Chapter 31
Ivy
“Daddy?” a faint, small voice calls out.
I’m warm, and so comfortable I never want to get out of bed. This bed is the best thing I’ve ever laid on. I need to thank Wesley for going all out on the guest room, or I guess I should say, my room.
I lift my arms over my head to stretch, and I feel something tighten around my back. What the hell?
“Daddy? Let me in!” I hear the voice call out again. This time it’s more familiar, and it makes me become a little more conscious.
I hear a deep rumble in my ear, and I pop one eye open.
That’s when I see a huge tattooed bicep, right in front of my face, and when I glance up, I see Wesley sleeping soundly.
His eyes are closed and his lips slightly parted as he breathes deeply.
I blink rapidly, trying to figure out why he's in my bed, and what’s going on. Then it hits me.
Last night.
The mind blowing sex, the snuggling. Oh my god, I’m in his bed. I see the early morning light peeking through the blinds, when I hear it again.
“Ugh! Daddy!”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Not just a familiar, tiny voice. It’s Delilah. I attempt to fling myself up, but Wesley has me in a tight grip.
“Wesley,” I whisper shout, struggling to wiggle out of his hold. God, this man is strong. Even unconscious, he’s still stronger than me.
Nothing.
“Wesley Ford Cooper!” I hiss. He starts to shift, which makes his grip on me lessen, allowing me to fling myself upright. I look at the door and see it’s still locked from last night, which is what has Delilah angry and banging on the door.
I scan the room, seeing all of our discarded clothes strewn about. Which reminds me, I’m still butt ass naked. And so is that angry toddler's father. We weren’t supposed to fall asleep, god damnit. I immediately go into panic mode.
“Wesley, wake up!” I yell at him as quietly as I can, shaking his entire body.
“What the hell?” he mumbles.
I’m leaning over his sleeping form, with the blankets clutched around my bare chest as I push his body into the mattress repeatedly with my free hand, bouncing him like he’s on a trampoline.
“We slept all night. Delilah is at the door!” I practically growl.
His eyes fly open, and lock on mine.
“Shit,” he whispers.
My sentiments exactly.
“Daddy! Please!” She’s starting to whine now, and I throw myself into action. In my efforts to exit the bed as fast as possible, my legs get tangled up in the sheets, and I tumble, rolling right off the bed, and straight onto my ass.
“Oh fuck, Ivy,” Wesley whispers, and runs over to my side of the bed as he slips his briefs on. “Sorry, bug! One second! I’m just getting dressed!” he yells out to his daughter, voice still hoarse from sleep.
I do my best to untangle myself as Wesley bends down and lifts me onto my feet with ease. The blankets fall away, leaving me completely bared to him, and he just stares at my chest like he’s been hypnotized.
I snap in front of his face, and hiss out, “Focus!”
He shakes himself out of it, and gives me a mischievous grin, handing over my clothes he gathered from the floor. I hurriedly snatch them from him and rush to put them on, as he slides his sweats and T-shirt on.
“What are we going to do?” My tone is desperate and full of panic. I pull my shirt over my head, and slide my shorts on quickly. Wesley sticks his hands under my hair, and lifts it out of the collar of my shirt.
“Relax. I’ll sneak out and distract her, and you can sneak back to your room.
It’s okay.” He bends down, and shocks me by giving me the most delicious kiss.
I don’t even care about morning breath, and he doesn’t seem to either.
We absolutely don’t have time for this, yet he dips his tongue in, and I respond by nipping at his lower lip.
I get the full body tingles, and I involuntarily squeeze my thighs together.
He pulls back and smacks my ass playfully, winking. He moves toward the door, and I follow behind, plastering myself to the wall behind the door. Just as Delilah shouts again, Wesley rips the door open, making him disappear from view.
“Good morning, Lilah Mae. How did you sleep?” Wesley says casually.
Delilah isn’t fooled at all. “Why was your door locked?” she asks grumpily.
