Page 73 of Best Laid Plans

I watch eagerly as she takes her first bite. The moan she lets out is enough to get me hard as concrete. “Oh my God. This is divine. Why is this so good?”

“Homemade,” I offer simply.

She nods and moans again with her next bite. “I could get used to this.”

My stomach clenches. “I’d gladly do it daily if it kept that blissed-out look on your face.”

She sucks the icing from her middle finger. “There’s a lot of ways you can achieve that look, Alden Warner.”

The way she says my name—so teasingly—has me tossing my half-full plate down onto my nightstand. Like a mind reader, she does the same and simultaneously we lunge for one another.

Our kiss is heated and sweet tasting, which begs to my earlier thought of how the icing would taste directly from her skin. Too curious to not find out, I reach over and swipe two fingers through a pool of it on her plate.

She watches, wide-eyed, as I smear it all over her left breast. Her breath hitches when my mouth follows.

“Oh,” she hisses as I bite down. She squirms beneath me as I soothe the sting. “Feels so good.” Her words are staccato with desire. I’m positioning myself between her legs when the sound of my phone ringing somewhere in the house stops me. “Ignore it,” she pleads, lifting her hips, begging me with her body to fill her.

Then her phone rings.

“Dammit, that’s Nate’s ringtone.”

Resigned, I move off of her, and she flies out of the bed in search of her phone. She returns a few minutes later, with it pressed to her ear. “No, it’s okay. I get it.” A pause. “I promise, it’s fine. I’ll meet you at the apartment.”

She ends the call and turns to me. “Nate got called into work.”

“Call him back and tell him to come here.”

“I would, but I have an online study group. We were supposed to meet on Thursday, but a few couldn’t log in then, so we pushed it.”

“Well, why don’t I take Tatum today, and you can focus totally on that.”

She ponders the offer for all of two seconds. “That would be amazing. Thank you, Alden.” She walks over to my side of the bed and crawls onto my lap, still magnificently naked. She kisses me long and hard but pulls away before we can get too heated.

I groan at the loss of her heat, but she just smirks. “C’mon. We gotta get showered. And I need to let Nate know the change of plans.”

We share a shower, and much to my disappointment, no shenanigans take place. Then again, Tatum comes first, so really, it’s okay.

Once we’re both dry, I give Nat a pair of my sweats and a shirt to wear home. It’s a bit chillier than normal for this time of year, so I throw on a pair of jeans with long-sleeved T-shirt.

We walk down the stairs together and kiss goodbye at the door. All in all, it’s incredibly domestic—and I really, really like it.

41

Alden

I meetNate at the diner a few blocks down from the park. He and Tatum are already inside, seated at the bar. I plop down onto the stool to the right of my girl. Her eyes widen at the sight of me. “Daddy! You comed for breakfast!”

“I sure did, pretty girl. Uncle Nate has to go to work, but I wanted to make sure you still had your big day.”

She pitches herself my way and hugs me tight. “You’re the best daddy ever.”

My heart pinches. This kid. She is everything.

Nate stands and hugs his niece before clapping me on the shoulder. With eyes locked on mine, he says, “I’m glad it was you.”

His approval hits me all the way down to my marrow. My eyes glisten with emotion, and he doesn’t miss it. He chuckles and mouths the wordpussybefore heading out the door.

“Whatcha gonna get?” I ask my daughter.

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