by Nora Heat
Dom’s eyes meet mine, harder than usual. “She is her mom.”
“Right. I am her mother, Dominic.” Annie stands and squeezes Hannah, smashing her cheek against hers. “And I love her. I think about her every single day.”
“So why did you walk away?”
“Because we just weren’t compatible anymore, me and you. And I needed to find myself again. I couldn’t do that with Hannah. I knew she would be better off with you than with me. I was depressed here, Dominic. Walking away was the only way I could clear my head.”
“But you’re with someone else.”
“He’s irrelevant when it comes to my daughter. He knows I have one, and that won’t disturb anything. He won’t touch her and he won’t be around her, if that’s what you want. All I’m asking is for the weekend. That’s it.”
Dom sighs, looking from Annie to Hannah. Hannah is staring at Annie, mesmerized for some reason, as if she recognizes her but doesn’t know her. My heart aches for him, for her.
“Fine,” he grumbles. “But you aren’t getting an entire weekend. One day of the week, Saturdays only, and you won’t be taking her anywhere until I see fit. You’ll come by here and spend time with her under my roof.”
Annie’s ruby red bottom lip trembles, but she nods slowly, then drops her gaze to Hannah. “As long as I get to see her.”
Dom steps away, walking in my direction. “You get an hour with her right now and then you go. Next Saturday, you’d better show up, or you’ll never see her again.”
Annie sits with Hannah on her lap, smiling at her daughter. Dom presses a hand to the small of my back and leads the way to the kitchen. When we’re out of sight, he shakes his head with a sigh.
“You okay?” I ask softly.
His eyes study my face. “I need you to come with me.”
Grabbing my hand, he leads the way to the laundry room. He pulls the door open and as soon as we’re inside, he closes it, and focuses on me again. He reaches beneath my dress to pull my panties down. I work with him, tugging down on his gray sweatpants and then his boxers. We’re both without bottoms and he picks me up.
His thick cock aims for my entrance, and before I know it, he’s inside me, bouncing me up and down on his cock, looking me in the eyes.
The sunlight streams through the small window behind me, highlighting the darker flecks in his eyes. He doesn’t say a word as he fucks me.
All there is are quiet moans and grunts. He’s holding onto me tightly, but I kiss him, hoping it will relieve some of his tension and it does. He palms my ass, lifting me up and down, swelling up inside me.
“I only want you,” he growls on my lips, and I squeeze my arms tighter around his neck, feeling a groan ride through his body. “Shit,” he whispers, and I know he’s about to come by the way his eyes squeeze tight and he holds onto me.
He presses my back to the wall and I slide up and down, from his tip to his shaft, and when he drops me, making sure he’s completely buried, he unleashes what’s pent up inside him. He’s so beautiful when he comes.
“Shit, I needed that,” he murmurs, placing his mouth on my neck.
“I know.” I stroke the back of his neck. “It’s okay. Everything will work out.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
We get dressed quickly, and Dom walks back out to the living room where Annie and Hannah are, while I clean myself up in the bathroom.
An hour passes by quickly and Dom lets it be known, loud and clear. Annie is reluctant to hand Hannah over to him, but she does, and when he takes her, he holds Hannah firmly against him.
Annie looks over at Dom and then at me. “All this time I’ve been trying to figure out why she is here. I knew you had a crush on him, but I didn’t think Dom would actually risk doing anything with you. Not with him being your father’s best friend and all.”
My heart sinks to my stomach, and Dom’s eyes stretch wider than I’ve ever seen them.
She shrugs, like she doesn’t even care. “So next Saturday?” she asks him.
“Yeah, Saturday,” he responds, far from enthusiastic.
She gives Hannah a small kiss on the cheek and then she’s on her way. As soon as she’s out the door, Dom locks it behind him. It’s a good thing he got the locks changed a few weeks after she left.
“How does she know?” I whisper.
“I don’t know, but she won’t say anything. She can’t. Barry has never liked her and she knows it.”
I try and think things through. Dad doesn’t like Annie. I’ve known that for a while, and Mom just pretended to like her for Dom’s sake. They both put up with her for Dom and Hannah’s benefit, and the chances of her ever running into them again are slim . . . unless Dom starts letting her come around more often. And if he does, what if it leads to other things between them? What if he decides to take her back?
“Promise me she’ll only come on Saturdays,” I plead.
“I didn’t want her coming to see Hannah at all. You’re the one who made me suggest at least once a week,” he chuckles, placing Hannah in her playpen.
“I know but . . .” I rub my arm like I’m cold, but really I’m just concerned.
He comes to me, tipping my chin. “You’re thinking we’ll get back together.” He gives his head a simple shake. “Trust me, Naomi. That won’t happen. I can never trust her again. And what she said was true. We were no longer compatible. I realized that not too long after she walked away.” He cups my face and I blink up at him. “It’s you and me, babe. Okay?”
“For how long?” I ask.
“For however long you’ll have me.” He kisses me softly on the lips. His are always so soft and warm, never too damp.
“I want you forever,” I tease, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip.