“I was getting dressed,” he answers nonchalantly, and moves out of his room into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
Her muffled voice travels through the door. “Can I wake up Iby now?” My eyes widen in horror, and I press my ear to the door to try and catch Wesley’s response.
“Not yet. Let her sleep a little longer, okay?”
“Okay,” she mutters, the grumpiness back.
What’s the plan? He said he would distract her, and I could sneak out. But what does that mean? I look around for my phone for a minute before I realize I left it on the charger in my room last night. How long will it take to distract her? Will he send a signal?
I need to get out of here.
I look around, and see the window slightly cracked through the blinds. I can wait, and see if I can creep through the house without Delilah catching me. Or I can sneak out of the window, and, what? Go through the front door? Unless I left my window open too.
I might have.
Then I could sneak back in through my window, and then I’ll leave my room, and greet Delilah like normal.
I don’t want to confuse her. I don’t know how Wesley feels yet, but after last night, I can safely say I’m well on my way to falling for this man, if I haven’t already. But I’m not going to be the one to push him to tell his daughter anything.
He’ll have to decide that on his own. He’s been so scared to let me into their lives, I’m not going to push him to do something he’s just not ready for.
Meaning, I go through the window.
The things you do for love.
Wait, what?
Ignoring that, I rush over to the window, and peer through the blinds to the front yard.
The coast is clear. I roll the blinds up, grip the bottom of the window, and pull up, sliding the window all the way open.
I do my best to pop out the screen, and tell myself to remember to come back later to put it back on.
When the screen is successfully removed, I lean out of the window and I gently place it up against the house.
Bracing both hands on the window sill, I hurl my first leg outside.
I do my best to touch my toes to the mulch in the garden bed outside, but I’m too short, and my crotch digs into the window track making me wince in pain.
“Ouch. Shit!” I yelp as my survival instincts kick in, and I launch myself completely out of the window to avoid being split in half by the metal shank lining the window. In no shock to myself, I fall very ungracefully out of the window, and onto my back in the garden bed.
It’s not too bad, considering the mulch broke most of my fall, but it still humbles the shit out of me.
“Mornin’ sunshine,” I hear a deep voice boom.
Just my luck.
I turn my head to the side and see Buck standing in the front yard with his hands in his pockets, grinning widely.
I groan, and sit up, brushing the mulch out of my hair. Wesley's dad walks over and holds out his hand, and I take it, letting him help me to my feet.
“Didn’t expect to find you in the garden, but I gotta say, you’re my favorite thing to bloom there by far,” he says through a chuckle, then winks.
“Yes, well I was just tending to the roses,” I reply, raising my chin.
He barks out a laugh, then he takes my hand, and helps me step over the wood beam that separates the gravel from the wood chips.
“Still haven’t told Lilah, I’m assuming?” he questions, arching an eyebrow.
“Yeah. I don’t want to push Wes into anything he’s not ready for,” I reply, feeling my cheeks heat.
Not for the fact that Buck just caught me falling out of his son’s window, but that I’m having to speak about Wesley’s readiness to commit.
Buck’s lips tip up at the corners, and he cocks his head to the side. “You don’t even know, do you?” he asks, gently.
“Know what?” I respond, just as I hear a squeal.
“Papa! Iby!” Delilah shouts.
Buck and I turn at the same time to see Delilah stomping down the porch steps, and barreling toward us. I hurriedly brush the remaining dust off of me, and give my girl a bright smile. I expect her to go to Buck first, but Delilah takes me by surprise, and leaps into my arms.
I catch her easily, and swing her up onto my hip.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I say, and kiss her on the cheek.
“Good morning!” she replies, and returns my kiss on her cheek with one of her own, followed by a peck from Burrito. “Why are you outside?” she asks.
I find Wesley standing on the porch with his arms crossed, and an arched brow identical to his fathers. He looks behind me where I know he sees the open window, and the removed screen. He folds his lips between his teeth, and I give him the bright smile I gave his daughter.
“Um, I was just getting some fresh air. Watched the sunrise,” I tell her breezily.
She seems to accept my answer, and then asks her papa the same thing.
