Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
A laugh chugs out of me and she smiles in response, nuzzling my neck with her nose and kissing me one final time before dismounting my body, hopping to the floor beside my bed. I prop my head on a fist, so I can watch her move around my bedroom, naked in the sunlight. She gathers her bra and panties, covering herself with one of my T-shirts before giving me a little pinky wave and backing out of the room.
Two seconds passes. I’m already missing her like hell when—
“Are you seriously fucking my dad?”
It’s Emma’s voice. And really, it’s more of a screech.
With horrifying visions of hair pulling and nail scratches playing in my head, I lurch out of bed and throw on a pair of boxers. I rush out of the bedroom, thanking God that my hard-on has subsided, and I find Emma facing off with Shea in the middle of the living room. My daughter has a pink sleep mask on top of her head, her frame vibrating with indignation.
Shea is white as a sheet
“All right,” I say, entering the room slowly. “Everyone just stay calm here.”
Wrong thing to say.
Emma throws up her hands. “Calm? Stay calm?” She paces a few feet, then stomps back in Shea’s direction. “I knew something was up when you gave her that ride home without me. There’s the way you look at each other, too. How she can’t stop blushing when you’re around.” She mimics Shea’s voice. “Your father has a fish allergy.”
Shea winces.
I advance into the room and stand beside Shea, physically unable to see her in distress. Hooking an arm around her shoulders, I pull her into an embrace where she hides her face in my chest. “Emma, believe me, no one expected this. Least of all me. I’ve always dated women my own age. She just…” I take a fortifying breath and tighten my hold on Shea. “As soon as she walked into the house, it’s like my common sense deserted me. We tried to stay apart for your sake, and we couldn’t do it. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner.”
Emma screams behind her teeth and stomps the floor. “This is insane! This kind of shit doesn’t happen outside of porn.” She takes off the sleep mask, tossing it with an annoyed wrist flick onto the coffee table. “Mom is not going to believe this. She always said that despite your issues as a couple, you were a stand-up guy.”
“He is,” Shea insists, turning in my arms. “Please don’t think badly of him. I didn’t…” I hear her swallow. “I didn’t make it very easy for him to say no.”
No, she didn’t.
But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her shoulder an ounce of the blame.
“This is on me,” I say firmly. “You want to be mad, Emma, I totally understand. But be mad at me. Not Shea.”
“Too late.” Emma lets out a rush of breath, before sinking down onto the couch. “Dammit. I hate to admit it, but…”
“But what?” Shea asks, disentangling herself from my arms and going to sit beside my daughter on the couch.
Emma splits a glare between us. “This makes total sense,” she mutters grudgingly. “Shea is an old soul. She doesn’t like to party. Doesn’t really socialize with people our age. All she wants to do is design fictional houses and get a good night’s sleep. Which makes her kind of a good fit for you, dad, as much I hate to say that out loud.” She sighs. “And Dad, you need someone to remind you that you’re still kind of young.”
My lips twitch. “Kind of?”
“I guess.” Emma slaps both hands over her face. “God, this is so weird. If you two get married, Shea will be my stepmother.”
Shea’s eyes twinkle with mirth. “We’re not getting m—”
“Don’t finish that sentence, Shea,” I interrupt, giving her a stern look. “I’ve got plans for us. Those plans include a ring.”
Her breasts heave up and down under the borrowed T-shirt, her eyes going glassy with a sudden onslaught of tears. “Do you really mean that?” she whispers, trembling.
“I’ll never say something to you I don’t mean, angel.”
She seems to sense my intense need to hold her, because she leaps up from the couch, runs a few steps and jumps into my waiting arms. Her scent wafts around me and I close my eyes, inhaling. I’m trying to act normal for my daughter’s sake, but there is nothing normal about the way I feel for Shea. She is holding my heart in one hand, my soul in the other.
“Wow,” Emma says from the couch. “You guys, like…love each other, don’t you?”
Shea looks up at me with a watery smile. “Yes. It was love at first sight.”
“Love at the very first sight,” I confirm, stroking a hand down her long hair.