College Daddy: A Single Dad Romance

by Amber Heart

  So he could have had a normal volume on the television after all. “Can you swing the rent without her?” he asked.

  Leigh blinked, surprised at the concern on his face. “It’ll take a chunk out of my savings, but I’ll manage it. I think I’ll probably be able to find a new roomie soon anyway. This is a decent place.”

  “If you need help, let me know.”

  She didn’t know if he meant financial help or assistance in finding a new roommate, but she was so amazed that he’d asked that she only nodded. “I will.”

  The movie began and Dean groaned. “How old is this?”

  “This particular film premiered in 1963,” Leigh said, polishing off her second slice of pizza.

  “I thought we were going to watch something scary,” he protested. “Come on, we’ve got good food and perfect weather...” A huge boom of thunder marked his words. “Let’s use it.”

  Leigh grinned. “We are.” When he didn’t look convinced, she went on. “If you don’t like it, I’ll owe you a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?” Dean asked, his low voice and slow smile sending a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the movie.

  She busied herself getting another slice for both of them. “Whatever you want,” she said boldly.

  “I’ll be sure to take you up on that, Everleigh.”

  This time his use of her full name didn’t bother her. They watched in silence as they finished their pizza, Dean making snide comments along the way.

  “Oh no, a bird dive bombed her. Horrifying.” A few minutes passed. “Hey, now there’s a dead seagull on the porch. I’m not sure I can take much more.”

  Leigh grinned. “You’ll see.”

  About halfway through, she stood up to get the ice pack. Dean jumped and then winced.

  “Where are you going?” he demanded.

  She raised an eyebrow. “To get the ice pack. Or do you need me to stay with you?”

  “No,” he said quickly. “It’s just...that’s a lot of birds. You know. For some playground equipment.”

  She handed him the ice pack a few seconds later. He barely took his eyes away from the screen. “Holy shit, why would they take a kid out in that? Those birds are gonna...” He stopped when the crows swooped. “Get in the house!”

  Leigh pulled the quilt off the back of the couch and spread it over both of them while Dean tucked the ice pack behind him. She was torn between watching the movie and watching Dean’s face. He was completely drawn in now.

  As the movie faded to black, he turned to stare at her. “Wait. That’s it? But...what...why did it happen? Is it everywhere or just in their town?”

  “We don’t know,” Leigh said. “Personally, I think that maybe she was causing the attacks and she’s doomed him to a lifetime of running from birds.”

  He nodded approvingly. “Twisted. Or maybe it was all in her head.”

  “No way! Too many other people saw it.”

  “Not the deaths,” Dean argued. “She was the only one finding the bodies. So maybe there was some kind of weird bird infestation and she used it to let out her inner serial killer.”

  “That’s crazy. Not everything is about serial killers.”

  “You don’t know for sure.” Thunder boomed and he looked quickly out the window.

  She grinned. “A little freaked out?”

  “No,” he lied.

  “You can admit it.”

  “Only if you will,” Dean challenged.

  “Oh, I don’t mind,” Leigh said honestly. “This movie always gives me the creeps. Want to watch an infomercial to get our minds off of it?”

  “Does that work?”

  “Usually. How’s your back?”

  “A little better.” He lay down again, propping his feet in her lap. “What?” he asked when she gave him a look. “I’m an injured man and it feels better when I’m lying down.” She wasn’t pushing him off. That was a good sign.

  Leigh flipped channels trying to find something innocuous to watch. “Here we go. We’ll learn about airbrush makeup.”

  “Fascinating.” Dean folded one of the couch pillows in half and stuffed it under his head.

  Within 10 minutes, he was asleep. Leigh was pleased to learn that he didn’t snore. Instead he slept quietly, one arm behind his head and the other hand resting on his stomach. She meant to turn the television off and wake him up. She meant to go to bed like a normal person. Instead, lulled by the sales people on television and the warmth of his body, she fell asleep.

  Chapter 7

  Dean woke up feeling a whole lot better. His back only twinged a little when he shifted and pulled Everleigh closer. Wait. That would explain why he felt so great.

  Everleigh had apparently gone to sleep shortly after him and now she was lying pretty much on top of him. Her cheek rested on his chest and her right arm and right leg were slung over him as well. She felt so damn good against him that he was tempted to fall asleep again.

  Then he realized that it was Thursday. Which meant early practice. Which meant that the sunlight spilling over them, awakening the red highlights in that long hair he loved so much, was a bad sign.

  He stretched out and grabbed his phone off of the coffee table. Everleigh mumbled in her sleep, wrapping her arm more tightly around him as he checked the time.

  “Shit!” He had ten minutes to get to practice.

