Her internal temperature rose, her nipples making a stand under the insubstantial fabric of her dress. She’d never been this responsive to the guys she dated… most of them not half as attractive, or half as… she swallowed. Mr. Barret was Madison’s dad. Her sweet friend who she met in high school when her then foster family pulled some strings and found a scholarship for her at an exclusive private school.
Madison had been the only classmate who had treated her like an equal.
“Is that him?” Knox asked, pointing at a tall, beige colored fur ball with four legs.
She squinted her eyes, turning her head to look.
Mr. Fluffers wandered the street with his tail between his rear legs, probably second guessing his decision to go on a solo walk.
Her pulse skittered a bit, relief pouring over her. “Yes,” she said, happy. “That’s Mr. Fluffers.”
He stopped the car by the curb, and she slipped out of the seat and left, knowing she should be the one to coax him to return home. Though the moment she stepped on the sidewalk and called his name, making that kissing sound she did to get his attention, he quickly wagged his tail and ran to her, nearly knocking her over with excitement.
Yes, turned out Mr. Fluffers knew a good thing when he had it, and was done for the night.
Knox drove them back and they small talked about the dog, and he told her why he enjoyed the Smiths. They had been the ones who told him about the house next door to theirs to buy even before it hit the market, soon after his divorce.
“There you go,” he said, when he parked the car in front of the house she was staying. He could have simply parked it in his garage, but ever the gentleman, he made sure she was dropped off first.
She grabbed Mr. Fluffers by the collar on the back seat. “Thank you so much. I was nervous, and it was nice having company.”
“My pleasure,” he said, his gaze traveling down from her face to her neck.
She followed it, then she looked down her dress, realizing she was leaning over the middle console, and he was having a good view of her braless tits. A thread of sexual awareness worked its way beneath her skin, desire shooting down between her legs. When she eyed him again, he shuffled in his seat, uncomfortable, and cleared his throat.
“I guess we’re done for the night. Be safe,” he said, looking away.
“Thank you for the ride,” she said, and slid out of his car with the dog whose nighttime adventure just made her realize one thing—Knox was attracted to her. That had to be it, right? He was looking at her breasts, then felt guilty and avoided further eye contact.
A thrill swept over her, the discovery empowering her. No, there was no way in hell that she was done for the night…and their ride was just starting.
Knox slipped out of the shower.
A cold, cold shower.
Yet not cold enough.
What the hell was he thinking, half-an hour ago, when he stared at Alyssa’s hot tits like he was a damn teenager, seeing breasts for the first time? It’d been an accident, he reminded himself, as he scooped a towel from the rack.
He was forty-three years old, and she was… how old, again? Probably same age as Madison. His daughter.
Knox shook his head to himself. Lusting over his daughter’s best friend had to be a new low. He’d never looked at Alyssa that way. Sure, she was an attractive young woman, with her reddish-brown curly hair, freckles around her nose and big hazel eyes that could turn someone’s day around.
A thread of lust worked its way through his body, and he willed it away. He needed to focus on finishing the screenplay for the third movie in the Hunter Ford trilogy. When he’d sold the first one, ten years prior, he’d never imagined it could be so successful worldwide.
Sadly for him, his latest project wasn’t moving as fast as the others. He slid on some sweatpants and a white t-shirt.
He needed to find his focus again, and thinking about the quick moment he shared with Alyssa was a waste of time.
She was way too young for him, and he’d never consider dating his daughter’s friend. His gut clenched. A shame, because a dark voice inside him kept whispering about all the dirty things he’d like to do to Alyssa and her delicious curvy body.
He grabbed his phone from the nightstand, and updated his favorite dating app. He hadn’t gone on a date in months, and that was probably the reason why his brain was playing tricks on him. All he needed was to scratch the itch.
With that in mind, he swiped right on by a few women, barely glancing at their profiles. Alyssa’s sweet face unfurled in his mind, her image replacing the pictures from those random women. When the doorbell rang, he tossed the phone on the bed. Who could it be now? He went down the stairs, and the second he opened the door, he did a double take.
The object of his lust stood in front of him, holding a six-pack of light beer and a box of pizza. He shook his head. Had he ordered takeout and was now seeing her face instead of some old delivery man? But now… as his gaze zoomed in on her, the nervous smile on her lips, he had the assurance he needed. Desire stirred in his groin. Yep. This Alyssa was all too real. “Alyssa? Are you locked out of the Smith’s house?” he asked, because why else would she be on his doorstep for the second time in the same evening?
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, the bottles of beer clinking together. “No… I’m sorry. Are you busy? I wanted to thank you for helping me with Mr. Fluffers, so I brought dinner.”
