“Princesses and roller coasters, huh?” I ask, thinking that one might be a truth and the other a smoke screen.
“She wants roller coasters,” Jess confirms, then reaches to rub her hand over Thea’s head. “Honey… we’ll go one day. Mommy’s saving up.”
My head whips Jess’s way. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have taken you both.”
Her eyes flare with shock that I’d even ask that question. “It’s not appropriate. You don’t just go asking friends to take you and your daughter to Disney.”
“I’m not just a friend,” I remind her.
“Well, not now… but before…”
“Even before I wasn’t just a friend,” I insist.
Claire coughs into her hand, and when I glance at her, she gives a subtle nod to Thea who’s watching our exchange with wide eyes. She doesn’t know what it really means, this change in the relationship between me and Jess. She only knows we like each other in a different way.
“We’ll talk about it later, okay?” Jess says, placating me and shooting a look to Thea. “You, young lady… it’s time for your bath. I’ll go get it ready.”
“And I want Uncle Dozer to read me a book tonight before bed,” she insists.
“Done,” I reply, shooting her a wink.
“And I want to go to Disney World,” she adds with an impish grin.
Jess rolls her eyes as I wink again at Thea. I’m taking her to Disney when this is all over whether Jess likes it or not.
I clean the kitchen with Claire while Jess bathes Thea. It’s still too early for bed, so we play Uno for a while. It’s a game we’ve all played before, but even this is different.
I look at Jess differently.
Then it’s time for bed. I read Thea a book, then another because I can’t resist her dimples, and while Jess is busy tucking her in, I back out of the room.
As I head to the door, Claire asks, “You going back to your apartment?”
“Yeah… I actually have a job and have to work tomorrow, you know.”
She snorts. “I imagine Jess will be along for a little alone time before long.”
I’m horrified that she’d suggest such a thing. “Don’t do that, Claire.”
“Do what?” she asks innocently.
“Don’t ever,” I say dramatically, stepping up to her and putting my hands on her shoulders, “ever, ever try to have a conversation with me or insinuate something like… like…”
“Like getting romantic with my daughter?” she asks.
“Stop it,” I growl, and then lean down to kiss her cheek affectionately.
She laughs, and I head over to my apartment.
?
Within seconds of opening my door to Jess’s knock, I’ve got her in the bedroom. With one knee on the mattress and the other foot planted on the floor, I hover over her on my bed. “Been thinking about this all day. You’re causing a substantial decline in my work productivity.”
Christ, she looks beautiful as she stares up at me, her lower lip caught between her teeth as she considers my words. “I might have been thinking about this too.”
“So much fucking time wasted.” I drop down to kiss her softly. The mere touch of her lips against mine, though, causes lust to sweep through me. “I’ve got a million different things I want to do to you to make you scream.”
“Jesus, Dozer,” she gasps. “Where did you learn to talk like that?”
Laughing, I bend down to kiss her again, nipping at her lower lip with my teeth. “I know you might prefer to believe otherwise, but I have not been a monk my entire life.”
“Prove it,” she says defiantly, and I didn’t know that words alone could make my cock go rock hard.
Challenge accepted.
Jess tilts her chin up, eyes wide and trusting. Those full lips are parted slightly, a hint of white teeth behind. It’s been a longstanding fantasy of mine—because I’ve been fantasizing about Jess far longer than the first time we had sex last night—to have those lips and that mouth on me.
I suck in air through my nose and resist the temptation to tear off her clothes so I can bury myself inside her. I have to remember that I have the rest of my life with her.
That this is only the beginning.
Bringing my other knee to the mattress, I place my palms on her shoulders. I drink in every detail… her luminescent skin, dark curls fanned out over the pillow, and those almond-shaped eyes I’ve stared into a million times, but never like this. I’m her captive.
Dipping down, I graze my lips over hers again, but it’s anything but benign. Just touching my mouth to hers is electric, and she moans softly. My tongue slips inside, and Jess groans. Something deep within my chest answers that primal sound, and just from this kiss, I feel my control ebbing away.
Jess slips her hands under my shirt, skims up my ribs, and then around to my back. Her skin is so silky against mine, I know why cats purr. Impatient with the material, she tries to push it up. I pause to help her and pull it off.