AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I have a craving for Le Fleur. Want to meet me there for dinner with Sarah?” she suggests.
“Sure. You just leaving the office?”
“Yep, you have five new calls from potential clients waiting on your desk. And the Eriksons left a message gushing over the new dining room decor that went in yesterday. I think they’re in love with the light fixture you chose.”
Smiling, I suppress a chuckle. They’ve been a particularly hard-to-please client, but now that the job is wrapping up, I think I might have won them over. “Thanks, Zoe. Sarah and I are just finishing up at the park. We’ll see you soon.”
“Meet you there in fifteen.”
“Sure thing.” Hanging up, I slip my phone back into my pocket and turn to Sarah. “Hungry for Le Fleur?”
“Yeah!” she squeals excitedly.
The cute little French restaurant right off Pier 39 is one of our favorite spots owned and run by a young female chef who has made a massive splash in the culinary capital of the West Coast. We try to support her business every chance we get, often eating there every week or so.
Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
As the carousel slows, Sarah offers up her arms to me, and I help her down off her ostrich. It’s days like these that make me so grateful I’m a mother. I have much to thank Maks for, and a small part of me twinges with regret that I can’t share this with him. I don’t see how anyone could fail to fall in love with our little girl.
But I have to respect his choice not to make strong connections, and I won’t put my daughter through the feelings of loss and abandonment that would come from having a father who can’t love and adore her.
Right now, she has two women who would do anything for her. While Zoe, Sarah, and I might not make up a traditional family, I’m confident that we’re enough for my little girl. She’s so incredibly cherished, and that’s what I care about most.
19
MAKSIM
After a rough day, it’s all I can do to wait until eleven. Several times, I contemplated pushing the time up so I might have more of Heidi to myself. But her safety takes precedence over my desires—especially after Aleksandr spent the day rubbing my face in his blatant schemes against my family.
He’s trying to provoke me into doing something rash, and I refuse to be baited.
I pause my agitated pacing in front of my picture windows that look out on the San Francisco skyline as a softdingsounds in the foyer, announcing Heidi’s arrival.
Finally.
She’s here promptly at eleven fifteen, and secretly, I’m thrilled to know she must have been ready and waiting for the driver I sent to fetch her. She couldn’t have gotten across town so quickly otherwise.
Soft clicking steps precede her, then Heidi enters the living room wearing chic feather-and-pearl-studded high heels and a dressy, belted, knee-length white trench coat with two rows of stylish black buttons running down the length of the front. She looks stunning with her hair pinned away from one side of her face to cascade down the other shoulder in a waterfall of honey waves. The subtle makeup that accentuates the striking color of her eyes and her full lips tells me she went all out tonight.
I wonder if she might not have expected me to take her somewhere nice if she’s dressed like that.
“Thanks, fellas,” Heidi says, glancing over one shoulder to offer my bodyguards a flirtatious wave of her fingers that subtly excuses them from the room.
They both fade silently into the shadows as she redirects her gaze to me.
“You look beautiful,” I state, giving her a generous once-over and noting the way her long legs look particularly sexy working those thin stilettos and fishnet stockings.
“Thanks.” Her smile is coy, almost shy as she approaches. “I decided to dress up for tonight.”
A twinge of unexpected guilt tightens my stomach at the realization that I’ve disappointed her. Somewhere along the line, I must have misdirected her about our arrangement in some way. Because what I have in mind requires very little clothing—of any caliber.
But as my lips part to explain that to her, Heidi reaches for the belt wrapped snugly around her waist, and she unbuckles it with a flourish. Her fuck-me eyes kill the words on my lips, and I watch as she slowly, intentionally undoes one button of her designer coat at a time.
When she shrugs out of it, letting it slide sensually down her arms to pool on my floor, I think I might just be in love.
She’s wearing nothing but lingerie, lacy white lingerie. A bra that cups her full breasts and just hints at the outline of her pert nipples, a practically see-through lace thong that guides my eyes toward the peak of her strong thighs, and a garter belt that connects to the top of her knee-high stockings with thin bow-capped ribbons.
It looks shockingly similar to the outfit she wore four years ago, and it brings me back to that strip club and laying eyes on her for the first time. Even in my pain-clouded stupor, I could see she was beautiful. And tonight, I can’t wait to put my hands on her.
