“What if she goes to your place?” she asked, searching my eyes.
“I’m out for a run.” I winked, and she sighed, wrapping her own arms around me, resting her head on my chest.
“That was seriously close,” she mumbled. I nodded because she was not wrong.
How the hell had my life changed so much? One little stop into a coffee shop from the airport instead of going straight back to my office, and boom. My life’s shaken up like a snow globe. And fuck me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I want the woman in my arms in my life.
I want her in a forever kind of way.
I’m in love with her.
Damn.
I’m in love.
I held her closer, and she simply melted into me. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t just brush off a woman. Not when she felt like she was right where she belonged. With me.
“So, you’re on the prowl tomorrow?”
“You heard that?” She groaned, stepping out my arms. I immediately missed the feel of her. I wanted to pull her back in my arms but knew I shouldn’t. I had a million messages and a crap load of work with my name on it waiting for me.
“She doesn’t know about you,” she explained with a shrug. “It doesn’t mean I would, you know.”
“Get laid?” I asked with a smirk.
“I mean, not that I’m saying we’re exclusive or anything. I don’t want you to think that’s what I’m assuming—”
“Wait, what?” Now, it was my turn to be flustered.
“For all I know, you do this on the regular.” Her cheeks darkened, and I brushed her temple with my thumb.
“I already told you I don’t date.”
“Right. But you never said we were dating, Frank. We didn’t say we were exclusive.” She shook her head, her gaze troubled, and I frowned.
“Karina—“
“Look, we both have a lot to do today, and honestly,”—she crossed her arms and took another step further away from me—“do you think telling Ruby about us would be smart? I mean, the best-case scenario is she only hates me and doesn’t actually kill me for—“
“Making her dad smile?” I cut in, very well knowing that wasn’t where she was going with it, but I needed to cut in. I needed to do something, anything to get her to steer away from the direction she was going. “We said one day at a time, Karina.”
“I know that, and honestly, with anyone else in the past I wouldn’t have cared. But with you it’s different.”
“I feel the same way,” I assured her.
“And I might be the oldest of three, but Frank, I don’t share very well,” she pouted, ignoring what I’d just said, and I smiled.
“Is that what you’re worried about, beautiful? Come here,” I ordered, extending my hand and trusting her to take it. She did. I pulled her to me, having her sit on my lap the moment my ass hit her couch. “You worried about me going off with someone else while I’m seeing you?”
“I don’t know what I’m worried about. I have no clue what we’re doing, Frank,” she admitted. The vulnerability in her voice made me want to shield her from anything ever hurting her.
“Do you really not know?” I asked.
“You’re answering a question with a question.”
“I didn’t know you were out right asking.”
“Ughh.” She tried to pull away and stand, but I only held her closer to me, careful not to hurt her.
“Karina, look at me.”
“What?” She looked in my direction, and I smiled.
“I’m not running from this. I like you. I like what we have. A lot. And if you think you’re bad at sharing, you haven’t seen how much of a selfish son of a bitch I can be.” I rested our foreheads against one another. “If I were a good man, I’d end this right now. You should probably be with someone your own age.”
“This again?” She sighed.
“But I can’t.” I watched as her eyes smiled. “I’m a very selfish and greedy man when it comes to you, Karina Castillo. No one else. This, whatever we are doing, is exclusive. You’re mine, and I’m definitely yours,” I laid out, eerily calm about the fact I was committing to someone.
Holy fuck, I was someone’s boyfriend.
“You sure?”
“One hundred percent. I’m not some kid who doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the floor. I’m sure. We’ll figure it out. I’ll talk to Ruby.”
“You will?” The hope reflected in her eyes made my heart full.
“I will.” She smiled. Then it slowly died down and she bent and rested her head on my shoulder. “She is going to hate me.” She groaned.
