Page 100 of The Daddy’s Girl

Once I make my presence known, she relaxes, letting a smile stretch across her face. When she turns and finds my eyes with her own, I know exactly what she’s thinking because I am thinking it too.

I want to kiss her. If we were anywhere else, I would. I would draw her lithe body into my arms and caress her tongue with my own.

“Bonsoir, Matis. Qu’est-ce que je te sers?” The bartender interrupts our longing gaze to ask for my drink order, and I give her a polite smile as I reply.

“Un cabernet sauvignon, s’il te plaît.”

She spins around to get my wine while I hover behind Amelia, caging her in against the bar. Seeing her in here makes my mouth water, especially in that dress that looks just innocent enough but just short enough to make men like me wild with the craving to see and feel what she’s hiding underneath. It’s a simple black dress with thin straps, a modest neckline, and a flowing skirt that stops closer to her ass than her knees.

My fingers toy with the bottom hem, tickling her thighs as she bites back a smile. I’d like to bury my face under this dress and never come up for air. Heaven is under this dress.

Amelia leans back against the bar, her elbows on the cool stone top as her back arches and her legs inch apart, letting me drift my finger up the inside of her thigh. I’ve only been in here for two minutes, and already I’m being reckless. I knew this was a mistake, but I don’t have an ounce of restraint in my body when it comes to this woman.

“You two might as well be fucking onstage.”

Yanking my body away from Amelia, I turn my head to see Geo sitting casually beside us. I must not have recognized him when I walked in, which isn’t surprising since I was solely focused on her.

Amelia has her mouth hanging open, clearly speechless and probably a little mortified.

Geo snickers into his whiskey. “Relax, Amelia. I won’t tell.”

“Not even my mother?”

He tilts his head at her. “Not even your mother.”

Daisy and Geo have been friends far longer than he and I have, but Geo has never been the type to balk at forbidden relationships. He won’t even blink an eye at me and my goddaughter. He doesn’t care about age differences, and he doesn’t divulge secrets. Part of being a bartender, I think.

“Thank you,” I mumble to him.

Keeping my distance from Amelia now, I take my wine from the bar and step away from her.

Geo turns toward us as he smiles knowingly. “So this is the girl.”

This catches Amelia’s attention. Her brows lift and she glances at me as if waiting for me to fill in the blanks for her. “What girl?”

“The one who has him ready to settle down.”

“Enough,” I say a bit too aggressively.

Amelia knows how I feel about her. That I love her. That I’d carve the moon out of the sky for her if she asked me to.

But I don’t want her getting ideas about settling down. I don’t need her getting her heart attached to the idea of us being together properly. It’s a promise I can’t keep.

“Oh really?” she asks, ignoring my argument.

“So how long has this been going on?” Geo asks.

I’m squeezing the glass so hard, I worry it will shatter. All I can think is that now two people know, two people very close to Amelia’s family. This secret is getting too heavy, weighed down by every person who is not my best friend knowing something he doesn’t.

Amelia notices my frustration and places a hand on mine. Trying to relax my shoulders, I stare into her knowing eyes. It’s incredible to me how she can calm me so effortlessly. As if she is at home in my mind. In my heart.

Then she turns toward Geo with her shoulders back and a proud sort of smirk on her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckles haughtily as he takes a drink. “Well played.”

“Matis is my godfather, Geo. That would be incredibly inappropriate. We’re just good friends, and everyone knows it.”

“That they do,” he replies. Then he looks at me. With a wink, he adds, “She’s a good one, Matis. Don’t let her go.”