“I was just on my morning stroll, darlin’,” Buck responds as we all turn at the sound of tires coming down the road from Buck and Maggie’s house. I see Maggie driving their fancy golf cart, and we wait as she approaches and slams on the breaks.
“Damn you, Buck! Did you already tell them?” Maggie yells.
“No woman. Keep your pants on,” Buck yells back, smirking. “Or better yet, take em’ off,” he mumbles, which earns him a giggle from me, and a scolding from Wesley.
“Why would Nana take her pants off?” Delilah asks, and Wesley gives Buck a glare.
“Oh he’s just joking sweetheart,” Maggie says to Delilah as she steps off the cart.
“For the love of all that is holy, tell us what, Mom?” Wesley asks, clearly over talking about his mothers pants.
“We’re going on a cruise!” Maggie shouts, holding her hands up in the air, the glee written all over her face.
“Oh my gosh, that’s awesome!” I reply.
“That’s great, Mom. I’m happy for you,” Wesley tells her with a smile.
Delilah then asks about a hundred questions regarding the cruise, where she learned what a cruise is, how long they will be gone, and if she can go. From what I gathered, Maggie and Buck are going to Hawaii, they’ll be gone for a week, and it’s an all adult cruise, so no, Delilah cannot go.
After we get all the details, Maggie and Buck head back home in their golf cart, and Wesley, Delilah, and I head back inside the house. Delilah, who’s still on my hip, rests her head on my shoulder and talks about what she wants to do today.
When we get inside, I set Delilah down, and she runs to play with some of her toys in the living room. I follow Wesley into the kitchen and lean against the counter as he pours me a cup of coffee, and hands it to me.
“Thank you,” I say, accepting the mug while keeping eye contact with him.
He glances down to my mouth, while I take a sip then lick my lips just for the hell of it. He does the same. His eyes flick back up to mine.
“Watching the sunrise, huh?” he asks before plucking a wood chip out of, what I’m sure is a giant puffball of hair.
“Yep.” I pop the p and grin as I take another sip of my coffee.
He nods, and takes a sip of his as well. Lowering his voice so only I can hear, he says, “I’d like to say I’m sorry for not taking you to your room last night, but I’m not. I liked having you in my bed.”
“I’ve never slept so hard,” I return, playing with the handle of my mug. God, he makes me so nervous.
“Me either,” he agrees, then tilts my chin up with his finger. “I can’t wait to do it again.” A wicked smirk plays across his face, and I just know he’s replaying last night in his head like I am.
Visions of last night flash in my mind as we stare at each other. His gravelly praises, the way I stretched around his cock, his hand squeezing my neck just the right amount. I feel the pull, and just as I start to lean into him, Delilah asks when her breakfast will be ready.
Wesley and I both breathe heavily, and I feel my pulse beat between my legs. I glance down, satisfied to see Wesley is just as affected. Wesley calls out to Delilah and tells her he’ll have her food ready soon, and to go get dressed for the day. She races into her room, and slams her door.
I stalk toward Wesley, unable to control myself, and he backs up to the counter. I just need a little something before he goes to work, it is my special day after all. I grip him through his sweats and gently stroke him.
“I’ll miss you today,” I whisper and bat my eyelashes up at him.
He groans, and places his hands on the counter behind him, giving me full control.
“You have no idea.” His voice is choppy, and uneven.
“I’ll be thinking of you while you’re gone,” I tell him and guide one of his hands to my shorts, where he slips in and feels just how wet I am for him.
“Jesus Christ,” he chokes out. I grab the back of his neck and bring him down for a kiss and show him just how much I’ll be thinking of him, as we gently stroke each other.
Just as the kiss gets more heated, I hear Delilah’s door open. I pull away, removing my hand and his, and take a big step back. He looks absolutely tortured, and I bite down on my smile, satisfied with my teasing.
He tucks his erection into his waistband, and groans. “You’re evil,” he says, his tone desperate.
I giggle. “Think of me today,” I whisper.
I give him a wink, then turn on my heel and head to my room to dress for the day. What a fantastic way to start my birthday.