“Weight?”
“Curves.”
She giggled, running a hand down her hip. “I do have a lot of them.”
“Even back then. You were bigger than the other girls and well, my dad, no son of his was going to fall for a fatty.” Eric shook his head. “I hated that son of a bitch, but I got a beating for looking at you. Of course, he hit me where bruises wouldn’t show. No one would question a bruised-up knee, or even an ankle.” He rubbed his knuckles. “To punish me, he made me punch a brick wall until my fists bled. All in the name of making it look like I was just a pain-in-the-ass kid.”
Tears fell from her eyes. The picture he painted wasn’t kind.
“I’m not lying to you, Daphne, and it’s certainly not an excuse. I pretended to hate you because it made life a lot easier for me. Neither of you would ever know that I was and always will be in love with you.”
Chapter Eight
Eric wasn’t supposed to say shit like that. No one knew his true feelings. Not any of the guys. No one. He hadn’t even meant to say anything, now and look what he’d done. Running a hand down his face, he wished he could take the words back. Daphne didn’t need to know how weak he was. What he’d done to try to win over his father. He should have told him to go to hell, which was what he’d done a few years ago when his father tried to claim the credit for all of his and the guys’ hard work. The moment he’d seen the press and the crap he was saying, he’d been so fucking livid.
He’d wanted to murder the bastard.
Instead, he’d paid him off, severed all ties, and promised to ruin him and tell the world what a disgusting lowlife he was.
In the last twelve years, there had been women. A lot of them. Nothing had ever been serious. They all knew the score. Sex and a few chance dinners, that was all. There were times over the past twelve years he thought about contacting Daphne. Each time he’d lifted his phone to call his PI, he’d stopped himself. He’d been worried, in case she had a life, a fun one. One that didn’t include him.
If there had been a husband and children, he didn’t know if he could stand it. So, he’d never called. Never looked her up. He’d gone about his day without a single care in the world, always wondering.
Now as he looked at her, mouth open, he knew he’d surprised her.
“I guess not all families are normal.”
“You love me?” she asked.
He nodded. “I have since the first moment I saw you.” He chuckled. “Which goes right back to kindergarten. You used to wear your hair in little pigtails, and you were always in jeans.”
“I was a tomboy back then.” She smiled. “I drove my mom crazy because all she ever wanted me to do was wear one dress for her. I would, but I hated it.”
“You were the cutest thing I’d ever seen.” He lifted up the axe. “Still are.”
He brought the axe down on the wood.
Once it split in two, he picked each piece up. As he turned back from putting them away, Daphne had gotten closer.
She put a hand on his arm and slowly slid it up. She offered him a smile, which he returned. It wasn’t the same kind of smile that he remembered, but it was a start. She sank her fingers into the hair at the back of his nape and pulled him in close. As her lips touched his, he came out of his stupor and pulled her close to him. Body to body. He felt each and every single curve, relishing the feel of them against him. As he cupped her ass, he growled against her lips, wanting everything she could offer him and taking so much more.
He ran his hands down her back, cupping her generous ass, feeling her close to his cock, which was already so fucking hard. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, crying out in pleasure.
Walking back, he pressed her up against the wall of the shed and she moaned his name. He slid a hand beneath her dress, touching her. The panties she wore offended him, and he gripped them tightly, tearing them off.
“Tell me to fucking stop, beautiful, tell me.”
“No.”
He let her go so her legs were on the ground, and he spun her around so she was flush against the shed. Pressing her feet apart, he loosened his jeans and tilted her hips back. He lifted up the dress so he could see her ass.
Finding her entrance, he pressed his tip against her, not even caring that he wasn’t using a condom. He wanted to feel her around his dick.
They both cried out together as he seated her on his length.
She was so perfect, and he tightened his grip on her hips as he thrust balls deep inside her, fucking right into her. Daphne put her hands to the shed and began to push back against him.
He growled against her neck, and she moaned, begging for more.
“I’m going to give it to you. Fuck, Daphne, I’ve waited so long for you.” Everything he’d told her was the truth. There was not
