by Nana Malone
They crawled up the bed and he leaned down to kiss her damp forehead. Mikayla was gorgeous. Beautiful inside and out. Oblivious was too kind a word to describe what he’d been.
“I’ve always thought the world of you, Mikayla.” He stroked her cheek. “Sorry I took you for granted. I won’t ever make that mistake again.”
Her eyes glistened and her expression dissolved into the adorable grin that always made him smile.
Dash discarded the remainder of his clothing, retrieved a foil square from his wallet and sheathed himself.
Her brown eyes darkened with desire and the playful grin was gone.
He pressed his lips to her neck, kissing a heated trail along her soft skin.
“Stay,” he whispered. “Let’s celebrate Maddie’s birthday and the New Year together.” He kissed her again and then whispered against her lips, “Please.”
“We’ll go to Memphis,” she conceded. “We can celebrate Maddie’s birthday there, but then we need to figure out how to make this work in the real world.”
He’d accept that. For now.
“Thank you.” Dash kissed her again. He pressed the head of his shaft to her entrance and groaned. Pleasure rolled up his spine as he inched inside her.
Mikayla dug her fingers into his flesh, gripping his lower back and pulling him in deeper as their bodies moved together. They were consumed by a red-hot passion that had been brewing from the moment he’d laid eyes on her in that coffee shop. Yet, it was balanced by the deep affection he’d always felt for her. Even in the years they spent apart.
Mikayla cried out his name. His own release followed soon after, a wave of pleasure rolling through him. He cursed and shuddered, riding the peak, his heart racing.
They’d crossed the line and they could never go back.
Dash tumbled on the bed beside Mikayla, wrapping her in his arms. Her sweat-slick skin melded to his.
He’d made love to his best friend, and he planned to do it again and again. Until she never wanted to leave his bed.
Chapter 18
“Why doesn’t it surprise me this is what Maddie wants for Christmas?” Dash dropped another Star Wars action figure into the shopping cart.
“I’d say it was just a phase but...” Mikayla tugged on her T-shirt emblazoned with a Princess Leia graphic and the words Don’t Call Me Princess.
He laughed. “Also explains the no princess-themed thing.”
“Guess it does.” She shrugged. “Which reminds me, we should see if they have any graphic tees she might like.”
They navigated through the crush of last-minute holiday shoppers.
“This is why I order gifts online and have them delivered directly to my nieces and nephews,” Dash grumbled.
“You’re a regular St. Nick, aren’t you?”
He frowned. “Holidays aren’t my thing.”
“Sorry, Dash.” She’d forgotten that Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays had always served as reminders his family was broken. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“I don’t mean to be a killjoy, it’s just that I’d rather be in bed on Round...” He counted in his head. “Four—or would that be five?—because we should probably count...”
“So your mother could come home and catch us like a couple of teenagers?” She shuddered. “No thanks.”
“Should’ve let you get that hotel.”
“Stay focused, horn dog.” She poked him in the stomach, invoking an old insult.
His expression turned serious. “That was a long time ago. I’m not that guy anymore.”
She doubted that was completely true.
Dash was a handsome, successful lawyer. Driven and ambitious. The kind of man who could have anyone he wanted, but had little time for anything serious.
It didn’t matter. They weren’t together. Not like that.
“Since we’re gift shopping, what would you like from me and Maddie?”
“I appreciate the thought, but it’s not necessary.”
“I’m not doing this out of a sense of obligation. Maddie and I want to do this.”
“You’ve already given me the two best gifts I’ll ever get.” Dash’s mouth curled into a slow grin. “My daughter and my best friend back. Don’t need anything more.”
Mikayla’s cheeks flushed with heat and her heart fluttered. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.
She cleared her throat. “I’m serious, Dash. I’d really like to get you something.”
“You and Maddie...you’re all I need.” He cradled her cheek and kissed her.
The kiss stunned her.
Not because he’d kissed her in the middle of the aisle in a big-box store. Because it was unlike any of their previous kisses.
It wasn’t greedy or intense. It was soft and sweet. Romantic. But this wasn’t a romance, and she couldn’t behave like the lovesick girl she’d been for so long.
Mikayla wanted to believe Dash cared as deeply for her as she cared for him, but he’d always had a gift for wrapping women around his finger.
He’d wanted her to come to Memphis with his family, and she’d caved. She’d be foolish to believe that hadn’t influenced his decision to take her to bed.
“That’s sweet.” She stepped out of his embrace. “But you don’t have to pretend we’re suddenly a thing. What happened today was physical attraction. Nostalgia, maybe.”
Frowning, he gripped the cart again and they fell into step. “Is that all it was for you?”
“It was amazing. You were amazing. And I’m not saying I’m opposed to it happening again.” She hoped to lighten the heaviness that shrouded them. “But we need to focus on what’s best for Maddie. I won’t give her false hope, when neither of us is clear on what this is.”
“You made it pretty clear what you think this is.” Hurt and anger simmered beneath his controlled tone.
