One Look: A grumpy, single dad small town romance(47)

One time he even asserted, “That’s not at all how that works,” and finally Penny rolled her eyes and said plainly, “We know, Dad.” She gestured at the television. “He’s a dog.”

I couldn’t hold in my laughter.

Penny sat between us, and I focused on the ridiculous plotline and not on the way Wyatt’s muscular arm stretched across the back of the couch. Absently, his fingers found the base of my neck and drew little circles, teasing the baby hairs there and sending chills racing down my back.

When I glanced over at him, his eyes were tuned to the movie, but the barely there flick of the corner of his mouth made it obvious he knew exactly what he was doing.

The sun set, and Penny’s eyelids got heavier and heavier. She fought sleep, but before she could see the final touchdown scene, she was lightly snoring against Wyatt’s chest.

A knot formed in my throat at the sight of them. She was peaceful and safe, snuggled up against her dad’s chest, and he appeared the most relaxed I’d ever seen him.

He looked over at me and whispered, “I’m going to put her down.”

I nodded, not wanting to wake her up. As he stood, I also stretched my legs and glanced toward the front door.

“Don’t go.” His low, rough tone rooted me to the spot. Happy little sparks danced through my stomach.

I turned to the kitchen and kept myself busy by emptying the now-clean dishes from the dishwasher. I could feel Wyatt’s energy before he stepped into the kitchen, and my nerves jumped.

“She asleep?”

“Out cold.” He took one step in my direction. Then two.

I smiled as I turned to face him. “I’m not going to lie, that movie was . . .”

“Oh, it was goddamned awful.” He took another step toward me in the dimly lit kitchen.

Together we laughed quietly. He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. His biceps flexed, and I looked away, suddenly nervous to be alone with him. I turned back to the dishes, but his hand on my arm stopped me. “Hey, leave that. I’ll get it later. Come here.”

I turned to face him, wrapped in his arms. The smell of his skin was clean and masculine. Our closeness had my heart thrumming and my mind racing to dirty, delicious places.

“You look gorgeous. I couldn’t stop touching you.” His wide palms ran up my sides, settling around my rib cage.

“I noticed. It felt good.”

His hand found my face, and his thumb brushed across my cheeks. “You feel good.”

My heart raced. Any alone time with Wyatt had been scarce, and a deep, achy need was taking over.

I wanted to lean into him, press my chest to his, and let him kiss me. I’d been thinking about his mouth on mine for the last forty minutes of that god-awful movie. Every stolen touch had amped up my neediness, and I was desperate for him. He leaned in, closing the inches between us.

“I’ve been thinking about you.” Wyatt’s nose stroked down the side of mine, and I sucked in a sharp breath as tingles buzzed down my back. “I think about you too much.”

“You do?” My limbs were heavy. My body was tuned into him and molding to his thighs as he held me.

“I can’t even tell you some of the things I want to do to you.”

Wyatt’s words were hard and laced with indecency. I desperately wanted to know, to hear what he wanted to do with me.

“You can show me.” I was breathless. At the edge.

“Hey, Coach, we—oh shit!” The screen door banged as it closed, and Kevin’s shocked face turned red as I pulled out of Wyatt’s arms and immediately started fussing with the dishes.

“Hey, hi.” Wyatt tried to recover, but it was painfully obvious we’d just been caught in a very risqué embrace.

Behind Kevin, Michael tried to look away, while Joey had a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Lark and I, um . . . Lark was . . .”

“I was just leaving!” Unable to look anyone in the eyes, I wove around a dumbstruck Wyatt and three grinning college kids.

I’d been seconds away from climbing Wyatt like a tree and had been caught. Despite Wyatt calling to me, I raced outside and up the stairs to my apartment.

So much for keeping things between us.





20





WYATT





“You see, sometimes . . . when two adults have feelings for each other, they . . .” I pulled my hand through my hair as Joey, Michael, and Kevin leaned on the kitchen table and I paced in front of them.

“Really, Coach? It’s a little late for the birds-and-the-bees talk.” Joey’s grin still hadn’t left his face.

“No, it’s not . . . that’s not what I’m doing. I just . . . forget it.” Annoyed, I exhaled and slammed the dishwasher door shut.

“Sorry we ruined your date.” Michael shrugged and turned to head upstairs. I didn’t have the energy to tell him it wasn’t a date.

It definitely wasn’t a date. Right?

“At least someone’s getting some.” Joey grumbled under his breath, and I pinned him with a hard stare. His grin only widened. Little shit.

Kevin followed his teammates but paused before going up the stairs. “You know you should probably go talk to her, right?”

I dropped the kitchen towel on the table. “Yeah, I know.”