“What school is she at again?” she asked.
I told her the name and address and what time Penny would get out. I knew that I was going to have to call the school to give permission for Penny to be picked up by someone other than Vanessa or myself.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I asked. “I wouldn’t ask if I really didn’t need the help.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said and somehow I could just tell that she was smiling. “I honestly don’t mind. We’ll be fine.”
My admiration for the woman grew. “Thanks so much again, Felicity.”
“Anytime.”
##
Three hours later, I was rubbing my neck, trying to ease the knots out of it after one hell of a stressful day. Even though I had known Penny was in good hands, I still worried over whether or not I had overstepped any boundaries with Felicity. I mean, she was my interior designer, not a babysitter. It probably hadn’t been proper of me to ask her to watch my daughter.
Then again, I’d also had sex with the woman twice so maybe it wasn’t so odd.
I pulled up and parked in front of their brick townhouse, which Felicity had texted me the address to earlier. I knew that she and Bea lived there together and from what I was seeing from the outside, they didn’t seem to be hurting for business. I respected Felicity even more for her success as an entrepreneur. It showed drive and motivation and those were some of the best qualities in a person, in my opinion.
I rang the doorbell and waited for about ten seconds before I heard light footsteps heading my way. Felicity herself opened the door in a whoosh of sweet perfume, mixed with the smell of chocolate chip cookies. I could hear little girl giggles coming from one of the other rooms as I took in the woman before me.
The five-inch stiletto heels and flared, pin-up style dress weren’t her usual style, but I was definitely appreciating the look. She wore both the shoes and dress equally well.
“Am I interrupting something?” I asked with a smirk.
She blushed a scarlet red, which I found cute as hell. “We were playin’ dress up.” She looked down at her outfit. “I guess we got carried away.”
I raised an eyebrow as I once again surveyed her attire. “I’m not complaining.” Her head snapped up at me with a shocked expression that quickly transformed to interest and gratitude. “Should I even ask what my daughter is wearing?”
She laughed and waved me through the door. “Don’t worry. The tattoo isn’t permanent.”
“You’re not instilling me with a lot of confidence.” Just the thought of my little Penny ever being old enough to actually get a tattoo caused a sharp pain to pierce my chest.
“Daddy!” A little bundle of black hair and silver sequins came running at me from the other room.
I picked her up and held her out slightly, assessing what I was going to have to deal with and probably wash off later. Didn’t look too bad—some pink lipstick and a little blush. I was immediately thankful to Felicity for not going all out because I knew my daughter could be pretty persistent when she wanted something.
“Hey, Peanut. What did you do today?”
“We played dress up!” she said, holding out the ten-sizes-too-big sequined dress she had on over her school clothes. She pointed to Felicity. “And Felicity and Bea put makeup on me!”
“It’s pretty sad when a six-year-old can wear your clothes, Sis,” Bea said as she walked into the room. Felicity smacked her arm and I stifled my laugh in Penny’s hair.
I nodded over at the brunette. “Nice to see you again, Bea.”
She returned my smile, hers looking a bit speculative and it made me wonder if she knew about my relationship with her sister. “Likewise,” she replied.
“And we got our nails done too, Daddy!” Penny said excitedly. “Look!” She held her hand out to me and I noticed the color was baby blue, her favorite. If I had been a woman, I probably would have cried with the amount of emotions Penny’s reaction imbued me with. Still, I lost another part of my soul to my little girl right then.
I looked over at Felicity and she too held out her hand for my inspection. “She said we had to match,” she added, glancing at my daughter with a loving smile. I couldn’t help but notice the color matched her eyes almost perfectly.
I also couldn’t help but notice how happy Penny seemed to be. She hadn’t smiled this much at one time since…hell, I couldn’t even remember when. She had fun with me when we were home and we played games, but I knew that I was still a boy and she could only have so much fun with me. She needed more girls in her life.
An afternoon with the Paxton sisters seemed to do her a lot of good.
And that was when I let all of my reservations about my changing relationship with Felicity go. I was a grown man and if I wanted to ask a woman out, I could damn well do it.
“Well, we better get you home and get some dinner in you, Peanut,” I said as I turned for the door. “Thank you both again so much. You have no idea how much this helped me out.”
“Don’t thank me,” Bea said and pointed at Felicity. “That was all her. I didn’t even get invited to mani-pedis. All I did was provide the runway show.”
I thanked her again anyway as Penny said goodbye to Bea and I headed outside to my car, Felicity on my heels. After getting Penny strapped in and she waved her goodbyes to Felicity, I turned back to the woman who was starting to occupy every corner of my mind, except for the ones filled by Penny.
I opened my mouth to speak but Felicity put her hand up and stopped me. “You don’t have to keep thankin’ me, Gabe. I’m just glad she had fun.”
My face softened. “It’s more than just you watching her that I’m grateful for.” I looked back at my daughter who was examining her newly-painted nails with a huge grin on her face. “She needed time like that with a woman. She enjoyed it probably more than you know.” I turned back to Felicity. “It means a lot to both of us.”
