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“Okay,” he quickly agrees. “I have Gwen for part of this weekend and Monday. Why don’t we plan for Tuesday night at seven? You come over, and I’ll feed you this time, and I don’t mean my cock.”
I laugh. “That works.”
“What would you like for dinner?” he asks.
“Hmm. How about Chinese food?”
“Anything particular you want me to order?”
“Chicken lo mein, fried rice, chicken fingers, crab rangoon?—”
“I’ll get a bunch of stuff,” he cuts in.
I try to tug my hand from his, but he doesn’t release his hold. “James, I have to go.”
“I know you do. I just want to hold you before you go.” He turns to his side, drawing me into his arms. With my face buried against his chest, the sparse hairs tickle my nose.
With every breath, I inhale the masculine scent of his body wash. His hands caress up and down my spine, but when they roam lower, cupping my ass, I realize if I don’t get up from this bed right this moment, he’ll easily persuade me to stay.
Rolling away from his arms, I spring to my feet and collect my discarded clothing from the floor.
“Dammit. You’re really leaving?”
“Yep.” I draw my leggings on. “I wouldn’t have time to go home and get ready before work. Plus, I’d be stuck in traffic and stressed out. I don’t want to start my day off negatively.”
He climbs from the bed and tugs on his boxer briefs. It’s all I can do to drag my eyes from his impressive naked torso and finish putting my clothes on.
The next time I glance at him, he’s wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, but he’s sockless. For the first time in my life, I find a man’s feet attractive, and I don’t know what to make of it.
Maybe being with him has broken my brain because I’ve always thought men’s feet are notoriously gross.
“Why are you staring at my feet?”
Dammit, he noticed. I search my mind for an excuse but decide to be truthful.
“You have nice feet for a guy.”
He laughs a little too hard, leaving me questioning why he found what I said so amusing.
“I’m laughing because I asked Gwen what she wanted us to do last weekend, and she chose to get pedicures.”
“So you had one too?” I ask, and he nods.
Cue my ovaries exploding.
“I want to spend time with my daughter, and if that means soaking my feet and having someone clip my toenails, then so be it. And one of the advantages of getting the pedicures was that Gwen was trapped next to me for the duration. It was a great opportunity for us to talk.”
“You might be the coolest dad in the world.”
“I don’t think that’s the case. In fact, a lot of the time, it feels like I’m the opposite.”
“I admire your effort. You could’ve easily had her mom take her for a pedicure instead.”
“I’ll do just about anything if it makes Gwen happy.”
Jesus. I need to leave before I ask him to marry me.
“Come on, I’ll walk you out,” he says, gesturing for me to precede him. When we get to the bottom of the staircase, he leads me through the living room and part of the kitchen to the side door, and I realize I don’t have my keys.