“Come on, I’ll show you to your room and then I’ll show you Bella’s nighttime routine. We left your personal things for you to unpack. I hope you don’t mind us taking care of this room for you,” I say and hold my breath.
I mentally chide myself for being so tense as I wait for her answer. Lizzy gives me a bright smile as she looks around the room.
“Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to unpacking this room. You guys did a great job. I love the shelves.”
“That was all Gio. He had guys in here all week to get this room ready.”
“Thank you. This all must be an inconvenience to you. I plan to stick to weekend content, so I’m focused on the weekdays.”
“We can work on scheduling as we go. Bella does have nannies on staff already. I’ll need you more for travel and for when she needs…” I pause and look down to find Bella knocked out in my arms. I can speak more freely. “For when she needs someone to connect with. You know, when this all gets hard for her.”
“I understand. After my parents…you know. Dad says I whimpered for months when it kicked in they weren’t coming back, but that took a few months to set in. I’ll be here when she needs me.”
I nod and grunt. I can only hope things don’t get that tough for Bella.
****
I curse as I look down at the wrapping paper and the gift I’m trying to wrap. Once we got Bella in her pj’s and put her to bed, I allowed Lizzy to go get settled. I thought I’d try to wrap some of these gifts on my own.
These shits look horrible. Bethany used to get things wrapped at the store. I think she even hired a professional gift wrapper one year.
“Fuck,” I grunt as I fail at ripping off a piece of tape and getting it on the wrapping paper to keep the ends closed.
I lift my head as snickers float my way. I look up to find Lizzy in a pair of yellow-and-white knee-high socks and tiny yellow runner shorts. Her tight T-shirt has a doll’s face on the front. The eyes on the face of the doll are buttons and her mouth is sewn shut.
I have to tear my eyes away. Lizzy is about five-ten, maybe a little bit taller. In all that length is a curvy body that would make you sell your own body parts to have a single taste.
I try to look anywhere but at her. I mean, I can see this woman’s ass from the front. What has my brother gotten me into?
“I texted Gio to find out where you were hiding the gifts so I could get them done for you. He sent me here,” she says.
“Thanks, but if you want to go game, you can go ahead. This can wait. It’s late.”
I hate that my voice comes out so husky. I clear my throat and roll my shoulders.
I want to tell her not to walk her ass around my house like this, but she’s doing me a favor. Not to mention, I take note of her ogling me shirtless, in sweats. Sweats that aren’t doing shit to hide how stiff she has me at the moment.
“I don’t sleep well. I’ll be up most the night. I don’t mind getting that handled for you.”
“Oh, okay. Have you always had trouble sleeping?”
“Yeah. I used to fear Elijah and Nyla would disappear if I went to sleep. The insomnia kind of stuck with me through the years.”
“Fuck.” I run a hand through my hair. “That’s tough.”
She shrugs before walking over to me and the unwrapped gifts surrounding me. I stifle a groan as my gaze locks in on her thick thighs rubbing against each other as she walks and the fat pussy print between them. I have to remind myself lust doesn’t equate to love, and since I have a daughter to think about, I can’t afford lust because Bella needs love.
Lizzy looks at the gifts I tried to do on my own and shakes her head before she laughs. She’s extremely pretty when she laughs. Her wild curls dance around her face as she does. Those full lips call out their own siren song.
Fuck, Dante, get it together.
“You know. I might just fire you on your first night if you keep laughing,” I tease.
She rolls her lips and mocks locking them shut before she throws away the key. I ball up a piece of wrapping paper and toss it at her.
“Are you going to show me how to do this or not?”
She lifts a brow. “I thought I was going to work on this alone.”
“I want to feel like I’m a part of more than paying for the gifts. You know? I want to make this Christmas special for her.”