“I’ll make sure to have you back before then.”
“Are you serious right now?” I asked, actually contemplating it. His enthusiasm was contagious.
“Why not? All we have to do is pack a bag. If we can get in the car in less than an hour,”—he picked up his cell from the coffee table—“we can be in Palm Springs before five.”
“Where would we even stay?” I giggled, thinking the man in front of me was insanely amazing.
“Let me worry about that.” Those five words made me bite my lip.
Not because I wanted to go. I did, but it wasn’t a priority. I would have been just as happy lounging at his place. It was the fact he was a man. Not some guy who you had to pry plans out of but a man who took care of business. I was immediately bombarded with images of exactly how good he was at taking care of business.
“What do you say?” he asked, looking up from his phone. I could feel warmth cover my face because of where my dirty mind had just gone.
“Okay,” I breathed before I bounced up, feeling my ponytail swing behind me. “I say okay.” I smiled, kissing him.
“Go get packed and get your sweet ass back here, fast!” He grinned.
“Deal!” I jumped off his lap, but before turning to leave, I held his face in both hands and kissed him. “Thank you,” I whispered against his mouth, and he kissed me back softly, something in his gaze changing.
I didn’t take too long to think about it. I couldn’t. His excitement was too contagious, and now it was running through my own veins, so I quickly turned and hurried off to pack an overnight bag.
_______________
“This place is incredible,” I fawned the second Frank stood next to me and took my hand in his.
“Like it?” he asked, and I looked toward the brightly painted boutique hotel in front of us. The three-story building had been built back in the 70s but had obviously been renovated recently.
“I love it.”
“Come on.” He walked forward, and I followed him straight to check-in.
“Here are your room cards, Mr. and Mrs. Titan,” the woman checking us in said. He winked at me, and I felt my cheeks flush at the fact he didn’t correct her.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to call the front desk.”
“Is the—”
“Yes.” The woman smiled brightly at Frank. “Your special request is all set up in your room, and you do have a pool view and private cabana reserved for today and tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” He nodded before he took me toward our room.
“Special request and cabanas? Frank, this is too much,” I whispered. He stopped us midway, and I looked up at him. He was breathtakingly handsome, and when his hands cupped my jaw, I swear my stomach flip-flopped.
“Not at all,” he whispered a breath away from me. “Nothing could be too much for you. You deserve this and so much more.” His words made me weak at the knees, but before I could say anything, he kissed the top of my forehead, somehow making that kiss sweet but intimate. “Trust me, you’ll love it.” He pulled away and took us directly to our room.
Stealing glances at him as we walked, I couldn’t believe this was the man Ruby had called a workaholic. Not that I doubted her. I could totally see that. During the two weeks I had tried to avoid him, anytime I’d seen him coming or going, his face was always pointed toward a tablet or cell phone. Hell, even during our time together, his phone had been going off like crazy until he had silenced it. When I told him he didn’t need to, he told me nothing was more important than our time together.
But right then and there, in the hallway of this beautiful boutique hotel, he was so relaxed and carefree, he seemed over a decade younger. I liked seeing him that way. So much I couldn’t kill the vibe and gripe about him spending money. He wasn’t a twenty-something struggling to make something out of himself and making ends meet. He was established and successful.
I just hoped I was enough for him.
Chapter Six
Frank
SHE WAS GOING TO KILL ME.
I was forty-two years old, and if I died today, I knew I would go a happy man.
The kicker was, she wasn’t even touching me.
She wasn’t even within touching distance.
She was in the pool, her long, dark hair slick and wet behind her as she came up for air, not a stitch of makeup on her face, and she was stunning. Her tanned skin stood out against the turquoise bikini that I knew firsthand showed off her curves, and her legs looked a mile long.
