Chapter 19
NINETEEN
False Claim
Jack
“Let’s get this baby inside.” I grinned as I followed the girls back to their house and grabbed the tree by its trunk.
I lifted the evergreen up and over my shoulder, fully prepared to take the tree through the front while Faith held the door wide open. Elle stopped me.
“Woah! Easy, you two...” Elle announced with her hands up. “No way is the tree going inside yet. It’s gonna soak the floors.”
“So?” I shrugged slightly because this damn bitch was heavy. “I’ll mop up the mess.”
“I’ll help too!” Faith exclaimed.
Elle laughed.
“Most certainly not.” Elle pointed toward the garage door and flipped the switch to open it. “The tree will go in here for now.”
“Aw, come on, Mom.” Faith pouted.
“Party pooper.” I frowned too but turned it into a wide smirk. “Sometimes it’s good to get drenched. Isn’t it, Elle?”
Little Elle couldn’t stop her rosy cheeks from igniting into a red heat as I sauntered past her to take in her reaction.
She made my cock jerk. Not only from her response but from the memory of her in the snow moaning in pure lust. The smell of her cunt and the taste of her sweet juice.
I tried to resist her, to keep my cool, but playing with her only tempted me. Christ. I wanted her all over again.
Elle spoke in a low voice. “Don’t you start or else you can go home.”
“Make me,” I mouthed and dropped the evergreen tree with a thump.
My gaze never wavered from Elle while she glared at me and closed the garage door. The gears ground until the door was fully closed, and I followed Faith in through the front of the house. I held the door open for Elle as a gentleman should, and she wandered past me.
The smell of Elle made my eyes flutter shut as I took her in. She enchanted me, took me to another goddamn world where there was only her and I could do whatever I wanted with her. Nobody else was there to care; we were alone.
There was a tug at my sleeve.
My eyes shot open.
“Um... Mr. Timber?” Faith questioned me with narrowed eyebrows and lowered her voice. “Mommy’s gonna get mad. You’re letting the heat out of the house.”
I cleared my throat.
“Shit, right.” I closed the door. “I mean... Ah... I was making sure Chip got inside.”
Fucking idiot.
Chip stood right between Faith and Elle. Faith glanced down at Chip while she petted him, and Elle eyed me with puzzlement. Chip wagged his tail and peered up at me with a goofy grin on his face. He stared at me as if I were a dumbass.
I changed the subject.
“So... pizza!” I clapped my hands together. “My favorite.”
“Seriously?” Faith questioned with wide eyes and took off her outerwear. “You like pineapple on your pizza too?”
Sweet. Faith bought the distraction. Elle, on the other hand, didn’t.
She continued to eye me as if I were a puzzle with a missing piece she couldn’t quite place until she blinked and saw the mess on the floor.
A coat, hat, and mitts discarded without a care in the world.
She heaved a long sigh and went to pick up Faith’s mess, but I beat her to it.
“Um...” I made a disgusted face and hung up Faith’s jacket on a coat hanger. “Not exactly.”
Elle smiled in bewilderment as she watched me and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Elle laughed. “Who doesn’t like pineapple on their pizza?”
“Almost everyone.” I shrugged. “Fruit on pizza is weird.”
“You are weird.” Faith stuck out her tongue at me.
“Yeah, weirdo,” Elle taunted me, licking her lips. “Pineapple is delicious.”
You’re scrumptious.
Christ. I wanted to nibble at her tongue, to dance around in her wetness, kissing her in front of her daughter and not give a fuck, but that was inappropriate. I refrained from my dirty thought.
I gave my head a shake and tossed Faith’s mitts along with her hat into the closet.
“Whatever,” I grumbled and kicked off my boots. “I need to take a piss.”
I had to get away from Elle. I needed some damn space because she was suffocating me with the reminder of what we had partaken in not even an hour ago. The plan was to get her out of my system, and that had backfired.
I stomped toward the main floor half-bath while Chip hung back with Faith, and I caught a quick glance of Elle taking out her cell phone. The sound of her sultry voice followed me down the fucking hallway. I shut the door, fully intent on cutting her out, but goddamn it, I could still hear her.
