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Uh,person.
She’s nineteen now, not really a kid any longer. To me, however, she’ll always be my kid. I’ve done a lot of stupid shit in my life, but I’ve never regretted having her. Not once. Even when we argued about her post-high school plans, we were both stubborn enough to finally find some common ground. In that regard, she definitely takes after me.
As I enter the code to get into the penthouse, I brace myself for the silence I know will greet me. I’m still not quite used to her being out of the house yet, but such is the life of a new empty-nester. While she’s going Columbia and lives in the dorms there, she still comes home when she can, but her spring break just started, so she’s probably off partying with her friends or something.
When I open the door, however, I hear laughter instead.
I pause after I step inside, letting the door close behind me with a soft click. I didn’t realize how much I missed this, coming home to someone making noise and living where I live.
And then I recognize the other voice laughing. Felicia, my daughter’s best friend.
I take a deep breath.
Not only is my own child a grown woman now, so is her best friend. Unlike my own daughter, however, I don’t need any reminding that she’s an adult. She somehow does that all by herself.
Smart, driven, quietly tenacious—Felicia works harder than most of the people working for me. I was stunned to learn that she’d deferred the scholarship she’d been working towards for her entire high school career. Instead, she decided to take a gap year and started working at a market full time.
At the time, I’d wanted to pull her aside and get to the bottom of her decision, but it felt like an overstep.
Everything has always felt like an overstep of some sort with her. She was so young when she first started tutoring Olivia, running across the city all by herself like she was. It was all I could do not to send her home every time she was here in a cab, instead of letting her fend for herself.
And now that she’s an adult?
God knows I cannot let myself overstep. I can’t start down that dangerous road. It could lead to other things. Itwouldlead to other things. I don’t even know what things she herself wants, but Icannotbe the one to give them to her.
“Olivia?” I call out as I make my way toward the kitchen. “I’m home!”
The laughter dies down a little and suddenly, Felicia appears from around the hallway. My heart gives a traitorous flip in my chest.
Her riot of curly dark hair has gotten long enough to bounce around her slender shoulders. The shirt she’s wearing shows off inches of creamy, soft skin, drawing my eyes to her collarbones and the delicate tendons of her neck. My mouth waters at the thought of tasting her, of sliding my tongue against her delicate flesh, making her shiver and sigh in my arms.
“Hi, Mr. Harlow!” she says, her face bright enough to blind.
I sigh inwardly. It’s probably better that I still haven’t gotten her to call me by my first name, but I can tell she seems to think it’s a joke at this point to defy my wishes. It’s almost like she’s teasing me, acting out to see how far she can push me before I bend her over and—
“How did the business deal go?” she asks. “Did you conquer London?”
She’s standing far too close, looking up at me with wide, innocent eyes that can’t hide the strange glint in her eyes.
I’ve known for years that she’s got a crush on me. She probably thought she was being subtle, and at first I didn’t think anything of it. But over time, it became more and more obvious. None of Olivia’s friends, even the ones she’s had much longer than Felicia, look at me the way this little girl does.
If she hadn’t been such an incredible influence on my daughter, I might have done more to discourage the affection. In the end, it was too important to me that Olivia finally get the chance to have someone build her up like Felicia does. She’s never been catty or cruel, even when they have the fights that all friendsdo sometimes. I’m certain that even if I wasn’t around, Felicia would be as true a friend to her as she is now.
But then the schoolgirl grew up. She traded the dowdy school uniform for the tasteful vintage finds she and my daughter went all over the city looking for. She grew out of the occasional acne break out and into lush skin and wild hair. When she looks up at me through her long, dark lashes with those fathomless green eyes of her, the longing is still there.
It’s been absolute hell, resisting her like have.
As much as I want to get my mouth on her, to sink my cock into her tight little body and give her what she’s so clearly wanted from me for the past several months, I can’t. She’s utterly off limits. My kid’s best friend? How could I do that to either of them? She’s fucking nineteen—just a little less than half my age. I’m not old, and I certainly don’t consider myself as such, but she’s still got so much of life ahead of her.
“Can I help you?” she asks, following me to the kitchen. “What do you want, Mr. Harlow? What can I get for you?”
Her voice is a soft purr as she draws close to me at the counter, her eyes locked with mine as she waits for my answer.
Thank god I’ve got a practiced poker face and can remain outwardly stoic, even though the heat radiates off her, making the scent off of her shampoo that much headier. Already I can feel my cock strain against the fly of my trousers. I know she struggles with self-confidence in her appearance, but she’s beautiful. That’s the only thing she’s foolish about—she doesn’t recognize how gorgeous she is. I tear my eyes away from her and reach for the cannister of coffee beans on the counter.
Jet lag is the perfect excuse I need to get out of this situation, but not before I get some questions answered.
“Why are you two still here?” I ask. “Isn’t it spring break? Don’t you have partying to do?”
