I chuckled at her flustered state, glancing around her living room at the art and the photos on the wall. “Who’s the woman?”
“Aunt Amelia. She’s great, been like a mother to me.”
“The one who’s worried over your impending spinsterhood?”
“One and the same. She’s incredible though. I came to live with her when I was fourteen and my parents decided to take jobs in Switzerland. Since then she’s been my rock, my best friend and my unfortunate matchmaker.”
She sounded like a character. I had begun to suspect that’s where Dani got her flare. “I take it the solemn, well-dressed couple are your parents?”
“If there’s a vaguely disappointed air about them, then those are my parents all right.”
She had features from both parents, eyes from her father and petite stature from her mother, but she was so wholly different in demeanor, it was easy to see she’d grown up under someone else’s influence.
“Your place is great.”
“It’s small and cluttered, but it’s home.”
“I don’t see it that way at all. It’s filled with life and color, people you love. It’s you.”
“Thanks,” she grinned as she came in with a tray, topped with drinks and cheesecake. “Okay we have chocolate, vanilla caramel and mocha Bailey’s. You pick first.”
I looked at all three and chose. “That one.”
She picked up the Bailey’s bite and held it between her thumb and forefinger, up to my mouth. “Take it.”
I held her wrist, never breaking eye contact between us, as pulled her hand to my mouth and wrapped my lips around her fingers. She hissed out a breath when my tongue swept across her fingers, her gaze never leaving mine. “Mmm, delicious.”
As I chewed, my eyes stayed on hers and hers were on my mouth, eyes flaring with heat every time my tongue made an appearance. “Yeah.”
“Pick one,” I told her, motioning to the tray on the coffee table. She reached and I moved her hand out of the way. “This one?” She nodded. “Open up.” She was so damn obedient my cock strained against my jeans, eager to get closer to that luscious mouth. That wet heat I knew hid between her thighs.
She held my wrist with both hands, guiding it towards her mouth slowly before she took a bite, taking half the candy in her mouth as she licked her lips and chewed, gaze locked with mine. The strains of my control snapped when she took the second bite, tongue and lips curled around my fingertips sensually, making me think of that mouth wrapped around my cock as it sank in and out of her throat. “So, so good.”
Hell yeah, it was. I had never been so turned on by so little in my life, and I need more of her. I snagged her wrist and pulled her closer until she sat on my lap, blue dress riding high on her hips and she settled between my denim covered erection. “Tell me to stop, Dani.”
“Okay,” she breathed against my lips and pressed closer until only pleasure existed between our mouths. Her tongue slid back and forth, slicking across my lips until they were plump and wet. I could feel the wet heat of her pussy pulsing on top of my cock. Dani’s tongue licked inside my mouth, her fingers twined in my hair but she gave over control of the kiss to me and that was so fucking hot, I held her hips so I could ground up into her. Hot and hard, we kissed, for a long time as our hips ground and our hands roamed over one another. It was the kind of kiss you got lost in, that sucked you in and made you forgot you obligations and responsibilities. “Fuck! Ty,” she breathed in my ear, tongue swirling around the earlobe as her chest heaved. “You’re a very good kisser.”
I chuckled but it died on my lips as I took in the heated look she gave me, blended with surprise and she stole another kiss, this one hard and fast. “I had a good partner.”
She smiled, letting her hips glide over my cock before she stood. “You have to go.”
I frowned. “What? Why? Did I do something?”
“Yeah, you turned me on and I’m not ready to find out you’re like all the rest just yet.”
I frowned, suspicious I should be offended by what she’d just said. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I like you Ty, and I also want to rip those clothes off and lick you all over. So, I’d like to enjoy this time with you. For a while anyway.”
“And if it doesn’t end the way you think it will?”
She shrugged. “Then I’ll owe you a few orgasms.”
I stood and put some distance between us before I did exactly what she was trying to avoid. Going too fast, way too soon. “With that thought, I think you’re right. I should go.”
