Page 192 of The Illicit Play

“Well, um… thanks again.” She scratched the side of her nose. When she lowered her arm, her pajama top strap slipped off her shoulder, and it was my turn to drink in that silky white skin of hers.

She noticed my gaze and started smirking all over again.

“Your mother and I have decided that…” He cleared his throat, interrupting the eye sex Blake and I couldn’t help having. “If you get this job, we’ll buy you a new car.”

Blake gave a surprised blink. “But what about my Mini in Chicago?”

“I think it’s best we sell that and get you somethingelse. We’ll arrange to have the storage unit emptied and all your belongings shipped to Nolan. But a new car will be a fresh start, no bad memories attached to it, and you can get on with being the girl you want to be.”

Blake kept blinking for a second, obviously not sure what to say.

“We don’t like you driving around in that massive truck of Wily’s. It’s not a lady’s car,” her mother piped up.

Blake rolled her eyes, and I had to bite my knuckle to smother my laughter.

Blake?

A lady?

Yeah, her mother seriously does not know her at all.

“I was thinking a little VW Beetle or something peppy that you can get around Nolan in. What do you think?”

“I think…” Blake blinked some more, then let out a happy little laugh. “I think that would be amazing, thank you. That’s really kind.”

“Well, anything to get you back on your feet, sweetheart,” Mrs. Wilson chimed in again, the underlying warning to stay on track loud and clear.

Blake doesn’t need it. She’s gonna do just great, with or without her parents’ pressure. But I guess they’re trying. Making sure she doesn’t have to deal with any more shit in Chicago is a big gesture, and I’m glad Blake’s not rejecting it.

She thanked them again, wrapping up the call before giving me an edgy smile. “Damn, I better nail this interview.”

Striding across the room, I lifted her into my arms, kissing her soundly and assuring her, “You will.”

And then Wily assured her over breakfast, and Zoey popped in with a picture she made.

“Oh, wow. Thank you, Zo-Zo.” Blake grinned down at the scribble. “Can you explain it to me?” She pointed at the swirls of yellow. “Is that me?”

“Yup!” Zoey puffed her chest out proudly and tapped the picture. “Toiwet.”

“And that’s a…” Blake’s expression buckled in confusion. “A toilet?”

Zoey nodded. “Keen toiwet!” She tapped the image again. “You keen toiwet.”

“Right. Okay.” Blake started to laugh, and Zoey tipped her head, confused by why that was so funny. Straightening out her expression, Blake gave the little girl a sincere smile. “I love it. And I’m gonna be the best toilet cleaner in this whole house.”

“Yay!” Zoey punched her arms in the air, and Blake waited for the little girl to spin around and run out of the kitchen before wrinkling her nose at me.

“I’m gonna have to clean toilets. A whole lot of them.”

“Yeah, baby.” I gave her a pained smile and leaned across the table to kiss her.

“Would you two stop doing that in front of me,” Wily groaned, tipping his head back in dramatic agony. “That’s my sister. It’s gross.”

Blake narrowed her eyes at him before that cute little eyebrow of hers arched and she stood from her chair, then straddled my lap with a playful grin. “You don’t like me kissing my boyfriend?” she teased him, holding my face and giving me a passionate kiss that was all tongue.

“Ugh! You guys are killing me!”

She grinned against my lips before diving in foranother, and I squeezed her ass until he was throwing pieces of toast at our heads.