by Kendall Ryan
“It is, but not as cold as Greenland. Can you believe that?”
Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the little blue boat and shook her head. She then picked up the toy and started talking to it, asking how long it took to get to Iceland and if it saw any ice castles when it got there.
I rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, smiling as she splashed and played in the water. It was one of those moments when I knew I should have been watching the clock, making sure that she would get to preschool on time and that I wouldn’t be late to work, but I couldn’t bring myself to rush through this, or ignore how incredibly precious moments like this were.
If someone had told me five years ago that my life would be completely changed by a tiny, helpless baby coming into my life, I would have told them they were nuts. But from the moment Maddie’s mom told me she was pregnant, I knew my life would never be the same.
One look at the ultrasound photo, and I was smitten. And when it was clear I’d have to raise Maddie alone, I chose to do it in a heartbeat. There was no other option for me.
My little girl became my whole world the moment I learned of her existence. Even if my personal life had taken a bit of a hit because I was busy raising my daughter, every second I spent with her was more than worth it. Maddie was everything to me, and nothing could ever take away from what we had.
The pregnancy had obviously been a surprise for us both, but Maddie’s mom had no interest. Now she lived across the country and called once a year on Maddie’s birthday.
Once I finished rinsing the last of the soap off her body, I helped Maddie out to dry off and pulled the plug to drain the tub. I got her dressed and quickly braided her hair before changing into my own work clothes. The two of us brushed our teeth side by side in my bathroom. Soon we were both ready for the day, and as we walked down the hallway to the front door, I checked the clock in the kitchen. Even with the added bath time, we were right on schedule.
As I walked out the front door, my gaze ventured up to the apartment above the garage. I couldn’t stop my mind from flashing to the other day at Kate’s apartment, when we’d ended up on the kitchen floor. Not that I was complaining.
I’d been surprised that someone as kitchen-savvy as she was would make such a rookie dishwasher mistake . . . but once we wound up having some of the best sex of my life on her kitchen floor? It all made sense. And hey, I wasn’t the kind of guy to turn down quickie kitchen sex. I wasn’t entirely sure that that elusive male creature even existed. Sex was amazing, no matter the locale.
Blinking away the erotic thoughts, I helped Maddie into her car seat and fastened myself in the front.
“Let’s get you to preschool.”
• • •
By the time I arrived at the office, a huge pile of paperwork was waiting for me on my desk. Sighing, I sat down and immediately got to work. Bus routes on the west side of town needed reorganizing, train tracks needed maintenance, potholes on the highway needed to be filled . . . and all I could think about was filling Kate.
Focus, Hunter, focus.
Thankfully, the rest of the day went by in a flash, and soon it was time for me to pick Maddie up from her best friend’s house. I’d had a feeling that my last meeting of the day would run a little late, so I scheduled a playdate for Maddie with Ashley. Just one of the many skills I’d had to quickly learn as a single dad.
On the car ride home, Maddie asked what we’d be having for dinner, and then whined when I told her we’d be having chicken and broccoli, one of our go-to weekday dinners.
“Why can’t you make the same yummy dinner Kate made us when she came over?”
“Neighbor Kate is a much better chef than I am,” I replied, checking for Maddie’s reaction in the rearview mirror. She didn’t look convinced.
“Well, why can’t you tell her to come over and cook for us again?”
You have no idea how badly I want to invite her over.
“Kate has helped us out a lot lately. It’s been very nice of her, but we don’t want to take advantage of her kindness.”
“Daddy, what does ‘advantage’ mean?”
I sighed. “I just mean that we can’t expect her to make us dinner all the time. We have to learn to do it ourselves.”
Besides, she made it pretty clear a while ago that she wasn’t interested in something serious—and the last thing I want to do is use my kid to guilt her into anything.
Maddie was silent for a while, staring out the window from her car seat. A few minutes later, she sighed and muttered to herself, “But I hate broccoli.”
• • •
I spent all of dinner and all of Maddie’s bedtime routine trying to find an excuse to text Kate without sounding completely and hopelessly desperate.
I could ask her for the recipe of that meal she made that Maddie loved so much—but I promised myself I’d stop using my daughter as an excuse. I could check in and make sure her dishwasher was holding up okay—but it was clear that the whole dishwasher fiasco was a ruse, and I didn’t want to tease her about it.
By the time I put Maddie to bed, I was completely stumped and ready to just shoot Kate a dumb “hey” text.
As I tucked Maddie in, placing a kiss on her forehead and telling her I loved her, I couldn’t help but shake my head at the stupidity of this whole situation. This little princess was the only one who truly mattered in my life. Even if my new tenant was fun, I was a dad first. Maddie and I were a package deal, and long-term, I’d need a woman who understood that.
“Good night, Daddy,” Maddie said softly, her eyelids fluttering closed.
My heart squeezed as I looked down at her small form curled up under the blankets. “Good night, sweetheart. See you in the morning.”
I walked to my bedroom and grabbed my phone from the bedside table. Checking the screen, I was surprised to see that I had a text waiting from Kate.
Are you there?
Her text was more direct than usual. Something might be wrong. I called her immediately, worried that she might be in trouble.
