Page 15 of Mountain Daddy

I won’t touch her more than this. Not yet.

But she started it.

She picks up her beer. “As for your question.”Question? I asked a question?“I’m drinking for something in between.”

Oh, right. Between celebration and not celebrating.

Her answer could mean a lot of things, but my mind instantly jumps to divorce.

She’s probably thirtyish, but that’s enough time for a marriage to start and end.

I pick up my beer. “To the good and the bad.”

She smirks. “For better or worse.”

As we drink, I look at her left hand resting on her lap, for signs of a recently removed wedding band. But there’s no tan line or indentation.

Hmm.

Kendra takes another drink, then looks at the label on the bottle. “This your usual order?”

I shake my head. “I honestly don’t remember the last time I had one. But it seemed like the best fit for a tequila shot.” I tip my head toward the empty shot glasses. “That your usual order?”

She lets out a huff of laughter. “I don’t think I’ve had a tequila shot in years. Probably not since my twenty-first birthday.”

I bite my cheek. Then I ask. Because I feel like I need to know before I take this any further. “And that was how long ago?”

Kendra’s smile is wide. And it’s perfection. “You’re not supposed to ask a woman’s age. You know that, right?”

“I know that.” I give in to my own urge to smile. “But I also need to know you’re at least thirty.”

She gives me a small head shake. But not like she’s disagreeing, more like she’s trying not to laugh at me. “Rest easy, old man. I’m thirty-two.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” I smirk. “And you call me whatever name you want, Baby Doll. But I like it when you say Daddy.”

Her mouth opens. Closes.

Glass clinks on the bar, drawing our attention. “Second round now, or wait?”

We turn our heads toward Jessie’s voice.

“Now, please,” Kendra answers before I can.

“And two waters,” I add.

Kendra looks at me and mouths,Okay, Daddy.

I narrow my eyes at her.

Her eyes move to my mouth.

And because I can’t stop myself, I lower my hand to her knee. Her bare knee.

This girl is a brat hidden behind a sweet girl exterior.

And fuck me, the idea of using these nicknames when we’re stripped down to nothing has me more excited for something,anything, than I’ve been in a long time.

Chapter 7