“Nope.” He leans down and brushes his nose against mine. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’m gonna let you leave at all.”
“You aren’t?”
“Nuh-uh.” The fine lines around his eyes crinkle with trouble. “I think I’m gonna keep you right here, attached to my dick, baby, for the rest of our lives.”
I snort, and Caleb groans when I squeeze around him. “But what about work?”
“Pfft,” he blows a raspberry. “That’s the perks of fucking your boss. You get annual D-days.”
“D-days?”
“Yeah. Dick days,” he muses, looking utterly content with himself.
“You’re ridiculous. You know that’s not a thing, right?”
“What do you mean? Of course it’s a thing. I’m the boss. I make the rules.”
“Youmake the rules?”
“I do. And I think that my favorite employee is entitled to a monthly D-day or two.” He shrugs. “You know, that’s just the kind of selfless boss that I am.”
“Selfless? Oh, so this is all about me then, and not because you get anything out of it?”
He gasps in mock offense. “Of course not!”
“Really?So it wouldn’t matter where or with whom I spend these D-days then?”
Caleb gapes at me, then narrows his eyes. “Not. Funny.”
“No?” I hold up my index finger and thumb between us. “Not even a little?”
He shakes his head. “No. You only get to spend your D-days with me.”
My heart spills over with endless affection for this beautiful, beautiful man. I sweep my fingers through his hair, drowning in his eyes. “Okay,” I whisper.
“Okay.” He kisses me long and hard, and I wrap myself around him, locking my body around his, as our bodies melt together, becoming one, just like I’ve always wanted.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kayden
The house is quiet when I enter, and it isn’t until I walk out on the back deck that Spirit notices me, looking up from digging a hole she could easily fit herself into. She takes off from the back of the yard where Dad is mowing the lawn, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. I jog down the steps and just manage to hold out my arms and catch her mid-air. I squat while she covers my face in sloppy doggy kisses, whining against me like I haven’t seen her in years. Her paws are covered in dirt, and soon my shorts are too. I brush at my shorts while trying to dodge more kisses from Spirit. When I’ve gotten the worst of it, I look up and find Dad staring at me, his posture hesitant and unsure.
“Hey, Dad.” I wave at him, and he smiles carefully, then shuts off the lawnmower as I walk toward him, Spirit bouncing up and down beside me.
“Kayden,” he says, rubbing his hands along his worn jeans. “I didn’t know you were coming by.” He holds up his hand, sheltering his face from the early afternoon sun.
I shrug, bending down to rub Spirit behind her ear. She leans into me, grunting like a content little pig. “I just thought I’d see how you guys were doing.”
Dad’s gaze flickers nervously, and I hate how awkward things suddenly are between us. “Ahhh, yeah, your mom’s at work.”
“Okay. I thought she might be.” I nod at the lawnmower. “Need any help?”
Dad wipes at his sweaty forehead. “Nah, I was just gonna take a break anyway. Too damn hot out.”
“Yeah, brutal.” The air between us is thick with tension, like neither of us knows where we go next. Dad and I have always had an open and pretty straightforward relationship, but now it just feels strained and… forced somehow, like we’re both fumbling in the dark, searching for our next step, afraid of making a wrong move.
“It’s nice at the beach, though,” Dad eventually says. “Windier.”