And he laughs, pulling me down on his lap when he sits on the sofa. “You sure about that? I come with a whole lot of fucking baggage, baby.”
I laugh. “I swear it.” I face him, throwing my arms around his neck. I tilt my head and kiss him, wanting to feel his smooth lips again.
“Naomi, don’t make me fuck you in front of the baby,” he warns.
“Hmm,” I moan. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”
He grips my ass in hand. “No, babe. We don’t. But if you tease me enough, it just may end up happening.”
I comb my fingers through his beard. “Maybe during naptime.”
When I say that he laughs, and I do too. I love the way he laughs. I love that he doesn’t take things too seriously. I love Dom, period, but I’m not sure I should ever confess that truth.
He may get scared of the truth. He might run off, if he knows how I really feel. I don’t want this to end, so for now, I’ll keep that little secret to myself.
Chapter Eleven
Dominic
Every day for the past two weeks, after the bullshit with Annie, Naomi has been at my house. Some days, she doesn’t even tell her parents she’s coming over to “babysit” Hannah. Trust me, she’s hardly babysitting. More like sitting on and sucking my cock.
I feel guilty as fuck, knowing she’s lying to her parents — two of my best friends — but I can’t help it. Every time she’s around, I want my cock buried in her pussy. Every time I hear her voice, I imagine her moans and how she begs me for more.
Her pussy is so soft and wet. It’s fucking perfect — the best pussy I’ve ever had. She molds around my cock perfectly. How the hell am I supposed to let that go?
Not only that, but the woman is spectacular. I don’t care that she’s fifteen years younger than me. She takes care of me. She’s always been there for me. She treats me like a king. I adore everything about her, from the way she smiles to the small snorts she passes when she finds something truly hilarious.
She’s all I want. Her personality shines bright and it’s hooked me. I’m in deep. So fucking deep.
I feel even worse today because I’m meeting with Barry at the bar.
Naomi sticks around at my hous
e with Hannah, kissing me passionately on the lips before I go. “I’ll see you when you get back,” she says.
When I arrive at the bar, I spot Barry at the counter watching a basketball game with a mug of beer in hand.
“What’s up, B?” I clap his shoulder before I sit and he perks up.
“Oh, hey, what’s up, man? Let me order you a beer!” He flags the bartender down and orders. “Can you believe the fucking score of this game?”
“I know.” The bartender hands me a beer and I nod my appreciation before taking a quick sip.
“Naomi is watching Hannah tonight?”
“Yeah.” I avoid his eyes, looking up at the screen instead.
“That’s good. She’s so good with her, man.” He takes a gulp of beer. “I told you she used to watch her little cousin, right?”
“Yep. I remember.”
“Yeah. She loves Hannah and she loves coming over there for some reason. I’ve never met a college student who would rather babysit than go out and have fun with her friends.”
“Yeah.” I force a laugh. “I tell her she doesn’t have to. We have a daycare center at the gym.”
“Have you given any thought to hiring another sitter once she goes back to school? Besides Cathy?”
I shrug. Fuck. I don’t even want to think about her leaving me. “Not really. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with Hannah but Naomi. She’s a good sitter. She takes care of Hannah, way better than Annie ever did.”
“Ah, man. Annie.” He rubs his face. “Did she come last Saturday?”
“Yeah, but said she was busy this Saturday and couldn’t make it.” I sigh.
His brows furrow. “You’re kidding.”
“She won’t get another chance if she doesn’t come next week.”
“Shit, I would have just told her to fuck off. Hannah deserves better than a mother who might disappear on her again.”
“I just don’t trust her and I don’t want Hannah to get used to her coming and then expect her to show up, and Annie doesn’t. I don’t want anyone hurting my baby girl.”
“I hear that, man. I wouldn’t trust her either. She’s lucky Hannah is just a baby and won’t remember what she did. I know if something like that ever would have happened to Naomi, she would have been devastated.”
“I know, man. Good thing she has good parents.”
“Well, don’t worry about not ever having any help. You have Naomi, and you also have us. I’m sure Omi won’t mind helping you out the rest of the summer or even while she’s in town from school for the holidays. She’s a good girl. Kind and caring, and you know that, I’m sure you take care of her while she’s there. She always brags about you overpaying her every week.”
I hold back on a sigh. All he’s doing is making me feel guiltier. He’s my best fucking friend — my only real friend — yet here I am, fucking his twenty-one-year-old daughter behind his back like I don’t even care about our friendship.
Friends for years, and I’m betraying the fuck out of him. And the sad thing is I can’t stop even if I tried. I’m fucking addicted to her now.
I get home close to midnight and Naomi is curled up on the couch with the TV on, texting on her cellphone. When she sees me, she lowers the phone and gives me a warm smile.
“Beers were great?” she asks.
“Beers made me feel like shit,” I confess.
She sits up and I can feel her staring at me. “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”
“You know what’s wrong, Naomi.” I connect my eyes with hers and she frowns.
“Because of what we’re doing?”
“Exactly that.” I rake my fingers through my hair, sitting beside her.
She chews on her bottom lip. “He will never find out, Dom.”
