I force my mouth into a flat line, the way I always do when I want people to stop looking too closely. “Habit,” I answer. My voice sounds rough, dangerous, even to my own ears.
She looks at me for too long. Then at her. Then back at me.
Fuck.
I take a slow sip of my coffee, pretending it doesn’t taste like guilt, pretending I can’t still smell her perfume clinging to my shirt, pretending my cock isn’t hard under the table because all I can think about is bending her over the counter with my daughter standing right there.
“You’re quiet this morning,” Kate teases her.
She laughs too quickly, too forced. “I didn’t sleep much.”
My hand tightens around the mug, knuckles white. I want to silence her, to remind her who owns this excuse. Instead, I keep my face blank, unreadable, the same mask I’ve worn in boardrooms, courtrooms, fucking battlefields.
Kate leans an elbow on the counter, narrowing her eyes. “Not like you.”
I watch her shift under the weight of her best friend’s stare, biting her lip. I want to bite it for her, drag it between my teeth until she gasps my name again.
No.
Not here. Not now.
“I’m fine,” she says quickly, too quickly.
Kate doesn’t believe it. I can tell by the way her gaze lingers, suspicious, like she’s piecing together a puzzle she doesn’t even know exists yet.
My blood runs cold and hot all at once.
I should be terrified.
I should stop this before I burn every bridge left between me and my daughter.
But when her eyes meet mine over the rim of her mug, wide and guilty and still begging me without a word.
All I can think is: mine.
Kate props her chin in her hand, mug steaming in front of her, eyes narrowing as if she’s watching a chess game only she doesn’t know the rules to.
“You’re both… weird this morning,” she says finally. “Like… off.”
My jaw works as I swallow down the curse I want to spit. Off? Christ. She doesn’t know the half of it.
“I’m always the same,” I say flatly, but I feel her—my girl—shift in her seat beside me, thighs brushing together under the table like she’s trying to hide the soreness I gave her. My cock twitches traitorously, and I grip the edge of the counter so I don’t reach under and spread her open right here in front of Kate.
She laughs too fast again. “Maybe I’m just tired. Kate dragged me around all day yesterday.”
Kate leans back, studying her with lazy suspicion, but her eyes flick to me for half a second before returning to her. “You never complain about my plans.”
“I’m not complaining.” She forces a smile. Too sweet, too strained. “It was fun.”
Kate stares at her. Then at me. Then back at her.
My stomach knots, but I keep my face cold stone.
Kate tilts her head. “So… what did you two get up to while I was asleep? You’re both so chipper for people who were up late.”
My pulse slams.
The silence stretches too long.