  “What?” she mumbled, pressing her face into his solid chest to block out the sunlight. Then she sat up so fast that her head spun. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry!”

  Dean rolled off the couch and got to his feet. “I’ve gotta get to practice.”

  Leigh pushed her hands through her hair. “Yeah, of course.” She could feel her face getting hotter and hotter and she was glad that he was focused on putting his shoes on rather than looking at her. He must think that she was incredibly desperate. She stood up. “Have a good--”

  He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. Leigh made a surprised noise low in her throat. The kiss was over before she knew it and he was grinning crookedly at her.

  “Don’t be sorry. And thanks for the pizza.”

  “Uh, sure. No problem,” she said as he walked out the door. “See you tomorrow.”

  Once the door was shut behind him, Leigh dropped back down to the couch. She ran her fingers over her lips. They were still tingling. It might have only lasted a split second, but it had been a hell of a kiss.

  ****

  Leigh jumped when her phone dinged. She’d been on edge all day. She couldn’t stop thinking about Dean. More specifically, the kiss he’d given her so casually.

  She wasn’t the type to overanalyze. At least, not normally. The handful of relationships she’d been in throughout high school and college had been pretty much drama free at the beginning and the end. They’d all been guys a lot like her. Studious and slightly introverted. More likely to spend a Saturday night on the couch than at a party.

  Guys like Dean had never even popped up on her radar. She was perfectly willing to admit that she didn’t understand how he dealt with all the attention, how part of him seemed to thrive on it. So how was she supposed to take this new development when there was so much about him that she didn’t understand?

  Did he want to sleep with her? That thought didn’t make any sense, not when there were plenty of other girls he could have. Hotter girls. Girls who were comfortable in the spotlight, and much more popular than she was.

  Furthermore, Leigh liked to be in an established relationship with guys she went to bed with. She and Dean had barely known each other for a month. There was no denying that she wanted him, though.

  She chewed her lower lip in deep thought. Waking up with him this morning had been pretty perfect. He was taller and more muscular than the guys she’d been with in the past and the way his body had cradled hers from head to toe had been distracting her all day. Just remembering it now made her knees a little weak.

  She picked up her phone, her stomach g
oing topsy-turvy when she saw Dean’s name.

  “Coach was mad as hell that I was late. I think it was worth it. Looking forward to tomorrow, Everleigh.”

  Leigh put her phone back into her pocket, realizing slowly that she was grinning from ear to ear. She was looking forward to seeing him too.

  ****

  “Um. Hi,” Leigh said the next night when she opened the door for him.

  “Hey,” Dean said walking over to the couch and dropping down onto it with a sigh.

  “Uh...how’s your back?”

  “Mostly better. I hate to break it to you, but no one knocked me down yesterday. I know you like that.”

  Leigh couldn’t figure out what to say. It was like her brain had gone numb. Dean looked at her closely.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  “Fine!” she said, her voice much too high pitched.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Why don’t you try being honest with me now?”

  She threw her hands up and sat down beside him. “What was up with kissing me before you left?”

  Dean rubbed his chin and she heard the slight scrape of stubble. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while now. I figured I’d take my shot.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “For how long?”

  “Pretty much right about when you stopped pissing me off,” he said. “Actually no. I wanted to kiss you the day I went and helped you change your tire. So pretty much since we met, I guess.”

  Leigh blinked. “Really? Even back then?”

  Dean shrugged. “What do you want me to say? You’re sexy.”

  “I am not sexy,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just...normal.”

  “Yeah right. And I’m just okay at playing football,” Dean said with a grin.

  “So I’m just as hot as your football playing skills?”

  He laughed. “Don’t get carried away.”

  “I’m mediocre compared to your football playing skills but all right in general?” she teased.

  He pulled her against him and tilted her chin up so that she had to look into his eyes. “Baby, there is nothing mediocre about you,” he said seriously.

  Leigh felt her cheeks heat up. “And you just couldn’t help but kiss me goodbye?”

  “That wasn’t even a real kiss,” he said, still looking into her eyes.

  “It wasn’t?”

  “Nah. I was just testing it out. Seeing if you were going to punch me.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “I know.” His mouth tugged into that devastating half smile. “What do you think?”

  “I’m not planning on punching you now either.”

  “Good.”

  His hand was gentle on the back of her neck as he leaned down and kissed her. Leigh parted her lips and his tongue teased hers slowly.

  “It’s like this,” he said, pulling back just enough to speak, his lips only a breath above hers. “It starts out slow, because I’m trying to build something up here.”

  “Something like what?” she whispered.

  “Tension.” Dean brushed his fingers down the curve of her cheek. “The more tension, the better.”