“Hello?” she whispered, her voice barely a squeak.
“Kate, hi, is everything okay?” I tried to keep my voice calm and measured. The last thing she needed was to hear me freaked out.
“I, uh, I heard a noise. I think there might be someone . . . or something . . . here. Do you think you could come over and check it out?”
Within a few minutes, I was walking through Kate’s unlocked front door and into her darkened apartment. Maybe I should have grabbed a baseball bat or something.
“Kate?” I called out, my eyes still adjusting to the darkness.
“Over here,” she replied in a loud whisper.
Following her voice, I walked into the living room to find her curled up on the couch under a blanket pulled all the way up to her chin. Her eyes were the size of softballs—and glued to the horror movie playing on the TV. Part of me thought that she looked genuinely freaked out, but after the way she staged the dishwasher disaster before? I wasn’t so sure.
“What are you watching?” I asked, my voice neutral. If she was really freaked out, I didn’t want to seem like I was making fun of her.
“Well,” she said, turning to look at me and widening her eyes even more, “this movie came on TV, and at the beginning it didn’t look like it would be scary, it just looked really interesting, so I kept watching, and, uh, well, it really freaked me out, and then I heard a noise on the other side of the apartment, and now here you are.”
She said it all at once, her explanation coming out in a fast, steady stream—almost like she’d been rehearsing it for the past ten minutes. I smiled.
“That sounds awful,” I said a little sarcastically, grabbing the remote from her coffee table and switching the movie off. “Let’s start by getting the screaming and the zombies off your TV.”
“Good idea,” she said, nodding and shifting under her blanket on the couch.
“Well, I think there’s only one thing left to do,” I said, tucking my
hands into my back pockets.
“What’s that?” She furrowed her brow, her eyes still wide.
“I think you’d better come sleep over at my place.”
Her eyes grew even wider. “Can we do that?”
“We’ll set an alarm so you can sneak out early.” Not that we’ll be doing much sleeping.
“That’ll be the shortest walk of shame ever.”
“At least there’s a good chance no one will see you.”
We both laughed.
“Yeah, I think sleeping over would be nice,” she said, sitting up and tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Good.” I smiled. “Now, get out from under that blanket so we can get out of here before the zombie in your bedroom finds us.”
She rolled her eyes but followed me to the door, where she slipped her shoes on.
Kate and I crept quickly and quietly over to my place, tiptoeing past Maddie’s room and into mine. Once Kate stepped around me, I closed and locked the door behind us.
Never making that mistake again.
I turned around and Kate wrapped her arms around me, pressing her lips to mine with surprising softness.
“Thanks for rescuing me,” she said between kisses, running her hands over my chest and shoulders.
“I’m glad you called.” I moved my hands down to her waist. “You never know what kind of crazies are out there.”
“Mmm,” she murmured as my mouth moved to her neck, gently nibbling the soft skin below her ear. She made a tiny, need-filled sound and pulled at the buttons on my shirt, slowly unfastening them one by one.
While her fingers worked at getting my shirt off, I slid my hands under her top, reaching around to undo the clasp of her bra. We both finished our tasks at the same time, pausing to pull our shirts over our heads and toss them to the floor.
I then guided Kate to the edge of my bed, where I slowly peeled down her black leggings, enjoying each new inch of bare skin on display. Once her pants were off, I quickly shed my jeans. Our eyes locked, we removed our underwear at the same time and stood there for a moment, looking at each other.
“Come here.” My voice came out rougher than I intended as I took her hand and tugged her to my chest. The feel of her bare skin against mine was exquisite, and all those ample curves were enough to make my mouth water at the opportunity to explore every inch of her body.
I lifted her into my arms, and Kate responded by locking her ankles around my hips. Her mouth met mine in a hungry kiss as I lowered us onto the bed.
I laid her back, dragging my tongue down her neck and over her breasts, where I paused briefly to suck and tease her nipples as she settled against the pillows. Kate moaned at the feel of my tongue rolling over her skin, making me even more eager to keep moving my mouth farther south. Trailing my lips down her torso, I paused just before I reached my destination, moving instead to her inner thigh.
Kate sighed impatiently and chuckled softly. “You’re such a—ooh . . .”
Before she could finish her sentence, I began kissing between her legs, running my tongue over her sensitive flesh. She was even wetter than I thought she would be, and the warmth of her arousal turned me on more.
I continued working my tongue over her pussy, sucking gently on her clit, making her breathe harder and harder. Kate’s moans grew more frequent until I sent her over the edge and her orgasm washed over her, causing her back to arch.
When her breathing returned to normal, she propped herself up on her elbows, raising one hand and curling her finger at me. “Come here,” she whispered.
Bringing my face close, I aligned my body over hers, lowering myself until I could feel her breasts pressing into my chest.
I was dying to bury myself balls-deep right then, but thankfully still had enough functioning brain cells left to reach for the bedside table and grab a condom. After covering myself in latex, I felt Kate’s fist curl around me as she guided me back into position.
