Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“Nope.” I roll closer and nip at her chin. “That’s still a no-go.”
“Come on, it’s cute.”
“No. It’s my job, and you are not my job. Not even close.”
She sighs, and her eyes are happy, the insecurities I saw earlier wiped away.
“Eventually, I’m going to come up with a nickname for you.”
I move my hand up farther on her stomach, ghosting over the skin, and then narrow my eyes at her. “No bra.”
“It’s late, Bridger. Of course, I’m not wearing a bra. The girls need to breathe a little.”
My fingers graze over one nipple, and it’s satisfying as fuck when the nub puckers right up for me, making Dani sigh in that sexy way she does that makes my dick twitch.
“If you want labels on what we’re doing,” I tell her softly, “that’s fine with me. I want the world to know that you’re mine. You’re mine, sweetheart. I’ll make that perfectly clear, right here and now. You want to call me your boyfriend? Go right ahead.”
“Wow, we’re really clearing the air.” She pushes her hand into my hair and uses her nails to lightly scratch my scalp, and it makes my eyes roll back into my head. “You like that.”
“You can do that for a million years. Holy shit.”
She giggles, and I pull my hand out from under the hoodie. I like having free rein to touch her, but this isn’t the time to get us worked up.
I need to make sure she’s okay. All the way okay. I hate that this woman has so many doubts, especially about us. That’s unacceptable, and we’re going to permanently squash it right now. If I’m honest with myself, I’ve always considered Dani to be mine. Even when I was living in a nightmare marriage to Angela, she was never far from my mind. Except back then, I thought I’d never get to kiss her, let alone have her in my arms. Fuck, I’m not sorry Angela bailed on us either.
“I need to veto one of your rules, by the way,” I inform her and roll back a bit.
“Which rule?”
“The no touching you at your job rule.”
She shakes her head and starts to talk, but I interrupt her.
“There’s no rule with the school that says you can’t date a parent. We’re both single, consenting adults who aren’t doing anything wrong. Jesus, I’m not going to make out with you in front of five hundred students, but I need to be able to cup your cheek or kiss your lips. Simple touches, Dani. I need them, just like you needed to know what’s going on with us tonight.”
That makes her bite that lip, and she finally nods.
“Yeah?” I rub my nose over hers. “You can live with me stealing a kiss at the drop-off line at school?”
“I can live with it,” she confirms. “I want the world to know that you’re mine, too, you know. You’re a smoke show. See what I did there?”
I can’t help it. I bust up laughing and bury my face in her neck, pulling her closer.
“We’re going to have to invest in some kind of mat or foam or something for out here because this is not comfortable for long, intimate talks.”
Dani chuckles and then sits up, pulling me with her. “I do have chairs on my porch. I don’t know if you noticed, but I bought an extra one, just in case you wanted to come out and sit with me.”
My head whips to the porch, and there it is. The second chair. And I don’t know why, but that makes my heart stutter. And the tiny seat sitting next to it has me leaning in to plant my lips on her cheek.
“You bought me and my daughter our own chairs for your porch?”
“I didn’t think you’d fit in my lap.” She grins and stands, and I join her as we walk to the porch. “Oh, I need to return this and your T-shirt to you.”
She plucks at the hoodie, and I scowl.
“The fuck you do. You’re keeping that. I love seeing you in my shit. I don’t want it back.”
“You didn’t let me finish. I need to give them back to you because I’ve worn them pretty much nonstop for the past week, and they don’t smell like you anymore. I need them to smell like you.”
Without a word, I march over to my house, quietly let myself in so I don’t wake my daughter, and gather up a sweatshirt I wore yesterday, along with two of my T-shirts out of my drawer, then walk back to where Dani’s still sitting on the porch and hold them out for her.
“Here. You can have them all. Keep them.”
Her eyes bounce from mine to the clothes I’m holding, and then she takes them and buries her nose in them, inhaling deeply.