“Anything for Daddy.”
He rolled to his side and wrapped his arms around her.Damn.She was perfect.He sure wished he knew if it was all an act.
Chapter7
Marissa wrapped a towel around her waist and padded, barefooted out to the kitchen, combing her wet hair.She was sore, in the most delicious way, from the rough sex the night before.Joel had gone to Crossfit.Antonio had texted that he didn’t need them until the next day, so she’d been indulging in a lazy morning, sleeping in and then taking a thirty minute shower.
The sound of the door from the garage reached her and she smiled, wondering if she should drop her towel entirely and let Joel find her naked.She should have realized the footsteps were too fast, too light, but she was wrapped up in her fantasy of being taken by her hot, dominant daddy again.She pulled off her towel and tossed it over the back of a chair, then pulled the espresso machine forward, as if she always made coffee in the nude.
“Oh,” a female voice exclaimed.
She jumped and shrieked, diving for the towel.
“Oh,” the woman repeated inanely.“I didn’t realize Joel had...a guest.”She said the wordguestlike it was the equivalent of lice or rats.Despite discovering Joel, indeed had a guest, she came in, dropping her purse on the counter like she belonged there.
Fuck.She must be his ex-wife.“Um...what are you doing here?”
She walked straight into the kitchen and opened the cabinet, pulling out a ceramic airtight container, which she popped open.From a lower cabinet she pulled out a coffee grinder.
So that’s where he kept them.
“I had some time to kill on this side of town, so I thought I’d stop in and have a snack.I get cranky when I get low blood sugar,” she said as if that explained everything.“I saw the Porsche, but I thought maybe Joel had turned in the Tesla or something.He changes cars every six months, you know.”
Actually, she didn’t know, and for some reason that really pissed her off.
“I’m Marissa,” she said, then kicked herself.What the hell was wrong with her?This woman barged in on her, not the other way around.
“Right,” she said.“Marissa Sparks, of course.I know Joel really wanted you forCanyon del Oro.”She poured some beans into the coffee grinder and started it up, turning to give her an up and down look while it ran.When it stopped, she said, “I’m glad it worked out.”
Sweat trickled down Marissa’s ribs and her heart ricocheted around like a pinball in a machine.Why did it bother her so much to know Joel had talked about her with his ex-wife?It felt like a complete violation.Like he’d cheated on her or something, but that was stupid.That was before she even knew him.Except here she was, in his kitchen, making her own coffee while Marissa stood around naked under her towel.For some reason, she didn’t want to leave her in the kitchen to go get dressed.Like she needed to hold her ground.
She tightened the towel.“What’s your name?”
“Oh.Sorry, I’m Allie,” she said, holding out her hand.
Marissa took it reluctantly, and of course, her towel loosened and slipped, so she had to yank her hand back to catch it before she wound up naked again.
“I’m Joel’s wife.I mean, ex-wife.I’m still not used to saying it,” she said with a rueful laugh.“It hasn’t been that long, you know.”
Heat crept up her neck to her ears.No, she didn’t know, really.She didn’t know anything, did she?The snarkiest part of her wanted to say something like, “How’s your yoga instructor?”But she kept her inner bitch inside.Making waves wasn’t her style.
Allie scooped the freshly ground coffee into the espresso machine and poured a cup of water in, then walked to the fridge and pulled out the milk and a carton of blueberries.She opened the blueberries and scooped a handful, popping them into her mouth.No spoon, no bowl.Her germs all over their blueberries.
The espresso machine began to hiss and Allie filled the frothing cup and started steaming her milk.
Okay, this was just getting ridiculous.Apparently her cup of coffee would have to wait until Allie had taken care of her hypoglycemic needs.
“I’m going to get dressed,” she muttered, stalking to the bedroom.With any luck, the ex would be gone by the time she returned.Except she couldn’t stay away.She threw on some clothes and came back out, drawn like a magnet to metal.
Allie was sorting through a stack of mail.
Seeing the physical evidence of her marriage to Joel—even if it was just mail being sent to his address—stabbed Marissa in the heart.
“So how’s the filming coming?I heard things had been slow since you’ve been back from New Mexico.”
Her breath stopped and a knot formed in her belly.What the hell had he told her?Something about her?About how she’d fucked up?She managed a one-shoulder shrug as an answer.
“When is the release date, do you know?”
