He chuckled. “Ten seems a bit extreme, but yes. It would be no problem.”
“Ten isnotextreme for a book lover. That’s us just getting started.”
He continued laughing. “I am being serious. Get as many as you want.” He caught Aleesa’s hand before she could make a dash for the toy section.
“You know books aren’t cheap, right?” I challenged. Because why was he doing this? A guy had never been willing to buy me as many books as I wanted.
“Octavia.” His voice was firm, and his eyes held steady on mine. “Cost is nothing to me, and I do not want you to worry about it either. Consider this my way of saying thanks for taking such good care of my daughter.”
“But that’s my job. And you pay me very well for it.”
“Octavia,” he scolded again. “Are you really going to stand here and argue with me about not buying you something you love?”
“I don’t mean to argue, I just ...” The center of my chest warmed as I struggled to find the right words. “Why are you being so nice to me?” I suspiciously narrowed my eyes at him.
“Would you rather I be grumpy? Because I can be. I amverygood at it. You said so yourself.”
I laughed. “Absolutely not.”
“Okay then.”
Holding on to Aleesa’s hand, he stepped closer and raised his free hand to stroke my upper arm. It was a soothing touch. Couple that with the way he looked into my eyes, and every part of me felt gooey and warm.
“I want you to have a good time, and I want you to be happy. That is all. Now go.” He cocked his head, gesturing for me to get to it. “Find me when you are ready, amor.”
That was another thing. Calling melovein Spanish. One hundred percent endearing. I’d thought he was only using it for sex, to enhance the moment, you know? But he was still calling me it ... and I secretly loved it. Lord. He had to stop this. It was too much for me to handle right now.
I bobbed my head and walked away, because if I didn’t, I was going to jump on that man and climb him like a tree.
Twenty-Eight
Javier
Octavia selected five books because, in her words, she did not “wanna be greedy.” Right after we checked out, she jumped to throw her arms around my neck and then kissed my cheek.
“Thank you,” she whispered in my ear.
She did not know how much that small act meant to me. To feel appreciated for something. To feel wanted by a woman and cared for.
I tried my best not to think too much of it—she was simply thanking me—but it was hard not to think about it when she looked at me with those big, sparkling brown eyes.
Or when she bit her bottom lip.
Or when she stared at my mouth, like she wanted more than just a peck on the cheek.
After leaving the bookstore, Octavia somehow convinced me to stop at an ice cream parlor. This was a bad idea. Everyone knew not to feed a four-year-old ice cream with sprinkles at eight o’clock at night.
“I’ll tucker her out so she burns it off, I promise.” Octavia sat down at a table near the window, and I joined her.
“This is very hypocritical, you know?” I leaned back, watching as she handed Aleesa a cup with a vanilla scoop and sprinkles. “We literallyjust bought a book for her about eating less sugar. Plus, she had a lot of Catalina’s chocolate cake during dinner.”
I never thought that I would be the parent who was a stickler about sugar, yet here I was. But honestly it was because Aleesa literally seemed to turn into some hyperactive gremlin when she consumed too much candy or sweets. I am not even kidding. She would scream with excitement, get the zoomies, giggle hysterically, beg me to watch some random dance move that made absolutely no sense. It was cute at first but became exhausting very quickly.
“I’ll wear her outanddouble brush her teeth. Will that help?” Octavia brought her spoon to her mouth and licked the fudge away. I didn’t dare look away as she did it.
“Are you trying to distract me from this topic by seducing me?”
“What?” she shrilled. I smirked. “You’re crazy. I’m simply enjoying my ice cream.” She gave the spoon another lick, this time curling her tongue around the top. My dick spasmed as I saw her pink tongue glide over the curve of the plastic.
