them together.
Her soft panting was warm on my lips. I could almost taste whatever fruity candy she’d been sucking on before. I wanted to taste the candy on her tongue. Sucking and probing and owning.
“Xari did your harp come?” Frankie’s voice bounced around the corner. It was a grenade destroying any semblance of a kiss that might have been shared between us.
Wide espresso eyes popped open and regarded me. A soft flush crept across the tops of her cheeks and mottled her throat like she held the same burning desire inside that I did. I had to get the fuck away from her before I made some bad decisions.
I’d never been happier to see my child walk into a room. Her bight eyes and smiling face put me where I was supposed to be. I was a father. I was a goddamn senator, and I’d employed Xari to take care of my daughter when I was at work.
I couldn’t get caught fucking my nanny. It was to cliché. It would tarnish my image. Alexis would have a field day and try to take Frankie back. That was all the motivation I needed to pretend like that almost-kiss never happened.
“Yeah, it came. All in one piece too,” Xari grinned. It was pulled a little too tight. I tried to steal a glance at the tell-tale thump at the base of her throat but she’d already dissolved into her role with Frankie. I took that as my sign to get the hell out of there and back to the den where I could throw myself into my book. It was either that or go to my room, lock the door, and jerk my dick until I came.
…
ELEVEN
“Wake up! Wake up!”
I pushed my satin sleep mask onto my forehead and looked at Frankie bouncing on my bed like a lunatic.
“What’s up, Frank?” I dragged myself into a sitting position and waited for her to explain why she was waking me up.
“You know what today is?” Her smile was so big and bright I didn’t need to open the curtains to see the sun.
“What’s today, Frank?” I rubbed my tired eyes and stretched my hands high above my head to work out the stiff kinks in my back.
“The last day of your one-month probationary period. I know Daddy is going to hire you for good and I think Mom will come around too. She’s tired of picking me up from school every day.” She climbed up beside me in bed and laid her head on my shoulder. I stroked her fluffy curls and sighed softly.
“I hope he hires me for good.” The weekly paychecks helped to pay my car note but it wasn’t enough to put a payment on all of my cards. I should have canceled most of them like Evander suggested.
I was just so happy to be able to pay for my car that I didn’t think much beyond it. I still hadn’t figured out how to make extra money to help pay more of my bills. I told myself that if I was hired permanently that I’d figure it all out then. Today was the moment of truth.
“Come on, let’s go downstairs and make pancakes. Nobody can say no with pancakes for breakfast.” The shining innocence in her eyes was so damn cute. Sometimes Frankie was this amazingly mature twelve-year-old then other times she reminded me that she was still a child in all the ways that mattered. She still saw the world through rose-colored glasses and she still thought life went on forever. We were only eight years apart but the realization had already hit me that nothing lasted forever.
I understood that once my parents let me know they were serious about cutting me off so I could stand on my own two feet. I also understood why I shouldn’t count on anything as permanent. I had to take care of myself because it wasn’t anyone else’s responsibility. It was hard work untangling the mess I’d left for myself though.
I went into the kitchen with Frankie and started on homemade pancakes. I’d been showing her how to make something other than scrambled eggs, so she was excited to measure everything out and get the griddle ready. I promised her by the time I was done teaching her, she’d be a pro.
“Use the scoop and pour it onto the griddle, right? But mine never come out round like yours.” Her full lips fell into a pout.
“Practice makes perfect, Frankie. The fucked