Page 85 of The Daddy’s Girl

Julian: Suit yourself. I’m not far if you need me.

Amelia: Thanks.

“I hope you’re hungry.”

I glance up from my phone to see Matis grating parmesan over the bowl of pasta. A moment later, he sets it in front of me, and I smile up at him.

“You’re spoiling me.”

When I feel his lips against the top of my head, my heart swells. “I like spoiling you.”

Spoil me more then, I think. Spoil me until I come.

Of course, I don’t say that out loud.

When he sits across from me with his own bowl, it doesn’t feel strange or forbidden or unnatural. In fact, it feels like the most normal thing in the world. We belong like this. Can’t he feel it?

When I lift my gaze to his, we both savor the moment. Soft smiles stretch across content faces.

“I meant what I said today,” I mumble quietly as I spin the noodles around my fork.

“Said what?”

“That I think you should go back to work at the club.”

He nods for a moment without looking up at me. “Am I really bothering you that much?”

“No. I wish you’d bother me more, actually.”

He smirks up at me but doesn’t respond.

“I just mean…I don’t think you were ready to retire yet.”

Judging by the way his shoulders tense and his mouth straightens, I’d say I’m right.

“What do you suggest I do, Trouble? Take L’Amour back?”

With my mouth full, I smirk at him. “It’s called Legacy now.”

“Exactly. It’s not my club anymore.”

“So start a new one,” I suggest as I take a sip of my wine.

He scoffs. “Not a chance.”

“Why not?”

“Do you know how much work that is?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“Too much for an old man like me.”

“You’re not so old…” I mutter while staring down at my bowl. I feel his eyes lift to my face, but I don’t show the smile I’m hiding.

After dinner, Matis and I curl up on the couch in the living room and watch an old movie. I have a bowl of popcorn on my lap, eating it one piece at a time to keep busy throughout the movie or else I can’t possibly sit still that long.

His hand rests along the back of the sofa, except for a moment near the end when I feel his fingers tracing delicately down my spine. My skin erupts in shivers, and I end up ditching the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table to lean back into his arm.