“She won’t,” I promised. I wasn’t sure how I would make it a reality, but I would. I’d do anything to sweep the worry from her stare. “We’ll figure it out.” I kissed the top of her head before she sat back up straight, her pretty eyes on mine. “I hate to do this, but you have a bid to work on, and I should go shower and get to the office before they send a search party.”
“I’m sorry if I kept you from—” I placed a finger on her lips.
“You didn’t. No one forces me to do anything I don’t want to do.”
“Okay.” She skimmed her nose along mine before standing, and this time I had to let her go. “I should give you your sweater back.” Her hands went to the top of the zipper, and I grabbed both in mine.
“Hmm…” I pretended to think. “May I?”
“Do as you wish,” the little minx threw in, and I had no idea how the hell I didn’t pounce on her. I unzipped the sweater and removed every piece of clothing she had on. It wasn’t a lot. But I liked looking at her naked.
“Frank, we need to work,” she whispered, but I knew she was turned on.
“I know.” I groaned, knowing I would spend every free moment I could scrounge up picturing her like this. I grabbed the sweater and zipped it back. “Keep it.” I winked, letting my lips touch hers. “I like the idea of you wearing it today.” She gasped, and I smiled against her mouth. “Wearing only this today.”
“Okay.” She blushed, gifting me a sweet smile.
“I’m thinking if we’re dating, we should make plans for tonight.”
“We should.”
“How about I bring dinner and dessert, and you pick a movie for us to watch?”
“I like that a lot.”
“Good. Kiss me bye,” I ordered, my hand squeezing her bare ass beneath my hoodie.
“Yes, Daddy.” She giggled before pressing her lips to mine.
Chapter Nine
Karina
“YOU SHOULD TOTALLY GO TALK TO HIM!” Daisy giggled, and I rolled my eyes, not missing the way Ruby kept looking at the back of the man who had sent over a drink for me.
“I haven’t seen him around here before,” she shared, looking back at me, her eyes widening at something behind me.
“What is it?” I turned and saw a very sexy-looking man looking in her direction. “Who is that?”
“No one.” She rolled her eyes, taking a chip from the nacho platter we were sharing, and popped into her mouth. “I love these things. I would work for free here if Wally paid me in nachos.”
“Don’t say that too loudly or he might offer, and you get screwed out of a check,” Daisy joked, taking a sip of my margarita. “But seriously, Kari, you need to go talk to him, babe! This is some top shelf shit.”
“I don’t think so,” I muttered, taking some of the chips for myself. Holding in the grin I was dying to show.
“You are no fun!” Daisy muttered, “I’ll go over and introduce myself if you won’t go.” My eyes were just about to bug out because I knew exactly who the baseball-capped stranger wearing a local baseball team T-shirt was.
Dinner the night before had happened later than he’d originally planned, not that I minded. Taking the weekend off and going incommunicado had set Frank behind at work and he’d called to let me know dinner would be late. I told him we could hang out another time, but he insisted,
saying he didn’t want to spend a night away from me.
“You spoiled me. How am I ever going to sleep without you in my arms now?” he said, and my heart did a flip-flop, so I went ahead and agreed with him.
Despite being bone tired, he knocked on my door, holding a bag of take-out with a smile on his face and an evil twinkle in his eye. One that made me ravenous. For him, not food. But who could honestly blame me? Frank Titan was sexy as sin, especially in a designer suit that fit his beautiful body like it had been made just for him. He looked so damn good I pulled him into my place and directly to my room, where I spoiled him with my hands and mouth, and he magically found the energy to do the same to me. After nuking the take-out, we ate in my bed and talked about our day and then fell asleep in one another’s arms.
It’d been great.
Perfect.
So much so, I wanted endless nights just like that with him. But I couldn’t have a repeat tonight. It was girls’ night. But if I was being honest, I couldn’t say I was upset he had shown up. He was the mysterious man at the bar, who was obviously hiding from Ruby, and I had no idea how he was pulling it off, but he was. He was the mysterious man in a ball cap who had sent a drink to me. A drink we’d shared in Palm Springs I’d fallen in love with. It was sweet and sexy, and I couldn’t share any of it with my girls.
