Page 27 of Sugar Daddy (Sugar Bowl 1)

Before I can embarrass her further, I turn and walk into the foyer. I unlock the door and pull it open.

A tiny blond-haired, brown-eyed dynamo slams into my legs, arms wrapping around tight. "Uncle Beck."

I reach down, pick Ally up, and give her a quick hug before sitting her on my hip. Caroline steps over the threshold and I hold my free arm out. She steps into a tight hug, her arms going around my waist.

"Hey, sis," I say as I press a kiss on her hair, the same color as mine. She pulls back and grins up at me with blue eyes that also match mine.

"Oh, you look great. A sight for our sore eyes," she gushes, patting me hard on my lower back. Her gaze slides past my shoulder and her smile gets brighter. She pulls away and steps past me. I turn to follow and watch as she walks up to Sela, who's standing there with her hands clutched in nervousness before her.

"And you must be Sela," Caroline says in wide-eyed wonder. She steps forward, and Sela hesitantly extends her hand. Caroline ignores it and wraps Sela up in a hug. "Oh my God...Beck emailed me a picture of you but it didn't do you justice."

I roll my eyes and hitch Ally up on my hip a little higher. "Okay, that's enough Caroline. You're ruining my street cred."

Caroline ignores me and turns Sela toward the kitchen. "The turkey smells wonderful. Let me help you finish whatever up. Beck can entertain Ally and we can talk. You have wine, right?"

"Um, yeah...actually we do," Sela says with a return smile, and they both walk off, leaving me behind.

I hear them murmuring in excited undertones, Caroline beside herself that her big brother has actually got a girlfriend, and Sela clearly relieved to finally understand what I'd been telling her. That my sister is cool as hell.

Craning my head, I look at Ally. "Want to go watch some TV?"

She cocks an adorable four-year-old eyebrow that descended directly from her mom's DNA. "Dora the Explorer?"

"I was thinking football," I counter.

"Dora," she says adamantly.

I sigh and tickle at her ribs. She giggles and wraps her arms around my neck. "Fine, you little monster. Dora it is."

I carry Ally into the living room, sneaking a peek into the kitchen. Sela is uncorking a bottle of wine, and Caroline is pulling glasses out of a cabinet. The smell of roasting turkey makes my stomach rumble, and the knowledge that I'm getting ready to have a unique family holiday causes warmth to spread through my chest.

It's a fucking fantastic feeling that I could most definitely get used to.

Chapter 19

Sela

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Beck asks as he pulls a sweatshirt over his head. I watch as his head pokes through the top, messing his hair up. He threads his arms through and tugs the bottom down. So simple and so sexy. He runs his fingers through his mop, perhaps making it messier and even sexier, and I have to restrain myself from launching myself at him.

I seem to want to perpetually do that.

"No, I'm going to stay here and give you quality time with Caroline and Ally," I tell him firmly. "They're leaving tomorrow and I want you to have some alone time."

Beck steps into me, wraps his arms around my waist, and pulls me into his body. I tilt my face up, oh so naturally to accept his lips, and he leans down. A soft kiss and a smile. "You know the time would be more quality if you came with us."

"Nice try, Mr. North," I tell him as I pull out of his embrace before I'm tempted. "But I'm staying and you're going. And you're not going to change my mind."

I really do want him to change my mind, but I also think he needs this time with his sister and niece. They've been here only twenty-four hours, but I've seen enough to know that they are incredibly close as siblings and that they don't get to see each other enough.

I'm not quite sure why though. Caroline and Ally live north in Healdsburg, only about an hour and a half away, but as far as I can tell, they only really see each other at holidays. Beck told me last night as we lay in bed together that Caroline hates the city and Beck is always so busy he just has a hard time getting away. It was with a bit of sadness and shame that he said, "Work just gets in the way sometimes."

I snuggled in closer to him, distressed on his behalf over things he's missing out on.

Then he added, "And I'm starting to realize that work might not be the most important thing."

That prompted me to kiss him.

That prompted him to roll me on to my back, whereby he plunged into me swiftly. He rocked against me slowly, keeping his mouth on mine the entire time to swallow my cries so Caroline and Ally couldn't hear us. God, it was fantastic, the way we just undulated against each other, barely moving, yet I felt him everywhere. It took a while for us both to build up to climax, and then the coup de grace of all perfect fucking happened. We had simultaneous orgasms that caused us to shudder and gasp in surprise.

