Chapter 12
TWELVE
Early Riser
Jack
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
“Oh, Christ...” I grumbled as I rolled over in bed and reached for the dreadful device. “What the hell?”
I glanced at the alarm clock.
It was two o’clock in the fucking morning.
Fuck me.
I grabbed the shrilling cell phone, ready to chuck it across the room to end its nonstop ringing, but I saw the screen. Noelle was calling.
What the fuck did little Elle want?
To gloat some more? Noelle wanted to rub in my face whatever she could. Usually, she did so in person, not on the phone. Fuck. She was turning the heat up a notch and preparing to roast my chestnuts on an open fire.
The anger turned into flames burning out of control as I remembered clenching her delicate neck and wanting to choke Noelle. Not to harm her, but to bring gratification. Pleasure.
Shit. Fuck. No.
No.
No.
No!
I wouldn’t think of Noelle in such an erotic state. Frazzled. Breathless. Wet. Too goddamn drenched for me.
Absolutely not. Jesus fucking Christ. Noelle was my best friend’s daughter, and I should never view her in any sexual situation or touch her ever again.
I had to get little Elle out of my head.
I answered on the fifth ring.
“What?” I roared into the speaker of the phone. “It’s two o’clock in the morning, goddamn it.”
I should’ve ignored Noelle. Made her squirm more. I answered only out of spite.
“Mr. Timber?” a small voice answered. “Is that you?”
Oh, shit. The call wasn’t from Noelle. It was her daughter.
Faith sounded upset.
I cleared my throat. “Yes. It’s me, kiddo.”
I sat up in bed with several pillows propped up behind my back, and I moved the cell phone to my other ear. Tiny breaths puffed through the phone line, and I could tell Faith had been crying. She stifled sniffles, and I imagined her wiping her nose on her sleeve.
Fuck, man. Kids were gross.
“I cried myself to sleep, but...” Faith hiccuped. “I had a bad dream, and it woke me up.”
I tried with all my might not to let her night terror tug at my heart, but my worry for Faith won.
“What happened?” I asked.
I was out of bed, shirt already on with the buttons undone. Fully prepared to march over to Noelle’s before the sun rose and see Faith to make sure she was okay. I wasn’t supposed to give a shit, but I cared.
“Daddy won’t help me with the lead role in my Christmas concert. He’s too busy, but I need help,” Faith explained, hyperventilating.
“It’s okay, Faith.” I reached for the handle of my bedroom door. “Where’s your mom?”
“In bed,” Faith replied.
I stopped turning the knob. Heat seared through me like a fire burning and melting all the frozen anger inside of me. The image of Elle naked and under the bedsheets ignited to life an erection as hard as a motherfucking rock in my cozy green sleep pants.
I couldn’t go next door with a damn stiffy.
Goddamn you, little Elle.
I grumbled. “Well, go get her.”
“But Mommy knows nothing about the character I have to be.” Faith sighed in disappointment.
Right. We were still on the subject of her problem. The concert. Faith needed help, but there was no way I’d assist. I should keep my distance from Elle.
“She’ll have to learn. Won’t she?” I huffed bitterly. “Get your mother to run a damn Google search and don’t call me at the crack of dawn.”
“But I thought I could call you whenever—” I cut Faith off.
“I lied, kid.”
A moment’s pause.
“I’m sorry I bothered you, Mr. Timber,” Faith whispered.
Christ. I could picture the damn kiddo pouting on the other end. I was such a dick. My goddamn sour mood stemmed from being jolted awake, and the unwelcome thoughts of little Elle.
I had encouraged Faith to call me. Any damn hour of the day, but I didn’t think she would. I had let her down as much as her father did when she needed me most.
I had to fix this mess. Quick.
“No, wait, Faith. Don’t hang up,” I blurted. “I’ll assist you with whatever you need. I promise.”
A quick pause. Not a dial tone. Faith hadn’t hung up.
“Are you sure you can help me, Mr. Timber?” Faith asked.
My mouth shot open, ready to answer, but I stopped when I heard, “Faith?”
It was Noelle.
“I couldn’t sleep, Mommy.”
“What are you doing talking to Mr. Timber this early in the morning?” Noelle questioned.
I could imagine Noelle with her hands on her hips as she glared down at Faith for an explanation.
All fiery, in silky pajamas with her perky nipples rubbing against the material from the chilly nighttime air after being toasty warm all tucked into bed.
Fuck. I had just gotten rid of my goddamn erection.
I rolled my eyes and threw a hand up in the air.
“Jack’s going to help me with the concert, Mom!” Faith expressed with excitement.
Faith wasn’t in tears anymore. Jesus. All I had to do was give the kid what she wanted and poof... Problem solved.
“It’s time for you to get back to bed.” I heard rustling at the other end. “Give me the phone. Now.”
Shit. Little Elle got angry. Watch out, Faith. Mommy didn’t take her chill pill before bed.
Noelle said, “Jack. I’m so sorry. She shouldn’t be calling you at—”
“You should watch your damn kid, Elle. I don’t mind talking to Faith this early in the morning, but it’s not safe for her to be calling people without your knowledge,” I interrupted, fully intent on sparking a fuse.
Silence.
“You got some nerve giving me parenting advice...” Noelle huffed. “Besides, it’s way past your bedtime, old man.”
Ah, I hit a nerve, didn’t I, sweet Elle?
Damn woman quipped her wisecrack senior jokes. God. Little Elle had me all fired up, and the sound of her voice on the phone was sexy as fuck. She had a voice box as vivacious as a phone sex worker. I could jerk off.
Instead, I ambled over toward the window for a distraction to my wandering thoughts, which had gone way off the fucking rails, and I cracked the blinds. I took a peek and could see Elle’s bedroom. I knew exactly where she’d be.
“What are you wearing, Elle?” I asked huskily.
A feminine, shadowy figure transfixed me as I watched long locks sway back and forth by the glass pane.
There wasn’t any light except the half-moon shining down into her bedroom.
The dim illumination gave her away, and she had no clue I watched her, lurking when I shouldn’t be, but fuck did it feel so right.
“Go back to bed, Jack,” Noelle barked.
“No. Answer me, Elle...” I breathed eagerly into the phone. “Tell me what you picked to wear for bed.”
A brief silence.
“None of your damn business.” Her breath accelerated.
Damn. I bet Noelle flared her nostrils. I pictured her pent up with frustration and ready to hang up on me, but I wanted to push her.
“I know you want to tell me. Go on, princess.” I egged Noelle on while my massive cock strained against the wall and I watched her. “Play along.”
Suddenly, she came toward the window, with hips swaying and arms stretching up to pull her hair back into a ponytail.
Her curvaceous body sent a shudder of electricity through me at the highest voltage and zapped me to focus on nothing else but her.
I got lost in her, trapped in her swirl of temptation and the overwhelming need to have her closer to me, so I could smell her, touch her, and taste every damn inch of her.
Noelle knew I watched her. She had put on a damn show for me and left me melting at her feet.
“I’m naked,” Elle teased.
The blinds snapped shut, and a dial tone hummed in my fucking ear. Goddamn bullshit. Little Elle had played me. Again. Except this time, I had a raging boner.
What the fuck, Timber? This was strictly a severe case of morning wood. That was all there was to it.
In no way, shape, or form would I succumb to little Elle Evergreen.