Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Wow. Reunited for less than a minute and I’m already lying. Just like all those times I promised I’d make his school play or hockey game, but work took precedence.
“Plane rides always make me tired, too,” Chris says, chuckling. “You look fit as ever. Putting all of us younger men to shame. Are you still boxing?”
“On the weekends, yes. You?”
“Nah, that was always your thing.” He signals the bartender for a glass and pours himself an inch of scotch. “Unfortunately, I’m a lover not a fighter.”
His face deepens in color as he says those words and I feel the need to offer reassurance. “Unfortunately? That’s not a bad thing. The world needs both.”
“No.” His smile is tight. “But I always suspected you wanted more of a fighter. It would make sense in your line of work—”
“My line of work is separate from my family. You.” I clear some of the sudden scratchiness from my throat. “I only wish it hadn’t separated me from you.”
“Really?” He ducks his head. “That’s the first time you’ve expressed any…regret. Over how we never really got to know each other.”
“I’m sorry. And I’m hoping to change that now. It’s why I’m here.”
Slowly, Chris’s smile spreads and he pours me another glass of scotch, handing it to me so we can clink glasses. “To second chances, then, huh, Dad?”
“I’ll drink to that.”
No sooner have I sipped my drink do I spot Coco enter the bar. My reaction to her is instantaneous. Cock swelling up behind my zipper, heart racing in my chest like I’m some wet-behind-the-ears teenager. Ah Jesus, she’s looking hot in a black mini dress that barely covers her ass. I’m not the only one who notices her entrance, either. Several heads at the bar turn to witness the sexy grace of her, the way she self-consciously tugs down her skirt and smooths her hair. Those gorgeous brown eyes skate over me, lids growing heavy and her teeth sink into her bottom lip. Oh yeah, she’s looking to finish what we started.
My dick is looking for it, too, my tip already sloppy with precome.
When my son notices my stare, he follows it and nods with understanding. “Ah. Yes. Wanda’s best friend, Coco. She’s…” He drains his scotch. “She’s quite something.”
Just like that, my muscles are in knots, jealousy seething in my blood. My son, like me, is divorced. Has he taken a shot with his daughter’s friend? I couldn’t blame him for trying, but my hands are turning into fists at the image of them kissing. Not a fucking chance.
“Yeah,” I force myself to say. “She sure is. What do you know about her?”
“Only what Wanda told me, though I suspect there’s a lot more to the story.” He lowers his voice. “Her parents put her up for adoption at five. Too many mouths to feed and she was the youngest. She was in foster care until she turned eighteen. Studied really hard, graduated as valedictorian of her high school class. Not sure how she ended up as my daughter’s best friend—they couldn’t be less alike—but I’m grateful for it. She pushes Wanda to try harder. I’m almost certain Coco is the reason she’s passing all of her classes. I owe her one.” He rakes a hand through his hair, laughing uncomfortably. “But sometimes, when she’s in a dress like that, I forget she’s just a kid.”
“Twenty-one isn’t a kid.”
Chris blows out a breath. “Close enough.”
Again, that guilt is smoking like a summer barbeque in my belly. “Yeah,” I say, voice gravelly. Not only because I’ve almost revealed my interest in the beautiful brunette, but my throat is closing up at the idea of her being given up at age five. That must have been incredibly difficult. And potentially damaging.
It might also explain her daddy issues.
Somehow, I’m still the furthest thing from turned off. As long as those urges of hers aren’t hurting her, as long as they don’t cause her emotional pain, she has the right to explore them. If I don’t help her solve those issues, or indulge them, will she find someone else who will?
My teeth clench so hard, I swear I can taste blood.
5
Coco
My pulse is heavy and quick in my ears.
I can’t seem to stand still, crossing my ankles and uncrossing them just as quickly. Squeezing my thighs together. Laughing at a conversation between Wanda and her cousins, but barely hearing a single word that’s exchanged. This time the general isn’t wearing sunglasses, so I know he’s staring at me. I can feel the heat of his gaze meandering up the backs of my legs and lingering on my butt. I can’t seem to stop myself from cocking one hip and dropping the other, arching my back slightly so he can memorize the pathways of my body.
I’m thirty yards from the man but I can still feel his expert tongue working against my sex, can still hear the way he spoke to me. With such blunt ownership. But is he actually taking it? Or is he pushing me away? The latter is what I deduced based on the way he left my room earlier. Now, though? The hungry way he’s watching me tells a very different story.