“I don’t know what to do with all of this freedom,” I admit. “My entire life up to this point has been revolved around raising Queenie and my career.”
“Which means you did your job. And that’s a good thing. Think about it, Jake. This is the great part about having a kid young. Sure, you lost out on the freedom of your twenties, but in some ways, this is even better. You’re in your forties. You have a great job, you’re in incredible shape.” She twists and pulls her knee up so it rests against my thigh, her arm extending along the back of the tub, fingertips skimming my shoulder. “You have all of your hair.”
“I’m definitely grateful for the last one,” I joke.
“You have great hair.” She runs her fingers through it. “It’s sexy.” She bites her lip and then shakes her head. “Anyway, what I’m saying is, you’re in the prime of your life. Most people in their forties are raising teens, or maybe their kids are getting ready to go to college. You’ve done all that. Now you can just live. You can date. Have fun. Do whatever you want.”
“Fun would be good.” My gaze drops to her lips. “And I’d like to do whatever I want.”
“Me, too.” Her bottom lip slides through her teeth. “Like right now I could kiss you.”
“You definitely could.” I skim her thigh under the water with my fingertips.
She nods. “There’s nothing stopping us.”
“So why aren’t your lips on mine yet?” I ask.
Hanna shifts again, her wet palms come to rest on either side of my jaw, and she presses her soft lips to mine.
I slip my hand under her hair and wrap it around the back of her neck. For a moment, I question whether this is a good idea. But when our lips part and our tongues meet, I forget all the reasons why it might not be.
I groan as I sink into the kiss and our tongues tangle. She tastes fruity, like the wine she’s been drinking. She straddles me and settles in my lap, her breasts pressing against my chest.
She breaks the kiss for a moment and our eyes meet. “I’ve been thinking about this for months.”
“I’ve wanted to know what your lips taste like since the first day I met you,” I confess.
She runs her fingers through my hair again and I grip her hip and pull her closer. Our mouths collide, tongues stroking, teeth clashing.
“I knew it would be like this,” she murmurs and rolls her hips.
“Like what?” I pull the tie on her bikini top.
“Explosive. Intense.” She bites the edge of my jaw, hands smoothing down the sides of my neck. “I want to spend the rest of the weekend in your bed.”
“I’ve wanted you to spend every weekend you’ve been in town in my bed.”
“Me, too.” Her lips drag across my cheek. “We’ll keep this between us.”
“No one needs to know what we do behind closed doors,” I agree.
“Or in hot tubs.”
What’s left of the weekend is spent trading orgasms all over my house.
And in the months that follow, my appetite for Hanna never wanes.
Instead, it grows. And changes.
And starts to become something I want more of, even though I know eventually it has to end.
CHAPTER ONE
A Beautiful Complication
Jake
Queenie’s wedding day
KEEP IT TOGETHER, man. Just keep it together.
I do a couple of rounds of those breathing exercises that my daughter is so damn fond of to help calm me down some. She does them often with the kids she works with. I reach for the glass of scotch sitting on my dresser and take a sip. Between the deep breathing and the scotch, I should be able to find some “chill”, as Queenie likes to say.
A gentle knock comes from the other side of my slightly ajar bedroom door.
“Come in,” I call out.
Hanna’s head appears, and that calm I found a second ago disappears. Her chocolate brown eyes scan the room until they land on me.
“Hey.” She steps inside, closing the door behind her with a quiet click.
I let my gaze drop, taking her in. Hanna is wearing a floor-length lavender dress with a slit that runs up the right side, stopping halfway up her thigh. It hugs her curvy figure in all the right places. Curves I’ve had my hands on countless times over the last several months. “You look stunning in that dress.”
A single spiral of her long dark hair skims her cheek, the right side pinned up with a tiny purple jeweled flower. I want to brush it back, so I have a reason to caress the graceful slope of her neck.
“Thank you. You look pretty damn good in that suit.” She crosses the room, her smile coy as she arches an eyebrow. “But even better out of it.”
I chuckle. “Have I told you lately how good you are for my ego?” As soon as she’s close enough, I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her against me. “And this dress is going to look even better when it’s decorating my bedroom floor at the end of the night.”
She tips her chin up and I drop mine, our lips meet and part, tongues sweeping out. Even though I know now is not the time for this, I allow myself to sink into the kiss, if only for a minute. It’s been like this since the engagement party.
In the beginning, I tried not to notice how much I liked the sound of her laugh or the way her face lit up when she smiled. But what started as lingering glances and harmless flirting quickly evolved into something not so innocent the more time we spent together.
Every time she’s come to visit from Tennessee, which has been at least once a month since the engagement party, we’ve ended up in bed together.
And now here we are, making out. Again.
Hanna breaks the kiss and covers my mouth with her palm. “We need to put a pin in this for another twelve hours.”
“Agreed.” I kiss her palm before I pull it away from my mouth. “But you started it with the suit comment.”
“I know. Sorry. I actually came in to see how you were holding up, not make out with you like a horny teenager.” She blows out a breath and backs up a step. “How are you doing?”
“Nervous as hell, to be honest.”
She gives me an understanding smile. “Nervous is normal. It’s a big day for all of us, and giving away your little girl is no small thing.”
“It feels like only yesterday I was changing her diapers. All those years gone in a flash.” I snap my fingers. “And now here we are.”
“Here we are,” she agrees.
“Am I good?” I motion to my tie. As the general manager of Seattle’s NHL team, I’m used to wearing a suit and tie. I’m also used to large crowds and public events. What I’m not used to is walking my only daughter down the aisle.
She smooths her hands over my lapels, adjusting them before moving on to my tie. She makes sure the knot is tight before she slides her hand over the purple silk. “There. Now you’re perfect.”
“I’m far from perfect, but as long as I don’t look like a hot mess, I’ll take it.”
“You never look like a hot mess, Jake.” Her gaze lifts and a smirk tips the corner of her mouth. “Take comfort in the fact you’re the eye candy for everyone over forty, and the real showstopper is Queenie.” She winks and her fingertips drag along the side of my neck as she adjusts the collar of my dress shirt.