“How’s your dad?” Polly asked abruptly, changing the subject.
I sat back and patted my chest. Polly hesitated, but then relaxed against me again even if I could still feel the rigidity in her spine. “Better. Got his meds, seemed to be in less pain by the time we left. He got on with Max real well. Taught him how to keep score of a baseball game. I figure Max will be ready to live in the 1960’s if time machines are ever invented.”
I felt the puff of air from Polly’s laugh on my neck and her muscles begin to relax.
“How’d your momma react to meeting the kids?”
“Once she could say Ryla’s name, they got on great. I’ve already gotten two texts from Momma asking to bring them back this week.”
I felt Polly nod. “That’s ok with me, if it’s ok with you.”
I trailed my hand slowly down her arm. “They want to meet you too.”
I felt the tension in her back return. “Oh, umm, me? I’ll be pretty busy with the school stuff, so maybe in a few weeks.”
“Ryla talked you up a storm, I’m afraid. We don’t have to tell them about us, but even if we did, they’d love you.” I squeezed her close to me. “It’d be impossible for them not to.”
Polly scoffed and sat forward, her back to me. “I don’t know about that. I’m a thirty-eight-year-old woman taking advantage of their young son who has his whole future ahead of him. They may like me as your employer, but once they find out I’ve deflowered their precious baby boy, I don’t think it’ll go so well.”
I held back a laugh as I sat up, cuddling close to her so that my nose brushed the nape of her neck. “I hate to break it to you, but I think the jig is up on my deflowering situation.”
As Polly muttered something unintelligible, I slid my hands up her arms and settled my fingertips at the base of her neck, trying to massage out some of the tension still sitting there.
“Do you want me to meet your parents?” I could hear the hesitation in her voice, the insecurity there.
“I do. But this is new. And like we agreed, we can go at your pace. I’m not in a rush.”
She muttered something liketricksandmagic fingersas I kept finding new spots of tension. She let out a breathy moan as I hit a spot in her neck that made her entire posture melt. I scooted forward until my front was flush with her back, my legs bracketing hers. She tilted her head to the side as I changed my massage technique to include slow, opened mouth kisses on her neck. My groin tightened with each little moan or gasp from her lips.
“Jace?” Polly panted. “Can I ask you an honest question?”
“Mmmhmm,” I hummed, feeling goosebumps break out on her arms. I gently sucked at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, canting my hips, my hard length aching with each brush against her backside.
“Is there a reason you smell like rubber and a boys’ locker room?”
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
POLLY
The sharp incisors, the wicked smile, the sensual pull. It should scare me, but it only made me want him more. Damn it.
Lady and the Vampby Lena Benjamin
Jace, the kids, and I fell into an easy rhythm for the rest of the week.
He’d see me off in the morning before the kids were awake, usually crowding me into the counter, stealing kisses until I had to force myself to leave the house. It’d been ridiculously hard to focus on work this entire week as half of my brain was concentrating on truly important things. Like how much I liked Jace’s smile. And his kisses. And the way he saiddarlin’all low and sexy.
After work, Jace and I would make dinner, and we’d all eat together. On Wednesday, Jace took us bowling. Max had been invited to Belle’s birthday party next week, which was going to be at a bowling alley. So Jace and his friend Sam taught us how to bowl. They were hilarious together, constantly one upping each other, then pretending to fall in new ways on the slippery bowling lane, seeing who could make the kids laugh the hardest. At night, Jace joined me for the kid’s bedtime routines, reading to Ryla and learning Max’s relaxation exercises. Then, once the kids were asleep, well . . . let’s just say today’s chair dancing class was going to be painful. I really hoped there’d be a lot of stretching before the class. I was in desperate need of some stretching.
“What are you listening to?”
Gasping, I turned from the mirror over my dresser to see Jace leaning casually against the doorframe. My heart took off like a hummingbird.
I wondered if that would ever stop.
I removed my earbuds. “Good morning.”
Jace let his eyes trail lazily down my body. It was just before nine on Saturday morning, and I was getting ready to go to my first chair dancing lesson. I was in compression leggings, a tight purple cropped tank, and a hoodie. Uncrossing his legs, Jace prowled toward me.
