Tightening his hold on me, he murmurs, “I’m going to distract you even more if you keep that up.”
“There’s a child in the room,” I inform him.
“She’s watching Enchanted. We should sneak to the bedroom.”
“No,” I say firmly. “It’s movie night. I already ruined one movie night, I’m not ruining another one.”
“No?” His tone is too innocent. Definitely not to be trusted. His hand moves out from under my dress and he gathers my long, dark hair in his hand like a pony tail, then yanks it against the couch. My head goes with it, putting my neck right in front of his mouth. My eyes roll back as he brushes his lips across my neck and down my shoulder. He tugs my shirt aside, continuing to leave soft, slow kisses down to the ball of my shoulder, then back. With another tug, he moves my head and kisses the nape of my neck, sending gooseflesh rising up all over my body. I squirm against him and his free hand comes back to my breast, squeezing and palming it before moving lower. Every muscle in my core tenses as he trails his hand down my abdomen, then fingers the hem of my dress, slowly dragging it up my thigh.
I can scarcely breathe. His mouth is magical. I want it all over my body.
Instead of sliding his hand inside my panties, he brings his lips back to my earlobe, nibbling on it before asking, “You want to sneak to the bedroom now?”
Yes, yes, yes.
“No,” I say instead.
“All right,” he says easily, releasing my hair, moving his hand away from my thighs, and settling his arms around my waist. He clasps his hands together and… listens to me.
Dammit!
I tip my head back to shoot him a dirty look.
“What?” he asks innocently. “Just respecting your wishes, like you wanted.”
I shake my head at him, but turn my attention back to the television screen. “Your evil knows no bounds.”
It ends up being a good thing we don’t sneak out though, because a few minutes later Cassidy pops up off the floor, grabs her doll, and runs over to the couch, crawling on top of us.
“This part’s scary,” she tells me, settling on the couch between my legs. Once she’s settled, she props her baby up between her legs and covers her eyes with her hands. Looking back at me, she tells me, “My baby is really scared of the dragon.”
“It’s a good thing you’re there to protect her then, huh?” I reply.
She nods her head. “Can you braid my hair?”
“Me? Sure, I can do that. I don’t have a pony tail to tie it with, though.”
Little elbows and knees dig into my body as she climbs off and goes running down the hall to fetch one.
“Don’t braid it too tight,” Derek advises. “She’ll act like you’re killing her.”
I grin, picturing him braiding little girl hair. “Do you know how to braid hair? I did not expect you to have this skill.”
“I had to watch many YouTube videos to figure it out, but yes, I can braid with the best of ‘em now.”
“Can you do a French braid?”
“Well, no. But I can do Anna and Elsa braids, and that’s all that matters.”
“I love Daddy Derek,” I tell him as Cassidy bounds back down the hall toward us.
“Wait ‘til we watch Moana,” he tells me. “I know all the songs.”
“Do I get to hear you sing?” I ask, delighted.
“If you’re here next Friday night, you do.”
“Hmm,” I murmur, as Cassidy settles between my legs again and hands me a tiny elastic band. “I’ll have to try to make that happen.”