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“It’s always best to give as many details as possible.” He turned me around gently. Framed my face, he searched my gaze. “If we remove the mystery, they’ll likely move on to another story that they can manipulate faster. But I don’t mind at all letting the whole world know that Ally is my daughter and that I love her best friend.”
“It’s not your usual top news story.” I shook my head.
“But go big or go home,” Ally muttered behind us.
“That was Champion’s quote leading up to the Super Bowl,” I said, remembering.
“So it was.” He nodded. “We’re going big and going home, a home that from now on includes us three. The saying fits.” His eyes were on me, and I could tell he read my concern. The trepidation I couldn’t hide. “It’ll be all right, E.”
“Okay,” I said, but suddenly I wasn’t so sure.
Champion
I LEANED AGAINST the door frame, watching Electra putting on makeup in front of the dresser mirror in my bedroom. She belonged here. I belonged now. The house was a home. It just took the addition of her and Ally.
“Are you getting ready to leave?” I asked.
Pressing her lips together like women do after they apply lipstick, she dropped the applicator into her makeup bag and turned around. Electra was stunning with or without makeup. Only with it, her eyes were enhanced, and her lips were shinier and more irresistible than usual.
I wanted to lick the shine from her mouth, then get her naked and on the bed with those perfect lips of hers wrapped around my shaft. But I couldn’t do that right now. I didn’t even have time for a quickie since I’d waited until the last minute to answer the summons from my boss. And I didn’t want a quick rush to fulfillment. When it came to Electra, I wanted to savor, to take my time.
You will have a lifetime. I pulled in a breath and let it out.
Her life was spread out before her. Mine was at the other end of the spectrum. But to me, that didn’t matter. It only meant I was more certain of what I wanted to do with the time we could share. Given her past, I believed she was of a similar mind set. We were no longer books in libraries on opposing ends of the globe. We were bookends side by side on the same shelf.
If things went according to my plan today, I would get what I wanted, what I believed we both needed. I’d solidified the arrangements downstairs while Electra had her shower. My first and only concrete future-oriented plan apart from football centered around her and involved only one question. But would she say yes? I was more nervous about her response than I had been about the outcome of the Super Bowl.
“You look beautiful.” I swept my gaze over her. In a magenta maxi dress with a deep V neckline that plunged between her tempting breasts, she had her black hair loosely tied back with a deep purple scarf that had to be one of Ally’s.
Electra looked like a high-end fashion model. I wanted my camera, wanted to capture her essence and that unidentifiable something that made her uniquely her.
“Thank you.” She came closer, a split in her skirt revealing a pair of black cowboy boots and a long glimpse of her shapely legs and upper thighs. Her silver gaze traveled over me. “You don’t look so bad yourself in your suit.”
“I want you to come with me today,” I said roughly.
Lust pounded hot and heavy in my blood as she dipped her hands into my jacket. The light-blue high-thread-count shirt beneath it was barely any barrier for her touch and the things it did to me. Feeling the press of her palms like a brand, I let my mind race with all sorts of indecent thoughts.
“I like your tie,” she said. “The crimson adds a nice pop of color with the dark navy of your suit, but it’s a little crooked.”
She reached up to straighten it. Her bottom lip went between her teeth. Looking down at her, I felt my cock get so hard, the broad head inched above the waistband of my boxers.
“Did you hear what I asked?” I said.
“I didn’t hear a question.” She glanced up at me, her eyes full of fiery challenge.
Hell fucking yes.
“Maybe I didn’t exactly ask,” I said, “but I’d like you to go. Would you?”
“To Simon Morris’s place?” Her brows rose, two dark emblems over her eyes that rivaled the stars.
“Yeah,” I said with a confirming nod.
“But it’s a business meeting. A business I’m not a part of.”
That wasn’t entirely true, and it certainly wouldn’t be if she gave me the answer I wanted later. But what if she didn’t give me the answer I wanted? Where did I factor in with her vison of the future? We hadn’t discussed specifics.
“Come,” I said. “I want you with me.”
