Chapter 31
thirty-one
PATRICK
“ It looks like a unicorn threw up in here,” Graham says to my right. Pink and purple streamers are hanging from his shoulders, complimenting the gold tiara on his head.
“ I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what Lottie wants.” I adjust the crown on my head that my daughter told me to wear; because she said I was a queen.
“ Does this tutu make my butt look big?” Booth asks from the other side of the room.
“ Yes ,” Dex says as he slides his own pink tutu up his legs, but halfway past his thighs, it splits in half and falls to the ground. “ I’m sorry, I love Lottie , but this isn’t going to work. I’m better off being a dinosaur.”
The four of us look like some misfit boy band, but we’re all too scared of Lottie to not do exactly as she says.
Giving up on the bow I’ve been trying to tie for the last ten minutes, I let the ribbon hang limply from the chair. I’ve tried my best to recreate the tea party Lottie described to me. I spent all last night gluing tiny tiaras to plastic dinosaurs, so hopefully the room screams prehistoric fairy tale.
Carrie is bringing Lottie over in an hour, then her friends will arrive, and chaos will commence.
I can’t believe she will be five. The years have gone by way too quickly, and I wish they would slow down. It feels like yesterday a nurse put this squirming, pink thing in my arms. From the moment I held her, my universe shifted. She doesn’t know it, but she came into my life when I needed her the most. I didn’t realize how lost and empty I’d been until she opened those big eyes, stopped her crying, and stared up at me. From that one look, I knew I would do everything and anything for that little girl—which includes wearing a crown.
If anything, being a girl dad makes me more masculine.
We finish setting up for the party and share a look of satisfaction as we look around the room. A six-foot inflatable unicorn and dinosaur sit at the back of the room, both sporting tiaras. Pink , purple, and white streamers and balloons decorate the ceilings and walls, and a small tea party is set up in the middle of the room. My mom is bringing all the fixings for a classic English afternoon tea, and George is picking up the birthday cake I hired Quinn to make.
Happy that we have some time to spare, we throw ourselves on the sofas before carnage ensues. The moment my butt hits the sofa, however, there’s a knock on the door.
“ No way is someone here already,” I groan, hauling myself to my feet.
“ Tell them to scram,” Graham says.
“ What are you, a 1920s gangster?” I trudge my way over to the front door and swing it open a little too forcefully, prepared to turn away whoever is an hour early.
Only it’s not one of Lottie’s friends or parents. It’s a startled-looking Jo , clad in a purple, floor-length dress.
“ Oh ! Nice crown.” She bites her lips and tugs at one of the layers of her skirt, looking a little shy.
“ Sorry , I wasn’t expecting anyone yet. ”
“ Is the party not today?”
“ No , it is, but not until two.”
“ Shiiiii —oot. I knew I got the time wrong. I’m trying to practice not swearing around kids and I’m not doing so well. I’ll come back when the party actually starts. Forget I was here,”she says, looking cute and flustered.
Before she can walk away, I hook an arm around her waist and pull her through the open doorway, narrowly avoiding trapping the gift bag she’s holding as I kick the door shut behind us.
“ No , you don’t,” I mumble against her shoulder. “ Stay , it’s fine. I thought you were one of Lottie’s friends’ parents, and I didn’t want to make small talk yet.”
She wriggles her way out of my hold, but now I’m able to get a good look at her.
How her hair can look even more golden, I have no clue, but it does as it falls in loose curls down her back. Her long, lean legs might be hidden, but the tight bodice of the dress and the little bow between her cleavage have my mouth watering.
Shit , is this some new kink?
The look is finished off with a pair of Chucks , because of course. How can she look cute and sexy? Suddenly , I’m regretting the horde of children about to take over my home, because all I want to do is drag her up the stairs and peel that dress off her.
“ Did you hear what I said?” She laughs, waving a hand in front of my face.
“ Nope .” My eyes are still glued to her chest, and I’m thinking of all the ways I want to fuck her to Sunday . It’s been a week since the afternoon at the lighthouse, and once again, we’ve done nothing but kiss or grope each other silly in the few moments alone we can find.
Graham walks out of the living room and Jo gives him a warm smile, and for the first time since her return, he returns it. Okay , it might not be what most people call a smile, but those who know him, know it’s genuine, and it’s good to see them talking again.
“ Hey , Gray ,” she greets him.
“ Jo . Nice dress. I’ll take that.” He takes the gift bag from her hand and turns to me with a raised brow. “ Remember , this is a kids’ party, Pat . Stop flirting with Sleeping Beauty and get your guest a drink.”
“ Oh , I’m , umm, Rapunzel , actually,” she replies, but I’m already steering her toward the kitchen and away from the three guys currently in my living room who would enjoy nothing more than to wiggle their way into my business right now.
