Page 60 of Play Dirty

Marty doesn’t say a word, staring at the road ahead.

Which means I have to answer.

And it’s not as scary as I thought.

“We were,” I say. “But it’s all right. I worked all night last night on a video shoot, so we were going home anyway.”

“Are we going to your place?” Ally asks.

“Yup. You can sleep in the guest room.”

“I’ll just drop you guys off,” Marty says without missing a beat.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at the turn of events.

Ally’s been doing so much better, but she’s still needy. And I’m proud of her for not caving to peer pressure; I don’t know that I would have been strong enough to get up and leave a sleepover like that when I was twelve.

We pull up to the house, and I open the garage using the app on my phone.

“Go on in,” I tell Ally. “Let me say good night to Marty.”

She grins. “Okay. Sorry I ruined your date! Good night, Uncle Marty!” She runs into the house and I turn to him.

“I’m sorry,” I say, shaking my head. “I had no idea she would call…”

“It’s okay. We’re both pretty tired anyway.” He leans over and presses his lips to mine. “Raincheck?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m golfing with the guys tomorrow, and then Mom and I are taking the kids to the movies—you want to come?”

“I have to be at Saylor’s studio tomorrow to wait for a delivery. If it comes in time, sure, but I’ll call you.”

He leans over and takes my chin between two fingers.

Then he kisses me.

His mouth is warm, lips soft, but his tongue seeks mine out almost urgently. Twirling and stroking, momentarily making me forget there’s a twelve-year-old waiting for me inside the house.

I could kiss him forever.

I want to.

So much.

And just when I think I’m going to implode from the pleasure, he slowly, reluctantly, pulls away, his eyes on mine. “That’s to keep you thinking about me until I see you again.”

Be still, my heart.

Like I’ll be able to think about anything else.

Chapter19

Marty

With hockey seasonright around the corner, I’ve gotten serious about getting in shape again. I keep up with cardio over the summer, but sometimes I let weight training fall by the wayside. Especially with the kids around. I could get away with a lot more when I was younger, but now that I’m thirty-two, I need to work a little harder to stay in shape.

My personal goal is to play until I’m thirty-five. It’s also the minimum number of years I need to work to meet my financial goals. The divorce is throwing a bit of a wrench into that plan, because I’ll most likely be paying alimony for the next couple of years. Brenna didn’t work in order to take care of our family, and as pissed off as I am about what she did, intellectually I figure I owe her at least that much.

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