Chapter 10
OWEN
The pale blue glow of dawn warms the edges of the curtains, and I blink at the pebbled ceiling overhead as the world seeps back into focus.
I’m in a cheap motel somewhere north of LA, and my body is completely entwined with the most beautiful woman I know.
I don’t want to let her go.
I don’t want to move in case she rouses and says what I’m already thinking. What are we doing here? We can’t do this.
But we made a pact. It was only a fantasy. Just one night…
My phone buzzes, and I pick it up to read the text on the screen.
Maverick
Hey, man! Heard you got stuck in the great feather disaster.
He has no idea. Only, I wouldn’t characterize this as a disaster. Far from it.
Lifting my other arm, I quickly tap a reply.
Owen
We didn’t get feathered, but we did sleep at the Bates motel.
Maverick
Good thing you showered at the arena. What’s your ETA? Something arrived for you.
Gina stirs at my movements, rolling off my chest with a soft sigh. My chest squeezes, and I don’t want to leave this room, even if it does resemble the set of one of the greatest horror films of all time.
She sits up, and my eyes slide down the elegant column of her back. Her ponytail is gone, and her hair hangs in a strawberry-blonde curtain over her ivory skin.
She lifts the sheet in front of her to cover her perfect breasts, and I reach out to put my hand on her waist.
“Sleep well?” My voice is low, a little husky.
Turning her face, she looks over her shoulder to nod. Her eyes are still closed, but a grin curls her lips. It tightens my stomach, and I want to push my phone away. I want to wrap my arms around her and pull her under me again. I want another night…
“I guess we’d better head back,” she says, standing and walking to the bathroom.
The door closes, and I lift the device to reply to my friend.
Owen
Getting on the road soon.
Maverick
Drive safe.
“Daddy!” The little voice breaks from the door of Maverick and Gina’s home as soon as I step out of my truck.
It’s followed closely by the loud Rooo! of Ladybird, loping right behind my flying seven-year-old.
“Maddie!” I drop my duffel bag and scoop her up as soon as she reaches me.
Her little arms are around my neck, and I hug her tiny body tight against my chest. My throat clogs, and damn, my eyes heat. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed this little nugget until right this minute. This is the longest we’ve ever been apart since the day she was born.
“Aunt Heather said you missed me, so we came right away!” She lifts up a stuffed toy zebra, jumping him on my shoulder.
“We had to be on an airplane for a long, long time, but Zander played with me the whole way. And they had Sharkboy and Lavagirl, and I ate pretzels that tasted like honey, but I didn’t like riding in the airplane.
It was really bumpy and kept doing this. ”
She moves her little hand up and down in a wavy motion, and laughter ripples through my chest. I kiss the side of her head, giving her another squeeze before putting her down.
“I’m sorry you had a rough flight,” I say. “I sure have missed you, Shortcake.”
She bounces over to my dog, giving her a hug. “Ladybird has grown!”
“Has she?” I squint an eye, trying to see it.
“Yes! And I met her friend Spanky, and they like to jump up and put their legs on each other like this…” She bats me with her arms, seeming more like a seal than a dog.
“I’ve noticed that.” I pick up my duffel, following her into the house.
She takes my hand, and Ladybird bounds behind us. Just inside the door, I see my sister Heather standing with her arms crossed and a smirk on her lips.
“Who knew you lived with a dog lady?” Her eyebrow arches.
I don’t even respond to that. Instead, I pull her in for a hug, cutting off any psychic delusions.
“Good to see you, sis. What made you decide to come early?”
She still has her arms crossed, but she’s full-on smiling now. “I got a text from Haddy Bradford saying you missed your little girl too much, and could we come out to LA now. Of course, I said yes. I figured you were just being sweet not telling me yourself.”
“That Haddy,” Mav shakes his head, chuckling. “She just had a baby a few months ago, and she’s been worried about Owen ever since she found out he’s a single dad.”
“That’s really sweet,” Heather says, giving him a smile.
“Are you the lady with all the dogs?” Maddie’s voice is loud in the foyer, and my neck tightens when I realize I completely left Gina behind in the truck.
We didn’t say much on the drive back from Hidden Creek. The radio played softly, and I rested my hand on the top of her thigh.
She traced her finger over my knuckles, her gaze drifting out the window, and I’m pretty sure we both were a little stunned and unsure what to do or say about what happened.
“Hi, there.” Her voice is kind. “Are you Maddie?”
My daughter nods her head in her signature, too-hard way. “I’m Madison Birgitte Stone, and I’m seven years old!”