“Ugh, look at him,” Ruby muttered, snapping me out of my dilf-induced thoughts.
“What?” I asked and noticed she was still looking over my shoulder.
Both Daisy and I turned, looking in the direction of her gaze. Tall and lean, Mr. Handsome was smiling two tables behind us with some women, every so often looking in our direction. He wasn’t looking at us as a whole, though. His eyes were right on Ruby, and it only seemed to piss her off.
“Who is that?” I turned and asked in a whisper.
“Officer Rocco Fields,” she growled before lifting her drink and taking an extremely healthy chug from it. Daisy and I looked at one another and immediately turned our attention back to her.
“So… what’s going on with Officer Fields?” I asked, and her gaze went from steely to sad, then back to steely so quickly I thought I might have imagined it, and I could feel myself not liking the guy who was messing with my girl’s state of mind.
“Nothing. He’s just a flirt, obviously.”
“How did you two meet?” Daisy asked. I took a sip of my delicious drink, forcing myself not to look toward the bar.
“Here… and at school.” She sighed and looked at us. “He was part of the crew that came to do the shooter training at the start of the year.”
“Oh.”
“And?” Daisy and I asked.
“I thought we hit it off. There was a vibe.”
“A vibe, huh?” Daisy repeated, giving me big eyes. I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t giggle. “Did you two… you know, vibe together?” Daisy wagged her eyebrows, and Ruby’s cheeks matched her name.
“Not exactly,” she muttered. “I mentioned I worked here, too, and he came and hung out. We talked. Not that it matters, obviously.” She shook her head.
“Wait, so you just sorta hung out?” I asked, wishing I could tell them about what was going on in my life. Wishing I could be open and honest with Ruby and she’d somehow understand.
“Let’s save that conversation for brunch. Tell me about the men of City Hall, Daisy. Cheer me up.”
“The eye candy there is… incredible. Men in suits and uniforms with badges…” She sighed dramatically, and we giggled at Daisy’s dreamy-eyed expression. “Not that they spare a second look my way, mind you, but they’re fun to look at.” She shrugged and took a bite of the nachos.
“I doubt they don’t spare you a second glance, you look like that.” Ruby pointed at Daisy, and she wasn’t wrong; Daisy was gorgeous.
“You have to say that. You’re my best friend,” she quickly answered with a scrunchy face.
“Shut up.” Ruby snorted.
“How’s the day-to-day stuff there?” I asked, trying to squelch an argument between them.
“I love it. It’s completely different than I thought it was going to be. And my boss is amazing. She’s so fierce. She doesn’t let any of the pushy men get away with anything. She’s inspiring.”
“That’s great!” I smiled just as Daisy’s phone chirped.
“Speaking of work, I gotta take this.” We nodded at her, and before I could ask Ruby anything about what was going on, Officer Tall-Dark-and-Handsome approached.
“Hello, ladies.” He grinned, but Ruby only rolled her eyes, so I didn’t react.
“What do you want?” she asked, obviously pissed about something. I watched as he grimaced and then looked at her like she was the only one who existed in the bar.
“Can we talk?” he asked. I watched her cross her arms over her chest.
“I don’t know, can we?” she bit off rudely. It surprised me. Ruby was nothing but sweet to everyone. Something definitely happened, and this guy had totally fucked up somehow.
“Ruby,” he pleaded, and I felt for the guy.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom. You okay? You wanna go with me?” I offered Ruby an out like anyone in the sisterhood would. Though, seeing her and holding back about Frank made me feel like the worst person alive.
If she didn’t want to spend time with him, she’d get up and go with me. If she did want to entertain whatever he needed to say, she could have privacy without having to leave the bar.
“I’m okay,” she muttered, looking at me.
“You positive?” I asked, and she nodded, mouthing Thank you as I hopped off and walked to the bathrooms.
