He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Fine then. Your turn, big boy. How does being called a little girl’s daddy makeyoufeel?”
Now it was my turn to retreat into my thoughts, to struggle with the weight of that word and everything it implied, about responsibility and commitment and the terrifyingly wonderful prospect of being someone’s father.
“Honored,” I said finally. “Petrified, but my heart is full, and I feel . . . a little overwhelmed.”
Theo nodded thoughtfully. “You just summed up fatherhood.”
We stood there for a moment longer, just staring at each other in the quiet hallway, neither of us able to—or wanting to—move.
“I should probably actually go home now,” I said reluctantly. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but Theo had made it clear that it was too soon to stay at his house with Debbie sleeping at the other end of the hallway.
“Probably,” he agreed, but neither of us moved. The wiggle room of that word, rather than the definitive he’d used every other time we’d reached this bridge, made my breath catch.
“Okay, um, I’ll see you tomorrow?”
He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. He just stared up at me for the longest moment ever—then leaned back against the wall and said, “Or . . .”
I raised a brow. “Or?”“You could stay. You have to feed Cuddles tomorrow morning anyway. It would be a lot more convenient to be here.”
“Right . . . for the dog.”
He grinned. “Exactly. It’s for the dog.”
“Do you want me to sleep on the couch?”
Theo actually laughed at that. Then he leaned forward, planted a deep, sexy kiss on my mouth, and muttered, “I want you to sleep beside me . . . and inside me . . . if you can handle it.”
I nearly lost my balance.
Then I kissed him harder, deeper, with every ounce of desire I could muster. When we parted, breathless, I whispered, “After you, Daddy.”
Chapter 33
Theo
Igrabbed his hand, entwined our fingers, and led Jeremiah down the hall, past the bathroom, and into my bedroom at the far end of the house. My heart raced faster than the first time he’d kissed me, but this time, the anticipation was far more powerful than fear. I knew the stunning man I was about to see, the pecs and abs and legs and . . . that glorious cock.
Okay, fine, I was about to shit my breeches.
Everything about Jeremiah’s body intimidated the hell out of me . . . and thrilled me all in one glorious, horny heartbeat. Never in a million years had I even dreamed I’d be dating or sleeping with or whatever the fuck we were doing with a genuine Greek god; but there we were, quietly sneaking down my hallway, hoping beyond hope that my little girl would stay asleep while we, well, didn’t.
Oh, right, there was also my rule about never—and I mean never—having sex while my daughter was under the same roof. The moment she’d come to live with me, I’d made that commitment to us, to her upbringing, to keeping her innocent.For four years, I’d kept that sacred promise, not that I’d had that many offers to break it. Still, guiding Jeremiah through my bedroom door somehow felt like an explorer stepping off his ship for the first time after months at sea. Would the land hold me? Would natives attack? Was this all a massive mistake, one I could’ve avoided by never leaving my home shore?
Jeremiah’s gentle kiss on the back of my neck as we crossed the bedroom’s threshold brought me back from my nautical adventure. He was such a good man, so kind and caring and gentle. For one with muscles covering him like sexy barnacles on a ship—okay, ew, that was a weird analogy—anyway, for one who was so well built, he might’ve been one of the softest hearts I’d ever met.
Although as the door clicked shut behind me, and I heard him turn the lock, it wasn’t his heart I was excited to feel.
Warm hands dug beneath my shirt, teasing the tender skin of my waist with rough callouses.
“I’m going to make you forget your own name tonight,” he whispered, kissing my earlobe before taking it in his teeth.
“Quietly. Make me forget quietly, or we’ll end up with a gremlin sleeping between.”
“Right,” he said as his hands crawled up my sides until he forced my arms over my head. My shirt followed, slipping free and dropping to the floor. Jeremiah’s hands were on my chest before I could breathe, his fingers swirling around my nipples, teasing them, flicking them, stroking them in the perfect way that made me shiver.
“Jer—”“Shh.” He wheeled me about to face him. “No talking.”
His lips quashed any reply my addled brain tried to force out of my mouth. Teeth dug into my bottom lip, then his tongue soothed. He kissed so deeply, so perfectly, I thought the room might spin off its axis.
