30. Jamison #3
Her hand moved back to mine under the shelter of my arm. Thumb over knuckles.
Reward.
Celeste looked briefly as if she might say something regrettable. “Enjoy the break.”
“We are,” I said.
Sienna waited until Celeste was out of hearing before she looked up at me. “You are impossible. I can’t believe you told her my shot was prettier.”
“It was.”
“You didn’t see it. You were watching me.”
“Yes.” I lowered my mouth near her ear because her family had already been given enough access to my thoughts for one afternoon. “You have a very nice ass, baby. Daddy can’t help it.”
Her whole body went still against mine.
Then the blush came.
Slow at first, a soft pink along her cheekbones, then deeper until it reached the tips of her ears. She looked straight ahead at the shooting field as if the next clay launch held answers to every spiritual problem she had ever had.
“You cannot say things like that.”
“True things?”
“Jamison.” Her voice had gone breathless at the edges, which made my hand flex at her waist before I could stop it. “My family is right there.”
“Yes. Which is why you’re going to keep standing in front of me.”
She turned her head just enough to look at me. “Why?”
I let my gaze drop to her mouth, then back to her eyes. “Because that blush is doing terrible things to my cock in public, and Daddy needs you where you are.”
Her lips parted.
For one second, she only stared at me, outraged and flustered and far too pretty under the pavilion shade. Then her mouth pressed into a line that failed completely because she was trying not to smile.
“You’re dreadful.” Her hand tightened over mine. “And impossible.”
“You said that already.”
“I’m saying it again because you keep proving it.”
I felt the change in her as she said it. Tiny, but there. The girl with polished manners and careful smiles had begun letting something sharper peek through with me. A little attitude. The Sienna who looked at me now as if she might be embarrassed, but she was no longer afraid to answer back.
My girl was finding her voice with me again.
Deeply fucking satisfying.
I bent closer. “Careful, baby.”
Her eyes narrowed. “About what?”
“That tone.”
“What tone?”
“The one that says you’ve forgotten I can do something about it.”
She drew herself up as much as she could while standing trapped between my body and my arm. The effect was undermined by the fact that she was still blushing, leaning back against me, my hand stay spread over her stomach where everyone could see.
“I have no idea what you mean,” she said.
Brat.
“That’s a lie.” I smiled against her temple before I kissed her.
“It is not.”
“It is. A pretty one, but still a lie.”
“You are imagining things.” She made a soft sound of protest and shifted as if she meant to step away.
My arm tightened.
Enough to remind her I had no interest in losing the warmth of her body just because she wanted to pretend outrage while doing exactly what I told her.
She settled again.
Exactly where I wanted her.
Excellent.
“You’re very bossy,” she muttered.
“You’re very responsive.”
Her head turned sharply. “Jamison.”
“Yes, baby?”
Her mouth opened, then closed. She looked toward Adrian, who was pretending with the discipline of a trained diplomat that he could not hear us. He failed because his shoulders moved once with a silent laugh.
Sienna’s blush deepened. “This is bad for my reputation.”
“Your reputation survived missing twenty clay discs.”
“I missed three.”
“You would have missed twenty if I let your father keep coaching you.”
She elbowed me again, lightly this time. “You are meant to be comforting.”
“I am. I said your ass was nice.” I kissed her temple again because I liked the way her laughter moved through her body when she tried to hold it in. “I’m not used to you without heels.”
She looked down at her flat sandals, then back at me. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re very short.”
Her gasp was quiet but offended. “I am not very short.”
“You are currently beneath my chin.”
“That is because you are too tall.”
“No, this is a you problem.”
She tipped her head back to glare up at me, which only proved my point. “I wore ballet flats because it is a field.”
“And now I’m suffering.”
“Poor Daddy,” she mumbled. “How does he cope?”
The words were muttered into her lemonade glass, barely loud enough to reach me. Everything in me went still, then pleased in a dark, slow way.
I lowered my mouth to her ear. “Say that again.”
Her eyes widened. “No.”
I laughed softly, and her cheeks went bright enough to ruin me twice.
Adrian made the mistake of glancing over.
I looked at him.
He looked away.
Smart man.
Sienna tried to sip her lemonade with dignity, but the corner of her mouth kept twitching. I kept my hand on her waist, thumb moving once beneath the edge of her ribs, and felt her little breath catch.
“Yes,” I murmured. “That’s what I thought.”
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
“I endured your family. Let me have my rewards.”
“I am not a reward.”
I kissed the side of her head again, slower this time. “You are the only reward.”