I was so overwhelmed I murmured into his chest, "Beck...it's never been like this. Ever."

"I know," was all he said in return.

We fell asleep in that position and stayed wrapped tight against each other all night.

"Okay," Beck says as he pulls away from me. "We're going to head over to the Ferry Building and poke around for a while. Maybe grab some lunch. If you change your mind, just call me and I'll let you know where we are."

I follow Beck out of our bedroom--so weird...thinking of it as "our" bedroom, but that's what Beck calls it, so I'm going with it. I'm not sure when I'll actually consider this my home. My lease isn't up on my apartment until next summer, but Beck has covered those expenses so I'm not worrying about it just now.

Caroline and Ally are waiting in the living room. They look at Beck expectantly.

"Any luck?" Caroline asks as her eyes flick from Beck to me.

Beck shakes his head. "Nope. She insists we need alone time together."

My mind is nearly changed when Ally pushes away from her mom and runs up to me. "Come with us, Sela. Mommy says she wants to see you and Uncle Beck holding hands and making out in public."

"Oh geez," Caroline says with a red face. "That was a secret, Ally."

I laugh and ruffle Ally's yellow hair. She looks nothing like Caroline and I'm assuming everything like her father. When I asked Beck about the nonexistent man, he said tersely, "He's not in the picture at all. Ally doesn't even know him."

By his tone of voice, I could tell it wasn't a good situation and thus I dropped the subject quickly.

"All right," Beck says as he leans down and kisses me on the cheek. "Be back in a little bit. Want us to bring you anything?"

My hands go to Beck's waist, and I love the way his lips linger against my skin. I shake my head. "I'm good. You guys have fun and I'll see you soon."

As soon as they get their coats and walk out the door I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial my father. I tried to call him yesterday but didn't get any answer. I didn't leave a message and frankly forgot to call him again as I was having so much fun just hanging out with Caroline and Beck. Long after Ally went to bed last night, we all stayed up drinking wine, and the North siblings re

galed me with tales of growing up in a privileged world that they both seemed to detest. While Beck still lives the lifestyle he was born to, now it's a product of his hard work. My understanding is that Caroline has the same trust fund as Beck, but she lives a modest existence in Healdsburg working as an assistant to an art gallery owner. It's clear from listening to them both that they have almost no relationship with their parents.

I pull up my dad's number and tap on it. It rings twice before Maria answers pleasantly. "Hi, Sela. Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," I tell her warmly. I normally might be a little irked at her answering for my dad, but having gone through a warm and fulfilling holiday with Beck and his little family, I'm feeling more magnanimous toward her. "Is Dad around?"

"Sure is," she says, and I hear the phone being handed off.

"Hey, baby," my dad says gruffly with emotion. While we may have drifted apart a little after Mom died, I'll never forget the strength of that dad after my rape. He became my champion and protector after that, making me feel as secure as a young girl could after having her innocence brutalized.

"Hey, Dad," I say softly as I walk into the kitchen. I open the fridge and pull out a bottle of water.

"How was your Thanksgiving?" he asks, and I hear the creak of his recliner and can imagine him cocking it back and throwing his feet up.

"It was great," I tell him. "I ate dinner with Beck, and his sister and niece joined us."

"Excellent," he says enthusiastically. "Any chance I'll get to meet this guy?"

I talk to my dad at least once a week on the phone. While I have not admitted that I'm living with Beck, I did tell him all about my new boyfriend. That first conversation was filled with a lot of "wows" and "that's awesome" from my dad, a man who I think always despaired I'd be able to open myself up to a relationship.

"One day," I say vaguely, because that all depends on where this is truly heading. While if it were only a matter of Beck and me seeking a happily ever after, that would be a no-brainer to get him over to meet my dad as soon as possible. But considering that I might be killing Beck's partner in the near future, and that might or might not lead to my incarceration, I figure I better not make him any promises.

My dad starts to chatter on about his Thanksgiving, telling me in detail about every side dish they had. Maria's son and daughter-in-law joined them, and I had to laugh when Dad whispered into the phone that Maria just hadn't mastered a pumpkin pie to rival my mom's.

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