We had been in the pool, and I’d needed a break from the sun. I had only left her behind because she had wanted to stay in the water. Sitting in the cabana with a drink in my hand, there was no way to hide what the sight of her body gliding back and forth in the water did to me. She was mouthwateringly gorgeous, and the only reason I had left her alone was because the hotel pool was surprisingly not busy. Only a handful of people were lounging about, mostly taking in the sun. But even so, I didn’t miss the way a group of younger guys were checking out my girl, and there was no way I was taking my eyes off her.
As if sensing it, she stopped her swimming and looked around. Finding my eyes, she smiled. Fuck me. I felt her smile in my heart. There was no denying the woman was getting under my skin.
My phone rang, and without looking at the screen, I answered, my eyes never moving off her from where I sat in our cabana.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Dad!”
“Ruby.” I cleared my throat. “How’s it going, honey?”
“Same ole, same ole. You?”
“Well, you know,” I avoided answering. It wasn’t like I could just say, ‘Great, honey! Banging your best friend!’
“Busy, I know,” she answered for me. “Listen, are you home by chance?”
“Why, what’s up? You okay?” I looked away from the pool as I sat up straighter, my elbows now resting on my knees.
“I’m fine, Dad.” I could make out my kid’s smile in her voice. “I have to cancel dinner with the girls tomorrow, and I called ‘em but couldn’t get through to Karina. Her phone’s off.”
“Weird,” I muttered, guilt sinking in my stomach.
“Not really. She landed her first account, so she’s probably busy working and hasn’t noticed her cell is dead. I emailed her, but I was thinking maybe you could stop by?”
“Stop by?” I repeated, trying not to croak. I’d stopped by, alright. And all but kidnapped her.
“Yes, Dad,” Ruby snapped me out of my thoughts. “Can you please stop by? Give her a heads up her phone’s dead? Maybe, I don’t know, get to know her?” Her voice went up slightly, and I frowned.
“Ruby, what are you up to?” I knew my kid. She was a lot of things; one she wasn’t was subtle.
“Nothing. I don’t want her to miss my email. Plus, you two are both huge workaholics, so maybe I was thinking you two could, I don’t know, hang out? Have dinner? You know, look up and away from your computers? Interact with the real world.”
“Ruby—”
“She’s really nice, Dad. Mom and Jim love her.” Mom and Jim. I almost wanted to roll my eyes, but I wasn’t a fucking kid. “She came with me to that trip we took to Arizona a couple of years ago, and they adore her.”
“I bet,” I muttered.
Jim. A scowl covered my face at the mention of his name. Not that I didn’t have respect for the guy. I did. He’d helped raise my kid, and I knew he had a big part in why she was the way she was. I just envied him, even after all these years. He had been able to be there in a way I never had.
“She’s great and an amazing designer.”
“I’m sure she is—”
“She’s super responsible and reliable. And has great rates.”
“Ruby?”
“Yes?” she feigned innocence, and it hit me that this was more than just a phone call to remind me to be social. Is she playing matchmaker?
“What’s up?”
“Why does anything have to be up? Can’t a daughter just worry about the social interaction her hermit father—”
“Ruby.”
“Okay,” she sighed, and I stood up from the couch in the cabana and started to pace. “Do you remember that investment project you mentioned? West Farms?”
“Yes.” It was a project I was actually looking forward to. West Farms was a family-owned business that had needed an investor to expand where other farms were barely holding it together.
“You mentioned how part of the deal was you guys helping them with rebranding and making them more modern, and how you would be bidding the project out because your usual designer dropped the ball—”
“And?”
“And I’m guessing it’s getting to that time where you are asking for bids and mock-ups?” She wasn’t wrong. Jasper had already started to send enquiries. “Anyhow,” she continued, “you said you wanted something fresh?”
“And you want me to offer her a gig?” I closed my eyes, the concrete below my feet disappearing.
“No,” she quickly answered. “I would never ask that, Dad. I’m just thinking, maybe you could mention it, and maybe, just maybe, she could have an opportunity to bid. Show you what she can offer.” I opened my eyes. I wasn’t about to think of everything Karina had offered and I’d kindly taken her up on. Instead, I focused on how genuinely proud I was of the kind of person my kid was.
