Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73506 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
"Like fuck you're driving. You're nervous and all high-strung."
“And pissed at you.”
“Pissed at me? Why?”
“Because you trespassed! You snuck around and didn’t tell me. You can’t do that, Ricco. The rest of the world doesn’t operate like that.”
I grumble under my breath.
"And I know, I know, you’re probably used to high-speed chases or whatever the fuck," she says cryptically, giving Jason a weird look.
He laughs and reaches for the keys. “Get in my car, lovebirds. I’m driving.”
I grumble, but I let him. If Jason drives, then I get to sit in the back with Dani.
"And no make-out sessions in the back of my car," he says with a grimace. "That is so not cute."
Doesn’t mean I can't tug her hair and squeeze the top of her sexy thigh.
"I’m so not cool with you stalking me like that,” Dani says in a whisper in the back of the car. “I don’t want you to think you’re off the hook.”
“Listen, I didn’t do anything,” I tell her with a sigh, even as the lie behind those words eats at me. I didn’t mean her harm though. “I wanted to help and didn’t want to freak you out.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I’d be freaked out anyway?”
I scratch my jaw. “Well, yeah.”
She sighs and shakes her head. “I feel like I should be so super pissed at you right now. But I think it’s also, in some weird Bizarro-world fashion…well, kind of sweet. Only because you weren’t actually stalking me.”
How long has Marco been going to this preschool?" Dani says after we seat ourselves in the back of Jason's car.
I don’t look at her but answer honestly but simply.
"This is his first year."
"You said he's three?"
I nod. He’s one year younger than her little girl.
"I asked around, they said it was the best preschool in the area." I shrug. It isn’t exactly a lie, but I don’t share that her having Emmy there had anything to do with the move.
I've got to hand it to Jason. He's a damn good driver. He navigates the congested city streets with ease, driving just fast enough to push it, but not so fast that it’s dangerous. In the back of the car, I avoid the "makeout sesh," but rest my hand dangerously high at the top of Dani’s thigh. I let my fingers graze too high because I love the way her cheeks flush pink.
"You look adorable in sweats, honey.”
“Shit!" She smacks her forehead with a resounding slap.
“No smacking yourself. The only one who gets to smack you is me when you’re over my knee and getting spanked.”
“Ricco," she hisses. "Are you even serious right now?"
"Deadly serious. Why did you smack your head?"
"Because I didn't mean to come here in sweatpants, that's why. I got too… distracted." She frowns. "You shouldn’t be so hot."
"I can work on that…"
"Well, maybe later," she says, adorably grumpy. I pinch her thigh, and when she tosses her head back with a little yelp, I tug a lock of her hair.
"We’re almost there," Jason says, "and no making out and that includes whatever that kinky shit is you’re doing back there."
We’re obviously some of the last people here, but that doesn’t matter. The point is, we’ve arrived. I get out of the car and open her door for her. “You look beautiful,” I say, something I will never get tired of telling her. She doesn't have to have fancy clothes on. Or fuck it, any clothes on. Dani is a beautiful woman.
“Thanks. You look hot, as always,” she says with a sigh. “Why do men look hotter in sweats than women?”
“Debatable.”
“Not debatable, sweetie,” Jason mutters. “Fact.”
Emmy’s waiting for us, her hand shading her eyes as she scans the lot. Her face lights up when she sees the two of us.
Marco's class is behind hers, led by a teacher’s aide. They have a table set up with large metal pots of coffee, Styrofoam cups, and trays of baked goods.
"Was I supposed to bring something?" Dani says with a grimace. "God, I can't remember anything."
"I think the parent-teacher group brought all the stuff. And Dani, that’s enough.”
“Enough what?”
I put my mouth to her ear. "Do you remember what it felt like when I took my belt to your ass?"
She chokes.
"Do you remember what your reward felt like?"
She bites her lip. "I can't even believe you're saying this right here," she mutters.
I smile at her. "Just trying to get you to see that you’re a lot more than a mom who occasionally doesn’t have things perfect.”
“Stop,” she says with a smile and a whisper.
“Stop what?”
But she only shakes her head, gets up on her tiptoes, and kisses my cheek before Emmy side-tackles her.
Dani grabs me so she doesn’t fall and shakes her head. "Hey, sweetie."
Emmy leaps up and wraps her legs around Dani’s belly. Dani holds her little girl tight, just as Marco appears.