“Okay,” she said, biting back a smile.
I closed the distance between us and cupped her face in my hands. “Good night Dani,” I told her and swept inside her mouth, plundering the heated depths while she tried to climb my body to get closer. The kiss burnt hotter and brighter than a kiss should when no sex was involved.
“Good night,” she whispered to my back as I strode through the door. Behind the wheel of my car, it took a few minutes to get my cock under control to make the drive home. The whole time I couldn’t stop thinking of the way Dani felt under my hands, my mouth. My body. Was there something between us, or was this what happened when a man went too long without sex? I couldn’t tell, and I didn’t want to make the mistake of moving too fast before we really got to know each other
No matter how much I wanted to have her.
Make her mine.
Dani
“Aunt Amelia, what are you doing here?” I stood mostly behind the door because of my sheer pajamas, but also the shield my eyes from the blinding rays of the sun.
Amelia, with her hands on her hips, gave me that stare that said I was really dumb for such a smart girl. “I need a reason to come see my favorite niece?”
“Only niece. No, you don’t need a reason.” Usually she called first which was my first clue she was up to something.
“Then let me in,” she pushed at the door until I stepped back. “And I’ll make us some breakfast while you tell me all about your date.”
“Date? What are you talking about?”
“Come now girl, Green Valley is small potatoes and the town’s beautiful pediatrician finally succumbing to male charm, well that makes the grapevine. When he spends two hours behind this very door, well that’s enough to break the damn grapevine.” She scrutinized the wine glasses and the discarded dessert tray on my coffee table and grinned.
The debris of a night that looked far hotter than it was, though it had been hot enough that it took mere seconds to take care of myself once Ty was long gone. “It was dinner. Nothing more.”
“Is he as handsome as Julio says?”
I didn’t bother to ask who on earth was Julio because Aunt Amelia knew everyone. No matter where we went she never met a stranger. “He’s even hotter,” I told her truthfully.
“Oh this is so good!” She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me to follow her. “Remember Daniela, even if he isn’t Mr. Forever, you can enjoy time spent with a gorgeous man. Let him remind you that you’re young and brilliant and beautiful. Falling in love, even for the night, can do wonders for a woman’s outlook.”
“Arite, so who is your guy?”
Aunt Amelia was a master at falling in love, hard and fast or slow and steady, it didn’t matter. She slid a mug of coffee across the table right into my hands.
“It’s still Artie, but the man is growing on me. Do you know he brought over body paint last night? Edible body paint!”
I shuddered inwardly at the images her words brought forth. “So you’re finally ready to admit that you like Artie.”
“Of course I like him. He’s good looking, still has his own hair and teeth, and he’s a brilliant physicist. What’s not to like?”
Exactly my point, but I didn’t remind her that Artie had proposed three times in three years and she’d turned him down every time. “Not a thing as far as I can tell.” She glared and I shrugged innocently.
&nbs
p; “He wants to take me on a cruise for Christmas.”
I knew she was waiting for me to be upset since we always enjoyed the holidays together. “That’s great, please tell me you’re going someplace warm?”
“You’re not upset?”
“I’m happy for you. Hell, I’m happier for Artie.”
“What will you do?”
“Amelia, it’s months away. I promise to figure something out by the time we go shopping for new bathing suits for you.” She frowned and pursed her lips, ready to argue before she quietly agreed.
“Deal.” She reached for my phone as it buzzed on the counter but I beat her to it. “Who is it?”
I smiled when I saw a message from Ty.
FlyGuyTy: It looks like I have some competition for your attention. Bobby has invited you over for a dinner of chicken and mac & cheese.
Dani-Kong: Does this dinner require an apron, because I was promised dessert?
FlyGuyTy: He said you’re cooking dinner and he’s got dessert, but I will buy everything you need. Just send me a list.
Dani-Kong: When?
FlyGuyTy: Is Tuesday too soon?
