Page 28 of Touch My Shelves

Brax pulls his lips away and stupidly I chase after them, wanting more. He takes my shoulders in his hands and nods to the door. That’s when I hear the timid knocking.

“Poppy, can I come in?” Freeya asks.

Stunned at being caught kissing her father, I’m speechless. Brax nods toward the closet and I pick up what he’s not saying. Regretfully I watch as he walks inside the closet. Making sure my towel hasn’t slipped, I open the door. “Hey, girl. I was just getting out of the shower. What’s up?”

Freeya doesn’t wait for an invitation—much like her father—before plopping down on my bed. “I talked to my dad about school. He said he’ll think about it. You know what that means.”

My gaze shifts to my closet as I sit beside her on the bed, trying to talk myself into thinking it’s good that we got interrupted. “That he’ll think about it?” I repeat back to her.

She gives a soulful shake of her head.

CHAPTER 10

BRAX

“It means no. Will you talk to him about it? Please, Poppy. I really want to go to school with Sherin and Carly.”

I readjust my half-hard cock and hold my breath, listening for Poppy’s response.

When Freeya had come to me with the request, my immediate answer was no. But now, I’m wondering if that’s the best answer.

“Sweetie, your dad loves you a lot. You are the most precious thing in the world to him. Don’t expect him to make such an important decision quickly. Besides, even if the answer is no, you can still see the girls. Maybe your dad will let you have a sleepover.”

“No, he won’t. He won’t let anyone come here because then they would know who he is.”

To say my heart is sliced open and bleeding on the closet floor is accurate. I never stopped to consider how my need for seclusion was affecting my daughter.

“Then we will get together with them. We can have playdates and meet them somewhere in town. The movie theater is opening up soon; maybe we can all go to a Saturday matinee.”

“I guess. But what about your date with that man?”

My ears perk up. What the fuck. Was Poppy at the work day for Freeya or for getting dates? If steam could be produced by angry thoughts, my ears would be spewing. No more than five minutes ago, I had my tongue in her mouth and her body slammed against mine. My dick is still hard from the encounter and she had a date the entire time.

I only have a few more minutes to stew before Poppy sends Freeya off to clean up and change her clothes to get ready for dinner. I wait until I hear the bedroom door click shut before I leave my hiding place.

I find her almost in the exact spot I left her in. She’s still wrapped in the white towel and with only one tug I could have it on the floor. From the guarded look on her face, I’d say that’s not an option. Hadn’t I just been telling myself how that kiss never should have happened?

There are so many things I should say. I could thank her for the caring way she dealt with my daughter. I could assure her the kiss we shared is just as confusing to me as it obviously is to her. Instead, the ass in me barks, “You have a date?”

Her head tips. “Oh. Well, yeah, I guess I do? Saturday night. It won’t interfere with my time with Freeya. He isn’t picking me up until seven.”

Her casualness flames the fire. A dinner date. Who knows where the night will end? And why do I care this much? “You’ve never mentioned a boyfriend.”

“That’s correct, because I don’t have a boyfriend. Adan is a friend of a friend I guess you could say.”

“So you’re going out with a stranger?”

“No, not…” she starts to deny, but then that adorable chin tips. “My dating life is none of your business.”

Wrong answer. I take a step closer until she’s well within kissing range. “When you are supposed to be looking after my daughter and instead you’re flirting or whatever it is you women do to get a man to ask you out, it is my business.”

She gasps and her face turns bright pink. She pokes me in the chest. “You… you need to leave.”

I’m an idiot.

I rake my hand through my hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You’re right; it isn’t any of my business whom you date. It’s just that you came out looking all steamy and wet, and then the kiss messed my head up.”

Poppy isn’t talking, and all her blue eyes are doing are staring into mine. They are a lovely shade of blue, like the color of the sky right before it turns gray and stormy. I have a feeling that tornado gale winds will be hitting me soon.

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