Page 59 of Just This Once

He doesn’t even sound strained when he says it either. I’m a solid woman, in height and weight, but he might as well be lifting a feather.

I hate that I’m impressed by a gym bro.

But it doesn’t stop me from sucking on his throat, nibbling on his earlobe, earning a smack to my ass cheek before he sets me down on the sink in the bathroom upstairs and proceeds to turn on the water in the bath. He aims a stern pointer finger at me. “Do not move.”

Curiosity wins out, and I don’t. He disappears for a few minutesas the tub slowly fills up, steam rising. Right when I start to get up to turn off the water, he returns. “I told you not to move.”

“I—”

He points at me again. “Only good girls get rewards.”

My brows shoot up, a mixture of irritation and…excitement flooding my veins. But he doesn’t notice how my cheeks turn pink and hot because he’s too busy filling the tub with bubbles and lighting candles. He even produces a bag of candy, places it on top of a long piece of wood that he sets across the width of the tub, along with my favorite flavor of sparkling water and a headband that matches a new fluffy robe.

“Dante.”

He turns to me like he puts together professional baths every day.

“You… Did you buy all this?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He waves his hand like it should be obvious.

“For the off chance I’d take a bath?”

He nods. “For the off chance I could provide you with a nice, relaxing bath, yes. I bought this stuff. It’s not that big of a deal.”

My throat clogs and my eyes sting. “I wish you’d stop saying that. This all… Everything has been a big deal. A big fucking deal.”

He frowns. “Why do you sound mad about it?”

“Because! Because you don’t need to do it.”

“I know.” He closes in on me. “I want to do it.”

I close my eyes to the tears threatening to spill out, and he kisses my temple, murmuring, “Get in the tub. Relax. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Chapter 19

Dante

In the half hour I’ve let Taryn soak in the tub, I have emptied her dishwasher, played a few rounds of tug-of-war with Frankie, and took some measurements of the living room. But I can’t stand the idea of her naked and wet without me anymore, so I knock twice on the door before opening it.

She lifts her head, appearing a bit dazed, and maybe my plan worked a little too well. I wanted her to enjoy herself, but I still need her to have a bit of life left in her for what comes next. She can’t be a wet noodle.

That’s my job. To make her boneless.

“How’re you feeling?” I ask, noting the gummy bears are gone and all of the bubbles have disappeared, allowing me a clear view of her glistening skin, her light-brown nipples, the dark triangle of hair between her legs, and the roundness of her kneecaps poking up out of the water.

Maybe I’ll add a bathroom renovation to my list. Because Taryn deserves a tub she can fully lay out in. I’d have to rearrange everything in here, since three people share it. Thenagain, if she ever wanted to get rid of the top-floor apartment, I could convert it to another level with bedrooms for the kids and really give her a bathroom fit for a duchess.

I remove the plank from the tub and hold out the fluffy robe as she stands up, quickly covering herself. It’s clear she’s still uncomfortable being naked in front of me. As if I’d be suddenly turned off.

Could never happen.

My dick would fall off first.

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