Page 65 of The Liar in Room 5

My eyes never left his. I raised my hand and licked every bit of my release from my fingers.

“Goddamn, I’m jealous.”

“It’s yours next time, Daddy,” I promised.

“Damn straight. Sweetheart, I know you’re exhausted.”

I chuckled slightly because the moment after I came, my eyes drooped. It was an actual struggle to stay awake.

Daddy joined in with a rumble of suppressed laughter. On autopilot, I forced myself out of bed and followed his step-by-step directions to wipe myself down with face wipes, double-check my alarm, put the leftovers in my room’s mini fridge, plug in my phone, and climb back into bed.

“I’m glad your first day was amazing. I’ll be home in two days. Will you meet me at my house? My flight lands at four, so I’ll be home by six.”

“I’ll be there, Daddy.”

“In my bed?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“Always. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

With that, his screen went dark, and I was left alone in my room with my heart still beating erratically over what we’d just shared.

The enormity of the moment struck me like a ton of bricks.

It wasn’t about a little phone sex or even sex in general.

Henry made me feel safe, confident, protected, and empowered, all wrapped into one.

The timing of the epiphany left a damn lot to be desired.

That feeling I’d been chasing for twenty years had been handed to me, and it was as amazing as I’d always imagined it would be.

Of course that meant a lump the size of a mountain immediately formed in my throat, and I had to swallow rapidly to try to hide it. No one wanted to have sex with someone who was crying through the whole thing…well, at least not this kind.

Do not cry.

Do not cry.

Do. Not. Cry.

17

HENRY

This was either going to be the best surprise for Drew, or it would blow up spectacularly in my face. Only time and luck would tell.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Drew asked from the passenger seat.

I’d picked him up early from Halo House with a promise that he was going to have a good day. It wasn’t every day that a guy turned forty, so it needed to be special.

“If I told you, it would ruin the surprise.”

Truthfully, I was just stalling, but he didn’t need to know that. An unexpected delay had shifted our carefully laid plans, and now the entire day had to be shuffled around. Drew gave me a speculative look but sat back and let me drive.

“A spa?” Drew laughed when I pulled into the parking lot. “I love a spa day!”

Once I was safely parked, Drew unbuckled and threw himself at me. He dotted kisses across my face while telling me it had been so, so long. He hadn’t specifically said anything about a day of pampering. I was going solely based on the sauna comment from a few weeks ago.