I wore the cheesiest grin at his words. Why was Ty affecting me like this? I didn’t go crazy over guys, even if muscles and a pretty face fueled most of my sexual fantasies. But something about Ty made me want him with a raw need that I couldn’t explain. Couldn’t fight. Couldn’t deny.
Dani-Kong: Nope. Tuesday is perfect. Send me your address.
I looked up and found Amelia staring at me with a satisfied look. “What?”
“You look happy. This man is good for you Dani, see what happens.”
She was right, of course. Amelia was a brilliant mathematician, so most of the time she was right. It was sometimes irritating, but this time, I was actually happy at the prospect of her being right.
“Looks like we’re all done. Now we wait,” I said to Bobby with a beaming grin at his flour covered body.
“Now we wait!”
The kid was so damn adorable and affectionate, I wondered why I’d had such nerves before I got here. One glance at Ty and I remembered the reason for every belly flutter, ever belly flip and pounding pulse beat. The man had a perma-smolder that had my panties burning hotter than the now cooling oil in the deep fryer.
“Do you need help with dessert?”
He shook his head, floppy blonde waves flying all around in a golden halo. “Nope. All done, Dr. Dani.”
I knelt down so we were eye to eye, smoothing my skirt over my knees. “Unless you’re in my office you can just call me Dani.”
His silver blue eyes went wide like I told him he could eat chocolate cake for breakfast every morning forever and he sucked in a shocked gasp. “I can?”
“Sure, it’s my name.”
He looked over his shoulder at Ty and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Dad says adults are mister or missus, but you worked extra hard, so callin’ you Doctor means I ‘spect you.”
I looked past him straight into slate gray eyes—still smoldering—and grinned. “He did? Well that was pretty sweet of him, but I think friends call each other by their first names. Or should I call you Mr. Bobby?”
“Nah.”
The doorbell chimed and Ty stood, seeming reluctant to leave us alone, but the second bell forced him away. “The timer is set so we’re free for a bit. Want to go clean up?”
“No,” he groaned, but pulled me along into a bathroom off the kitchen anyway. Because Bobby was a good kid. “Do you live with your parents?”
I laughed. “No. I haven’t lived with them since I was fourteen. They’re very famous doctors who operate on the brain,” his eyes widened the way everyone’s did when they found out my parents were neurosurgeons. “I know. So they were offered a great research opportunity at a facility all the way in Switzerland. I didn’t want to go, so I went to live with my aunt.” He didn’t need to know that they didn’t want me to go either.
“I wish I could be a super hero like my dad.” His voice was forlorn, which was a heavy feeling for such a small kid. “But I like to cook. Like a girl.”
“Hey,” I told him, sounding offended.
“Sorry. It’s what everyone says, especially Harrison and he’s my friend.”
I had to remind myself that big boys were dumb, so of course the smaller ones were too. “First of all,” I told him as he dried his little hands on a hand towel, “many of the best chefs in the world are men, because for a long time women weren’t allowed in the kitchen, professionally speaking.”
“You mean like dads cooked dinner?”
“No. I mean a mom could cook for her family at home, but they didn’t think women could do it in a big restaurant kitchen.”
“That’s stupid.”
“You said it, kid.” I winked and he grinned, climbing up into a chair at the table. “Because of that, men have been chefs much longer than women. All of that is also true of doctors and look at me.”
“You don’t think he’ll be upset if I’m not a hero too?”
“Who says you can’t be a hero? Chefs donate time and money to feed the homeless, they give jobs to people just like your dad when they leave the military. Not all heroes wear capes Bobby.” I gave him a grin and took the towel from the table to drape it over his shoulders, “but maybe we could attach one to your chef’s coat.”
“Who taught you to cook?”
“My aunt, Amelia. She’s crazy and fun and amazing, but in the kitchen, she’s the best. She is always trying to feed me, every time I see her.”
“Can I meet her?”
“Sure, but we should ask your dad.” I wondered where he went, but I figured maybe some business had come up.