“I’ll ask your sister what I should get for your father.” She ignored his statement. “But I’d like to get something special for your mother and your nephew, Kai. Can you help me with that?”
“Housewares then sporting goods.” He nodded in one direction and then the other, his voice devoid of emotion. “Let’s cut through here.”
He made a sharp turn, swerving through the baby section of the store.
Mikayla followed, her eyes roaming the section filled with tiny onesies. She reached out to touch a frilly little pink dress with matching shoes.
Tears formed in her eyes more quickly than she could will them away. She wiped a finger beneath her eye and sniffed. When she turned to catch up with Dash, he’d stopped. He stared at her, his gaze filled with pity.
“You okay?” He squeezed her shoulder.
She assured him she was, but he didn’t seem convinced.
“Look, I know you took on caring for Maddie because you love her, but raising someone else’s kid is a big sacrifice. I appreciate what you’ve done for her. I’m sure Jess does, too.”
He was trying to comfort her, but all she heard was him referring to Maddie as someone else’s kid.
Maddie wasn’t someone else’s kid. She was her daughter as much as she was his.
“You’ll have kids of your own someday.”
Her hand went instinctively to her belly to quell the gnawing emptiness there. Scar tissue and adhesions left her with less than a 10 percent chance of conceiving.
Maddie was the only child who’d ever call her Mommy.
Her gaze met his. “Why does it sound like you intend to take Maddie away?”
He turned and pushed the cart again. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t deny it, either.”
Dash turned his back to two women whose attention was drawn by her raised voice.
“Thi
s isn’t the time or place to talk about it. Let’s just get through Christmas then we can hash all this out.”
“But you’ve been thinking about it.”
He heaved a sigh. “I’ve been thinking...maybe you and Maddie could move to New York. I’ll get a bigger place. Somewhere with great schools for Maddie and space for your business. I don’t care if I have to commute to the city. I just want to be with my daughter.”
Dash had asked them to move in with him, but this wasn’t a fairy tale. Dash wasn’t sweeping her off her feet. He wanted to be with his daughter. She was simply part of the package.
For now.
“So we’d be roommates? Fuck buddies? What?” She folded her arms and shrugged. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but have you even thought this through?”
“I haven’t,” he admitted. “My mother suggested it the other day. Honestly? At the time, I thought it was a bad idea. I was wrong.”
“This isn’t what you want. It’s what your mom thinks is best.” Mikayla swallowed the hurt welling inside. “Well, I can’t move in with you and hope you won’t decide in six months that we’re cramping your style.”
“Maddie’s my daughter. I’d never think that about her.”
But you might feel that way about me.
She didn’t need to say it, the implication hung on his words.
“We shouldn’t make hasty decisions about Maddie’s future. Sleeping together doesn’t change that.” Mikayla nodded toward housewares. “There’s a feeding frenzy. We’d better get in there before there’s nothing left but a set of wooden spoons and a box of toothpicks.”
She headed toward the fray. It was a welcome distraction from the heartbreak she felt right now.
Chapter 19
“Look how small everything is, Daddy.” Maddie pressed her nose to the window of the private, luxury plane.
His brother-in-law, Memphis Marauders’ wide receiver Nate Johnston, had chartered two private planes to transport his family and Kendra’s to Memphis to see the final home game of the regular season.
This plane held the Williams: his mother, Kendra and Kai, his half sister Maya, her two daughters and her fiancé, Liam Westbrook, Maddie, Mikayla and him. The other held Nate’s family—the Johnstons. His father and stepmother would arrive the next day on a commercial flight.
“Everything looks different from up here, huh, baby girl?” Seeing the world through his daughter’s eyes had shifted his perspective in a way that was disorienting.
He wasn’t the same man he’d been a few weeks ago. Before he’d known about his daughter.
Dash glanced at Mikayla, seated next to his mother because Maddie had wanted to sit with him. Her dark waves were swept into a low ponytail on one side. A hint of colored gloss tinted her sensual lips.
Dash wet his lips, recalling the taste of her mouth. How soft her lips felt as they kissed their way along his heated skin.
Mikayla caught him staring. She crossed her legs and went back to reading a dystopian novel. The kind where the world had gone to shit and the survivors struggled to find their way.
Dash could relate.
His world had been upended. He was trying to figure out how to survive in this one. A world where he was a dad and he’d made love to his best friend.
After the flight, they were carted off to a hotel.
Dash had offered to pay for his own suite, as had Maya’s fiancé, Liam. But Nate—who’d signed a lucrative contract and endorsement deals during the off-season—insisted on paying.
“Got a two-bedroom suite for you guys.” Kendra handed him a small envelope with two keycards. “Though I doubt either of you would’ve objected to sharing a bed.”
“Thanks.” Dash pocketed the keycards. “But mind your business, little sis.”
“Can’t believe I actually miss hearing you say that.” Her smile was tinged with sadness. “You should visit more often, big brother.”
“I second that.” Maya’s smile was uneasy, as was the relationship they shared. It was ever-evolving, but with the distance between them, the evolution had been a slow one.
