Page 40 of Temptress

I swallowed a thick, nervous gulp at the wry smile on her face, unsure how to play it. Her expression said she suspected something, especially since her father had never invited me to dinner before, but I wasn’t sure how Silas wanted to handle this situation. It made sense that he’d want to keep his sex life private from his daughter, so I schooled my expression and nodded.

“Sounds good.” I followed her out the door, pulling it closed behind me when something hit me, making me stop short. “Wait. He’s not cooking, is he?”

Darcy thew her head back on a deep belly laugh, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of it.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “We’re ordering from the sandwich shop. Don’t worry. But he said I had to get vegetables so he can tell my mom he’s making me eat healthy.”

I let out a snort as we crossed from my backyard into theirs. “Who can argue with parenting like that?”

19

SLOANE

Sitting at the dining table with Silas and Darcy was more fun than I’d expected. Watching the two of them tease each other mercilessly made me laugh more than I’d laughed in a long time.

I could still remember the sadness in Silas’s voice all those weeks ago when he voiced his concern about being a bad father. How he could think that was beyond me. His daughter looked at him like he hung the moon.

Even with all the teasing and back and forth, it was obvious how much Darcy adored her dad, and I could see how she blossomed under his praise, her cheeks flushing pink and her eyes lighting up every single time he said something about her, fatherly pride ringing in his voice.

This had been one of the best dinners I’d had in longer than I could remember, and it had nothing to do with the cold turkey sub sandwich I’d eaten and everything to do with the company.

We’d finished dinner an hour ago, but we still sat around the table as Darcy filled us in on all the drama that had taken place so far at her school, and most of the stories rivaled the over-the-top antics on some of my favorite reality television shows.

This was a first for me. I didn’t exactly grow up in a home filled with love and laughter. My mom and I didn’t sit around the dinner table every evening, filling each other in on our days. She never showed the level of interest in my life that Silas showed Darcy, and as much as I wished I’d had that for myself growing up, I loved that the girl who was quickly becoming a very important part of my life had it for herself. She deserved it.

“So, Darce,” I said as I propped and elbow on the table and rested my chin in my hand, “How’d things go after the bake sale? Did those girls you were telling me about back off?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Silas’s back shoot straight, his entire frame going stiff as he narrowed his eyes at his daughter across the table. “Is someone giving you trouble?” he asked, his tone hard and menacing, like he wanted to find anyone who was mean to his little girl and tear them apart, limb by limb. What was wrong with me that I suddenly found that insane protectiveness insanely attractive?

God, this man was pushing all kinds of buttons in me that I wasn’t aware I had.

“Who was it? Give me names and I’ll make sure that shit stops right now.”

I reached over, placing a hand on his forearm. “Whoa, killer. Relax and take a breath for a moment, would you?”

Darcy rolled her eyes dramatically. “Yeah, Dad. Relax. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a few of the older girls on the squad, and they haven’t really done anything but give me a few nasty looks and whisper to each other when I’m passing by.”

She tried to play it off like it was nothing, but I could see in the way she drew her shoulders up ever so slightly and lowered her gaze to the table that whatever those girls were doing bothered her.

I leaned forward, drawing her attention. “Honey, I know it’s easier said than done, but you can’t let those girls get you down. You’re going to run into plenty of women just like that in your life, from now on and even when you’re an adult. But can I let you in on a little secret?”

She nodded, following along like what I was saying was crucial. “The reason girls like that are mean is because they’re insecure and unhappy, and they think they can make themselves feel better by making other people feel bad about themselves. If you give them that kind of power, they win.” I released my chin and stretched my arm across the table, taking Darcy’s hand in mine. “Don’t let them win, Darce. Be stronger than they are. Be happier. That’s how you beat them. You are smart, beautiful, and funny. You have absolutely everything going for you. They see that, and it makes them so jealous, they can’t see straight. When they do or say something that makes you sad, just remember that, okay? You are the only one who has any say over your own happiness.”

I gave a tiny jolt when Silas’s hand came down on my thigh beneath the table, but I did my best to hide my reaction so Darcy wouldn’t suspect.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said across from me, but as hard as I tried to listen to what she was saying, it was getting harder as Silas’s work-rough hand dragged higher up my leg and dipped inward. He pressed the pads of his fingers deeper into the flesh of my inner thigh, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning at his touch. That was all it took for him to set my whole body on fire. A single touch or look from him, and the warmth centered in my core spidered out through my limbs like spreading cracks in a windshield.

He was driving me crazy.

I tried to pull my leg away, but his grip tightened, refusing to allow me to escape. I managed a surreptitious glance in the man’s direction to see his face was completely blank. Either he wasn’t nearly as affected by me as I was by him, or he had an expert poker face, because while he touched me beneath the table, his sole focus was on Darcy across the table.

It wasn’t until his heavy hand left my leg half an hour later that I was able to inhale deep enough to fill my lungs completely. But that was the only relief I got, because being near him like this, having him touch me, it made my pussy ache with emptiness, the muscles clenching around nothing, desperate to be filled.

“All right, baby girl. It’s getting late. You still have some homework to do, then it’s shower and bed.”

She didn’t issue a single complaint as she stood up and reached to take her plate and the glass she’d been drinking from. “Oh, no, sweetie. I’ve got the dishes. Dinner was on you guys, so the least I can do is clean up.”

She smiled at me and rounded the table. “Thanks, Sloane,” she said as she bent forward and wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight embrace. “Not just for the dishes, but for the advice too. I’m going to try really hard to remember what you said the next time they mess with me.”

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