Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Boomer kept up the slow, outrageously erotic foot rub. “He didn’t want to have more kids until Lou could read?”
“I don’t think he wanted kids in the first place, but once he figured out how smart Lou was, he thought he owed it to the world or something.” It felt so damn good to have strong hands on her body. The connection between them felt electric, like touching a live wire that sparked something she’d never felt before. “The last two years of our marriage were distant. And then he died and I realized his parents controlled his trust fund. We lived in a house his parents owned, and I was stuck because we’d made arrangements for a private elementary for Lou, and I couldn’t afford it. God, that feels so good.”
He switched to her left foot. “Daphne, I need you to understand I barely finished high school.”
She opened her eyes. “I don’t care about that.”
“I care about you.”
She felt her lips tug up, and she knew this was dangerous. She was walking a fine line with Amelia, and there was no way her in-laws would be all right with her dating. They’d made it plain that she was merely Lou’s mother with no right to a life outside of parenting. “I care about you, too.”
“But I’m never going to fit into some academic life. I’m not the guy who can help Lou with her homework.”
“No, you’re the guy who can actually see past her smarts and see her as a little girl who needs someone who looks out for her. You’re the guy who makes me want to be a better me,” she whispered. “I don’t think you understand how much you’ve affected me in the little time I’ve known you, Boomer. I don’t think I would have taken that book from Amelia’s hands earlier today if I hadn’t spent this time with you. So I want to explore this thing between us.”
He stared at her for a moment. “You want me to kiss you again?”
She shook her head. “You didn’t kiss me the first time. I kissed you. Would it feel different if you kissed me?”
“How different do you want it to be? It was sweet when you kissed me. You were telling me something with that kiss. You were telling me you wanted to try to be more than friends. Should I show you what I want to be?”
She sat up, moving her feet off his lap. “What do you want to be, Boomer?”
“Come sit on my lap and I’ll show you.” He was so big sitting there, taking up half of what she would consider a large sofa. He leaned back, and his shirt was open at the throat, a few buttons undone and showing off a bit of what she suspected to be a spectacular chest. Two of those buttons had come undone recently, like he’d done it on purpose. Like he’d done it to entice her.
She was going into deep water with this man, and somehow she couldn’t stop herself from jumping in.
Daphne stood and turned and planted herself on his lap, letting one of her arms go around his neck. Up close, Boomer was even more of a work of art. She couldn’t understand how this stunning, kind, funny man was single and why on earth he could seem to want her, but she was tired of questioning every move she made. He was everything she needed in the moment, and she was going to let this play out.
All of her life seemed planned and manipulated by forces beyond her control. Boomer was going to be the one thing that was hers.
For however long it could last.
“Show me what you want.”
His hand slid from her calf up to her thigh, and his eyes went hot. “Let me tell you first. This part isn’t about us specifically. It’s about me and what I want to be to you. I’m tired of watching you come in after a long day at work and being frustrated and all wound up. I want to do more than put a plate of food in front of you.”
His other arm wound around her, and she was encompassed by the man. He pulled her tight against him, and she could suddenly feel something hard under her backside, and she didn’t think it was a gun. He locked his guns in a gun safe, and he’d shown her where it was and the protocols he went through when Lou had started hanging out over here.
He did everything he could to make her and her daughter feel safe.
“What would you do to help me relax?”
“I’d start with this.” He leaned in and then his lips were brushing against hers. A soft touch that lasted a moment and then two before he backed away. “I would greet you at the door with a kiss and nothing more because Lou would be watching, but you would know I had more in store for you. That kiss would be a promise of things to come. Then I would feed you and make sure you had a glass of wine and we would watch something that has nothing to do with education, all three of us, and we would laugh and have fun and the pets would do silly things. Then Lou would go to bed, and it would be my time.”