here?” she asked as if the ten-foot, snow-flocked tree in the corner and the sea of presents beneath its boughs weren’t sign enough.

“Happens every year,” Jolene said, and I had to laugh. No matter how much I loved the ceremony and celebration of the holiday season, seeing up close and personal the way it brought painful memories to mind for so many, particularly the elderly in our community, made it a mixed bag kind of deal.

It frightened me to think that if I finally mustered the courage to ask her out, I’d discover all my hopes were in vain. And that would leave me with nothing other than the Bible, whose pages I fingered all too frequently, and my God, who’d had about enough of my whining.

What was it about this tiny woman that had me so intimidated I couldn’t just tell her how I really felt?

I knew exactly what it was.

Call me a sinner.

Call me a rogue.

But I couldn’t stop thinking of Proverbs 5:19. “A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.”

Everybody wants to eat, but few are willing to hunt.

I dragged a hand up the back of my head, pulling nervously at my neck.

Deer season might be over, but it was past time for me to chase after the lithe legs beneath her intoxicating rack and attempt to set right the sad little smile she had. It was slight, restrained, and sorrowful, and it completely crushed my chest.

Chapter 2

Jolene

Okay, I got it.

There was a reason they called him the “silver fox”.

Nonna wasn’t the only woman twice my age whose eyes followed him wherever he went. If it weren’t for the fact that I’d known him ever since moving to this Podunk town and had never seen him out with a female on his arm, the first impression he gave off was that he was a shameless flirt.

I mean, come on. The cowboy preacher constantly went around with his sleeves rolled up to reveal a set of biceps which could put Smith and Wesson out of business.

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