I needed to tell her. I couldn’t keep this a secret anymore. Maybe if I explained it was a case of mistaken identity, that I honestly had had no idea it was her dad when I had met him in the coffee shop, she would understand. Maybe?
A big hand suddenly covered the small of my back and pushed me deeper in the darkened hallway, but I wasn’t scared. His touch was as familiar as my own. How the hell had I gotten used to his touch so quickly? Pulling me into the end of the hall, his body caged me up against a wall. A husky breath warmed my ear and sent a shiver down my spine. I knew exactly who it was.
“I didn’t think I would get a chance alone with you,” he roughly murmured into my ear. I closed my eyes.
“What are you doing?” I asked on a sigh. His touch was my own kryptonite.
“I missed you.”
“Me too.”
“Sneaking around can be kind of exciting,” he murmured lightly against the shell of my ear, and my body lit up. He wasn’t wrong, but this wasn’t right.
“Frank, she’s going to see you,” I complained, but I didn’t push him away. No, my brain obviously didn’t function at its full capacity when I was around him. Instead of pushing him back, I tilted my head slightly, all so he had more access to my neck, wishing I had put my hair up.
“She’s busy,” he mumbled.
“We need to tell her,” I whispered, turning around to look into his beautiful eyes. “I don’t want to keep this a secret.”
“We will,” he reassured me, and the honesty that reflected back made me feel better. He wasn’t just saying it to say it. He meant it. We would tell her. “Tomorrow. I promise,” he said almost in a whisper, and I smiled, my heart filled with hope.
“Frank.” I grinned before he kissed me.
I got lost in it.
With the wall behind me, his body in front of me, blanketing me, the world simply faded away. All that existed in a blink of an eye was the man who was starting to become so much more to me than I had first anticipated. Wetness grew between my legs, but that was inevitable whenever he was close.
“I need to kiss you,” he whispered darkly, pulling away from my lips, kissing my cheek, dragging his lips back to my neck. “Taste you.”
“You’re not playing fair.”
“Nothing’s fair when it comes to love and war.”
“Is th
is love or war?” I asked softly.
He looked so much younger in baseball cap and casual clothes, and it hit me. His was the face I wanted to look at every day I was gifted from now till my last breath.
The mysterious pull and attraction I had with Frank was more than a fling or chemistry. It was crazy over the top fast, but I knew.
This was more.
This was love.
“Karina.” One arm was resting on the wall behind me, the other moving to cup my face, where his thumb stroked the line of my jaw. “I think we both know exactly what this is,” he whispered. His lips hovered right over mine, and my breath hitched in my throat.
“Frank.” I smiled.
This was really happening.
This beautiful man, who had started off as nothing but an off-the-cuff adventure, was now so much more. He was mine. Mine in the for keeps, do this for the long run, let’s grow old together sort of mine.
“Dad?” the familiar feminine voice said, and the moment halted to a stop.
Fuck.
I closed my eyes. My body filled with ice water, and my heart stilled as the words I was about to say lodged and had to be swallowed down.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” she asked, smiling at her dad, then her eyes went to mine, and my heart dropped.
Confusion and betrayal filled her stare, and I felt like the worst person on earth.
“Karina?”
“Ruby,” I whispered. “I can explain—”
“Oh, my God!” Ruby shrieked, and I winced.
“Ruby,” Frank said. “Honey.”
“Are you two for real right now?” she asked loudly, her face a mask of disgust.
Shit. Time was up, and we had to face reality. Everything I thought had been possible mere seconds ago was no longer.
“Ruby,” I said, trying to find the words as I noticed Frank had stepped away, putting space between us. A wide-eyed Ruby looked back and forth between her dad and me, like she couldn’t believe her eyes. Like she was trying to understand but couldn’t put one and one together because it equaled five.
Then Frank did something I didn’t know if it was a good call or not, but I couldn’t help but be thankful. He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers, squeezing my hand in his.
Quite Frankly: Dilf Mania (Beech Grove Book 5) Page 9