Treat Me (One Night with Sole Regret #8) (10 page)

It didn’t take Amanda long to reach her house. The small bungalow was only a couple of miles from Jacob’s place, in an older subdivision populated by working stiffs like herself.

After her shower, she stared into her small closet wondering what to wear. She wanted to look sexy for Jacob—because, holy shit, the guy actually had feelings for her that she still wasn’t ready to face—but not too sexy since young and impressionable Julie would be with them all weekend. She decided on a pair of black shorts that accentuated her long legs while still managing to cover her ass, and a cute white top made of eyelet material with cup sleeves and tiny buttons down the front. The shirt hugged her figure and gave a hint of cleavage, but didn’t make her look like she was trying too hard. She hoped.

Amanda examined herself in the mirror while she blow-dried her hair and simultaneously swished mouthwash through her teeth. Was she pretty enough to have someone like Jacob “Shade” Silverton fall in love with her? She’d probably rank herself above average in looks, but she wasn’t a stunner like Tina. Amanda shrugged at herself before spitting into the sink. Whatever. She was comfortable in her skin, and she wouldn’t be changing how she looked to appease a man. Not even Jacob. After applying mascara and lip gloss—the only makeup she ever wore—she found a comfortable pair of canvas shoes suitable for walking around the zoo. She was heading out of her bedroom when her gym bag caught her attention.

Was she brazen enough to pack an overnight bag? It probably was a bad idea for her to spend the night with Jacob when Julie was there, but she wanted to stay with him. They didn’t even have to have wild and crazy sex all night long. Just knowing he was within reach was enough. At least for a couple of nights. Truth be told, she wouldn’t mind staying with Jacob whenever he was home from Sole Regret’s tour, but she still wasn’t ready to flaunt their relationship. Just thinking about Tina’s response and all the horrid things she could do to make Jacob’s life miserable made Amanda queasy.

She decided to pack her bag but leave it in the trunk unless she needed it. On her way out, she gave Tinkerbell a scratch behind the ears while the cat devoured a bowl of her favorite tuna dinner.

Scrunching low in the driver seat of her car, she approached Jacob’s drive cautiously, just in case Tina was still there. Amanda was fully prepared to speed on by without stopping, even though it was unlikely that Tina had hung around for any length of time. Amanda wouldn’t have been surprised if Tina had deposited Julie in the driveway and tossed her bag at her feet before speeding off to her spa appointment.

Finding Jacob’s drive empty of gigantic German-engineered SUVs, Amanda pulled in and parked under a shade tree. What excuse would she use if Tina just happened to drive by and saw her car parked in Jacob’s driveway? She supposed she could claim that Jacob needed help caring for Julie, but that was a lie and Tina would use such a claim as ammunition against him.

Leaving her presumptuous overnight bag in the trunk, Amanda scurried toward the front door and rang the doorbell.

“Is that my surprise?” she heard Julie squeal inside the house.

“It’s not a great surprise,” Jacob said on the opposite side of the closed door.

Gee, thanks, Jacob.
Amanda chuckled to herself.

“What is it?” Julie asked.

“It’s not a what, it’s a who.” Jacob opened the door, and Amanda didn’t know which of the pair made her heart swell with more emotion: the gorgeous dark-haired, blue-eyed, muscled hunk who was currently wearing sparkly blue fairy wings on his back or the adorable blond four-year-old who had no doubt convinced him to wear them.

“Aunt Mander!”

“Surprise!” Amanda said. She held out her arms for an exuberant hug, lifting Julie off the ground and into her arms, getting several kisses on the cheek for her effort.

“This
is
a great surprise, Daddy,” Julie said. “I love my Aunt Mander.” She bestowed more kisses on Amanda.

“And I love my Julie Bean,” Amanda said, giving her a squeeze. “Can I come to the zoo with you and your daddy today?”

“Yes! I was waiting so long for my surprise so we can leave.”

Amanda supposed an hour felt like an eternity to a young child.

“Did you have breakfast?” Jacob asked Amanda.

