“Kind of.” I smile at how easily he got it. “That, or a quiet little lakeside retreat where we have the whole shore to ourselves.”
“Beach fires, music, and listening to the waves.”
“Yes!” I grin again, finally crawling beneath him, painting the wall where his streaks meets mine. “I like seeing new places, but I don’t like the act of traveling. There are too many variables, especially planes. I get way too much anxiety from the security.”
“Flying is exhausting. By the time you get to where you’re going, you want to turn around and go home.”
“Exactly!” I say, finishing the line beneath him. He’s stopped moving now and I feel the heat of his body gathering behind me.
I turn back quickly, the paint cup steady in my hand, though it spills a little on the plastic beneath me. “What?”
“Nothing, there’s just a pretty, baby girl crawling around on the floor with lacy, white underwear on. I couldn’t miss the show.”
My cheeks heat, and I sit back quickly, blocking his view.
I didn’t realize how much I was missing this with Nathan because I didn’t have much experience before him. Sure, I had a few boyfriends here and there, but most of them quit me quickly after I told them I was a virgin who planned on staying that way until marriage.
Apparently, Rhett makes me rethink all of that.
If he piled on top of me right now, tore my panties to the side, and told me to call him daddy again, I would let him do whatever he wanted.
“You’re funny,” I say, climbing up from the floor, my hand slid into his for assistance. “Is this how you are with all the girls? Begging them to call you daddy?”
“I don’tbegfor anything, baby girl.”
I roll my eyes and tuck into the bathroom to wash the paint off my hands. I’ve always liked this part of painting. The part where you finish with splotches of color on your hands and elbows. It’s a reminder that I’ve created something real. Considering these days most everything is done on the computer, painting feels tangible in a way that grounds me.
“So, you don’t beg,” I smile, turning off the faucet before drying my hands on a nearby towel, “but how many women does this whole dominant daddy thing work on?”
“None,” he laughs. “That’s why I’m here alone. Granted, I haven’t really tried it either. There’s something about you, though. Something soft and innocent. Something I want to protect.”
“Well, I don’t need protecting.” I follow him down the short hallway and into the wide-open kitchen where a kettle sits on the stove. “I can protect myself just fine.”
“Like today, when you were about to marry some man you didn’t love?” He laughs under his breath as he speaks.
I roll my eyes and turn away from his stupid remark, going through his cupboards like I own the place. “You better have everything I need to make this cake. I’m starving.”
“Maybe you should eat something with substance first. I have steaks in the fridge I can put on the grill. I’m sure you haven’t eaten much today.”
Considering my diet today consisted of the three cookies I took from the wedding basket and nothing else, I could absolutely use some protein. Protein and bread. I shut one cupboard and open another, noticing a whole lot of nothing. “I really want a huge piece of Italian bread.”
He shakes his head. “No bread, but I can make you some biscuits.”
“Like the ones your grandma taught you to make?”
“I don’t do them justice, but they’re edible enough that you won’t starve and they’ll go good with the steak.”
He grabs the meat from the fridge and some tongs from the drawer before he turns toward me. “I’m going to throw these on the grill. I’ll help you with the cake when I get back.”
My brows narrow inward. “You want to make the cake with me? Are you sure this is in the kidnapper handbook?”
“I’m still your kidnapper?” He offers a crooked grin. “I was fingering you an hour ago.”
My breath catches as he says the words so bluntly. “Yeah, well… I’m exhausted, and I made a very bad decision.”
“It was a bad decision to let me touch you?” He stalks toward me, his frame wide and strong, dwarfing me immediately. “Are you sure about that?”
I stare up at him, wetting my lips for some unknown reason as I try to gain control of my suddenly aching thighs. “Yes, I’m sure it was a mistake. I’m not thinking straight today. I’m emotional and you preyed on me.”
