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“Like me and Sabrina? Oh! Daddy, can Sabrina come over?” She looks up at him and purses her lips before she stands up on the couch and kisses him on the cheek. “Please please please.”
“Honey…” He shakes his head and she strikes while he hesitates, kissing him on the cheek again.She’s got him,I think to myself. “I’ll call her mom in a bit.”
“Yay!” She plops back down and continues brushing her doll’s hair.
“I can stay if Sabrina is coming,” I tell him, resisting the urge to tell him he’s such a sucker.
“No, I will be fine. I’ve done it before.” He gives me an annoyed look followed by a smile. He seems to be in much better spirits than he was last night and I hope it isn’t all an act so that I don’t cancel my plans. “Besides, it’s a rare night that Margot isn’t going out, so I have backup.” He waves me off and I head back to my room to pack for the night. I’m almost finished getting ready when there’s a light knock on my open door and I see Margot standing in the doorway.
“Hey!” I smile cheerily as I slide my curling iron into my overnight bag and she cocks her head to the side.
She tucks one of her long tresses behind her ear before pulling it all to one side. “Dad said you’re going out tonight.”
“Yeah, against my will, I think.” I roll my eyes.
She plays with the ends of her hair, twirling it around her finger. “With a guy?”
“No,” I snort. “With my best friend.”
“Oh…well, you look hot,” she tells me. I look down at the short black leather skirt, knee-high boots, and white strapless top I’m wearing.
I beam because getting approval from a teenager is the highest compliment. “Thank you.”
“Any chance I can borrow that?” She waves her index finger up and down indicating she means my entire outfit.
“Maybe in two years?” I smile at her and she rolls her eyes.
“So, you’re not coming back tonight?” She nods toward my bag.
“I just thought we might be out late, and I don’t want to come in late and risk waking anyone up.”
“Any chance there may be a guy you’re interested in that might be showing up?” She probes and I’m wondering what she’s getting at.
“Not…that I know of?”
“You just look really good. Wasn’t sure if it was for a guy.”
I look down and then back at her wishing she was at the age that she’d understand that getting dressed for yourself will always be more fulfilling than doing it for a man. “No, Margot. I did this for me.”
“Okay…well, have fun, but not too much, and be safe.” She giggles as she gets up and calls over her shoulder. “Make good choices!”
I make my way into the foyer and see Isla still sitting on the couch but her dad is nowhere in sight. “Where’s your dad?”
She peeks her head over the couch and shrugs.“Oooh, you look pretty!”
“Thank you!”
“DADDY, ELLIE’S LEAVING!” she calls and I wince at the volume of her scream.
“Isla…I could have texted him.”
Mr. Kincaid comes in from the dining room and I can’t help the warm feeling that washes over me when I see the look in his eyes. He drags them slowly from my feet all the way to my eyes and then back down. I watch as his nostrils flare every time they pass over my legs, and the way his teeth dig into his bottom lip when he drags them across my chest makes my knees weak.
“Wow.” He blurts out and I can’t stop the smirk that pulls at my lips. “I mean…” He closes his eyes and rubs his jaw and when he opens them, I can see the lust all over his face. “No, I meant wow.” He closes the space between us. “You’re not coming back tonight?” he asks when he notices the bag at my feet.
“It just might be late and I don’t want to worry about waking anyone up. I also don’t like to take an Uber late at night by myself.”
He looks down at the bag again and then back at me. “It makes me feel better that you don’t do that, but I can come get you. It doesn’t matter if it’s late,” he offers and I’m fairly certain I am not ready to be around him when I’ve been drinking.