Page 58 of Under Daddy's Spell

Flushed and warm all over, she looked toward the thermometer. “Is it hot in here suddenly?”

But it read seventy-five degrees, the same as it had all day.

When a blast of sultry humid air accompanied the jingle of bells over her door, Tessa dropped the daddy romance and glanced up to greet her customer.The words died on her lips as thunder boomed and lightning flashed and Jordan came striding in, seemingly out of nowhere.

She blinked. Had thinking about him magically made him appear, or was the surge of dopamine saturating her brain from her naughty thoughts playing tricks on her?

“Lock up,” he ordered gruffly.

Still a bit befuddled, Tessa remained flat-footed behind the counter. “I thought you didn’t get home until tomorrow?”

“My plans changed; so have yours. It’s closing time.”

She glanced at the clock. “I’ve got another half hour.”

With his hair and shirt plastered to him, he stood dripping on her floor in the middle of the bestseller section. Fists on his hips, he glanced around the store. “Anyone here besides you?”

“Well... No.”

“Lock up,” he repeated. The fire in his blue eyes when they landed on her had her moving to the door, flipping the sign to closed, and turning the lock.

The metallic click of the mechanism resonated throughout the store as another roll of thunder rumbled overhead.

Before she had time to ask what this was about, he was beside her and spinning her to face him. Left loose that morning because she was in a hurry, as the day progressed and the humidity soared, her hair had grown to twice its volume.

Jordan’s fingers sank into it, and he growled an order, “No more buns and ponytails. This is too beautiful to restrain.”

Swept up by his intensity, she couldn’t speak. She wouldn’t have been able to, anyway, because his mouth descended to cover hers, and his tongue swept inside. Tessa surrendered to his passion, not noticing that he walked her backward until she came up against the front window. Then he kissed her as if he hadn’t seen her in weeks, and the storm raging inside eclipsed the one outside despite the nonstop thunder, rain, and wind.

One of Jordan’s hands left her hair to curl around her hip, holding her still as he leaned in, pressing his hardness into the softness of her belly. A whimper escaped her throat as she angled her hips forward, aching for more of the pleasure he’d given her Friday night. Although she’d love more of his mouth on her, she wanted to feel him moving deep inside her.

Loud and sudden, something banged against the window.

Tessa let out a startled shriek, Jordan more of a frustrated groan, as they jumped apart.

Out on the sidewalk, a couple, drenched from the driving rain, peered in at them. The man stood slack-jawed, completely stunned, while the woman waved frantically.

“Hey, Coop!” she shouted to be heard over the storm. “Is that your new girlfriend?”

“Fuck me,” he groaned.

“Do you know them?” she asked.

“No,” he all but barked.

“They’re soaked through to the skin. Maybe we should let them in.”

His abrupt laugh was devoid of humor. “I don’t think so. They’re grown-ups who should have enough sense to get out of the rain.” He took her by the hand and stalked, with her in tow, down the nearest aisle.

“But, Jordan, we can’t leave them out in the storm,” she protested. But when she glanced over her shoulder to check on them, they were gone. “They knew your name. Everyone does. Why is that?”

He didn’t answer, his focus on her, not her questions.

Midway through the aisles, there was a break in the shelving. He stepped into it and spun her to face him, his hands curving around her ass. Effortlessly, he lifted her off her feet and up against the display of oversized, hardcover crafts and DIY books she’d marked as 50 percent off that morning.

“I missed you,” he uttered, a husky rasp in his voice before, like a starving man without sustenance for days, perhaps weeks, his mouth devoured hers.

Tessa’s gripped his shoulders, digging into the bulging muscle. and clinging to him, while the other slid up the side of his neck into the silky hair at his collar. Although his hold was secure and the shelving behind her sturdy, she encircled his hips with her legs, hooking her feet so she was wrapped around him as much as humanly possible.

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