“Hmm,” I muttered, just as pretty, orange toes appeared in my sights, and my hands, moving on their own, started stroking the smooth, wet skin of Karina’s thighs. “I’ll talk to her.”
“You’re the best, Dad.”
“Sure.”
“I’m serious.” She laughed, and I looked up at the woman I had no business touching but couldn’t get myself to stop. “Oh, and remind her dinner is off tomorrow and to charge her phone.”
“Will do. Bye.”
“Bye.” The call ended, and I looked up and met what I knew would be Karina’s worried eyes head on.
“That was Ruby,” I cautiously shared.
“Oh?” She worried her lower lip before stepping away and grabbing a towel, slowly drying herself off. I wasn’t sure if it was only to dry off or to cover herself from me, inadvertently putting space between us.
“She wants me to tell you dinner’s canceled tomorrow. Something came up.”
“Oh.”
“And to charge your phone.”
“I turned it off when we got here,” she muttered before stepping further away, grabbing a bottle of water from the complimentary ice bucket. She’s definitely putting space between us.
“Karina.”
“Hmm,” she hummed, her eyes no longer on me. I needed them back.
“Come here, baby,” I urged.
“Frank—”
“Come here,” I repeated, putting my hand out, not sure of what I would do if she didn’t take it. Thankfully, my girl didn’t have make me wait too long. Hand in hand, I led us to the couch and had her sit on my lap.
“What is it with you and making me sit on your lap?” she complained halfheartedly.
“I like you here.” I meant it more than us sharing that very moment together. I liked her in my space. I liked spending time with her. I liked it a fucking lot.
“I do, too,” she admitted quietly before relaxing her body into mine. I wished she weren’t wrapped up in a towel, but I would take her however she came.
“Look, I know this is... complicated.” She snorted, and my lips twitched.
“You think?”
“But I also know, if I don’t take this chance with you, I know it will be something that haunts me to the day I die.” I laid out honestly, and by the look on her face, it wasn’t something she was expecting.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“But how would this work? How can we be more than a stolen weekend?”
“Babe, this is more than a fucking weekend,” I blurted out without thinking, and she tilted her head, not missing the shock my own words had on me. “Look, I can’t predict the future.”
“I know.” Her shoulders sagged. “And I’m not asking for that. I just...” She sighed, the tension in her palpable. “Frank, you’re my best friend’s dad.”
“And I’m a hell of a lot older than you,” I pointed out.
“Age is just a number.” She gently stroked my face, and I leaned my forehead against hers.
“Sixteen,” I grumbled.
“Fifteen. I’m a year older than Ruby.”
“But the age difference is there.”
“It is. I’m younger, and you’re older, but I think we connect,” she cut me off. She wasn’t wrong about that. It was more than connecting sexually, too. “Don’t we?” She searched my eyes, and I nodded. I couldn’t lie.
“We do.” I swallowed hard, cupping her face. “If I keep you, am I screwing things up for you?”
“How would that be possible?” Her eyes searched mine. “I mean other than the Ruby issue, which could be huge.”
“You should be with some guy your age. Thinking about, I don’t know. What fucking brewery to go to and food trucks to hit up.”
“That’s stuff we could do together. Besides, is that really what you think twenty-somethings do?” Her lips twitched like she wanted to laugh but didn’t want to hurt my feelings.
“Fuck if I know what twenty-somethings do,” I confessed. “I wasn’t your regular twenty-something-year-old, babe. At your age, I had a kid who was about to start fifth grade, working two jobs and taking night classes to finish my masters. Pinching pennies to get Ruby ballet slippers.”
She watched me for what felt like a long time. Not with pity in her eyes, but with something else. Something I couldn’t decipher.
