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Chapter Four
Ariella
“Morning, Freckles.” Jaxson pulled me tight against his body beneath the covers.
“Is it time to get up already?” I mumbled through heavy-lidded eyes.
Any minute Izzie would come tearing through the bedroom door. If we were lucky, she wouldn’t climb onto the mattress and start jumping on the bed.
She’d been a terror lately, and while I had thought that I missed those years, boy was I wrong.
Jaxson’s warm breath caressed my skin as he kissed a soft trail of butterfly kisses against my neck and down my cleavage, dipping his head beneath the blankets.
I moaned, shifting on the bed to get comfortable but also knowing this was a bad idea. “Jaxson,” I whispered, my voice raspy and filled with need.
“Shhh, we have to keep it down,” he said, reminding me that we could get interrupted.
Buried beneath the covers, his lips made a warm path down my stomach and across my navel.
He didn’t linger, going right for his intended target. He slid my panties down and trailed a slow path of warm kisses up my inner thigh to his intended destination.
I grew restless from his teasing and bit down on my bottom lip to keep from moaning as the bedroom door flew open.
Oh crap.
“Jaxson,” I moaned, trying to tell him that his daughter was about to come barreling into the room.
His name was the only word that I’d been able to get out.
“Ariella!” Izzie squealed as she ran into our bedroom.
His tongue stopped working its magic, and I whimpered in protest.
Focus.
I needed to pay attention to his daughter and also scold Jaxson later for not having a lock on the bedroom door.
“Where’s Daddy?”
Jaxson climbed out from beneath the covers, revealing himself to his daughter.
“Daddy!” Izzie climbed up onto the mattress without so much as an invitation. “What were you doing under there?”
His sly grin didn’t help settle my heart. He made me breathless. My heart pounded wildly in my chest as I tried to calm down.
“Trying to sleep. Ariella makes all sorts of noises when she sleeps,” Jaxson said.
“I do not!” I smacked his arm playfully. “You are full of lies.”
Izzie glanced between us, her eyes narrow and sharp. She was the splitting image of her dad.
“Daddy doesn’t lie,” Izzie said and stood on the bed.
“Of course, she’s going to side with you,” I said, gesturing at Jaxson.
Jaxson grabbed Izzie by the waist and tackled her to the bed with tickles.
“Daddy!”