I growled low. I would have to have another talk with Bre about spending her own money. I didn’t want to owe her anything. Except that I was contemplating taking her to bed, so maybe I could bend a little on the other household rules.
We walked down to the pond with Seanan’s plastic ships. She put one boat into the water after another, talking to each of them like they were her children.
“Look out for the stick, Tuggy,” she chirped, navigating the tugboat around a floating piece of bark.
I stood beside her, waiting. I knew that Bre would be down on her hands and knees, playing with the child. I would have been more comfortable in the board room. This parenting thing required a whole different set of skills. Thoughts of Bre got my motor running, and I couldn’t wait to confront her.
“Daddy!” Seanan shouted, turning to gaze up at me. “Come play with me.”
I sighed. When she asked me like that, I couldn’t refuse. I got down on the ground beside the pond in my three hundred dollar pants and slid boats through the water.
“You’re not doing it right!” Seanan complained.
I shook my head. “Let’s go back home.”
“You’re supposed to say what’s happening.”
“Like a play by play?” I asked.
“What’s a play by play?”
“Never mind,” I said, tired of the game. “Get your boats.”
She seemed put out but gathered all her wet toys together and marched up the embankment with me. When we got back to the house, she abandoned me altogether, choosing instead to play by herself in her toy room.
It was early afternoon before Bre came home. I couldn’t imagine where she had been all that time. If she’d found a hookup at the club, I wanted to destroy every memory she had of the guy. I wanted to be the only one taking up residence in her head. I wanted her for myself.
“Hello,” she said, surprised to find me waiting.
I didn’t reply, taking her by the arm and pulling her into the kitchen. She followed hesitantly, her movements just stiff enough to betray anxiety. I was frightening her, but at that moment, I didn’t care. She would soon see what I planned to do, althoughplanwas maybe the wrong word.
I was nearly mad with pent-up frustration. I wanted to claim her as my own, even though I’d told her we could never be together. I didn’t want her going out of the house to get laid; I wanted to be the man to rock her world.
Once we were safely in the kitchen and out of range of sight, I pulled her against me. Kissing her passionately, I dispelled any notion that I would give up quietly. She seemed surprised, holding back for a moment. Then she melted into the exchange, offering her lips up to mine in the sweetest way possible.
I tasted honey and coffee, possibly the last remains of the breakfast she had eaten. I relaxed my grip on her arm, turning my attention to our beating hearts. Mine jumped triumphantly, finally breaking through all the barriers that I had erected. It didn’t matter that she was seven years my junior, or that I paid her salary. What mattered was that we were two people who had found each other.
She broke it off a moment later, licking her lips with satisfaction. I saw a brief flash of desire before her eyes hardened with resolve.
“You said we couldn’t be together,” she objected.
“I lied.”
“You can’t just change your mind like that. I met someone.”
“Forget about him,” I demanded.
“He’s really sweet.”
“I don’t care.”
“Maybe you don’t care,” she asserted herself. “But I do.”
“I’ll fight for you, Bre,” I swore.
She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. I could see that the battle was far from over.
CHAPTERNINE