“You’re almost in double digits!” Gina bends her knees, putting herself on my daughter’s level. “What do you do for fun, Madison?”
“It’s okay, you can call me Maddie.” She puts her hand on Gigi’s shoulder.
“I like to swim and I like to ride my bike and I like to play with Ladybird and Zander and I like to jump on the trampoline at Grannie B’s house and I like to get facials where you put cucumbers on your eyes and I like to make pigs in blankets with Daddy… ”
“Phew, that’s quite a list!” Gigi laughs, and her green eyes dance in a way that hits me unexpectedly hard. “I don’t think we can do all of those things, but we can do some of them.”
Maddie’s brown eyes widen, and she puts both hands on Gina’s shoulders, facing her. “Okay!”
“I’d better take my stuff up and shower.” I turn to Maverick, not my sister, who is boring holes in me with her eyes.
I don’t need psychic powers to know what she’s thinking.
“I put the girls in Haddy’s old room.” Maverick slaps the top of my shoulder. “It’s a little tight, but they should be fine for a little while. Haddy offered her guest room if it’s too crowded, but I figured that would sort-of defeat the purpose of getting them here.”
“You guys are really great.” I can’t find the words to say how much I mean it.
“How long have you had Zander?” Gina is still chatting with my daughter like they’ve known each other forever. “He looks like a wise old zebra.”
“Oh, he is.” Maddie’s eyes are wide. “He was my daddy’s zebra! Did you know if a horse and a zebra have a baby, it’s called a zorse?”
“I did not know that.” Gina laughs.
“It’s true, and a group of zebras is called a dazzle.” Maddie barely takes a breath. “Daddy said he thought they should be called a zazzle and Pop said Daddy should’ve been a zebrologist, but Aunt Cass said that’s not a real word.”
I pull Heather close before heading upstairs. “Don’t let Maddie talk Gina’s ear off.”
“Looks like they’re both right where they want to be.” My sister slants her blue eyes up at me, but I’m not getting caught in her dream web.
“I’ll be right back.”
I’m moving fast as I jog upstairs. I drop my bag in my bedroom, fish out my dirty clothes, and dig around before remembering I gave my backup boxer briefs to Gina last night. Before I yanked them off…
Everything we did last night presses against my temples, but I have to honor our “just one night” agreement, now more than ever.
It was only a few nights ago I was wishing Maddie was here to help me refocus my thinking. Now she is here, and I have to start behaving like her father again, not like a single guy.
I’m not a single guy. I’m a single dad. Big difference.
I shower quickly, washing away all traces of all the different ways I had Gina Bradford on my body. A tinge of regret twists in my stomach, but I can’t dwell on it.
Stepping out of the shower, my jaw clenches when I notice a spot on the top of my chest. I can’t wash away a hickey.
We were stone-cold sober last night, and we were ravenous for each other. I remember all the places I marked her with my mouth.
My dick rises when I think of all the places she marked me with hers. Looking down, I see another spot on my lower belly, below my navel. I remember her knees beside my ears in a sixty-nine position… Fuck, that was hot.
I scrub the towel over my head and face, doing my best to shove those memories away. I guess it’s a good thing we had a marathon night of sex. Now I’m sated for a little while.
Who am I kidding? I’d do it all again tonight if Gina asked me. If I didn’t have other commitments, that is. Tonight, I’m back on Dad duty.
I pull on a pair of jeans and a fresh T-shirt, scoop up my bag of sweaty clothes, and head down the stairs just in time to hear Shania Twain say, “Let’s go.” It’s followed by the strains of a guitar, and Ladybird immediately joins in, howling at the top of her lungs.
Maddie starts to sing the lyrics to “I’m Gonna Getcha Good” along with Shania, and Ladybird almost sounds like she’s trying (and failing) to hit the notes as well.
My eyes go like a laser to Gina, who is on the couch with her hands clasped in front of her face laughing. Maverick stands behind the couch, laughing as well.
Spanky dances around in front of his friend, lifting his front feet off the floor and seeming confused by all the howling.
Heather stands beside the fireplace with Haddy, who must’ve walked over while I was in the shower, and the two of them are fawning over Baby Lucy.
I pause on the stairs to take in the scene. They’re all so happy together. They fit… the same way Gina’s body fit with mine. Something moves in my chest, but I rub my palm over my forehead. Clearly, I’m letting the psychic mess with my mind.
These are all likeable people. Of course, they get along. It doesn’t mean matrimony.
The song ends, and my daughter hops off the couch to hug Ladybird.
“You have a beautiful voice, LB!” she cries, and our dog responds with a firm lick across her face, which makes her fall back laughing.