Our dinner doesn’t happen. El sends another message to let me know she will be late. Late eventually turns to 8 pm without a text from my wife. I stop checking when she misses all my calls.
The girls munch their dinner, I drag my spoon through my plate, shoving rice that already lost its taste into my mouth. Maybe she ran into T and they decided to have lunch. I might have done the same if it was Sophia.
Err... No. I would never go on a date with another woman except if it was for business purposes.
“Where’s Mummy?” one of them asks, I am not sure who because I am too focused on my plate.
“She went out, she will be late.”
I push my barely touched plate aside, earning glares from two of them. Their plates are empty, their glasses too. The rules are simple, no one wastes food. But I’m their father, I can get away with it today.
We shuffle to the kitchen to drop our plates, El bumps into us on our way out. Their cries of joy partly eases some of my annoyance, El crouches to their level and they assault her face with kisses. They run off after bidding us goodnight, she stalks towards me where I am leaning on the counter watching her.
“Hey.” Her hands are cold against my cheek, I offer her a tight smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to our dinner.” Because you were with another man. But my lips remain sealed and my spine straightens. I peel her hands from my face, she pouts. “Baby. Don’t be like this, you know I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
“I know and it’s fine. I’m over it.” It’s far from fine but I am too tired. I haven’t had time to fully process Sophia’s news. If Brendan is really Bri’s father, then I did all of this for nothing. “Have you eaten?”
El unwraps the scarf around her neck, I warm her hands with my kisses. “Yes. They fed us.”
They? There was only one person beside her in the picture, only T. I cough. “They? Who are they?”
“The investors,” she replies. “They wanted us to meet in this fancy restaurant instead of my office, as agreed.” El rolls her eyes, a smile jumps to my lips. “But yeah, they took care of the feeding and everything.” She stands on her toes to peck my lips. “I missed you so much. Did you miss me? How was your day?”
My arms slip around her waist, I press my lips on hers for a real kiss. “It was good.”
Her head dips as she unbuttons her jacket to reveal the low cut gown showing off excess skin. My jaw ticks. Her boobs are in view and she was with another man. Oblivious to the turmoil going on inside me, she drags me out of the kitchen.
A yawn escapes her, we have one foot on the stairs when she turns. “Tell me about it. Everything that happened today.” My steps falter. I didn’t tell Sophia to keep the DNA test a secret because I expected her to know that. She starts walking. “You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to. It’s just something the girls love. They like it when I ask about their day, every little detail.” I make a mental note of that. Her voice reduces to a whisper. “They talk a lot sometimes. A lot.”
My chest vibrates with laughter at her emphasis. Those munchkins will talk nonstop if you give them a chance. I open the door for El, she staggers to the bed and collapses on it. That annoying voice rears its ugly head. Why’s she tired? Did she do more than talking with T? I am never this tired after a meeting.
Helping her with her shoes, I push her into a sitting position and squat between her legs while my hands massage her shoulders. A moan slips from her, my cock twitches its approval and I kneel to hide the bulge. She has had a long day, she needs rest, not my dick but I don’t mind burying it inside her if she insists. Her head tilts to a side as I work the knots in her joint, she blinks lazily at me with a sheepish grin.
That cute smile does so many things to me. “I’ll run a bath for you,” I tell her.
Her thumb brushes my lips, she pinches my cheeks. “Thanks, baby.” She brings my hand to her face, her brows knit. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it home early.” To that, I shrug. If I keep shut long enough, I can pretend the date never happened. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.” She has made so many promises she didn’t keep, why should this time be different? “Baby, I mean it,” she murmurs at my impassive face.
She meant it five years ago but here we are. My eyes lower to her gown. A black gown with so many tiny buttons lining the centre. The indecent amount of cleavage on display has me withdrawing my hand to frown at her. Her nipples poke the gown, I pop the first three buttons and my eyes dart to her face.
“Why aren’t you wearing a bra?”
Seconds drag into minutes, my gaze lingers on the valley between her breasts. Her protruded nipples. I roll a beady bud between my fingers, she closes a hand over mine. “Don’t do that,” she breathes out. I will do whatever I want. Her words fly out of my other ear, I cup her boob and knead her nipple. She lets out a muffled hiss. I apply more force, pinch it. She whimpers. “Brandon, stop. They are very sensitive.”