“Your father has been a good friend to me for years, Naomi. And you’ve been a good babysitter to me. I don’t want something to happen between us and you decide to never watch Hannah again. He’ll question it and I won’t know how to explain.”
She frowns then, sliding back. “Wait — is that all you see me as? Just the babysitter you’re fucking?”
“No! You know I don’t mean it like that. With Annie knowing what’s going on now, it’s fucking risky. What if Barry is around one day while Annie is? What if she tells him? Then what?”
“Then we’ll just make sure my dad isn’t around while she is.”
“It’s too fucking much! The secrets are killing me and there’s way too much going on right now. I look at my best friend and feel like I’m stabbing him right in the fucking back.”
She hops up. “Seriously? You’re coming to this conclusion now? You came onto me, Dominic. You wanted me, too! And this is only a secret because you’ve made it one.” Her head shakes as she steps away. “You know what? You’re right. I’m just the babysitter, so let’s keep it that way, yeah?” She walks over to the door where her tote bag is and picks it up.
I stand. “Naomi, seriously, come on! You know you’re not just a babysitter to me!”
“Yeah, I’m clearly just the babysitter you fuck to get a load off.” She snatches the door open but before she steps out, she says, “And by the way, even if something were to happen that would put us in a bad place, I would never stop showing up for Hannah.”
The door slams right in my face before I can get to her. I pull it open but she’s so fast, already inside her car and cranking it up.
“Naomi!” I shout, rushing down the brick pathway. Her headlights turn on and she backs out of the driveway before I can meet up to her car.
She doesn’t even stop to look at me. She puts the car in gear and hauls ass, leaving me standing in the middle of my yard like a fucking idiot.
Chapter Twelve
Naomi
It’s been awkward between us. For five days straight, I’ve been doing my best to limit our time. His words hit me like bullets that day and I couldn’t stand to hear any of it, even though all of what he said was true.
It was getting risky. Complicated.
When this first started, it was easy and fun.
Now it just feels too real, too deep. Like he said, it’s too much. He is still my dad’s best friend. He is still Dominic Thomas, a man who is older, smarter, and has a lot more to lose than I do.
During those five days, I would show up a few minutes before he had to leave for work, just so there wouldn’t be much time for him to talk to me. If there was one thing I know, it’s that he hates being late for work.
When he got home, I would make sure Hannah was asleep and then leave as soon as he walked through the door.
He’s tried to stop me, but I never stopped. Talking to him would only make me cry and I didn’t want to cry.
Lately, I’ve been so emotional, and maybe it’s the birth control or maybe I just really, really care about him, but either way I fucking hate it.
I hate how I feel. I hate when I want to be so close to him, but have to stay put in my bedroom because I feel like he doesn’t want me.
The next morning, I’m hanging over the toilet, vomiting my insides out. I dry heave several times, clutching the porcelain, praying hard that it’ll pass soon.
I push off the bowl and stand, looking into the mirror.
My face is pale and I feel so weak. I hope it isn’t a stomach bug. I walk to my bedroom for my cellphone, about to text Julia and ask her what the hell she put in that chicken salad she made last night, but then something hits me.
My eyes grow wide, my heart slamming in my chest.
I lower my phone and stare at the mirror across from me, looking myself up and down.
No. It can’t be. There’s no fucking way.
I dress quickly and dash for my satchel, tossing it over my shoulder and rushing down the stairs.
“What’s the rush, Omi?” Dad calls before I can get out the door.
“I have to pick up something for Hannah and I’m running late.” My lie is so quick and easy that I cringe. I hate lying to Dad. Sometimes he can se
e right through me.
Fortunately, this time, he doesn’t. “Oh, well go ahead. Be safe!”
“I will!” I’m out of the door before my words can escape. I crank my car up and race to the pharmacy. After my purchase, I hurry to their public bathroom and into one of the stalls.
I tear open the foil and squat over the toilet, peeing on the stick.
I wait.
And wait.
And wait a little longer, until finally something appears.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Chapter Thirteen
Naomi
I knock on Dom’s door, my heart banging inside my ribcage like a drum. I can hardly breathe — can hardly think.
The door swings open and Dom appears, looking down at me. His eyes are bright and relieved, like he’s glad to see me.
“Naomi, what’s up? What are you doing here?”
“I-I need to talk to you about something.”
He frowns a little. “About what?” He steps back and lets me in. I walk past him, but then notice Annie standing there with her purse strapped on her shoulder.
“Oh, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here.”
“It’s okay. Hannah is sleeping and I’m getting ready to leave.”
I press my lips as she walks past me. “Next week I’d like to take her to the park,” she tells Dom.
“Yeah, I’ll see about that,” he mumbles, rushing her out the door. As soon as it’s shut, I toss my bag on the single recliner, dig through it for the test wrapped in toilet paper, and then turn to look at him.
He’s already turned my way, his eyes demanding answers.
“Dom,” I murmur. “I’m . . . pregnant.”
His eyes grow wide, nearly popping out of his head. He stares at me for a long time, making me shift sideways.
