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A loud boom echoed through the phone, and Beth heard a distant voice speaking.
“Okay,” Eric said. “I’ll be right there.” When he spoke to her again, his voice was a quiet rumble. “What time?” he asked softly.
She glanced at the clock—2:45. Beth wanted to say now. She could do it. Cairo would be at the store in fifteen minutes. Beth could be home in thirty. And they could be naked within seconds. She could have him inside her, pushing deep, filling her until she screamed.
“Eight,” she said, forcing herself to say the reasonable thing, instead of the “God, I need it right this moment” thing.
“I’ll be there,” Eric said.
When he hung up, Beth set her phone carefully on the desk, clenched her hands in fists and ducked her head to hide the slow grin spreading across her face. She’d spent her whole career serving the needs of others—it was time to serve the hell out of her own. If this was a mistake, she was going to milk every last drop of pleasure from it before the regret set in. Every. Last. Drop.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
WHEN THE REGRET CAME, it hit her like a collapsing brick wall. Actually, there was no metaphor needed. It hit her with all the force of opening her front door and finding her father standing there instead of Eric Donovan.
“Daddy!” she squeaked, immediately regressing to her guilt-filled adolescence. “What are you doing here?”
He winked and slipped off the old-fashioned hat he always wore when he put on a suit. He was a big fan of elegance. And modesty. Beth tried not to think of how much cleavage she was currently showing in this dress.
“I was in town for a doctor’s appointment.”
“Are you okay?” she gasped.
“Healthy as a horse. It was only a checkup. And then I went out for dinner with an old friend, and when I realized how late it was, I thought I’d take you out for dessert before I headed home.”
“You should have…” She dropped the thought when she remembered he didn’t own a cell phone. “Don’t you think you should start back now while it’s still light? Mom will be worried.”
“Oh, she worries anyway. I’ll call and tell her I’ll be late. Unless you have other plans.” He finally seemed to notice her dress and craned his neck to look behind her.
“I… No, I just…”
“You won’t believe who called me up for dinner tonight, querida. I don’t think I’ve seen him since…”
Her father heard the footsteps on the stairs at the same moment Beth did. He looked down, and Beth stepped forward.
Eric bounded up two more stairs before his head rose and he stopped with comical suddenness. In fact, he nearly pitched face-forward with the momentum, but he grabbed the railing and saved himself.
Her dad smiled. “I see I’m interrupting.”
“No!” Beth said. Eric seemed frozen.
“Come up, come up!” her dad said, waving Eric forward.
He looked warily at Beth, but took one more step, and then another. Beth had no choice but to back into her apartment and let them both in. The landing wasn’t big enough for the three of them to stand around, with all that awkwardness taking up so much space.
“Hello! I’m Beth’s father,” her dad said with an enthusiasm that deepened his faint accent.
“Um, Eric, this is my dad, Thomas. He just happened to be in town tonight! Dad, this is Eric.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Eric said as they shook hands. His gaze slid to Beth’s and she cringed and shook her head.
“The pleasure is mine,” her father said. “But I can see you two were on your way out. I’ll leave you to your evening.”
“Dad. No. I’ll just—”
Eric interrupted. “I was just stopping by. You should spend time with your daughter.”
