ALEX
I restedmy hands on the marble walls and dipped my head under the waterfall spout in my wet room. As water poured down the back of my neck one word played in my mind like a record skipping.
Sadie. Sadie. Sadie.
All I could think about was the golden-eyed girl who had infiltrated every moment of my waking life. Not a second went by that she wasn’t on my mind. She was consuming me. Before she moved in, I’d thought that she had dominated my thoughts, but those days were child’s play compared to the obsession my brain had formed for her since she’d been here.
The big difference was, before she’d moved in, I knew one side of the woman who enchanted me from the first time I’d laid eyes on her. I’d seen her at the bakery, in a professional capacity.
I hadn’t seen her when she just woke up, looking adorably sexy with a crease on her cheek and her messy hair framing her perfect face.
I hadn’t seen how amazing she was with Lexi, teaching her to bake, coloring, and listening to every word my chatty daughter said.
I hadn’t heard her on the phone with her dad every day, answering question after question that he had about her living situation and reassuring him that she was okay.
I hadn’t witnessed her looking frantically for her sunglasses, only to realize that they were on the top of her head.
I hadn’t seen her spend half an hour coaxing her stubborn tabby onto her lap so she could administer the eye medication that the cat needed twice a day.
I hadn’t heard her sing to her bulldog to lull him to sleep.
Over the past seven days I’d done my best to keep my distance from her. If I heard her in the kitchen in the morning, I avoided going in there. If I heard her in the hallway after Lexi was in bed, I didn’t leave my room. The only time we spent together was during dinner. Thankfully, Lexi talked enough for the three of us and I didn’t have to engage in conversation with Sadie, because that was dangerous. But that didn’t stop me from catching glimpses of her doing things and they were imprinted on my soul.
Sadie was patient, sweet, kind, funny, and sexy as hell. I’d known there was something special about her before the Sadie Situation had taken place. But now, now I knew just how special she actually was. She’d also given me back something that I never thought I’d feel again, a sense of family.
That’s what the dinners we’d shared together felt like. That’s what I felt when she’d sent me daily texts with updates on Lexi. That’s what I’d felt when I’d seen her braiding my daughter’s hair, or patiently teaching her something in the kitchen, or watching the two them move a snail off the sidewalk and gently placing him out of the way of foot traffic on the one occasion all three of us had gone out to walk Eeyore.
But it wasn’t real. We weren’t a family. We were living in a mutually beneficial arrangement that had an expiration date.One that could not come soon enough, I thought to myself as I turned off the water and grabbed a towel.
As I dried off, I ignored the semi-hard erection I was rocking. Half-chub was a condition I was getting used to living in. It was a near constant state around Sadie.
I closed my eyes and pictured her in the shower that shared a wall with my bathroom. Water dripping down her back, over the rounded cheeks of her ass…
A groan rumbled from my chest as I grew harder. I opened my eyes and saw my reflection in the mirror. I was standing at full salute and my body looked primed and ready for action. I’d already taken matters into my own hands to alleviate some pressure when I stepped into the shower, but it hadn’t done the trick. Less than five minutes later I was already rock hard again.It hadn’t even taken the edge off.
I’m not sure why I thought that I could handle this, but I wasn’t doing a very good job.
I tried to push Sadie to the back of my mind as I got dressed. If you would have asked me a week ago if anything could have made me look forward to the event tonight, I would have told you no. But, after spending a week with Sadie, I was actually relieved for the distraction. At this point I would go have a root canal rather than be alone with the woman who I couldn’t stop thinking about.
My phone buzzed and I looked down and saw that it was the alarm I’d set. It was time to go.
Mia had arrived half an hour ago with dresses and someone to do her make-up and hair. We’d gone to a dozen or so events together and never once had she used my apartment to get ready. But I wasn’t about to question her when I was using tonight to call in a bet she’d lost.
After adjusting my tie and shrugging on my jacket, I walked out of my room and lifted my head at the sound of heels clicking on the hardwood floor. When I did, I saw Sadie rushing toward me down the hall. She was wearing a dark red dress that molded to her hourglass figure. It accentuated her hips, waist, thighs and hit mid-calf revealing the sexy curve of her calves. Two straps cupped her shoulders and the vee in the neckline showcased her full chest and cleavage in the classiest, sexiest way.
Her golden blonde hair fell in soft waves around her face. Her eyes popped with a smoky outline and her lips were a cranberry shade that was just a hint darker than the dress.
My eyes traveled up and down her body appreciating the view that was a thousand times better than the skyline and bridge that were at my left.
I opened my mouth to speak but no words were coming out.
“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that Eeyore got his dinner. If I don’t stand next to him to supervise when he eats, then Achoo shares his dinner. And by share, I mean eats it. But everyone is fed now. I’m ready.” She smiled.
“What are you…?” Confusion whirled in my head as my phone buzzed. I looked down at my phone and read Mia’s text.
Mia: I’m feeling under the weather, so Sadie is going to join you tonight. Frank is downstairs waiting with the car. Marcy Carver is your point person at City Hall. Have fun and be nice.
I read the information twice but none of it was registering with me right now. All I could think about was how fucking gorgeous Sadie looked. I turned my gaze back up to her and knew that I had to speak. I needed to open my mouth and force sounds to come out, but when I tried nothing happened.