She sucked in a slow, deep breath as if she were having trouble pushing the air in and out. “Then, I’m happy I could help.”
I shook my head slowly at her, narrowing my eyes as I felt my need for her build. “You have no idea.”
She bit her lip and started to turn around to head back inside. “You can call anytime you need me to watch her.”
Before she could take another step away from me I asked, “Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
Her sexy as hell heels stopped in their tracks.
And she smiled at me.
I gave her body one more long, heated look. “And maybe wear something similar to that.”
##
Chapter Six
Gabe
I didn’t take her to a five-star restaurant. Sure, I could have afforded the best and maybe a lot of guys in my position would have done so. But in the time I had known Felicity, it hadn’t been hard to figure out that she wasn’t into wealth and all the other materialistic bullshit that went along with it.
Not like my ex.
But I still took her to one of the best restaurants in the city, in my opinion anyway. It sat right along the Potomac River, close enough that you could feel the breeze as ships passed you by and practically feel the spray of the water on your face as you sat on the patio. It was just a small American grill with the same menu it’d had for the past thirty years, and its only form of advertisement was the sign on the building itself. But it had stayed open for all these years because patrons appreciated the atmosphere it provided as well as the food and beer options.
A former client had turned me on to the place when I first moved to D.C. and I had fallen instantly in love.
The place was small so it didn’t take a genius to figure out why it wasn’t very well-known. But those of us who knew about it had one of the best-kept secrets in the entire city. And this was Washington, D.C. for crying out loud, where secrets were abundant.
“Would you like to dine inside or outside?” the hostess asked us as soon as Felicity and I walked t
hrough the door.
“Outside,” I immediately responded. Eating outside at The Rusty Can with the river right in front of you was part of the whole experience and not something to be missed. That was part of the place’s entire charm, other than its ironic name. There was nothing “rusty” about the place.
The hostess led us outside and placed our menus down as I held out Felicity’s chair for her. She had done as I requested—something that pleased me immensely—and wore a dress with a tight bodice and a flare skirt with the sexiest pair of heels I had ever seen in my life. Her short blonde hair was curled a little and she had eyeliner at the corners of her eyes that seriously made her look like a retro Playmate.
I had immediately wanted to lick her from head to toe as soon as I’d laid eyes on her. Her dress was red, making her look like a cherry Popsicle so it wasn’t as if anyone could blame me.
“I can’t believe I’ve lived here since I was twelve and never knew about this place,” she mused as she took in her surroundings, appreciation in her tone which I was proud of myself for.
“Not many people do,” I replied, not bothering to look at the menu because I already knew what I wanted. “But those of us who do become regular customers.”
After putting in our food and drink orders, I was surprised with how easily we fell into conversation. This was the first time that Felicity and I had actually been in a situation out of the context of work, so I was somewhat worried that we might not have much to talk about.
“I won’t lie,” I said with a smirk that I tried to hide behind my glass but was unsuccessful. “I’m very curious about that whole gymnast thing.”
She laughed and leaned back in her chair as she ran her fingers around the rim of her wine glass. She had earlier mentioned that she wasn’t a big drinker and didn’t typically go for anything stronger than wine.
“From the time I was three years old until about age fifteen, I lived and breathed gymnastics,” she said. “I was at the gym at five every mornin’, competed in tournaments, and won medals. Balance beam, vault, uneven bars. You name it, I did it.”
I could picture that with her body and energy. “So, why did you quit? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Her eyes hardened a bit and she sighed. “One of my good friends on my team took her dieting a little too far and made herself sick. That was when I realized that it wasn’t somethin’ I wanted to do long-term and it certainly wasn’t somethin’ I was willin’ to hurt myself over.” She shrugged. “I quit and haven’t looked back since.”
I narrowed my eyes as I considered that. “What else don’t I know about you?” I asked. “I’m sure there’s plenty and I’d like to hear more.”
She grinned and lightly tapped her finger on the table. “I was also in beauty pageants.”
I took in every inch of her face with careful scrutiny. She had the face of an angel, no question. Soft features in the shape of a heart, innocent eyes, and lips so sweet you wanted to suck on them just so you could have their taste in your mouth all day.
“That I can definitely picture.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I hated it, though. Those girls were so vapid. I even got in a fight with one.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “You? Miss Felicity Paxton got in a fight?”
Another shrug from her. “She made some rude comments about my sister and I didn’t like it.”
I shook my head and felt my shoe touch her toe underneath the table. “You constantly surprise me.”
Our server dropped off our food and we dug in while a guy started playing an acoustic guitar and singing in the corner of the patio area. I forgot they had live music here on weekends, and I was pleased when Felicity smiled and looked over at him, seeming to appreciate the tune.
“Can I ask you somethin’ a little personal?” she asked a few minutes later.
I swallowed the bite of bourbon chicken I had in my mouth, already pretty sure of where this line of questioning was headed. “Sure.”
