“And yet—” she lets the sentence hang while she bats those beautiful brown eyes at me.
“You have a great day,” I say.
“You as well.” She speaks in a professional tone. “Thanks for the sex. Your body is amazing, and not only is your dick huge, but you know how to use it.”
“I can only hope we made a baby. I guess my dirty money would be acceptable for the child support payments.”
She looks stunned by my words, but she breaks out into a beautiful smile before bursting into laughter.
“Can you imagine? Um, no. I never miss a pill, and I’m not having kids. Ever. If by some miracle I did get pregnant, you’d never know.” She pats my cheek again. “It’s been nice, but goodbye, Daxton Hunt.”
She opens her car door, but I wrap my hand around her wrist. When she faces me, I get closer and press my body to hers. I cup her cheek and look into her eyes.
“Can I offer you some advice, Bella?”
“What advice can you possibly give me?” I hold back my smile at her dismissive tone.
“If you’re going to follow a man around, at least have the decency to be ugly.”
“Excuse me?”
I pull her closer, stick my face in the crook of her neck, and inhale. I look up and lock eyes with her. “Looking like this.” I eye her body up and down. “Feeling like you do.” My hand cups the curve of one of her hips before I lean down and tap my lips on hers. “And smelling the way you do.” I inhale the side of herneck again. “That makes a man like me feel possessive, and when I get possessive, I get ideas.”
Chapter 9
Cori
Predictable motherfucker. I found the tracking device within seconds of pulling into my parents’ driveway and deactivated it. My phone’s been buzzing like crazy with texts from Eden and Selene.
Eden: You won’t believe the shit that Sylvie just pulled.
Eden’s been my best friend since our first day of kindergarten, and her older sister has been a bitch since I met her.
Selene: What did she do now?
Selene is my cousin. We’re only three months apart in age, and she moved to Shadow Cove when we were in the fifth grade. She’s been part of my best friend circle since. Even though Eden left Shadow Cove after high school and lived away for ten years, the three of us have managed to keep our tight bond.
Eden: She had Gavin crash our lunch date. Ripley showed up, and all hell broke loose.
Selene: I hope someone got their ass kicked.
Me: I’ll come by later.
I enter my parents’ house and find my mom in her chair in the kitchen.
“You hungry, sweetie?” Mom asks. “Your brother is here.”
I try not to roll my eyes. I’ve never been close to my younger brother, the fuck up. I was relieved when he moved away, but he returned last week, complete with a six-month-old baby we knew nothing about until he brought her home.
The little girl looks just like him, so there is no denying she is his. He also said that her mother was sentenced to twenty years in prison for drug trafficking.
“Do you think you can help him with Ruby? She’s been fussy, and I’m trying to get Sunday dinner made.”
Of course, she would ask me to do that.
“Um, no. I don’t know anything about babies. He’s the father, so he can do it. Do you want me to help with dinner?” I kick off my shoes because Mom has a no-shoes-in-the-house rule. That’s when I notice how messy and cluttered it’s gotten. There’s a playpen and baby items everywhere.
“You can learn about babies,” Mom suggests.