“The struggle was real, huh?” she softly said, almost to herself. It was such a millennial thing to say, but I knew she didn’t mean it in a condescending way. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like.” She leaned in and kissed me lightly before pulling away. “Food trucks and breweries are things we could do together. What other things?”
“Kids,” I rasped, and she tensed. “I don’t want any more,” I admitted out loud and found myself frowning at myself. For the first time since I’d made the decision, I questioned it. Looking at the woman sitting on my lap, I imagined her round with my baby, and something tugged in my chest.
“Okay,” she said and shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”
“Really?” Somehow, I wasn’t.
“Not every woman wants to have a baby, as shocking as this might sound.”
“And this isn’t because I’m telling you—”
“Nope. I want a career, and I want to travel. Having a family hasn’t ever been something at the forefront of my goals list. Maybe one day…”
“But I’m already a hell of a lot older than—”
“Men can procreate all the way to their seventies,” she clarified, using a pretty finger to cover my lips. “Plus, this is pretty heavy stuff you’re talking about. For all we know, we’re nothing more than a May-November thing that will fizzle out.”
I doubted that possibility.
“Okay.” I found myself agreeing because I would take her anyway she came. I didn’t have all the answers or guarantees of what life would bring. “Let’s just take things one day at time. Always open with each other.”
“I like that.” She beamed at me. I kissed her cheek before letting my lips move to her ear. “Now, how about you open up for me?”
“Here?” she asked in a hushed tone, clearly shocked by my proposition, but it was the tremble I felt that gave her away.
“Here,” I rasped, skimming my nose against the silky flesh of her shoulder.
“Is that why you brought me here?” The breathy tone of her voice was driving me crazy. “I didn’t know you brought me here to break the laws of indecency.” She gasped when my teeth skimmed her skin.
“Frank.”
“Uh uh… What do you call me?” I had no fucking idea why I was pushing her, but I needed to hear her say it.
“You’re bad.” She giggled, her breath hitching slightly as I licked the curve of her shoulder.
Glancing out the cabana to make sure we didn’t have anyone watching, something caught my eye. One of the guys who had been looking at my girl earlier was looking at her sitting on my lap. He was younger, closer to her age, probably a better fit for her, but fuck if I’d let someone like him touch her. Something swept over me. I needed to mark her. I wanted anyone who laid eyes on her to know she was mine.
Shit, man, you are in over your head! a voice chimed, but I ignored the warning.
Rage crashed into the need I was feeling, and without a word, I gently sat her down on the sofa and walked over to close the privacy curtains of the cabana. There was no way in hell I would ever risk her being seen by anyone else. She was mine, and the satisfied smile she’d wear when we walked out of here would have to do.
“What are you—” Her words stopped as darkness enclosed us.
Turning around, I watched her swallow and stand.
Without words, she knew exactly what I was doing, what I needed. Because deep down it was the same thing she did. She wasn’t lying or exaggerating when she said we had a connection. It was so fucking strong, if I were thinking straight, it would have scared the crap out of me.
Instead, with lust swirling in my blood as it moved south, I let my eyes adjust to the darkened cabana. Karina looked like a pagan goddess. Her hands slid up her body, over the flare of her hips to the narrowness of her waist and curving up over her perky breasts, and I soaked up the sexy silent strip show. Only for me if I have it my way.
I watched her arms lift and reach behind her as she slowly worked on undoing the slinky bikini top, letting her breasts bounce, her shoulders back, and I licked my lips. There was a beautiful, sexy confidence about the way she stood topless for me. We were past insecurities or shyness. I knew exactly how those babies felt in my hand, how she liked to be suckled and teased. My hands clenched at my side.
“Perfect,” I huskily said. “Sit on the edge of the chair. Legs open. Pull those pretty bottoms to the side and show me what’s mine,” I ordered, taking in a deep breath. Adrenaline rushed through me as my beautiful girl did exactly as her daddy requested.
Quite Frankly: Dilf Mania (Beech Grove Book 5) Page 6