My attention was drawn to her lip when she bit the lower one in hesitation. “I know it’s none of my business but what’s the situation with your ex? You mentioned once that you were in the middle of a big custody mess over Penny with her.”
I took a long swig of my drink before I started to tell her the whole sordid history of my past relationship with Vanessa. The marriage, the life in New York, the move to D.C., the cheating, her career, the divorce, and up to the convoluted situation we were currently in. She sat there silently the entire time, hanging on every word as she sipped her wine. It was never a topic I enjoyed talking about, but if I wanted to have any kind of relationship with Felicity, I knew this conversation was unavoidable.
“And ever since we split, Penny’s just sort of become withdrawn. It kills me every time I see her not being as happy as she could be. As she should be.”
Felicity reached across the table and entwined my hand with hers. “It’ll get better,” she said softly. “Once everything in court settles and you move into the new house, she’ll have a regular routine and she’ll feel more secure.”
I met her eyes. “I know that divorcing Vanessa was the best thing for me. But I need to know that it was the best thing for Penny, too. That’s what’s killing me.”
She squeezed my hand, understanding shining in her baby blues. “Unhappy parents are never what’s best for a child to be around. She may not understand that now but she will in time. I promise.”
She seemed so sure and as crazy as it sounded, every bone in my body knew to trust her. It felt right to trust Felicity. Like there was something deep inside me that was telling me it was okay to do so because she would never betray me like Vanessa had.
And suddenly, the air became electrified between us. My fingers tingled where they touched hers and everything around us all of a sudden felt too hot. My mouth became dry and my pants became uncomfortable as I stared across the table at the woman I was developing way more than just a crush on.
She seemed to sense what was going on, too.
I watched her throat work as she swallowed slowly, her eyes flicking down to my lips before coming back up to rest on my eyes, which I knew were communicating my every lustful impulse. I couldn’t believe how crazy this woman made me. I had never experienced such powerful urges before.
“I-I’m goin’ to the bathroom,” she stammered and abruptly yanked her hand from mine as she stood up to head inside where the restrooms were.
I thought about it.
I talked myself out of it, then back in.
Then, I forgot all the reasons not to do it.
I got up and went inside the restaurant, taking long strides to the restroom, my walk purposeful. I had a mission to accomplish and she was giving me the perfect opportunity.
I needed me some Felicity and I needed her now.
I stopped in front of the women’s restroom and knocked, quickly scanning the area around me to make sure a staff member wasn’t watching. “Just a minute,” I heard Felicity say on the other side of the door.
A few seconds later, she opened the door and I immediately shoved her back through, pulling the door closed behind me before anyone could spot us and locked it. I was grateful that the restaurant was so small the restrooms were only single-person facilities. Offered more privacy for what I was about to do.
“What are you doin’?” she asked, backing up to the opposite wall.
I followed her, matching her step-for-step until her back touched the tiled surface. I pressed my hands against the wall and leaned in, boxing her in and allowing no escape. “You know what I’m doing.”
“We can’t,” she said breathlessly. “Not here.” Her words said one thing but her eyes…her eyes were saying something a whole lot different.
I took her hand and placed it on the hard bulge in my pants, wrapping my fingers around hers, forcing her to squeeze it in her palm, eliciting a moan out of her. “Still don’t think we can?” I whispered against her lips.
S
he lunged at me and attacked my mouth with hers, her tongue plunging inside my mouth. Not seeking or exploring but ravaging every inch she could reach. I roughly grabbed her underneath her thighs and lifted her up my body, slamming her against the wall and propping her up with my hips. Her tiny legs wrapped themselves around my waist, lifting her dress up higher in the process. Our mutual sounds of pleasure when her center connected with my cock sent shockwaves through our mouths, straight down to where we were about to join.
The desperate need I felt to be inside her was almost painful.
I didn’t care about her panties.
I ripped them off of her without thought. I’m sure they were hot, but anything that was keeping her wet heat away from me was a nonissue in that moment. Her mouth was sucking at the skin on my neck and I was devouring her tits, which I had pulled out of that fuck me pin-up dress of hers. She had been teasing me with that cleavage all night and I was finally going to bury my face in her heavenly sweetness.
I was so caught up in what I was doing up top, I forgot about what I needed to do down below. I felt her small fingers fighting to reach my pants button, so I reluctantly let go of her puckered nipple and worked my belt loose. I had my cock at her slit within three seconds and was pushing inside so hard, I almost shot right then. I wanted this to last longer, but we were in a restaurant bathroom, surrounded by dozens of strangers, and we needed to make this quick.
Dirty, fast, and hard.
That I could do.
Felicity muffled her moans and screams into my neck, her warm breath adding further sensation to the experience, bringing about a faster release for me. I rammed myself inside of her, determined to go farther than I had with her before. Unfortunately, I was so turned on that I couldn’t wait much longer for her, so after I let myself go, I dropped to my knees between her open legs.
The sight of my seed dripping down her creamy thighs was a sight that I would carry with me to my grave.
Unexpected Love (Timid Souls Book 3) Page 5
