Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
I can’t come clean this soon, though. She doesn’t trust me yet. And earning my stepdaughter’s trust might be one of the most difficult feats of my life, considering she’s been abandoned, over and over again, since she was a child.
Never again, baby. I’m here now.
“When is my mother coming back from her…” She does air quotes. “Business trip?”
My fingers flex on the steering wheel. “About a month or so.”
That’s a lie. I doubt London’s mother is ever coming back.
The girl sitting in the passenger seat of my car is my sole priority now.
My sole…everything.
“How did my mother hook up with a cop? I can’t wrap my head around it. She is just as resentful of authority as I am. Last time I saw her, she was trying to kick a coke habit and failing.” London gestures at me. “How did this happen?”
The truth?
I’d had a shitty day at work and needed a drink. I lost an officer in a gun fight that afternoon and gave myself permission to numb some of the pain with whiskey. Rare for me. To give in to weakness like that. But there I was, replaying the moment over and over again, wondering what I could have done differently, when Kelli stumbled to the bar beside me.
Crying. Drunk.
If I hadn’t seen the picture of London on her lock screen, I would have asked her to go bother someone else. All it took was one glance, though, and I was done for.
“We met at a bar,” I say simply. “The rest is history.”
“I can’t see you in a bar.” She tilts her head, the ends of her blonde hair brushing against her nipples. “Maybe you should take me to one now, so I can get an accurate picture.”
“Funny.”
“It can be a welcome home gift.” Leaning across the console, she walks her fingertips up my bicep, dragging up the sleeve of my T-shirt. “One little drink. Come on, Daddy.”
I groan behind my teeth, coughing quickly to disguise the sound. My dick is straight and solid as a flagpole, come dribbling from the tip to soak into my fly.
Get yourself together.
She only called me that title as a joke, so I can’t take it seriously, as badly as I want to. As badly as I want to pull over to the side of the road, throw her facedown over the backseat, yank her panties to her ankles and fill her to the fucking hilt with Daddy.
“No bars,” I bark. “Not until you’re twenty-one.”
Maybe not even then.
“You’ve had no structure. No guidance. But that ends now, London. You’re going to live under my roof and follow my rules. You’re eighteen. An adult now. It’s time to act like one. We’re going to figure out what you want in life and get it together.”
London is pouting at me. “Look, I appreciate you wanting to turn me into a respectable citizen and all, but you don’t have to take responsibility for me. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. You are hereby absolved of any obligation.”
“I don’t want to be absolved.”
Her panic is turning more and more palpable.
She’s grown so accustomed to being deserted that my interest is probably terrifying. To London, getting attached is probably the worst thing she could do, because getting abandoned will hurt all the worse when the time comes. She has no way of knowing I’ll never leave her as long as I live, so I’ll just have to show her.
“You know…” She licks her lips nervously. “There are other ways I can get you to back off.”
“Impossible.”
“Oh yeah?” She unhooks her seatbelt and turns, coming to her knees on the passenger seat. Placing her hand on my thigh, she presses her open mouth into my neck. “I could seduce you.” She’s trembling like a leaf. “Bet my mother wouldn’t take too kindly to her new husband lusting after her daughter.”
My cock almost breaks my zipper. “And you would tell her, is that right?” I manage.
“Every detail. So I g-guess you better stay away,” she purrs, her hand sliding to my inner thigh and inching higher. “Keep a heathy distance, Brody. I’m bad news.”
“Oh yeah?” I turn my head, bringing our mouths less than an inch apart, watching her cornflower-blue eyes widen. “You ride good cock, little girl?”
She gulps. “The best.”
Don’t ask her to prove it.
Not yet.
Not this way. When I get her beneath me for the first time, I want it to be because she’s hot for it. Because she feels something for me. Not to drive a wedge between us.
I put my mouth to her ear. “Liar. You think I can’t tell that your pussy’s been sealed up tighter than a vault?” Finding her eyes with mine, I reach down and stoke a finger down the seam of her jeans, making her gasp. “You might be wild, but you’ve kept your panties on, haven’t you? And before you lie, London, understand that I’ve gone through your medical records. Several times.”