“That way I’ll know when to go looking for you if you’re late.”
She laughed. “I’m not planning on going missing. And I don’t expect the date to last long because he does have to go back to work. Maybe an hour or so?”
“Okay. What time are you meeting him?”
“At one,” she said. “So how about this? If I’m not back by three or four, you can send out the cavalry.”
Victor didn’t crack even the tiniest of smiles at her joke, instead raking his fingers through his hair and looking completely pissed off. “Fine,” he finally barked.
“Great,” she said, making her way toward the door. “I’m going to go upstairs and grab a quick shower, get ready for my day.” She and Pip had long since made themselves at home, both of them eating breakfast in their pajamas. “Once I’m done, I’ll grab Pip and get her dressed.”
Victor shook his head. “Take the whole day off. You’ve earned it. I’ll take care of Pip until you get home from your date…atthree,” he stressed.
“Or four,” she added, just to be contrary. Then she smiled—and stupidly lifted up on tiptoe, giving Victor a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Victor.”
He grunted under his breath, which she took as his version of “you’re welcome.” After that, she made a hasty escape, not wanting Victor to see the inappropriate affect the silly little kiss had on her.
Her nipples were hard, poking through her T-shirt, and damn if her panties weren’t damp.
Just from a kiss on the cheek.
She was going through serious vibrator withdrawals, and something was going to have to give. As much as she loved their patio time, and as much as she would hate forhimto go on a date, she seriously needed him to leave the house at least one evening so she could work out some of these pent-up hormones.
Since she had Victor’s permission, she took her time getting ready for her date, taking care to wash and condition her hair, shave all the pertinent places, and loofah herself until she was squeaky clean. Then she spent an exorbitant amount of time overthinking what she should wear. In the end, she opted for a pale blue sundress and sandals, which felt casual yet a bit dressy at the same time. She spent a full hour in front of the bathroom mirror, blow drying and styling her hair before putting on makeup. Ordinarily, she was a ponytail/messy bun girl and her daily makeup routine consisted of nothing more than a few swipes of mascara and some Chapstick because she never had time to try the fancy techniques in the videos she loved.
Glancing at the clock, she placed her hand against her stomach, trying to will away the butterflies. She pretended they were there because she was nervous about the coming date,but that was a lie. The bastards were fluttering away like crazy because she was more nervous about Victor’s reaction when he saw all the special pains she’d taken for this date.
The masochist in her was hoping he’d take one look at her and forbid her to leave the house, after which he’d toss her over his shoulder and carry her to his bedroom.
She closed her eyes and released a slow, pained breath.
Her fantasies of the Beast were getting way out of hand.
She’d dolled up for Scott, not Victor.
Once she felt steady, she walked downstairs, hovering just outside the living room entrance, watching as Victor and Pip sat across from each other on the floor, putting her new puzzle together on the coffee table. Victor was letting Pip do the lion’s share of the work, pretending to take part, when really he was casually feeding her the pieces she was looking for, making sure frustration didn’t kick in.
He was such a natural with Pip, it was hard to believe he didn’t have any kids of his own.
She held her breath when he spotted her in the doorway.
His gaze slid down and back up, but not in a skeevy way.
Then his expression grew darker than she’d ever seen it.
That look probably would have intimidated ninety-nine percent of the human race, since it was almost murderous. But all Belle felt was warm and tingly inside.
“Belle!” Pip shouted. “You look like a princess!” She raced over to hug her.
“Thanks, kiddo,” she said, ruffling Pip’s hair. “I’m going to go out for a little while. To have coffee with a friend.”
Victor growled, but Pip either didn’t notice or care.
“Can I go? I can wear my purple dress with the unicorns on it!” Pip started to dash by her, but Belle caught her quickly.
“You’re going to stay home with your uncle this afternoon,” she said. “But I promise, you and I can dress up and do a coffee date of our own very soon. Okay?”
Pip, obviously disappointed, looked ready to insist, but Victor was prepared.