Dash had come to love his half sister, but it was still hard to separate his love for her from the pain and rejection he still felt where their father was concerned. And since Kendra had invited their father to the party, he’d be forced to deal with those feelings, too.
“I will. Promise.” Dash gave Kendra a quick hug before wrapping Maya in a longer one. A hug that conveyed his regret over not being a better brother to her as much as his growing affection for her.
“And remember, you promised to be nice to Dad.” Kendra pinched his arm.
“I don’t think I used that exact word. I promised to be civil, just as I was at your wedding.”
“Avoiding Dad does not count as being civil. Kids are smart. They pick up on that kind of tension. You’ll have to try harder.” Kendra planted a hand on her hip and gave him the same stern look she used on Kai when he got a little too rambunctious. “Maddie doesn’t need to see you fighting with her new grandfather.”
“Please, Dash.” Maya’s eyes implored him to be on his best behavior. She and her brother Cole were raised by their father and had always had a good relationship with him. She’d been trying to negotiate peace between her half siblings and their dad for as long as Dash could remember. “I know this won’t be easy for you, and no one is expecting you to be best friends. But please try to get along with Dad this weekend.”
He sighed heavily and nodded. He’d disappointed Maya most of her life by keeping his distance. He could do this for her and for Maddie. “For you, little sis, I will. You have my word. Maddie and Mikayla even got him a gift.”
“Thanks, Dash.” Maya grinned, and for a moment she reminded him of the giddy, cheerful little girl he remembered from so many years ago.
Maya gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and she and Kendra walked off. Dash smiled, finding comfort in the fact his sisters had become best friends despite the rocky start to their relationship.
“I almost forgot.” His mother dug a heavy envelope out of her large tote bag. “This packet from your law firm was delivered while you were in the shower this morning.” She handed it to him. “You’re not working the entire holiday, are you?”
“No.” Dash thanked his mother and accepted the packet, addressed in the handwriting of Rod’s assistant.
The custody cases he’d requested.
He tried to ignore the burning in his chest but Mikayla’s words replayed in his head.
Why does it sound like you intend to take Maddie away?
“All set?” Mikayla and Maddie approached.
“Absolutely.” He shoved the envelope into his attaché case.
Guilt gnawed at his belly as he took Maddie’s hand and followed the bellman to the suite they would all share.
* * *
After an hour spent washing, detangling, defining and blow-drying Maddie’s copious curls, Mikayla was ready for a nap.
Instead she’d spent another half hour searching for Maddie’s suspiciously missing sparkly red shoe.
Maddie sat on the bed, fat teardrops rolling down her cheeks. Five minutes of demands, cajoling and bribery hadn’t convinced the little girl to wear the frilly, red dress Mikayla had bought for Christmas Eve dinner at Kendra’s.
Dash tapped on the bedroom door then peeked inside. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.” Mikayla’s voice was tight. Dash was only trying to help, and she appreciated that. So why did it bother her that he’d ridden in to “fix” things?
“No!” Maddie cried simultaneously.
“All right.” He stepped inside wearing a festive kelly-green blazer and shirt, punctuated by a red tie. The jewel tone of the blazer was perfect against his brown skin. Lived-in gray-wash
jeans hugged his muscular bottom. “What’s wrong?” He nodded at Mikayla. “You first.”
“Your daughter doesn’t want to wear the dress I bought her. She wants to wear her Halloween costume.” Mikayla held up both garments.
“I see.” Dash nodded thoughtfully, stooping to Maddie’s eye level. “Don’t like dresses much, do you, baby girl?”
Maddie shook her head emphatically, her dark, shiny curls tumbling.
“I get it.” He flapped his tie. “I don’t like wearing these, either, but sometimes we need to play dress-up for special occasions.”
“Like a costume?” She sniffled, rubbing her eye with her fist.
“Exactly.” He nodded toward the dress. “That’s an awful pretty dress. Bet it’d look amazing on you. Can you show me?”
Maddie nodded.
“Good girl.” He tapped his cheek twice with his index finger. Maddie planted a loud kiss there before sliding off the bed and raising her arms for the dress.
His charm even works on grade-schoolers.
But then again, he did look hella fine.
Maddie paraded into the living room to show Dash her dress.
“Wow, you look just like a little—”
Mikayla shook her head and mouthed, Do not say the P word.
“I look like what, Daddy?”
“A magical fairy with superpowers.” He laughed when Maddie danced around him with an imaginary magic wand. “All you’re missing is the wings.”
“And her left shoe.” Mikayla leaned against the doorway, one eyebrow raised.
“Hmm...where could Maddie’s shoe be?” Dash pressed a finger to his temple.
Maddie lowered her gaze. She reached underneath the sofa and produced her shoe.
“Knew it.” Mikayla huffed, checking her watch. The driver would arrive in less than half an hour and she still had to get dressed and do something with her hair. “Make sure she doesn’t eat anything, she keeps that dress clean and she has both shoes on when we’re ready to walk out that door. Please.”