The Best Goodbye (Rosemary Beach, #13)(37)

Dropping my shirt, I stared at her, waiting. I needed her to make the move. I was afraid of scaring her. Without hesitation, she lifted her arms to wrap around my neck as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her breasts against me.

“Fuuuuck,” I whispered in a groan, unable not to respond verbally.

“It feels so good, doesn’t it?” she said with a soft moan.

“Yes,” I replied, moving my hands down her back until they slowly cupped her bare butt. I lifted her up, pressing her against me, and then she wrapped her legs around me, putting her center right over my crotch. The heat from her seared through my jeans. The image of her being open like this and pressed against me just about made my knees buckle. I had to sink onto the bed, holding her.

She moved her hips slightly, and the heat in her eyes ignited. “Oh, that . . . oh,” she said softly. She was moving her sensitive clit over the ridge in my jeans. I held her still.

“Don’t, baby. This will be over before it begins if you do that. I can’t handle it. I’m already too close,” I told her, my voice low and gravelly.

“OK, well, can you get naked, then, too?”

The fact that she was turned on enough to ask me something so brave and out of character had me smiling. Addy was asking me to get naked. If I was asleep, I was going to wake up so f*cking pissed.





Addy


Listening to Franny talk about our dinner date with Captain in two nights’ time was hard. I wasn’t ready to see him, much less have dinner with him. As a matter of fact, as soon as Franny left for school that morning, I was calling in sick. I didn’t want to face him today. Not after the roller coaster last night.

I went from feeling like we were connecting to feeling totally rejected. I actually wanted him, but he had tossed me aside because I hadn’t had sex in ten years. To make things even more brilliant, when Brad had joked that he’d put a corn cob up the ass of a particularly difficult guest, which was the only thing that had made me laugh that whole shitty day, Captain had come stalking into the kitchen like a madman. He was furious because Brad had made me laugh? Was that unacceptable?

“And I told Cameron how tall my dad is and that he has big muscles. He has big muscles, doesn’t he, Mommy?”

Yes, her father had muscles. Not the body-builder kind but the tough working-man kind. I nodded and took a mouthful of my oatmeal. He also had really amazing eyes, and his lashes were long and dark compared with the highlights in his hair.

“She said her daddy was bigger, but I know he’s not. Mine is more handsome. I know that. I don’t think anyone has a daddy as handsome as mine.”

She had a point there. I wasn’t going to comment, though. I just kept spooning up my oatmeal.

“Do you think he’ll be at my birthday party?”

Franny’s birthday wasn’t for another five months. I had no idea what the future held for us and Captain. I had never lied to her before. I’d been honest about everything. Except, of course, keeping the truth from her about the reason we were in Rosemary Beach, but that had been a temporary omission.

“I don’t know, Franny. That’s a long way off, and we’re just now easing him into our lives. He could move away.” I’d heard he’d never planned on sticking around here for long. “He could visit you when he has time. I just don’t know right now.”

The light in Franny’s eyes dimmed some. I hated to be the cause of that, but how could I promise her something I wasn’t sure of?

“If he can be there, then he will be. That I do know,” I assured her, wanting to ease my too-blunt answer.

She smiled then. “I bet he’ll want to be. You can make a big, yummy red velvet cake. I love those. He does, too—he said so. I asked him. He’ll love yours. You make the best.”

“If red velvet is what you want, then that’s what I’ll make,” I assured her.

She seemed happy with this. Standing up, she walked over and kissed my cheek. “I’ll brush my teeth, and then I’ll be ready for school.”

I nodded, gave her a squeeze, and watched my little girl bounce off. I wanted her to have it all. And to her, Captain was part of that.

If only I could control everything in her life and fulfill all of her hopes and dreams.

? ? ?

Once Addy was at school and I was back home, I put on a pair of shorts and a tank top and decided it was a good time to clean the house from top to bottom. I was thankful it was Jamieson who answered when I called in sick. He told me he hoped I was better soon and was very professional and polite. I wondered how long his enthusiasm was going to last.

Not having to deal with Captain had been a major plus for me. I wasn’t sure if this would affect my night off, though. I knew he wanted to eat with Franny. I figured since he was still the boss, he’d make sure I was still off work that night.

Today’s plan was to clean and forget yesterday completely. Especially the moments in his office when I’d made a fool of myself by melting into him like an idiot. The way he had dismissed me so easily had felt like being doused with a bucket of cold water. After watching the way he’d treated women for the past month, I had thought I was smarter than that.

I didn’t blame Elle now. If he’d turned that smoldering, breathtaking intensity on her, no wonder she was obsessed with him. And he hadn’t turned her away, either. He’d taken what she was offering. My offering, however, was too inexperienced for him. Asshole. Womanizing *.