“Ask Dad what?” He walked in wearing a frown and holding a casserole dish.
“Why he’s wearing lipstick,” I blurted out instead of answering the question. I don’t know why I did it. Okay, that’s a lie. I do know why. I thought this was a date, not a babysitting gig.
He frowned and looked into the window above the sink, scrubbing at the corner of his mouth. “Damn voracious woman,” he growled.
He didn’t sound all that happy to have a woman’s lipstick on his face, a fact that made me feel a little bit better. “It’s hard work being so appealing.”
He turned and glared at me. I winked back and he smiled, holy hell when he smiled he went from devastating to drop dead gorgeous. “I could live without it.”
I believed him, but I didn’t know him well enough to know when he was lying. “I don’t mean to pry but if you live in a house like this, why don’t you have some type of security?”
“I was trying to remain accessible to my neighbors. For my son.”
I understood that. “Then maybe a housekeeper to act as a brick wall between you and the masses?”
He paused, blinked and then smiled. “That’s a good idea.”
“I have lots of good ideas,” I told him cheekily.
Ty had a gruff, rugged and completely alpha exterior, but I could see that he was a big ol’ softie, especially when it came to his son. Bobby was energetic and inquisitive, a handful in the best possible way, but also exhausting. Yet Ty didn’t lose his patience or get exasperated. It was nice to watch, but it was doing some serious work on my lady parts.
Dinner was delicious as I promised it would be, and Bobby ate three pieces of chicken and untold scoops of macaroni & cheese. “I wub it,” he said around a mouthful of cheesy noodles.
“Then my work here is done.” He blushed at my beaming smile. “Now I can’t wait to have dessert.”
Ty helped him bring in a delicious peanut butter pie with a chocolate cookie crust that seriously had me groaning in ecstasy. “This is amazing Bobby! You really made this?”
“Uh-huh. You really like it?”
“No, I love it. Seriously. The only thing missing,” I told him and took another big bite while the poor kid waited for the rest of my sentence, “is another slice.” He blushed down to his
toes.
“Thanks Dani. Do you like it, Dad?”
The question caught Ty with a mouthful of pie and a sheepish grin. “Yeah, great!” He finished chewing and grinned. “You did a fantastic job, son. You can make this for me anytime.”
“Thanks Dad,” he responded shyly. “I’m gonna go read.”
Ty frowned. “You sure you don’t wanna hang some more?”
He looked at Ty, then me and back to Ty with a grin. “No. I’m going to read so you and Dani can do grownup stuff.”
We both choked on our drinks at his words. “What do you know about grownup stuff?”
Bobby shrugged. “Harrison says he gets to watch movies when his mom and her boyfriend have grownup time.”
“If she has a boyfriend, why is she always all over me,” he growled angrily and I couldn’t help it, I laughed.
“Sorry.”
“She says you’re a real catch and any woman would be lucky to have you.”
I laughed again and I couldn’t help it, this time I laughed until tears streamed down my cheeks. “At least the woman has good taste.”
“Glad you agree,” he smirked as Bobby’s feet pounded up the stairs.
“Well you are very nice to look at and, watching you with your kid well, that’s enough to turn any woman to goo.”
He slid into the seat right beside me, arm resting on the back of my chair as he leaned in. “Does that include the woman right here?”
“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” There was just something about Ty that made me feel sexy. Desired. Around him I was as bold a woman as I was a doctor.
His hand dropped from the table to my thigh, sliding under the skirt of my dress so his big, hot hand seared the skin underneath and sent a frisson of awareness shooting through me. “I would definitely like to find out,” he whispered as his hand inched slowly up my leg, stopping only when the pad of his thumb brushed against my folds and I whimpered. “Yeah, I’d love to find out. Soon.” His voice was slow as he applied more pressure until the only thing between his thumb and my clit was the thin lace of my panties, which grew damper by the second.
Daddy's Christmas Date: A Single Dad Romance Page 4
