Page 4 of Seducing Daddy

To my horror, cocoa-colored sauce bloomed in the air, and the bulk of the Swedish meatballs I had piled on Nonna’s plate, per her exacting specifications, landed directly on his shirt front. The drippy remains snaked down the front of his thighs, pooling in small puddles upon the carpet which, up to now, was as white as virgin snow.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” I set the plates on the buffet table and dropped to my knees, dabbing at the mess with a cloth napkin, making it worse, so much worse. The nut-brown liquid seeped into the carpet’s deep pile, turning the chic floor covering into something that looked as though drunk elves puked on it.

“Keep taking the Lord’s name in vain, and I’ll show you sorry,” he said.

Jeez, could this be any worse? “Oh, shit. I forgot. Forgive me?” It was the worst apology ever. I looked up at him, and amusement flickered in the eyes that met mine.

Wait a minute. He’d sounded so stern.

“Are you messing with me, Reverend Pritchett?”

“I’m totally messing with you,” he said, chuckling. The deep baritone sound of it was so honest, so kind, so pure, that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. “No, really.” He looked genuinely concerned.

His eyes turned sharp and assessing. Time stopped. He dragged his hand over my hair, reassuring me with his caress.

That’s when it hit me. It wasn’t a candy cane in his pants, but the outline of his cock, which visibly strained upward in a curve nearly as thick as my wrist.

Oh, holy heck. I was going straight to hell for ruining his mama’s carpet, and worse yet, for thinking about grabbing the base of his cock and worshipping at his altar with my mouth.

I did my best with the mess on the floor, and he insisted he’d take care of it.

Now, to get the hell out of here, and fast. Party animal Nonna wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. “Excuse me, I’ve got to check on my friend,” I fibbed. Said friend was as fine as frog hair ever since shacking up with her one true love, Enzo—marrying him, in fact—but God could forgive a little white lie.

Couldn’t he?

Or she?

I hustled over to Jessica. “Jess,” I whispered. “Can you please give Nonna a ride home? I know she’s not ready to leave, but…” My eyes darted around the room. “I’ve got to get out of here.”

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked. It was a rare occurrence to see me all emotionally spun up like this.

In fact, I surprised even myself, swiping at the remnant of moisture, which threatened to tear up at the corners of my eyes again. “I’m totally fine. It’s just… you know… holidays.” I waved my arm around the room. “But, don’t worry. The craft fair is coming up. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other between now and then.”

“I know,” she chirped, bouncing on her toes. “It’s so exciting, isn’t it?”

And right there lay the difference between someone like Jessica and someone like me. Life had thrown her darkness and difficulty, and she ground it between her palms until the black rock turned into a brilliant diamond.

While I, on the other hand, was left with nothing but dust and the sooty taste of disappointment in my mouth.

Chapter 3

Rex

Two Weeks Later

Don’t ask me why she insisted on constantly marring her beauty with that scrunched-up expression, glaring at me with burning, reproachful eyes.

You’d think I’d offered to murder her pet kitten rather than approach her booth at the annual craft fair to chat.

Whatever it was that was stuck in her craw, no matter how I sliced it, I didn’t think it could possibly be me.

Her reaction wasn’t appropriate for the matter at hand.

I gave her my best grin, and her anger seemed to abate somewhat under the warm glow I projected onto her with my smile.

The local band, which was hired for the event, Dr. Octopus, revved up in the background and began playing.

Woo-hoo, witchy woman

---