Our mouths stayed fused together as I sank into her tight heat. Kate made a wordless sound of pleasure and shifted to accommodate my length. We both sighed as I slowly slid myself inside her, inch by inch. Unable to hold back, even though I wanted to, I pumped my hips and she lifted her hips with each thrust, matching my pace. We were getting good at this—finding the perfect rhythm with each other quickly and easily, both inside and outside the bedroom. Everything with her felt so effortless.
Our breathing quickened. Kate’s moans grew more and more frequent, reaching a level of intensity that told me I was going to have to cover her mouth with my hand again. I brought my hand back to her chest, massaging her breast and rolling her nipple between my fingers while she raked her fingernails over my back, occasionally reaching up the back of my neck to gently pull my hair.
“You are . . . amazing,” she whispered breathlessly, her back arching again as her second orgasm mounted.
I felt her tighten around me and knew my own release was getting closer. But ladies always came first.
“Come for me,” I murmured, and within moments, she inhaled a shaky breath, her entire body trembling. “That’s it . . .” I thrust harder, finding the angle that finally made her come apart.
That was all it took for me, watching her unravel in my arms. I twitched inside her, emptying myself into the condom as a powerful orgasm tore through me, making me curse under my breath.
When I opened my eyes, Kate was watching me in wonder with a small smile on her lips.
Panting, we both lay back on the bed, covered in a thin layer of sweat. Just as I settled into my pillow, Kate turned onto her side, propping her head up on her elbow. I turned to look at her and found a mischievous look on her face, a single eyebrow arched.
“What’s that look?” I asked, mirroring her body language and rolling onto my side.
“I think I’m in love with this slumber party.”
Chapter Thirteen
Kate
“Cheers to being adults.”
Jessie grinned, holding up her margarita. Rebecca had just been promoted at work, Jessie was celebrating her sixth wedding anniversary next week, and I was finally settled in after the move.
The three of us hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks, so we’d planned a girls’ day complete with manis and pedis, a massage, shopping, and now happy hour at my favorite Mexican restaurant.
It was a warm Saturday and we were sitting on the patio, people watching and catching up. Because I hadn’t seen Rebecca or Jessie since I’d moved in, they had no idea what had been going on with Hunter. I’d tried to avoid the conversation because I wasn’t exactly sure what to tell them about him, especially since I didn’t really understand our relationship myself.
“So, how’s birthday-sex guy?” Rebecca asked as if she could read my thoughts.
My cheeks warmed. God, what was wrong with me? I was like a teenager being asked about her crush. I decided to go on the defensive and try to play it off.
“Let’s just say he was worth the wait.” I grinned, hoping they wouldn’t want too many details.
“Oh my God! You hooked up?” Rebecca exclaimed, her hand over her mouth.
Jessie had stopped in mid-bite of her taco and was gaping at me. “You guys had sex?” she asked incredulously.
“How did you not tell us this earlier?” Rebecca asked, sipping her margarita.
“It just sort of happened . . .” I trailed off. “A few times.”
“Oh my God!” Rebecca said again. A group of people passing by on the street turned to stare at us.
“You’re causing a scene,” I said in a low voice, raising an eyebrow at her. “Can you stop shouting?”
“I can’t believe you’re having sex with your landlord,” Jessie said, then finally took a bite of her taco.
“Well, it sounds bad when you put it that way.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “We’re friends. Friends who watch movies and occasionally have sex on the floor of my apartment.”
“The floor?” Jessie was laughing now
.
“That was just one time.” I grinned crookedly at the memory. “The rest of the time, we’ve made it to a bed.”
“Hold on a minute.” Rebecca put up a hand. “What do you mean, watch movies? You’re actually hanging out? Not just hooking up?”
“Kind of. He’s fun.” I shrugged. “And his daughter is nice.”
Jessie and Rebecca exchanged meaningful looks.
“What?” I asked, finishing my margarita. I hadn’t come prepared for the third degree, and it was starting to freak me out. Thankfully, the margaritas were strong.
“The daughter who walked in on you? You all hang out now?”
“Look, it’s just friendly. It’s not a big deal. We’re not dating.”
Jessie waved the server over to our table. “We need three more, please.” She turned back to me. “This is insane. You never like anyone.”
“I don’t like him,” I said. “I mean, I do, as a friend. But I told him to date other people.”
“Kate!” Rebecca was almost shouting again.
“What?” I asked, exasperated. I didn’t like that they were pushing me on this. Two people could hang out and like each other without dating, which was what Hunter and I were doing.
“You finally like someone, and you tell him to date other people?” Jessie asked.
“Look, we said from the beginning that it’s just casual. You know me.” I accepted another drink from our server gratefully. “I’m not looking for something serious.”
Jessie gave me a curious look. “But what do you really want from this?”
What did I want? A few orgasms? I could barely answer that question myself, never mind explain what I was feeling to my friends.
“How’d you get his daughter to like you?” Rebecca raised her eyebrows at me. “Last I heard, she’d chased you out of their house.”
“I made them dinner and helped out with this bake sale,” I said, taking another large sip of my margarita. “She warmed up to me.” I paused. “But she doesn’t know her dad and I are hooking up, which might change the way she feels.”
Jessie and Rebecca exchanged glances again.