“Daddy made me pancakes and they look like butterflies.”

Amanda grinned at Jacob, who appeared rather flushed. “He did?” When Julie nodded, Amanda asked, “Did they
taste
like butterflies?”

Julie crinkled up her nose. “No, silly. They taste like pancakes. You can have some. He cooked about a hundred of them.”

“You said you were hungry,” Jacob said.

Amanda set Julie on her feet, and the girl skipped into the house toward the kitchen.

Jacob leaned close and whispered in her ear, “You look beautiful.”

She turned her head to offer her thanks and found their lips a hair’s breadth apart. She leaned into him, her hand on his waist, wishing his T-shirt would disappear so she could touch his bare skin. A deep longing curled in her belly.

“Daddy! Where’s the butter?”

Jacob jerked away and spun on his heel. “Don’t go near the stove,” he warned as he hurried toward the kitchen, his bouncing fairy wings slightly askew.

Grinning to herself, Amanda trailed after him, feeling lewd for admiring a fairy’s ass. But who could blame her? She found the pair in the kitchen. Julie was kneeling on a stool at the breakfast bar and arranging butterfly-shaped pancakes—well, they were pretty much blob-shaped, but she was certain Julie was too sweet to criticize her father’s creations—on a plate. Jacob stood beside her, a steadying hand at her back.

“How many do you want?” Julie asked.

“Just two,” Amanda said. These two specifically, even though she knew she could never have the Silverton pair to herself. Even if a relationship worked out with Jacob, Julie was Tina’s daughter and she always would be, no matter how much Amanda adored her.

“Could you keep an eye on her for a bit?” Jacob asked. “I want to grab a quick shower.”

“No problem.”

When Amanda scooted onto the stool next to Julie’s, Jacob leaned in with puckered lips to kiss Amanda’s temple. Wide-eyed, she jerked away. What was he thinking? Julie was drizzling syrup all over Amanda’s pancakes and not paying much attention, but she’d have heard the sound and probably wondered why her father was kissing her aunt.

Jacob’s jaw hardened as he glared at her. “Seriously?”

Amanda shook her head at him. What did he expect her to do? Shove her tongue down his throat and her hand down his pants?

“Aunt Mander, I made you a smiley face on your butterfly!” Julie said.

“Looks delicious,” Amanda said. “That’s enough syrup for me.” Her pancakes were liable to float away on the lake of liquid sugar flooding her plate.

“We need to talk,” Jacob grumbled into her ear before stroking Julie’s soft blond curls with one hand and then turning to leave them alone in the kitchen.

Apparently so. She’d thought they were in agreement about keeping this fling of theirs a secret, but he didn’t seem to think secrecy was important. Surely he couldn’t want Julie to know they were involved. Julie liked to talk about everything she witnessed.
Every
thing. If she caught her father and her aunt being overly affectionate, Tina wouldn’t be the only person to hear the tale.

“Mommy is mad at you, Aunt Mander,” Julie said as she watched Amanda dig into her pancakes.

“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t come get you this morning. I stayed up past my bedtime and didn’t wake up early enough.”

“What’s a sprawl anyway?” Julie asked.

“Huh?” Amanda lifted an eyebrow at her niece.

“Mommy said she was late for her sprawl appointment.”

“Spa.”

“Spraw,” Julie mimicked, her dainty face screwed up with concentration.

“Spa.”

“That’s what I said.”

“A spa is a place grownups go to get pampered.”

Julie’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Mommy wears a diaper there?”

Amanda didn’t follow her train of thought. “A diaper?”

“My friend Rachel’s baby sister wears Pampers all the time. She’s not a big girl like me and Rachel yet. She still poops in her pants.” Julie whispered the last part as if it were an embarrassing secret.

Amanda chuckled at the thought of Tina getting Pampered at her sprawl appointment. “No, sweetie. Mommy goes to the spa to get a massage and a mud bath and, well, I don’t know what all goes on there. I’ve never been to one.” Her sister regularly went to the spa with her friends and left Amanda with babysitting duty. Not that she minded. She’d rather spend time having tea parties with stuffed bears than sit in a tub of mud and gossip about other women.

