Happily Letter After(40)

God, she is fucking sexy.

I slurped a mouthful of the purple liquid down.

I had the craziest urge to clasp my teeth around that diamond in her navel and give it a good strong tug.

I swallowed another mouthful.

And that ass. Maybe she could teach Duke to jump again. I bet it would be some view of her down on all fours in the getup she had on today.

Another mouthful.

What had she called it again? “Flunk shit.” “Flukerbutt.” “Flunkerbsht.” That was it. “Jump” was “flunkerbsht.” I started to laugh. The sound was almost maniacal.

Flunkerbsht.

I want to flunkerbsht the pretend dog trainer.

I shook my head and took another swig.

For the last week, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. The night she picked up her iPad, she’d been so vulnerable and open when I’d asked about her father. Her big blue eyes had been filled with emotion and sincerity. It had been a long time since I met a woman who put her heart out there for the world to see. Not to mention, there were a lot of other parts of her worth seeing. The little workout outfit she wore today nailed that point home, that was for sure.

God, that outfit.

I knocked back the last of my wine.

Over the next hour, I polished off half the bottle. The sound of Sadie and Birdie laughing in the other room had become so distracting that I’d cranked up music and shut my eyes. So I hadn’t heard the knock at the door when they finished up.

“Hey.” Sadie cracked the door open enough to stick her head in. “Sorry. You weren’t answering. We’re all done. Birdie just went to grab her backpack for the slumber party. Would you want me to walk her down to the house where the sleepover is?” Her eyes zoned in on the wine bottle and my empty glass. She smirked. “I can see you’re very busy.”

My lips pursed. “No, it’s fine. I’m perfectly capable of taking my daughter. Thank you.”

Sadie’s eyes narrowed. We stared at each other for a solid thirty seconds, and then she opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind her, she asked, “Is everything okay? You seem . . . upset.”

Don’t check her out.

Keep your eyes on her face.

“Everything’s fine.”

She tilted her head and assessed me.

“Are you sure?”

My eyes dropped to her stomach. I just couldn’t help myself.

God, you’re such a dick, Maxwell.

Eyes back up.

Raise ’em up.

Come on. You can do it.

Sadie stayed quiet. I couldn’t even tell you if she was looking at me. Because my eyes were all over her . . . tracing the curve of her waist, salivating over her flat stomach . . . fantasizing about that sparkly diamond in her belly button.

She took a few steps and started to walk toward my desk.

Maybe it was the wine, but my heart started to beat out of my chest. I attempted to lift my eyes to her face, and this time it worked. Well, sort of. They raised, but unfortunately, they snagged on her chest.

What are those, C cups?

Nice.

Very nice.

I bet her cleavage gets really sweaty doing that yoga.

Hot sweat dripping down from between her luscious round tits to that belly button.

By the time I managed to drag my eyes up enough to meet hers, Sadie was standing right in front of my desk.

She rocked back and forth ever so slightly. “What are you doing, Sebastian?”

Our eyes locked, and the wicked hint of a smirk made me think she’d just heard all my thoughts. I swallowed. “Nothing.”

“Nothing, huh? So you’re just sitting there . . . looking around, then?” The corner of her lips tilted upward.

What a smart-ass.

She knew exactly what I was doing.

I straightened up in my chair and cleared my throat.

“If you’re done. You can show yourself out.”

“Is that what you’re sitting there thinking about? How much you want me to . . . leave?”

A knock at my office door made me blink a few times.

I was thoroughly confused when I looked over and saw Sadie pop her head into my office.

What the . . . ?

Wasn’t she . . . ?

I glanced to where I could’ve sworn she’d just been standing. It took a few seconds to snap out of it and realize that I must’ve dozed off from the wine and had been dreaming.

Jesus.

Sadie smiled. “We’re all done. Why don’t I walk Birdie down to her sleepover for you, since I’ll be heading out anyway?”

“Umm. Yeah. That would be great. Thank you. Let me go say good night to her.”

I walked out to the living room. Birdie was already standing there with her backpack on, a pillow and sleeping bag in her hands. “Looks like you’re all ready.” I squatted down to her level. “How about a hug for your old man.”

My daughter threw her arms around my neck with a huge smile. “I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

“Marmaduke did great today! When Sadie clicks the clicker, he sits now.”

“Is that so?”

She nodded.

“Alright.” I gave a gentle tug to her ponytail. “Why don’t you get going to your party.”

Birdie turned to start to walk away but then ran back to me. Her tiny hand cupped my cheek. “I’m right down the block if you need me.”