25. Katie
25
KATIE
I love Sadie with all my heart, but does she have to finish school right now ?
Dallas was so close— so close —to running his fingers along the centre seam of my leggings when that cursed alarm went off.
I grab my t-shirt off the floor and pull it over my head. When I can see again, I catch sight of Dallas. He has his jeans on now, hiding the impressive sight of his hard length pressing against his dark boxer briefs.
I shiver at the feeling still lingering between my legs, the one caused by spending the last however long grinding my pussy against that dick with only a few layers of thin fabric between us.
Dallas taps at his phone screen a few times, then slides it into his back pocket. He’s still shirtless and the sight of the muscles in his back flexing as he moves nearly sends me to my knees.
It wouldn’t be a bad position to be in right now .
I shake that thought from my head. I have to get it together. We have to pick up Sadie in a few minutes and then I have to go back to work and pretend like I don’t want to climb her dad every chance I get.
Dallas turns and catches me ogling him. “You can’t look at me like that,” he says, his voice raspy. “I’ll never get anything done.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t look like that.” I gesture at his shirtless body. “I mean, fuck, I knew what you looked like without your shirt on, but god damn, now I know I get to do that again …” I trail off and bite my lip.
Dallas’s eyes flare with heat as he steps closer. “You get to do it again, and more, princess. Soon.” He presses his hot body against me and leans down to ghost his mouth over mine.
“Stop,” I groan, as a twist of lust lances through my pelvis. I push him away. “You have to not touch me right now or we’re never going to make it to pick up Sadie.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “And please, put your shirt on or I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”
He tips his head back and laughs, then picks up his blood-covered shirt and studies it. “Hopefully I have a clean one in the ute,” he says. “You ready to go?”
“Just give me a second to put some jeans on.”
“But … those leggings.” He eyes them, that dark look back in his eye.
“Yeah, yeah, settle cowboy. I appreciate you think they’re hot but they’re useless for working in.” He looks like a kid who’s just dropped his ice cream. I head for the door, then glance back at him over my shoulder. He’s staring at my ass. “ Don’t worry. I think you’ll like the jeans I’m planning on wearing.” I shoot him a smirk, then leave the room.
When I reach my bedroom, I hunt in the back of my dresser for my oldest pair of jeans. I don’t even know why I still have them. They’re so worn. There’s rips in several places, but they hug my ass like no other pants I’ve ever owned and I haven’t quite been able to part with them, or the confidence boost they give me. I slide them up my legs, then head for the kitchen. Dallas is leaning against the counter, staring at his injured arm and running his fingers over the bandage.
“How’s it feeling?” I ask, grabbing my house keys and his ute keys off the bench.
“Throbbing like a bitch,” he says with a grimace. “It’s like my heart beat is actually in my arm.”
“We probably didn’t exactly help it.”
He smirks at me, that cocky look he’d given me the night we met, the one that made me want to take him home and spend the night moaning his name. “I don’t regret it.”
Heat floods my cheeks. I don’t know why I’m suddenly blushing. I’m the one who took this afternoon from an emotional overshare into me grinding on his lap while he buried his face in my cleavage.
“Let’s go get Sadie,” I say, turning abruptly and heading for the door. I lock it behind us and climb into the driver’s seat of the ute as Dallas finds a shirt in the pile of clothing in the back seat. I start the vehicle and turn to back out of the driveway, the empty space beside the spare clothes catching my attention. “Shit. We don’t have her car seat.” I flop back into my seat, chewing on my bottom lip, trying to find a solution here. I assume Dallas would normally switch the car seat from Violet’s car to his on the days he was picking her up.
“It’s okay. We leave the car seat at school on the days we aren’t sure who’s going to make pick up.”
I blow out my breath, then resume reversing. “That’s a smart idea.”
Dallas shrugs. “Having a kid, especially in my situation, you have to be prepared for all sorts of things. Because I never know if I’m actually going to make pick up, but because I really want to be able to do it, Violet suggested leaving the seat with Sadie so we didn’t run into that issue.” He runs a hand through his hair, then braces his elbow on the door. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without Violet and Olivia. I don’t know how parents have jobs, let alone single ones.”
“Vi and Livvie are pretty amazing, but don’t discredit yourself. You’re doing an incredible job.” Dallas snorts, as if he doesn’t believe me. “You’ve only been here for six months, right?”