  Leigh gripped the front of his shirt. She’d already been tense for several weeks now. She gasped when his lips moved down the side of her neck, the slight stubble on his chin rasping over her skin and making her shiver.

  He pressed a kiss directly over her pounding pulse and she moaned, then clapped one hand over her mouth. Dean tugged it away, twining his fingers through hers.

  “I want to touch you,” he informed her, pulling back to look into her eyes.

  She nodded shakily and felt his hands cup her breasts over her shirt. She arched into the touch, surprising herself. She wasn’t a virgin, but she’d never really gotten the big deal about sex. For her, intimacy was mental, not physical. But now...with Dean’s hands on her, his thumbs lazily rubbing over her, making her nipples harden under his touch, she got it.

  Leigh’s head fell back as his mouth moved to her neck again and then down. He kissed over her collarbone and flicked the top button of her shirt open, pressing his lips to the newly bared skin. Button after button was undone and his mouth continued down, over the swell of her breasts, directly on her nipples which were still covered by the thin fabric of her bra...He deftly swung her around and moved so that he was over her on the couch, kneeling between her legs. His mouth moved down her stomach, over her belly button.

  Leigh reached out and grabbed him, pulling him up again, yanking his shirt off and tossing it to the floor. It was the first time she’d seen him without it and she couldn’t help but stare. Muscle in defined ridges, a line of crisp, dark hair down the center of his chest. She traced it with her fingertip, making him bite his lip.

  She tugged him down, wanting to feel his weight on top of her, wanting his mouth on hers once more. Dean didn’t seem to mind. He took her mouth more forcefully this time, making her gasp for air when the kiss broke. A surge of pleasure made her cry out suddenly when he moved forward, pushing against the center of her. She could feel that he was hard. She could also tell that he was big pretty much everywhere.

  “God, baby, I want you so much,” he said, his voice rough against her skin.

  “I want you too,” Leigh whispered. “But...I can’t. I can’t do that yet.”

  To his credit, Dean went still immediately on hearing that. But he did groan against her neck.

  “You’re killing me,” he said, his tone rueful.

  “I just...we don’t know each other that well,” she said, struggling not to arch up under him when he began kissing his way up her neck, nipping at her earlobe. “It hasn’t been long enough.”

  “I disagree,” Dean said as he sat up. “It’s been thousands of minutes since we met.”

  Leigh laughed breathlessly. “A good point, but not good enough.” She began chewing her thumbnail. “I’m sorry.”

  He caught her hand. “Hey. Don’t be sorry. Just...” Dean caught his breath, realizing that he was in for an uncomfortable few hours at least. “The minute you’re ready...call me.”

  Chapter 8

  “This is so freaking cool!”

  Leigh smiled at Sophie, her friend from the pizza place. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I’m freezing my butt off.”

  The autumn wind had a much more distinct chill of winter now and the iron gray clouds were refusing to let any sunlight through to the shivering spectators. Most of them were bundled in several layers, Leigh and Sophie included, but it didn’t help as much as she’d hoped.

  “Oh come on, you’re excited, I can tell.”

  Sophie leaned forward, watching the team run onto the field with sparkling eyes. The stadium erupted with cheers. Some people were actually chanting Dean’s name. Leigh smiled and drew her coat more tightly around herself. It was good to hear so many people supporting him.

  “Okay,” she admitted in the interest of honesty. “I’m a little bit excited.”

  Sophie laughed. “I think you’ve fallen victim to his charms after all.”

  Leigh cleared her throat. “He’s nicer than I thought,” she said primly. “And a lot smarter, too.”

  Sophie poked her in the ribs. “And hot, am I right?”

  Leigh put her nose in the air. “I never said he wasn’t hot.”

  “Look, there he is!” Sophie pointed to him. “Number 42!”

  He’d taken his position. Leigh put her thumbnail into her mouth and began to chew. He’d been worried about this game, even though he hadn’t wanted to admit it. It was the first one since the rough victory of two weeks ago.

  “There’s the snap,” Sophie said, still leaning forward. “Oh, he’s got it!”

  Leigh clapped her hand over her eyes. Sophie tugged it down and they watched as Dean ran. He dodged two of the other team’s linemen and faked out a third. A lightening quick reversal had him into the end zone. The crowd was on their feet, Leigh included. It had been an astonishingly quick and efficient play.

>   “An amazing start to the game from the Tigers running back, Dean Harper!” the commentator boomed. “It’s no wonder several recruiters have had their eyes on him. We haven’t seen speed like that in years!”

  Leigh just barely held back a squeal. There was no way she was going to prove herself that far gone, but she did clap till her hands hurt.