“ What do you want?” I ask as I let go of her hand to reach inside one of the cabinets.
“ Juice or water is good.”
I pull two glasses from the shelf, and watch her from the corner of my eye as she stares out into my yard.
We’re not broadcasting what’s happening between us, yet from the looks our siblings have been giving us, I suspect they have some idea about what’s going on.
Okay , they know.
Booth and Harriet wouldn’t know the meaning of the world subtle, and when Jo’s sister came to the restaurant to say goodbye a couple of days ago, she gave me a wink and whispered, “ Go get ’em, tiger,” as she hugged me.
Walking over to where Jo is standing in front of the sink, I place our glasses on the counter and loop my arms around her waist, my chin resting on her shoulder. I love that she’s always been the perfect height, and I drop my face into the crook of her neck to prove it. She tries to escape my grasp with a squeal as I nip at her skin and breathe her in, scrunching her neck to hide from my attack.
“ The decorations look great. Lottie is going to lose her mind. I can’t wait to see her little face,” she says, trying to catch her breath from her laughter.
There’s something so special about hearing the excitement in Jo’s voice when she speaks about my daughter.“ She’s going to lose her mind when she sees you actually came dressed as a princess.”
She cranes her neck and looks up at me with wide eyes. “ Please tell me I’m not the only adult dressed up in full princess getup today?”
“ Okay , I won’t tell you.” The grimace on my face must reveal the truth.
“ Nooo . This is mortifying. She told me at my dad’s house all the girls were dressing up.”
“ All the girls under three feet, yes.”
Shaking her head in laughter, she settles against me, and we look out into the yard. I don’t have a green thumb, and I don’t need to, because my mom comes by every couple of weeks to help keep it maintained. A large spruce sits in the back corner and flower beds line either side of the lawn. Purple , white, yellow, and blue flowers have begun blooming, bringing the space to life.
“ I think my mom planted those white ones with your mom in mind.” I feel her tense as I point to the small white buds, not quite ready to blossom yet. It’s such a fleeting reaction; you’d miss it if you weren’t paying attention, but I don’t miss a thing when it comes to her.
“ Starflower ,” she whispers. “ Or Mayflower , as my mom called it. Her favorite. They don’t flower until May .”
“ Wait , as in your middle name? Johanna May Thomas ?”
“ Yes , you goof,” she says, her body shaking against mine. “ You’re telling me that after knowing me for this long, you didn’t know where my middle name came from? My mom literally called me Mayflower .”
“ Uh , I plead the fifth? I don’t know half the names of the plants out there. You’d have to ask my mom.”
“ Men ! You’re useless,” she gripes and nudges me in the ribs with her elbow.
“ Hey now. I taught myself to braid hair, I’m not totally useless,” I argue.
“ You taught yourself?” she asks, gaping up at me.
“ Yeah , who else?”
“ I don’t know, your mom, sister, or Carrie ?”
“ Nope . All me, baby. Well , and YouTube . It’s one of the few times Lottie will sit still for me.”
“ That’s really sweet, Patrick ,” she says.
I tug her in closer, and from the way she brushes up against me, she can feel how hard I am. Have been since the moment she walked into my house. “ I am sweet, aren’t I ?”
“ Mm -hm, so sweet.”
I turn her in my arms and push her up against the granite countertop. “ Should I show you how sweet?” My lips find hers in a gentle kiss, hands diving into her hair, and running through the soft curls as my tongue runs across her lips. Her nails drag through my hair and across my scalp, sending delicious shivers across my body.
“ I love it when your hair is down,” I say in between kisses, combing my fingers through her golden locks.
We remain locked in each other’s embrace as our mouths slowly explore each other. Her back arches as I push her further into the counter and skim my hands down her body. I gather the many layers of her dress in my hands, until my fingers find her soft, warm skin.
She shakes her head at me, like she knows this is a bad idea, but doesn’t stop me as I hitch the material up around her waist. Even through my jeans and her underwear, I can feel the heat from between her thighs as I grind against her.
Gone is my sweetness as I trace along the edge of her panties, toying back and forth with the lace, so close to where I know she’s already soaked for me.
“ Can you be quiet, love? We don’t want anyone to walk in, do we?” A voice in my head says yes, we do . The thrill of someone catching us spurs me on. The tip of my pointer slips under the damp material, and I groan when I find her hot and wet.
“ Yes ,” she rasps out, head falling against the cabinet as my finger circles her entrance.
Before we can go any further, a throat clears behind us, and we freeze.
“ Any idea where I can put this cake?”
Noooo . I really wish I didn’t know that voice. The idea of being caught now is a terrible, terrible idea.
I might be almost thirty-five years old, but no one wants to be caught in a compromising position with another person at their own kid’s birthday party.
Not when that someone is dressed like a Disney Princess .
Especially by that someone’s father.