“Yeah. What’s your point?”
“My point is Sadie was a spectacular kid before you got here. As amazing as Violet and Liv are, their influence can’t have been that great on her in such a short amount of time. You raised that little girl. You should give yourself the credit for doing a great job.”
Dallas doesn’t respond, he doesn’t even look my way as we drive slowly through the streets of town. There aren’t many. The main street with the majority of retail businesses lining it, including the pub where we first met on the corner. The farm supply store is just down the street, and other industrial or trade businesses are located a block over, taking up twice the area of the retail stores. The town definitely isn’t a big one, but supports such a vast rural area, we have all the services we need except a decent clothing store. Unless of course you only want to wear farm brand attire.
The primary school is located on the far side of town to my house, set in a residential area. The high school, weirdly, is on the same side of town as my place, just about as far away from the primary school as possible, something that’s never made any sense to me.
I turn down the street the school is on and find an empty parking space in the shade of a massive Puriri tree. We’re lucky to get it. We aren’t late, but already most of the parking spaces are filled and parents are milling around in front of the school.
Dallas and I join them and a moment later the end of day bell rings. Children pour from the classrooms and I search through them for Sadie. I never went to this school, so I’m not even sure which classes are for junior students as opposed to senior ones.
“Katie!” I turn as a small force collides with me. Apparently I was looking in completely the wrong direction.
“Good afternoon, Lady Sadie.” I grin down at her as she hugs my legs, her backpack sliding off one shoulder.
“Why are you here?”
“I was in town with your dad and wanted to surprise you.”
“I’m so surprised,” she says, beaming up at me. I scoop her into my arms and once she’s settled on my hip she seems to notice her dad for the first time. “Daddy!” she exclaims. A small frown creases her forehead. “What happened to your arm? ”
Dallas is standing watching us with a soft smile on his face, his arms crossed over his chest. He glances down at the bandage. “I hurt my arm on the farm today. The doctor had to look at it.”
“Will it be okay?” Sadie whispers and I hug her tighter against me.
“I’m going to be absolutely fine. Katie looked after me.”
Dallas slides Sadie’s backpack off her, leaving the little girl in my arms. She leans her head against my shoulder and squeezes her arms around me so tightly I’m not sure I can breathe. “Thank you, Katie,” she says softly.
“It was my pleasure, sweetheart,” I murmur into her hair. I close my eyes as her scent hits me. Her hair smells like bubblegum. For a moment my brain flashes to what my life would be like if I hadn’t lost my own baby, but I push the thoughts away. Now is not the time to dwell on the past.
“My pleasure too,” Dallas mutters into my ear as he falls into step beside us heading for the school building.
Heat flares through my cheeks and I shove him with my elbow, careful not to dislodge Sadie who’s clearly exhausted and has curled into me. “Shush,” I say.
“Let’s just grab this car seat and we’ll get back to the farm. I think Sadie and I could help you with Scout this afternoon …” He trails off and runs a hand through his hair. “If you want some assistance.”
“I’m not allowed to help with the horses,” Sadie says in a sleepy voice.
“You can now,” Dallas says. “If you want.”
Sadie sits up immediately and almost topples from my arms. “ Really?” she asks, eyes wide and bright as I manage to remain upright.
“Yeah.” Dallas scoops up the car seat and heads back for the car. “Scout at least. I feel like we maybe came to an understanding today.”
I laugh softly. “Your dad had to ride Scout with me after he hurt himself.”
“You did?” Sadie turns back to Dallas. The pride on her face is evident as he nods. “Yay, Daddy!”
“Would you like a little ride on her when we get home?” he asks her and when she nods so enthusiastically she nearly falls from my arms again, he laughs and ruffles her hair. “Let’s go then.”
I expect him to drop his hand from Sadie’s head back to his side, but he doesn’t. He meets my eyes over her as she sighs contentedly and presses her face back into my shoulder.
Then he lifts his hand from her blonde curls and brushes it against my cheek in a slow, sensuous stroke, his eyes—burning with desire—never leaving mine. As his hand reaches the edge of my cheek, he twists a lock of hair around his forefinger, lets it slide free, then turns and strides away, leaving me and Sadie to scurry after him.