8. Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Jamison
I ’d worked later than usual, and my mom picked Darcie up from Mother’s Day Out and brought her home. I threw a quick and simple dinner together—turkey sandwiches, a perfect dinner before gymnastics.
“Darce, let’s go. We’ll be late.” What the hell was taking her so long? I only sent her to her room to get her clothes. They were sitting on her bed. It shouldn’t take her that long, but I’d finished cleaning the kitchen when she finally appeared.
I cocked my head.
She was in her black leggings with stars all over them, and I’d laid out the red gymnastics tee—what she usually liked to wear to class—but instead she had on a yellow T-shirt with daisies. She looked adorable, but it wasn’t like her to go through her drawers and find something else.
“What was wrong with the shirt I had out for you?” I asked her.
“Lena, Madeline, and me all decided to wear a shirt with flowers on it so we could be like their mommas and be flower sisters too.” She plopped down on the floor and put on her sneakers.
I forgot Lilly and her friends had called themselves that in high school. Cute. “Okay.” I grabbed my to-go cup of coffee. “Ready?”
Like most things in Orlinda Valley, it didn’t take us long to get to Five Stars Gymnastics, but the small parking lot was almost filled when I pulled in.
Darcie hopped out and ran toward the door. Her excitement was contagious. As usual, I was one of the few dads in attendance. The class was about fifteen girls, and mostly mothers brought them, but I did wave at the other lone father. Gary White. Gary was a year ahead of Lance and me in school. His wife was a nurse, so he was often the one who brought their daughter, Clara, to class.
“There they are, Daddy.” Darcie skipped away to meet up with Lena and Madeline.
I smiled as I caught up, and the girls went onto the mats together. “Those three seem happy to be together again,” I said as I sat on the bleachers next to Lilly and caught a scent of coconut in the air.
“This has been all Maddy’s talked about all day,” Lilly said.
“Lena as well. She’s been exhausting,” Rose added.
“Are you both ready for kindergarten registration?” I asked. I had been dreading it, but it was this Wednesday and Thursday. I couldn’t avoid it much longer.
Lilly shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t know when it was and hadn’t thought about it, but I guess I should have. It’s always in July.”
“Yep,” said Rose. “We can take the girls together. I was planning on going Wednesday around one to beat the crowd.”
“Sounds good,” Lilly agreed. “When are you going?” she asked me, and I got lost for a minute in her eyes. Those brown eyes, so big and always bright and shining.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll have to wait until after work. I’ll probably go Wednesday and be a part of the after-dinner chaos. Hopefully, because of it being a church night, it won’t be crowded.”
Class started, and our conversation changed to focusing on the girls. Madeline caught on quickly and was soon tumbling and running with the others. Rose, Lilly, and I laughed a lot. How could you not? A bunch of four and five-year-olds doing the tumbling and cheering they were doing. I loved watching it.
I was paying attention to Darcie and not listening to Lilly and Rose. I didn’t usually talk much when I was there, so this wasn’t anything new.
“Jamison, could you take Lilly and Maddy home? They came with me, but I need to pick up JR and some of his friends from practice. Nolan just got an emergency call.” Nolan was the fire chief.
“I hope nothing serious is happening,” I said.
“I really have no clue. But what do you say?”
“Sure. Not a problem,” I said. “If it’s okay with Lilly.”
“I’m not going to walk, so I guess you’ll do,” she said with a damn sexy smile on her face.
To say the girls were excited when they found out they would be riding together was an understatement. Lena, on the other hand, started to pout. It wasn’t fair that they rode together while she had to ride with a bunch of “stinky, gross boys.”
Lilly squatted in front of Lena. “You know, I wouldn’t be happy about hanging with gross boys either, but your mom can’t help it. What do you say we promise to all go out for ice cream next time?”
Lena gave a small smile and shrugged.
“She’ll be fine. Come on, kiddo,” Rose said as we walked to the parking lot. She and Lena turned to their car, and I followed closely behind Lilly and the girls, and my gaze fell on Lilly’s ass. What can say? I’m a guy, and she’s sexy.