“Sounds like a silly place. I’d rather go to the zoo.”

“Me too. Are we going to the big zoo in San Antonio or the little one in Austin? Did your dad tell you which one?”

“The one that has lephalants.”

“It’s a long drive to the zoo that has elephants.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “Daddy’s car goes really fast. We’ll get there in no time.”

His two-seater Tesla was known for its quiet speed, but it didn’t have room for three people.

“We’ll have to take my car,” Amanda said. She already had a booster seat in the back since she often had Julie in tow, especially in the summer when she had so much time off.

“Is it time to leave now?” Julie asked, drawing Amanda’s attention to the gorgeous hunk of a man who’d entered the room while Amanda had been stuffing her face with pancakes.

“Is everyone done eating?” Jacob asked.

As soon as she’d noticed him, Amanda had paused with her fork halfway to her mouth as she ogled the man. He’d removed his fairy wings in favor of a black tank and black-and-white-plaid board shorts. She could see the hint of the lion tattoo on his chest above the low neckline of his shirt, and the gold cross necklace he always wore swayed slightly with his motion as he approached the breakfast bar. Wide shoulders, firm chest, ripped arms, narrow hips, and long legs—from his damp black hair to his tan, sandaled feet, the man was gorgeous.

Julie poked Amanda to gain her attention and stared at her hopefully. Amanda stuffed a final bite into her mouth and shoved her plate away. “I’m about to bust!”

“We’ll clean up later,” Jacob said as he tossed plates into the sink. “We’re off to a late start.”

“We could just go to the Austin Zoo,” Amanda suggested. “It’s much closer.”

“Is that the one with the lephalants?” Julie asked. The child was completely fixated on the creatures.

“No elephants. There are some bear cubs. And a bunch of monkeys. And a train ride.” Amanda often volunteered at the little rescue zoo, so she was a tad partial. It wasn’t the biggest zoo and the exhibits were small, but she was proud of the fact that they took in animals other zoos didn’t want.

Julie studied Amanda for a moment. It was obvious that she wanted to please her aunt, but she also wanted to see her favorite animal. She turned to Jacob and leveled him with her most adorable pleading expression. “Can we go to two zoos today, Daddy?”

“I don’t know if we’ll have time, princess.”

“Please!” She knotted her hands together and gave him the puppy dog eyes.

The poor man didn’t stand a chance.

“Um . . .” He turned to Amanda for assistance.

“How about we go to the Austin Zoo first, since it’s really close, and if you still want to go to San Antonio afterwards to see the elephants, we’ll go there second?” Amanda hoped Julie would be too tuckered out to want to go on two zoo adventures in a single day.

“Okay! I will get to see
all
the animals today. Catch me, Daddy!” she said, spreading her arms and taking a leap from the bar stool. Amanda’s heart skipped a beat, but Jacob caught her and cradled her against his chest as they made their way outside.

Amanda started her car and cranked up the AC while Jacob helped Julie out of her fairy wings and then fastened her into the back seat.

“Can you give me a hand packing up the trunk?” he asked Amanda. “I’m not sure if I’ve remembered everything.”

“Sure.” She slid from the driver’s seat and shut the door before circling to the back of the car. She gasped in surprise when he pulled her up against him, both hands on her ass. He tilted his head to whisper in her ear.

“I’m assuming you’re keeping your distance because you don’t want Julie to see us together.”

“Yeah,” she said.

“So since she can’t see us now, you won’t brush me off when I do this.”

Amanda shivered in delight as he sucked thought-shattering kisses along her neck. Goose bumps rose to the surface of her skin, and she tilted her head to give him access to her tingling flesh. His hand slid up her hip and waist, his knuckles skimmed the side of her breast, and then his hand pressed into her back to draw her closer.

His lips traced a gentle trail along her jaw before capturing her mouth in a deep kiss. She moaned into his mouth and, unable to keep her hands to herself any longer, she grabbed his ass in both hands.