“Would you mind?” I ask, looking over at Hallie.
Her cheeks do that ball-tingling flushing thing, turning a tempting shade of red. Every moment with her makes me think of everything, of all the happiness we could share…and possibly all burning to the ground before it even gets started.
Every second is split right down the middle.
But this moment transcends any awkwardness.
I glance at her as she reaches into my pocket. Her bare hand presses through the material against my skin. So warm and welcome and so close to my manhood, I almost howl like a wild man.
She takes my phone out slowly as if making contact with my leg last as long as possible. I’m shivering in want, my hands tight on the wheel, my head clouded.
It’s impossible not to think of her hand on my body, sliding into my underwear, wrapping around my heaving cock as I try to hold back the full tide of my lust until she’s ready to take every last drop.
“It’s dad,” she says softly.
I swallow and the closeness is shattered as a dozen vignettes of Graham spike into my mind. Taken from childhood and all the years since then, taken from the time after my parent's deaths, when he was always there for me, never leaving my side, supporting me all the way.
“Put it on speaker, please,” I murmur as I continue to drive.
“Hello?” Graham says.
“Hey,” I reply. “Just to let you know, Hallie’s in the car with me.”
Hallie flinches, and I look at her sharply. We’re lying enough as it is. I can’t think about sitting here, having a conversation while pretending that his daughter isn’t right there.
“Hey, Dad,” Hallie says after a pause.
“Oh, it was today?” Graham says. “The story?”
“Mom told you?” Hallie asks.
“Yeah,” Graham says. “She’s been fretting about for a while now. Did she end up taking you to the laundromat? She was so scared the security would bust into the nurse’s room.”
“So she did arrange a fake appointment,” Hallie says.
Graham chuckles. “Yeah. I think she enjoyed it, really. Are you giving Hallie a ride home, Hayden?”
“Yeah,” I say, biting down the moment the word’s out of my mouth.
Just like with everything else, it is the truth.
But the very fact I’m not telling him everything else, how much his daughter means to me, the closeness we’ve declared, our firm desire to share a future together.
“Was there any reason for your call?” I ask. “Or did you want to shoot the shit?”
“You didn’t hear that, Hallie,” Graham says, chuckling.
“Dad, I’m nineteen, not nine,” Hallie says.
“They grow up so fast, eh?” Graham laughs.
I look bleakly at Hallie, wondering how we can ever justify this, wondering just what we’re going to tell him, when.
“How’s it going over there?” I ask.
“It’s incredibly rewarding,” Graham says, his voice warm. “I’ve been sorting test results today, nothing fancy, but it’s a nice change from my regular work. And it’s good to know I’m making a difference, albeit small.”
“You’re doing great,” Hallie says passionately. “I just know you are.”
When she stares at me, I can see the uncertainty reflected back, the question in her raised eyebrows.
For the next five minutes, both of us cringe, flinch, wince and react as though we’re being physically attacked when Graham tells us about his work. He goes into detail about several of the children he’s met through the work – studying terminal diseases in minors.
Finally, he says goodbye, leaving Hallie and me to sit back in our seats as though recovering.
I park opposite her house, the same place I’ve parked countless times before.
“I remember spying on you from up there,” Hallie says, lightly laughing as she gestures at the attic window. “I used to wait there, watching, so excited.”
“Maybe we should say that, then,” I murmur.
“What?”
I turn to her, my heart pounding. All my thoughts are turned to the future, to claiming her, over and over and over again.
But there’s a shimmer beneath it all, as though Graham’s going to tear the fantasies apart.
And could I even blame him?
“We could say this was just a silly crush. Nothing more. And we could move on.”
“Hayden.” My woman reaches over and softly touches my forearm. “Say what?”
She pulls her hand away. “Is that what you want?”
I turn to her, staring hard, filled with so much tension it’s difficult to think clearly.
“I want you, Hallie. I want to be able to take you on a date and not worry about who we might see. I want to kiss you so the whole world knows you’re mine. I want your sweet virgin sex, which belongs to me. I want to take you passionately until you’re flooded with my seed, until your perfect young body is ready for our future.”
She blinks, her eyes glistening.
“I want that too,” she whispers. “So why did you say that about the crush thing? Do you believe it?”