“You know my name,” he comments, striding over to me, bringing his musky scent with him.
“Of course I know your name.”
He pauses just shy of me, so close I could reach out and place my hand against that rock hard, muscular, massive chest if I wanted to. The urge pumps hotly through me, the same way it did when I was a teenager, my fantasies filled with how solid and warm his chest would feel.
“Have we met?” he asks a growl in his voice, with more anger rioting through him.
I laugh. Here’s proof he’d never want me. He doesn’t even recognize me.
“Mr. Tanner, it’s me, it’s Tess,” I say. “I’ve had my braces out. And it’s been a while. Three years.”
Crap, I sound like a dorky overeager kid. At least I didn’t give him the exact day count since our last meeting.
“Wait, Angie’s friend, Tess?”
“Yeah.”
He bites down, his jaw pulsing, and then he turns quickly away as if looking at me is causing too much fury for him to control.
I stare at the broadness of his back, at the muscles pressing through his shirt.
What the heck have I done wrong?
Chapter Two
Trent
I stand with my back to her, my heartbeat thundering like it’s going to blast out of my chest, like a bomb, like a fucking bomb and it’s counting down.
Just when I thought I had everything figured out – retirement, start a management business, spend more time with my daughter – out of nowhere this desire slams into me.
When I walked in here, feelings flooded into me. They were the sort I never imagined a man like me could feel. Over the years, as women have thrown themselves at me, I knew I’d never feel what seems to come so easily to everyone else.
I’ve never felt this primal attraction, this impossible-to-ignore need.
But here it is, and it’s pulsing inside of me.
How the fuck is she Angie’s friend Tessa?
I remember Tessa.
She was a shy girl with braces, hiding her face behind cheap disposable cameras. She was invisible to me. I haven’t even seen her in three years. Work has kept me busy, and when I get a chance to spend some time with Angie, I want to treat her to some father-daughter quality time.
Now she’s…
Fuck, I don’t even know what she is.
She’s a mirage, an oasis.
She’s mine.
The conviction rises inside of me with a certainty I’ve only ever felt in combat when a man has to trust his instincts or it can lead to his death.
I feel that unwavering confidence now.
Tessa belongs to me.
I’ll destroy any man who tries to claim her.
She’s curvy in all the right places, perfect for me to grab and hammer until she’s overflowing with my seed. She’s got chestnut-brown hair, wavy down to her shoulders, and a cute-as-fuck button nose, and a nervous smile.
She’s mine, mine, mine.
I have to fight this urge.
She’s Angela’s best friend. She’s my daughter’s best friend.
Fuck.
I didn’t expect returning to Youngstone would be so complicated.
I look toward the bathroom, waiting for Angie to emerge and make this less complicated. But I’ve got no such luck.
I can’t stop myself from turning back to that woman, my woman.
“She shouldn’t be much longer,” she murmurs, her cheeks turning an enticing shade of red, the sort of red that makes me want to grab her and shove her onto one of these tables.
Fuck, I’d slide my hands up those legs and between those thick, beautiful thighs, and then I’d rub at her shy young pussy, grind the heel of my palm against her until she’s shivering and gasping against me. Once her panties were soaked through, I’d tear them off and plunge deep inside of her without any more messing around.
I’d take her like there’s a war going on outside and I have to make her pregnant before I join the battle.
I’d take her like my life depended on it.
I need to put a baby in her fertile womb.
“Sure,” I say, sounding like a jackass.
I don’t know what to say.
Her perfume is overwhelming, washing over me, driving me closer and closer to madness. My cock is stiff and I’m glad I’m wearing black trousers. I hope she can’t see.
I need to get myself under control before my daughter returns.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
This is so wrong.
But even as I think that I can’t deny how right it feels, how destined, almost, like Tess and I were meant to be together.
I almost laugh at the thought.
I don’t believe in that shit. I never have.
And yet I’m feeling it right now.
“How was your drive?” Tess says.
I smirk at her efforts to make small talk. I wonder if she realizes how difficult it is for me not to maul her right now, not to claim her and dominate her and own her.
I already own her. If I fucked her here, I’d just be demonstrating that fact.