Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 44254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
“Are you up there?”
He stumbles away from me, his hands immediately snapping to his trousers, any affection or lust turning to ash when he hears his daughter’s voice.
My hands do the same, quickly buttoning my pants as the blunt truth of what we just did slams into me.
“I brought cake.”
She sounds happy to come here on a surprise visit.
She sounds thrilled to see her dad.
She sounds like she would never guess, in a million years, what we’ve been doing up here.
“What do we do?” I ask.
Dominic walks across the room, opens a locker, and takes out a fresh shelter polo.
“Put this on,” he says. “And… hell, Danni. I don’t know. I didn’t plan on this. We might have to tell her.”
“Here? Now? After what just happened?”
“I don’t know,” he snaps. “I can’t think. I never can around you.”
I take the shirt from him, turning away, ignoring the note of accusation in his voice.
Like it’s my fault.
And, perversely, I find myself wishing Lizzy had arrived a few minutes later.
I never got an answer to my question.
He never told me if he really wanted to claim me or if that was just dirty talk.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dominic
“I couldn’t focus at home, so I decided to head to the library. And what better than a little cake stop on the way?”
Elizabeth sits on the other side of the desk, next to Danni. I try to push what just happened as far from my mind as I can possibly get it.
The heat, the closeness, my seed, erupting and being wasted on her shirt…when it belongs only inside her.
But no, I can’t think that.
My daughter’s sitting a few feet from me, a smile on her face as she takes a bite of cake.
“It’s delicious,” I tell her, taking a bite of my own.
Danni’s cheeks are bright red, like all the nerves are sizzling through her. She looks at me several times, her eyes wide and shellshocked, silently telling me this has to stop.
I know it’s the truth.
We can’t keep going like this, can’t allow this to spiral….
Again and again, and again, as it has been.
“How’s your day been so far?” Elizabeth asks, wiping a crumb from the edge of her mouth.
“Great,” Danni says. “We did a home visit. I think it went well.”
“It did,” I tell her, remembering how it felt to stand outside Matilda’s door, holding Danni’s hand, how natural. But we can’t do it again. We can’t let ourselves be tempted into the magnetic pull. “We’ve found a home for one of the other Corgis. Plus, he has a friend too.”
“That’s great.” Elizabeth beams. “I’m really happy.”
“How about you?” Danni asks. “Apart from not being able to focus, is college going okay?”
“It’s a lot of work, but I’m determined to get it done. It’s just hard at home sometimes. Too many distractions. I mean, Netflix and ice cream are right there, you know? What am I supposed to do?”
Danni and I laugh. When Elizabeth looks between us, I realize we’ve probably gone too far, our laughter rising as though to mask the shame burning within me… and Danni, if those wide eyes are any indication.
Elizabeth grins. “Maybe I should quit nursing and start standup comedy, huh?”
I chuckle. “It might be an idea.”
Tell her, tell her, screams in my mind, over and over, a loop I can’t stop. But I also can’t just blurt it without discussing it with Danni first.
“Could I hang with the dogs for a little bit?” Elizabeth asks.
“Sure,” I nod. “I’ve got some paperwork to do, but Danni, you could be her chaperone?”
Elizabeth rolls her eyes. “Dad, I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Think of it as a way to give Danni more experience then. It’s a big responsibility, leading a visitor around the shelter.”
I wonder if this is my way of getting Danni as far from me as possible.
Even now, when it should be the last thing on my mind, my seed roars, telling me, I wasted my chance by exploding like that, with her warm hand stroking urgently up and down my length.
I should’ve taken her to the desk – my need yells at me – laid her on her back, tore off her clothes, and glided up inside her tight pussy. I know that would’ve been insane, considering Elizabeth appeared a few seconds later, but I still can’t fully repress the notion.
As Danni and Elizabeth leave my office, Danni looks at me.
What the hell are we going to do? she asks silently, the message clear in the panic of her eyes.
I don’t know, I tell her, as I shake my head. I never planned for this.
Once Elizabeth leaves, Danni returns to my office.
I know it’s her by the frantic knocking like she can barely contain the terror.
“Come in,” I say, my voice shaking.
I remind myself, over and over, this is it. The end of whatever we were building here…unless we tell Elizabeth the truth.