“Okay. Good morning, Ella.”
“Good morning to you. Come here sweetheart.” I dropped to my knees and opened my arms.
For just one second, she hesitated, then she came straight into my arms and rested her head on my chest.
“Did you sleep well?”
She nodded.
“Good. Let’s go get some breakfast for you, and afterwards we can come here and paint. Did I tell you that I’m good at drawing?”
She raised her head and stared at me. “Can you draw a cat?”
I nodded.
“Can you draw me?”
I grinned. “Bet, I can. Drawing you is easy because you’re so pretty.”
She smiled.
“Now, shouldn’t we go brush all these small teeth of yours?”
She giggled prettily.
I took her by the hand and hung around while she got ready. She was a neat little thing. She even folded her nightgown. Afterwards, we went downstairs for breakfast.
It was already hot outside when we went to sit on the outside tables.
“It’s Daddy!” Molly said pointing at the pool.
I swallowed to clear my rapidly closing throat. Sure enough, cutting across the water in strong sure strokes was Daddy. “Mmm… yes,” I said. “I’ll go get your breakfast.” I noticed how my breath was coming out in gasps. My brain filled with his hot kisses and his delicious body while my thighs tingled at the memory.
In the kitchen, I deliberately waited around as Paul prepared Molly’s breakfast with the hope that by the time I returned, Luke would have left.
No such luck. He was coming out of the pool as I stepped out. I faltered in my steps as I took in his body in his swimming trunks.
His hair clung to his scalp and drops of water trickled down along his very muscled chest. I longed to lick that chest. I didn’t care about being mad at him for not showing even a tiny bit of caring towards me. If he kissed me, I’d respond, and resume my anger afterwards.
He kissed Molly’s forehead sweetly and teased her about being a sleepy head. “Hey you,” he said to me.
I gave a stiff nod in reply and kept my eyes off his body, afraid I would embarrass myself by doing something stupid. Like running my fingers over those rock-hard abs and maybe lean in for a kiss. I reminded myself about being angry with him. Yes, we had jobs to do, but a little wink or secret smile wouldn’t have been amiss.
“Are you angry at me?”
I glanced at Molly to see if she was listening.
She wasn’t. She was wolfing down her breakfast.
I looked at him and met his steady gaze. My pulse quickened in response. “Why would I be angry that this morning you pretended that nothing happened last night?”
He frowned. “Can we talk later?”
I nodded nonchalantly. “Sure.”
“Right. I’ll see you in my study after you put Molly to bed.”
Luke
I paced the width of the library and practiced what I wanted to say to Ella. There was no good way to say it, except to say it. I could not offer her what she wanted. I wasn’t relationship or boyfriend material. I owed her an explanation.
I remembered the hurt look on her pretty face. I had caused it and I never wanted to hurt her. She was sweet and beautiful. She deserved a man who could give her his heart. That man would not be me.
I was done with women. The only female who had my heart was my Molly.
No matter how sexy she was—and Ella was easily the sexiest woman I’d ever laid eyes on—I didn’t want to go there. Penelope had been enough. I didn’t need another lesson in betrayal.
Soft footsteps sounded on the hallway before Ella knocked softly on the door.
I pulled the door open and stood aside to let her pass. Her sweet scent teased my nostrils as she glided past. I admired her gorgeous legs. Ella dressed almost exclusively in short dresses and I loved her in short dresses. The shorter the better.
I yanked my eyes away. It did feel shocking how proprietary my thoughts were towards her. She did not belong to me. I reminded myself of this fact as I shut the door.
She turned to face me and crossed her arms under her chest, pushing her tits up. She jutted out her chin and waited for me to speak. She looked so sexy with her flame-red hair flowing to her shoulders and her green eyes blazing with an emotion I could not identify.
“You wanted to talk, I’m here,” she said.
I couldn’t stop staring at her lips. What I wanted to do was kiss that pouting mouth senseless, not talk. But that would be a stupid thing to do. I needed to set the record straight. “I want to kiss you and suck on your lips,” I blurted out.
Her eyes widened. “Then, why don’t you?”
I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms. I groaned with the pleasure of molding her soft body into mine. Logic said this was wrong. Reason said it was idiotic, complicated, stupid. Our bodies though, told a different story. They fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.
Her mouth, sweet and yielding, parted for me. I tilted my head and assaulted her mouth with mine. I sucked on her lower lip and her tongue. Like a drowning man, I grabbed her ass and pulled her hard against me. “Can you feel how hard my cock is for you?” I growled.
This woman was driving me insane. How could it be that I had intended to explain to her why we couldn’t be together and then she ended up in my arms?
Ella broke the kiss, but did not move away.
The hardness of my cock pressed into her stomach.
“I don’t play games, Luke. I don’t like them and I’m not good at them.” She kept her hands wrapped around my neck.
Her nipples pressed against my chest. My hands were on her soft curvy hips. A caress away from her sweet pussy. Did I really want to end
