Uncontrollable Temptations (Tempted #3)(24)

Jack cringed, and I wasn’t sure if it was Lacey’s invitation that was the cause or the fact it was his birthday.

“The big three-eight,” She exclaimed mischievously.

He grunted.

“Happy birthday,” I whispered, finding the nerve to meet his gaze.

“Dinner’s at seven, do you think you can make it?”

“I… I…have this thing,” I stuttered. I didn’t have shit to do. But watching paint dry sounded more tempting than sitting at a table with Jack. I could picture him glaring at me as he passed the salad, cursing under his breath when our fingers touched because he didn’t like the connection any more than I did. He didn’t like surrendering his pride to something that was bigger than him and this attraction, this unexplainable pull, it was gargantuan.

Jack raised an eyebrow, biting down on his lip before clearing his throat.

“You should come,” he said.

I diverted my eyes to his, noting the amusement reflected in them.

Filthy. He was so damn filthy.

I was starting to love it.

The new Reina was crazy.

“I want you to come,” he added, his words slow and full of innuendo.

“See,” Lacey declared. “You’re not going to let the birthday boy down are you?” She winked at me, her smile electrifying.

“Okay,” I whispered, surprising myself. I forced a smile at her then lifted my eyes to Jack’s. “I’ll come.”

His lips quirked, blossoming into a smile, a smile meant for me.

Shit.

That smile was everything.

It almost made me forget the purely selfish reason behind agreeing to go…hoping he’d talk dirty to me.





Chapter Eleven





I twisted the top off a beer, leaned against the counter and watched my daughter make a damn mess of my kitchen. Lacey couldn’t cook for shit, but when she asked if she could make me dinner for my birthday, well, I couldn’t bring myself to say no. Even though it’s likely I’ll be ordering pizza an hour after dinner is done.

Lacey lifted her eyes, smiling sheepishly at me as she scraped the burnt remnants off a pan. I smiled, brought my beer to my lips and took a sip, pretending like I didn’t know dinner was fucked.

“So, Reina?” She questioned nonchalantly.

“What about her?” I replied, staring at the pot on the stove that was boiling over. “Lace? You might wanna…”

Her eyes followed mine.

“Shit!” She dropped the spoon she was using as a shovel and lowered the flame, pulling the cover off the pot. Once she had the boiling water under control and the charred, whatever you call it, off the pan she turned back toward me and narrowed her eyes.

“You’re making me nervous,” she accused. “Now, stop looking at me like I will mess this up and tell me about Reina. Is she one of the club girls?”

“No,” my answer was automatic.

“No, you won’t tell me about her or no she’s not one of the club girls?”

“Something tells me even if I said I wasn’t going to talk about Reina, you wouldn’t let that shit die,” I laughed, as my lips quirked knowingly and placed my beer down on the counter. “She’s the furthest thing from a club girl,” I added.

“She’s beautiful,” Lacey stated.

“She is,” I agreed, crossing my arms against my chest and leveling her with a look, hoping she caught my drift and left this shit alone.

“Are you dating her?”

“Your old man doesn’t date, Lace,” I said, my voice growing agitated.

“Maybe you should,” she replied, turning around to face me. “I think it would be good for you. You know I don’t remember you ever having a girlfriend. Since you and Mom split you’ve always been by yourself.”

“You worried about your pops?” I asked, winking at her.

“Would that be such a horrible thing?” She wiped her hands on a dish towel before placing them on her hips. “It’d be nice to see you happy, Daddy.”

“I’m happy,” I sighed, scratching at the scruff that lined my jaw.

She threw a dishtowel at my head.

“Liar,” she accused. “You know what I think?”

“Not sure I want to hear this,” I grumbled.

“I think you like her,” she continued, cocking her head to the side—the expression on her face daring me to deny it. “You said it yourself, you wanted her to come here tonight.”

“Reina is just some girl I met at a diner that serves a mean cup of coffee,” I said, fighting off the memories of the night before when I was buried deep inside of her. I’ve been battling those fucking images all damn day and seeing her this afternoon didn’t help—just as I was sure sharing a meal with her tonight wouldn’t either. “She’s a little lost and a whole lot of lonely, so yeah, I wanted her to come for dinner because I’m not that much of a cold-hearted bastard.”

“You’re not a cold-hearted bastard at all,” she whispered.

Lacey and I had a normal father-daughter relationship. She was my little girl, and I was the number one man in her life. We were like two peas in a pod and shared an unbreakable bond. She owned the biggest piece of my heart and she was right, around her I wasn’t myself, around my Lacey I wasn’t the cold, vicious, dark man the rest of the world knew. However, she was the only one who got that from me and as far as I was concerned she’d always be the only one. She deserved that and so much more, more than I’d ever be able to give her. I was the reason behind her pain, the loss that lived in her heart and the memories that tainted her youth.