It was fucking addictive. One touch and all I wanted to do was skim my fingers along every inch of Doe’s amazing body. I could happily spend hours just exploring that wonderland.
Courtney made a sound in the back of her throat, trying to draw my attention. Reluctantly, I slowly lowered my hand and had to tear my gaze away from Doe to glance at the blonde. She gave me a flirty smile and held out her hand. “Hi. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Courtney. Courtney Wilcox. Senator Wilcox’s daughter.”
I glanced down at her hand before lifting my own, but instead of taking it, I brushed Doe’s hair off her shoulder. Leaning in, I inhaled that wild flower scent that I craved. I felt her shiver as I whispered, “See you tonight.”
“O-okay,” she breathed.
Giving her a wink, I steered my cart between hers and Courtney’s and left them standing there. Fuck, my cock was throbbing, but it was worth it. To touch Doe, to smell her… Damn, I wanted to do it again. She’d already made me an addict, and she hadn’t done anything but stand there staring at me like I was a damned superhero.
I finished the rest of Pixie’s shopping and quickly made my way to her apartment, trying to put Doe out of my head.
But that was impossible.
3
Doe
I parked the truck beside Luca’s garage at five minutes till seven, making sure to avoid looking up at the apartment that was above it. Grabbing my bag, I opened my door and stepped out.
As I climbed the steps to the front porch, I heard a dog bark and found myself smiling. Violet’s dog, Krush, was a huge midnight-black pit bull. He was beautiful, sweet, and mischievous. He loved to run between Luca’s place and ours, chasing squirrels and making friends with some of our farm animals. As big as he was, the cows had accepted him as one of their own, barely paying him any mind unless he barked at them.
Pressing the doorbell, I pulled my phone from my back jeans pocket to check the texts I’d gotten on the drive over. My brothers were at some frat party and already blowing up my phone, letting me know they had started drinking early. Rolling my eyes at their antics, I put the phone away without replying, knowing it would only encourage the three of them if I answered.
When the door opened, Luca Thornton, the starting defensive end for Tennessee, stood in front of me. Dressed in black slacks and a dark-blue button-down, he was ready to go out. His tiny daughter was in his arms, pressing kisses to his cheek. From experience, I knew it was Love Bug’s way of begging him not to leave her, and I could already see that Luca was close to giving her what she wanted.
“Help,” he practically whimpered, his ever-changing brown eyes imploring me to save him before he caved.
Taking pity on him, I jumped into favorite babysitter mode. “There’s my love bug!” I exclaimed, catching her attention.
When she saw me, her pretty light-purple eyes brightened. With a happy squeal, she threw herself into my arms. I pulled her close, kissing all over her adorably beautiful face, making her giggle. But when I glanced at Luca, he looked anything but thankful. There was a pout on his handsome face, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Love Bug might not have been his biological daughter, but she was very much his little girl. There had never been any doubt about how much he loved her.
“Shut it,” he grumbled, but a ghost of a smile teased at his lips.
The shuffling of feet drew my attention as Krush trotted out of the living room. He rushed over to greet me. Before Love Bug was born, he would have jumped up and given me slobbery kisses on the face, but since her birth, Luca and Violet had worked hard on teaching him not to jump up on people who were holding the baby. As stubborn as the dog could be at times, surprisingly, it hadn’t taken long to teach him.
Scratching him on top of his silky head, I bent just enough to let him touch his nose to my cheek.
“She’s already been fed,” Luca said when I straightened. “And I just finished giving her a bath. All you need to do is read her a book before you put her down for the night.”
I nodded, knowing he was about to throw out an entire list of what to do to get her down for the night. Reading to her was just the beginning. I bit my lip to keep from grinning as I listened to him go on and on.
“We’re just going for dinner and a movie, but if anything comes up, don’t hesitate to text me…or Vi. But text me first.”
“I know, Luca,” I assured him. “You don’t have to worry.”
“I know I don’t have to worry,” he grumbled, touching his huge paw-like hand to his daughter’s back. “But that doesn’t stop me. This girl is one-half of my heart.”
With a whine, Love Bug held her hands out for her daddy. Without hesitation, he took her from me, smothering her face in kisses. The sight before me was heart-melting. The Luca before Love Bug had been an immature man-child. But since she was born, he’d grown up in a hurry. I liked this version a lot more than the tantrum-throwing giant toddler he’d been not so long ago.
“Luca, are you ready?” Violet asked as she came down the stairs, putting in her earring. Her blond hair was pulled over her shoulder to keep it out of her way. The purple dress she wore almost matched her violet eyes. I’d never met Remington Sawyer, but I’d seen plenty of pictures of him following his death. Love Bug’s eyes were a mixture of his blue and Violet’s purple. The inner part was lighter, but the color blended into darker shades until the outer rim was blue.
Seeing me, Violet smiled. “Hey, Doe. Thanks for the help tonight. I’m always able to relax a little more knowing you’re the one watching over Love when we’re out.”
“Anytime,” I said, returning the smile.
Finally lifting his head from Love Bug, Luca turned to his girlfriend. When his dark eyes landed on her, I had to avert my gaze. The love on his face was nearly too much to witness. “You look beautiful.”
She looked up at him through her lashes. “You look delicious.”
Knowing if I didn’t divert their attention back to me, they would forget I was even there, I cleared my throat. “You two don’t want to be late.” I held out my hands for the baby, but she wrapped her arms around Luca’s neck. Opening my bag, I pulled out the stuffed animal I’d brought.
“Oh, how sweet. Look, Love.” Violet tempted her daughter. “Doe brought you a new friend.”
Reluctantly, the baby shifted her head to see the patched-up gray bear. There were no buttons or other hazardous objects attached to it, making the stuffed animal safe for her to cuddle. I hugged the bear to my chest. As expected, the baby reached for it, and I took advantage, pulling her into my arms. Distracting her by making the bear kiss her cheeks like her daddy had done earlier, I walked away from her parents, giving them the chance for Luca to make a clean getaway.
As I climbed the stairs, I heard Luca whining and then Violet laughingly telling him to suck it up moments before the front door shut behind them. Thankfully, Love Bug was so entranced by her new friend that she didn’t even notice them leave.
Entering the nursery, I placed the baby on the rug by the window and dropped down beside her. For the next half hour, we played until Love started rubbing her eyes, and I gathered her and her friend in my arms to carry over to the rocking chair. A stack of books was already on the table beside the chair, and I picked up the top one.