She ordered two pizzas. One medium meat lovers and a large Hawaiian with extra cheese. Goddamn ridiculous choice of pizza if anyone asked me.
I whipped out my dick and peed. An instant sting shot through me while I leaned a hand on the wall and fully regretted my hard-on. Not once. Not twice, but multiple. This was what I got for desiring a woman I shouldn’t crave.
Christ. I was an asshole. A damn dickhead who couldn’t keep my hands to myself, but here I was, urinating in little Elle’s bathroom, about to have dinner and decorate a fucking tree as if we were a family.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
Everything.
“Goddamn no good...” I mumbled at my reflection in the mirror of the small washroom. “Slimy fucking dirtbag asshole who wants to be a best friend’s daughter fucker. Yeah. That’s who you are.”
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Are you okay, Mr. Timber?” Faith interrupted my rambling.
Shit.
“Ah... Yeah. Everything is—” I zipped up my pants.
Christ! My nut sack almost snagged in the zipper. Fuck.
It’s okay, Jack. Cool it. Gabriel won’t kill you. This was only you taking care of his little girl. Supper, along with some tree decorating, won’t hurt anyone. You got this. Take a deep fucking breath and put a damn smile on your face, but don’t forget to wash your hands.
“Mr. Timber?” Faith knocked.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” I said through clenched teeth and vigorously washed my hands.
Chip sniffed under the crack of the door, and I could see his wet nose.
Jesus! Can’t a man get any privacy?
I bet this was the reason parents locked themselves in the bathroom.
I swung the door open. Faith had her hand raised to knock again. Fuck. This kid was persistent.
I wanted to yell at Faith out of anger. To make her cry, so she’d go away and leave me alone to fucking get through this in one piece. Every nerve in me screamed to lose my ever-loving shit, but I couldn’t do it with her staring up at me with puppy-dog eyes.
Faith asked. “Could you help me set the table for dinnertime?”
I heaved a sigh. “Sure.”
Faith thrust paper plates at me with a huge smile and ran off. My goddamn heart did a twirl. A fucking loop de loop like on a rollercoaster ride I never thought would end. A thrill of a lifetime all over a little girl’s smile.
“I’ll get the cups!” Faith shouted as she rounded a corner and headed for the kitchen.
Little Elle caught my eye as she cracked a gorgeous smile, and, fuck, did she make my heart race. Those lips made my knees weak, ready to collapse onto my kneecaps and beg her to spread those pretty thighs for me because I could taste her again.
The doorbell rang, interrupting my thoughts.
I tore my eyes away from Elle, dropped the plates on a nearby table, and headed for the front door with a boner. As uncomfortable as it was, I opened the door to the bitter cold and a delivery boy with two pizza boxes. He smiled up at me with big buck teeth and braces.
He announced, “I have a pizza delivery for Ms. Evergreen?”
“Yeah. How much is it?” I pulled out my wallet.
“Twenty-five fifty,” he answered as he peered down at the wad of bills in my hand, and he tried to glance past me. “Is Ms. Evergreen inside?”
“What’s it to ya, kid?” I tilted my head to the side.
“Well... Ah... You see...” He gulped nervously. “I have to make sure I deliver to the right house. I’m new at this job, and I don’t want my boss to fire me.”
I reached for the cardboard pizza boxes, yanked them out of his hands, and pushed two fifty-dollar bills into his chest.
He stared down at the cash in surprise.
“You got the correct house, kiddo.” I winked at him. “Keep the change.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m positive. She’s my wife. Mrs. Timber made a mistake. Not Evergreen,” I answered as I went to shut the door.
“Oh, no, sir...” He pushed his face up near the crack of the door. “I meant, are you sure you don’t want the—”
I slammed the door in his face.
Fuck. Damn teenagers these days. They can’t learn to listen the first time you tell them something.
I heaved a sigh and turned around to find little Elle behind me. Her hands were on her hips, head tilted to the side, and she peered at me like she knew everything. Crap. I was in deep shit.
Elle had heard me call her my wife.