She’s a little momma, I laugh to myself.
“Love you, too. Tell Max to remember he’s his own person and not to let the rest of you little thugs push him around.” Pause. “Allowing Justice to tattoo my finger wasn’t me joining the cult, Kiki. Remember, I’m OG generation next.”
Who the fuck is Justice?
She laughs. “It’s our secret.” Another pause as she looks over toward the doorway. “I’ll email you the itinerary as soon as I get off the phone, shower, and eat breakfast. Bye, Kiki. Love you.”
After setting the phone down, she pops her hip out and places her hand on it. “Justice is my cousin.”
“I really need to stop thinking out loud.” I step out.
She tries not to smile as she rolls her eyes. “You better. Could you imagine?”
I don’t hold back my smile. “You motherfuckers get to look at her, but I had my tongue in her pussy last—”
She laughs out loud and smacks me. “I would kill you.”
“You may want to, but you wouldn’t do that to yourself. I mean, can you imagine laying in my bed tonight, thinking of how much better my fingers are than yours?”
“And who says I’m sleeping in your bed tonight? I’ll have fresh linens by then.”
“But they won’t smell like me.”
She quirks an eyebrow. “Right now, you don’t smell so hot, Carter.”
I narrow my eyes at the sound of my name.
She rolls hers, “Don’t look at me like that. I have us planned out.”
“Six to nine months of fucking like bunnies in ten different cities? Me, too.” She scrunches up her nose, and she blushes. I like it.
“You’re putting too much faith in this thing we’re doing.”
“Is that so?” I ask.
She nods. “It would be the longest secret relationship I’ve had.”
I cock my head to the side, wondering about past relationships and why they’ve been secrets. “All the others so bad you had to hide them?”
“It was either hide them or hide the bodies.” She shrugs. “My father’s pretty intense.”
“Meaning what?” I feel my fists clench, and she looks down at them.
Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head. “He’s protective.”
“Then he and I would get along just fine.”
“You’re not meeting my dad.” She laughs as she walks over and steps onto the chair.
“You ashamed of me already?”
She looks back. “No, but he and my mom two are the ones who discovered your little addition to my tattoo. Consider it a favor and do me one—help me out.”
I pull her off the chair and carry her ass inside. “You’re going to eat, because I’ve never given a shit if a girl I had in a hotel room got a meal after—”
“I wasn’t looking for a meal,” she cuts me off. “I was looking for an orgasm.”
I drop her on the bed. “You’ll get one, maybe two if you’re good.” I look back at her. “And I know you’re good.”
“We’ll be late.” She blushes.
“Oh, hell no, you’re still being denied for doing the same to me.” I push the food cart over. “I’ll feed you breakfast in bed now and my dick for dinner.”
I pull the silver dome off one of the plates. “You like eggs, bacon, toast?” I pull the silver dome off the next. “Pancakes and fruit?” And the next. “French toast and pastries?”
She reaches for a piece of bacon.
“A carnivore.”
“Mom two is a vegetarian.”
She’s said that a couple of times now, so I ask, “Mom two?”
She looks at me as she chews, a look that says she’s not sure she wants to share.
“Part of your sad story?
She swallows. “We all go through things that we could let ourselves drown in, or we swim. It’s just part of my life.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“My mom died giving birth to me at eighteen. My maternal grandfather hated my father and fought to keep me. They took him and our family to court until they lost everything. Then, when my dad’s father passed away, my father stopped fighting because he felt like it was his fault in a way. I was raised by my mom’s parents until my grandfather passed away and my grandmother no longer had to keep me from a man deemed not good enough for me. She knew he was, and she knew her husband was grieving my mother and afraid to let me go.”
“It doesn’t piss you off?”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry everyone went through what they did, but that was part of their journey, their sad story. And I’m grateful that my father found someone to even him out.” She laughs. “Really grateful.”
“Your tattoo, which one is mom two?”
She smiles as she grabs half a hard-boiled egg. “She is love.”
When my phone’s alarm goes off, I pry my eyes off the vision that is Isabella Steel and see my girl on Facetime. I hit accept.
“The sun’s up, Daddy. Is the sun up there, too?”
I laugh. “It is, Luna. We’re still in the same time zone.”
When I stand up and turn, I hear a thud and look back to see Isabella on the floor.
“What was that?” Luna asks.
Bella looks mortified.
I laugh. “It was breakfast.”
“You dropped breakfast?”
“Just the best part of it.”
“The bacon?”
“Best bacon I’ve ever tasted.”
“Do you think the puppy will like bacon?”
I can’t help laughing. “You’re persistent.” She looks at me like she’s a little confused, so I clarify, “Pushy.”
“You promised.”
“I did, and I won’t break my promise.”
“Not again?”
My chest tightens. “Not again.”
“You going to work?”
“I sure am.”
“Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, too, Luna. Give the old lady a hug good morning.”
“Talk before bed?”
“How else would I know when the moon was ready to sleep?”
She beams. “Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, Luna, all the way to the moon.”
“And back.” She smiles.
“Always back.”
The call ends, and I walk around to see Bella lying on her back, covering her face.
“Sure, she’s right here, Luna. Say hi, Bacon. I mean, Isabella.”
She gasps as she uncovers her face, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead.
I toss the phone on the bed and laugh.
The girl must have been a gymnast, because she pops up quicker than shit and pushes me. “That’s not funny.”
I purposely fall on the bed and bring her down with me.
Before I can say a damn thing, she asks, “Not again. What did she mean when she asked that?”
“Sweet treat, you don’t get to know all the things yet.” I sit up, bringing her along with me.
“Why?”
I like the way she holds my face, like if she keeps my eyes locked to hers, I’ll give her the answer she seeks.