Page 18 of Playing with Fire

My hands shot out and gripped her shoulders. I swallowed thickly as she bent her head back to look up at me. Her eyes were wide, and her lips glistened as her mouth fell open. Her breasts pressed into my stomach, and the smell of strawberries engulfed me. Her skin felt so soft under my touch.

I couldn't stop myself from running my hands down her bare arms, eliciting a shiver from her as I did. A smirk pulled at my lips.

But then I blinked and stepped back. What the fuck was I doing? It didn't matter that she liked my touch as much as I liked touching her.

Nothing was happening between us. Period.

“Sorry,” I gritted out. “Just coming up to say goodnight.”

She nodded. “Yeah.” The word came out breathy before she cleared her throat and continued. “I’ll head out. Unless you need something else.”

Oh. I needed something, for sure. But it wasn’t anything I could actually have.

“I’m good.” Desire to touch her again still coursed through my body as I forced words through my lips. “Thanks, Izzy.”

She nodded and brushed past me. I stood frozen, not able to tear my gaze away quite yet. I wasn't sure what was worse, the crop top from yesterday or the one-piece tank top and tiny shorts thing she was wearing today.

I waited until she gathered her stuff and I heard the door click shut behind her before giving myself another moment to erase all things Izzy Mitchell from my mind and heading into the girls’ room to say goodnight. They were both worn out and asleep by the time I left the room less than ten minutes later.

Tomorrow was my day off, and then the girls would be with Maggie for five days. I was almost grateful for another break from Izzy. Really I should’ve been fucking relieved, but I had to admit it was nice having her around. Even if my dick liked it a little bit too much.

Chapter Eleven

LOGAN

I stepped backonto the sidewalk after leaving the auto supply store and headed toward where I parked my truck. Having today off, and with the girls at Maggie's again until Thursday, I spent the day running errands. Grocery store, home improvement store for the parts to fix the upstairs sink, and then the parts I needed for my truck. It was easier to do things like this when I didn’t have kids in tow. But even more so, it allowed me to spend more quality time with them if we didn’t need to do a lot of tedious tasks.

I froze, hearing a familiar giggle, and looked across the street toward the park. Alice laughed as she ran around, kicking a soccer ball. I smiled when Nikki appeared, stealing the ball and running the opposite way. They were both pretty good, given they'd never played before.

Izzy chased Nikki, acting like she was going to steal the ball back. I stood, taking in the scene, debating going over. It wasn't that I didn't want to see my girls—I missed them during these long stretches—but after last week, it was clear the attraction I felt for Izzy was hard to ignore. Best thing I could do for both of us was continue to my truck.

But I couldn't make my feet move, nor could I tear my gaze away from the beautiful blonde. Her ass in capri leggings looked just as good as it did in tiny shorts. No surprise, she was wearing another crop top. How many half-shirts did she own?

Giving up on the battle, I made my way across the street, all the while trying to talk myself out of it.

“Daddy,” Alice called when she spotted me, running my way.

I stepped onto the grass from the sidewalk and lifted her into my arms.

“Did you come to play with us?” Nikki asked once she and Izzy made their way over to us.

I smiled, trying to keep my gaze on my daughter and not let it drift over to Izzy. “I didn't know you guys were here, but I saw you from over there.” I pointed across the street. “So yeah, I thought I'd come play.”

I set Alice down and then lost the battle to not look over at Izzy. She stood with one foot on the ball, hands on her hips.

“Izzy's really good at soccer,” Nikki said before adding, “She played in high school.”

“Oh?” The corner of my mouth lifted into a smirk. “Better than me?”

“So much better.”

Izzy chuckled at my daughter’s response, and I raised an eyebrow before moving quickly toward her. She took off with the ball and I ran after her. Once I got close enough to steal the ball, she spun, not even slowing down, and headed back the other way.

Nikki ran down the opposite side of the field. “Pass it to me,” she yelled to Izzy.

I smirked. Little traitor.

“Daddy, Daddy, get her, get her,” Alice egged me on.

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