As soon as we were all in my truck, my senses were filled with the scent of coconut and something else I couldn’t make out but liked all the same. I turned to Lilly, and her brown eyes met mine. I don’t know why, but I was caught off guard and my stomach did a somersault, and I suddenly became nervous. I wiped my hands on my pants quickly to dry them before I pulled out of the parking lot.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to come up with any conversation because the girls talked nonstop about class and what they learned. We talked and laughed. It was a good time for such a short trip, and by the time I turned into the driveway, my nerves had vanished.
“Can Darcie come in really quick?” Madeline asked. “I have to show her something in my room. Please?”
Lilly glanced at me, and I shrugged. I had no clue what could be so important, but what could it hurt?
“Sure,” Lilly said. Then she turned to me. “I guess you’re coming in even if you don’t want to.”
I’d had a lot of fun tonight and wasn’t ready to go home, anyway, so I followed behind the girls. Well, two girls and one woman. One very sweet and sexy woman whose ass I was staring at again.
Lilly unlocked the door, and the girls took off through the house and up the stairs. “I don’t know if they can walk anywhere,” I said.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Lilly said as she closed the door, and we went into the kitchen.
The house was quiet. “Where’s your mom and Charles?”
“Don’t have a clue.” She flipped on the kitchen light. “Want a drink or anything?”
“Just a water.”
She got two water bottles from the refrigerator, handed me one, and then leaned on the counter. I leaned on the counter, too, and took a look around. I had even been in this kitchen with Lilly so many times. My wandering gaze fell on her, and my heart skipped a beat.
Her shoulder-length brown hair reflected the lights from above, and her eyes were bright. “Your eyes are still so pretty,” I whispered. I didn’t even mean to say it.
“Thanks.” She smiled a small, crooked smile, and her cheeks got a little color in them. She was beautiful, but when she blushed, she became even more radiant. Her eyes met mine, and we stood there, and time stood still.
Part of me wanted to ignore the thumping of my heart, and I knew I should look away, get Darcie, and go. But another part of me refused to move. Refused to take my eyes from hers.
I moved like I was in a dream. I placed my water bottle on the counter next to her and touched her hair. It was soft, like I remembered. I tucked it behind her ear and drug my fingers lightly down her neck and across her collarbone. She shivered so softly that if I hadn’t been touching her, I wouldn’t have noticed it.
We were close, and again, I could smell the scent of coconut and something else. “What perfume do you wear?”
“Perfume?” Her voice was almost a whisper.
“You smell amazing.” My heart started palpitating like I had just run a marathon, and every nerve ending was at attention.
“It’s probably my shampoo. Coconut and rose?”
I nodded. My eyes dropped to her lips, and I noticed how plump and desirable they looked. She must have sensed me staring at them because she sucked in her bottom one and ran her tongue across it. That little movement I could never ignore.
My heart sped up even more, and my blood pooled in areas I wished it wouldn’t. This was crazy. I was one hundred percent attracted to Lilly, and I wanted to taste those lips and feel her porcelain skin. I reached out and dragged my thumb across her chin to her jawline until it rested behind on her cheek.
Our eyes locked. She sucked in a quick breath, and before I knew what I was doing, I touched my lips to hers. Her lips were cold from the water, yet sweet and tantalizing. I took the kiss a little deeper, our tongues touched, and I laced my fingers in her hair, holding her tight.
Suddenly, the patter of footsteps carried across the house and got closer. I stepped away. Lilly’s eyes fluttered open, and I leaned back on the opposite counter as the girls entered the kitchen. I sucked in my lips and glanced at the ceiling, concentrating on my breathing.
My lips tingled with the sensation of the kiss, of Lilly’s lips. My palms were still warm from the feel of her soft skin under them, and my crotch throbbed with need. What the hell did I just do, and how the hell would I keep from doing it again when every nerve ending in my body just woke up in a way they hadn’t for years?