“Because you let another man touch them? Did he also fuck you or it was just lunch?” I whisper and El jerks back to gawk at me. A range of emotions flash across her face, the hurt brimming to the surface irritates me. I know what I saw. “Is that why you didn't wear a bra too? Because you wanted to seduce T?”
Annoyance takes over, she smacks my head. “The gown doesn’t need a fucking bra, you moron.”
There’s a glint in her eyes, she frowns, daring me to oppose her. I ground my teeth in frustration, I don’t like her so much right now. Pinning her hands to her sides, I lean forward so my breath caresses her face.
“It fucking does. I don’t like your dress.” I am speaking through my jealousy but who cares? She belongs to me and I am the only one allowed this eye candy. Those gorgeous breasts deserve only my eyes. Her jaw snaps close, she rolls her eyes and tries to shove me but I push her to the bed. “You went out with T.” She nods, her impish smile growing bigger. In moments like this, I can spot the resemblance between her and Wyn. The audacity of both of them to smile when they are in trouble. “You didn’t tell me.”
Her legs wrap around my waist, she cups my bulge through my shorts and grins. “Nope. I didn’t.” Her sexy lips pucker and my resolve almost weakens as her hand slips inside my shorts. Damn this woman. She needs to stop smiling and keep her hands to herself. At my lifted brow, her finger brushes the crown of my shaft and Lord Jesus, I see stars. “I didn’t tell you because you would have advised against it. One of two things would have happened. I would have been forced to cancel my appointment to please you or we would have had an argument. I didn’t want any of that, so...” She shrugs. “I didn’t say anything.”
Planting my hands on either side of her head, I nod. “Fine. I will run you a bath now.”
El is fully naked by the time I return to the room. Her sexy body begs for my attention but I can’t look past my hurt to appreciate it. Folding my arms on my chest, I lean on the wall for support. She sighs.
“It was a business meeting.” The pictures didn’t resemble a meeting, let alone a professional one. Why did he have his hands on the table? “Fine. When the other investors left, we stayed back to catch up.”
That line snags my interest, she bridges the gap. “He’s an investor in your company?”
Bile rises to my throat at her tight smile, she tries to link our fingers but I am not having it. She’s using my weakness against me. I love body contact, I can’t think when she’s this close to me. She knows. It’s why she pushes herself up to press a chaste kiss to my lips. “Kind of,” she says, “baby, it’s complicated.”
Her eyes beg me to drop the subject, she runs her fingers through my beards and pouts. Touching my lips to hers, I whisper, “I want to be an investor too.” She shakes her head. This woman. “Say yes to that.”
“Nope.” A pang shoots straight to my heart, I release her and she pulls away. “No family.”
“Why?” She shrugs. “What if I go behind your back to purchase shares? What will you do?”
“I’ll kill you. Baby, I’ll be furious,” she says with a laugh, half-expecting me to laugh along. I don’t and her face turns serious. “Brandon, you didn’t do that, did you? Brandon?” This is my chance to spill, confess but how far has telling the truth gotten me? She punches my chest lightly. “Baby, you are scaring me.”
Holding her gaze, I reply, “Nope. I didn’t.”
Relief washes over her, so enormous I can almost touch it. She hugs me, head tilted back to maintain eye contact. “T owns a few modelling agencies.” He owns more than a few. The fucker has made a big name for himself in the fashion world. In another lifetime, we might have worked as business partners. “I used to be one of his models in school, we lost contact. There really is nothing. It’s all in your head.”
It was nothing until my brother kissed her but she will never learn. “Right. I feel sleepy.”
Another tide of tiredness rolls over me. Her gaze rakes my face. “You sure?”
“I had a long day.”
Satisfied with my answer, she pecks me and skips to the bathroom. Forcing myself not to think about a certain man, I switch off the lights and crawl into bed. Minutes later, her arm wraps around my waist.
“You are still mad. Don’t be,” she says. I don’t respond. I am not mad but I have not forgiven her and I am not sure that makes sense. She is an adult female who can do whatever she wants. Besides, I don’t give her a list of everyone I meet daily. “If you want to help, you can give me business advice for free.”
Last time I checked, she was the one who gave me great ideas to catch the company’s mole. Welcoming the warmth of her body, I take her offer and link our fingers. “Number one business advice. Get rid of T.”
Her laughter reverberates in the dark. She presses a kiss to my cheek. “Goodnight, baby.”