Page 76 of Under Daddy's Spell

Rufus trotted up, his tongue lolling to one side.

“He needs water,” Tessa said as she reached down to scratch his head. “And breakfast.”

“It’s heating up out here anyway. Let’s move inside.”

Taking the stems of both glasses in one hand and their breakfast box in the other, he led her inside. “There’s a robe on the back of the door in the bathroom. I’ll take care of Rufus and get the coffee brewing.”

At his whistle, her dog trotted off happily behind him. Tessa smiled, relieved he wasn’t surly and growly anymore. But Jordan was making a concerted effort to make friends and was succeeding. That he held a box of Angie’s goodies helped pave the way. Tessa was convinced if he gave him a steak, her fickle protector would permanently defect to the other side.

She found the robe right where he said it would be and slipped into it. Anything was better than the voluminous tufted comforter, or so she thought before looking down at Jordan’s six-sizes-too-big terry-cloth robe. The hem dragged on the floor, and the belt wrapped around her twice, but at least it had one. She knotted it after rolling up the too-long sleeves that hung inches past her fingertips.

When she walked into the kitchen, he grinned. “A T-shirt would have been better. You look cute as can be though. Like a little girl dressing up in her daddy’s robe.”

Beaming, she glanced from the ridiculous, mammoth robe to him. “I should because that’s what I am.”

“You are, indeed, sweet girl.”

He walked from the hissing, whirring coffeepot to stand in front of her. Separating the V of her robe, he spread the two sides so that only the twice-wrapped belt covered her front. His hands slid down and around, and he palmed her ass. Next, her feet left the tile floor as he aligned her nakedness with his fully clothed body.

Tenderly, his lips brushed hers. “I want to lay you on the table and have you for breakfast. But you’ll be lucky to make it in for the lunch rush if I do that.”

He kissed her deeply, but only briefly, and the effort it took for him to set her down showed on his handsome face.

Tessa patted his arm. “Don’t look so sad. Since sunrise was a minute after I open, I asked Martha to come in early. I wouldn’t have dared not open on time. I was late once, and the caffeine-deprived rioted on my sidewalk.”

His blond brows slammed together. “You’re kidding.”

“I am,” she said with a grin. “My regulars groused and pouted and carried on when I let them in at 6:02. But it makes for a better story if they came to blows over our fabulous coffee.”

“Over two lousy minutes, I’d have sent them on their way without.”

“I couldn’t do that. My regulars are 80 percent of my business.”

He gripped the collar of her robe, his blue eyes gleaming. “And what made you late? Were you slacking like this morning?”

“Nope. A snooze button doesn’t exist in my world. I usually pop right up. I don’t know what got into me this morning.”

“I did,” he said proudly. “Twice!” He also laid a warm, lingering kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, he sighed. “Let’s eat what you brought, have a cup of coffee then hit the showers. We’ll beat the morning traffic, and I’ll still make my meeting at ten.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll go first. I usually wash my hair at night because it takes forever to dry.”

“You’re suggesting we shower separately? Baby, where would be the fun in that? We’ve got plenty of time for a quickie.”

“I’ll pass,” she teased, waiting until she was on the other side of the island. “A quickie has never been my idea of fun.”

“That’s because you’ve never experienced a quickie in the shower with me.”

He rounded the end of the island and stalked toward her. But she grabbed the bakery box and moved as he did.

“Baby girl is in a mood this morning.” When he changed directions to meet her, she did the same to get farther away. “Tessa...”

“I’m hungry,” she exclaimed as she stopped—the length of the island between them—and flipped open the lid of the bakery box she’d brought with her. It contained a variety of breakfast treats, ranging from full-fat banana nut bread to the healthiest thing Angie made, a two-carb cinnamon-bran muffin.The latter was a hard pass for her because...eww! And also, because she’d packed raspberry scones. As she took one of the sweet, fruity, carb-filled biscuits, she couldn’t resist teasing him a little.

“I brought your favorite—kale and quinoa muffins.” Angie made no such thing, and she barely kept from laughing at the face he made. “Or, would you prefer a raspberry scone? It has a yummy drizzle of cream-cheese icing.”

“Scone. Definitely.”

“Sorry!” she exclaimed. “I only brought one, and you’re watching your manly physique.”Then she shoved the entire thing in her mouth.

---