Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“Cody isn’t the kind of guy I want for you, Riley Roo. He’s not a family guy.”
I spread my hands. “He literally is, Dad. He has a son.” Even I winced thinking about that son who was the same age as me, not a preschooler where I worked.
Yipes. Would I be Tyler’s stepmom if this worked out? That was so weird.
“He had a son twenty years ago. You think he’s looking to start all over with you? Did he tell you he wanted more kids?”
A stone settled in the pit of my stomach. I hadn’t thought about that. Shit. I couldn’t imagine Cody wanting to start over with a baby again. He’d gotten rid of a crib right around the same time Dad ditched mine.
I didn’t want to admit my dad might be right about that part. But I could talk to Cody about it, see what he thought. Kids were something I always wanted. It wasn’t like I felt my biological clock ticking or anything, but it was something for later. Either way, it wasn’t my dad’s business.
I mustered as much anger as I could. “I appreciate that you have opinions, but bottom line–you don’t get to choose for me.” I made my voice firm and my gaze hard. “Leave Cody and his business alone. Until you can get on board with the idea of the two of us together, leave me alone, too!”
I picked up my purse and keys and marched back out his door, slamming it hard behind me.
Damn my dad and his overprotective bullshit.
And damn him for making me feel a bit queasy about this thing with Cody. How dare he put doubts in my head! He was sabotaging us without having to check anyone’s ID.
I blinked back tears as I got behind the wheel of my car. I suddenly felt lost–trapped between the man who had been my entire world and the one who made me feel like I was his entire world.
I swiped at my tears with the back of my hand and dialed Cody’s number.
“Riley?” He sounded concerned, as if he already knew I was a mess. “You talk to your dad?”
“Yeah.”
“How did things go?”
“Not good.” I sniffed.
“I’ll meet you at your place in ten minutes.”
“What?”
“You heard me. You need me. I’m there.”
21
CODY
The second she opened the door for me, I had her up and in my arms, her feet clear of the floor. I walked forward, kicking the door shut with my boot.
“Sugar.” I breathed in her scent. It soothed my wolf and me. “Fuck, I missed you.” I had, even though it had only been since dinner. I’d missed it because of her father’s fuck-all and now I wanted to eat her.
She tucked her face beneath my chin, and her breath feathered against my skin through my shirt.
“You talked with him?” I asked.
“Yelled,” she corrected. “We yelled.”
I didn’t like that, that she and her dad were at odds.
“Want to tell me about it?”
She sighed. “Pretty much, I want you. That’s all that matters.”
My dick pressed painfully against my jeans at her words. “Say it again.”
Tilting her head back, her eyes met mine. Held. “I want you, Cody McIntire.”
Fuck me, I’d been waiting for her to say exactly that!
I didn’t ease up on my hold on her as I spied the couch and went to it and settled with her on my lap. She straddled my thighs and her dark hair fell like a curtain around her face. I wanted to touch her and hold her while we talked–instead of wrapping those silky strands around my fingers and giving a little tug–so my hands settled on her hips.
My dick wanted to skip this part and jump right to the fucking because that was definitely what was happening tonight, but one thing I knew about this relationship? It was fucking complicated.
But this? The connection between us? Simple.
This time, when she was in my arms, she didn’t say “fuck me” or any other term that indicated sex. She said she wanted me.
Her dad may have shaken our relationship a bit, but maybe it also made it stronger.
I was it for her. This was what she was saying.
Fucking finally.
She scooted back on my thighs, so she could–fuck!–open my belt and get to my dick.
I lifted my hips, and she pushed the denim and boxers beneath down my hips enough so I sprang free.
Then she slithered down to her knees between mine on the carpet. My little virgin temptress.
My hand stroked over her head, through her hair, and gripped. Her gaze lifted to mine, went blurry from the slight tug.
Fuck me. Seeing her on her knees before me was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen.
Almost.
“You wanna suck my dick, sugar?”
She nodded although my hold didn’t give her much play.
“Naked,” I said. “You do it bare.”
Heat flared in her gaze, and I released my hold on her. Slowly, she pushed to her feet then shed her clothes. It wasn’t a sexy strip tease. There was no skilled motions, only Riley sharing all of herself with me.