Page 28 of A Father's Bliss

I nod, my gaze roving over her face. “Agreed.”

She smiles, and with her eyes still closed, lets her head roll in my direction. “Are you doing that thing where I say something is beautiful and you agree but you’re talking about me?”

“Would that be a problem?” I ask, slipping a rolled washcloth out of a nearby basket.

“No.” Her lashes flutter open before those amber orbs find mine. There’s a vulnerability in them I want to stamp out. “But you should know I’m nowhere near perfect.”

“Perhaps not,” I state simply before dipping the towel in the basin and adding some of the body wash I have on hand. An odd sense of satisfaction winds in my chest at the knowledge she’ll smell like me, no matter how temporary. “But you are unapologetically yourself, which is all the same to me.”

She does a terrible job at hiding the blush that creeps up her neck as she remains quiet for the remainder of the bath, seemingly lost in thought. Her eyes become heavily lidded as she allows me to wash her from head to toe, and the entire time, I can only note how natural it all feels. How right.

When I help her out, I give her a towel and one of my large shirts before promising to meet her in the kitchen after I get myself together. It only takes me a few minutes to drain the bath, quickly use the extension to shower myself, and grab a pair of sweatpants and shirt before joining her in the kitchen.

She’s standing behind the island, the earlier mess cleaned, and pots back on the stove with the heat on.

“It’s my job to feed you.” I come up from behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.

“And you will.” She leans into me. “But I figured I could at least clean up. Half of the mess is my fault after all.”

This gets a chuckle out of me, and I kiss her temple. “This is very true. But I could have handled the mess. Now sit and let me cook.”

Luckily, Renee is too tired to put up a fight and agrees, dropping the cleaning towel on the counter before walking around and collapsing on the barstool. My eyes follow her strawberry strands that rest over her bare shoulder, courtesy of my oversized shirt. She props her chin on the heel of her hand and simply smiles up at me.

I’ve never seen anyone so breathtakingly beautiful and just as suddenly as all of this started, an almost desperation for it not to end clogs my throat.

“Stay with me.” The words come out before I can stop them.

Her eyes lift to mine, and I try not to read into the eagerness shimmering in them. “Here on the boat?”

I shake my head. “No, we can go to my home. Or yours. Or anywhere down this lake.”

As long as I’m with you , I don’t care where we end up.

Renee smiles, a gorgeous dusty pink blush coloring her cheeks. “Okay. I’d like that.”

An elation that makes me feel twenty years younger flutters through my chest and squeezes around my heart. “Yeah?”

She nods. “Yes. Bonus points if your son doesn’t show up.”

“To be honest, I wouldn’t care if he did,” I say honestly, considering all the things I overheard Renee tell Mr. Banks about him. As horrible as it might sound, perhaps it will be the last lesson I can teach my son on the ways of the universe and how karma is unprejudiced in her justice. “I blame myself for spoiling him, and letting him think he could have whatever he wanted.”

I walk around the island and turn her chair to face me. I hook a finger under her chin. “You were always mine, and I shouldn’t have let him take you from me.”

She purses her lips, feigning annoyance, but even in her playfulness, my skin stings with the knowledge she has every right to be mad at me.

I kiss her once. “Forgive me and let me make it up to you.”

Her blinks are slow. “And how will you do that?”

I drop my hand and let it slide between her legs. In only my shirt, she’s completely bare, and my greedy girl opens her thighs for me without hesitation. I slide a finger through her entrance,loving the way she groans against my touch. “Make up for four years of missed orgasms.”

“That may just work,” she purrs, arching to close the space between us to kiss me again. “Anything else?”

I nod. “Shopping trips and vacations, and perhaps building you aBeauty and the Beastinspired library in one of the spare rooms of my lake house. I can devour this sweet cunt while you read me exhibitions from that stalker romance with the fishing pole I heard you talk about?—”

She lifts her hands. “Okay okay. You had me at the library, honestly. And the missed orgasms. I now belong to the club of people who wouldn’t mind being woken up at three am for some dick.”

I swallow, moving both my hands to her hips. A new sense of hope blooms heavy over my sternum. “So you’ll let me keep you?”

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