to obscure her manic thoughts or drown out her brain’s furious and distraught lecture during the drive home.
That was beyond stupid.
Forget he exists.
You have enough to deal with.
You need to focus on your daughter.
No matter what Emma said, he’s not a family man.
He’ll break your heart and your daughter’s.
Whatever it takes do not let him in.
No way.
No how.
Never.
Ever.
H OW DID HE FUCK THAT up—again? All he wanted to do was apologize for mouthing off and embarrassing her in front of his employees. He hadn’t been sorry for what he said, just how it came out. She really needed to be more careful where the little bugger kept running off to. Twenty-five floors high, their building provided a lot of nooks and crannies for Cece to hide in, let alone the worst possibility, someone could take her. He might not want kids of his own, but he never wanted harm to come to anyone else’s children.
Given multiple chances to set things straight, he’d blown it. Not only with that, he screwed up big time by kissing her. Damn, that had been stupid. His tongue was still on fire, and the second he had Maggie in his arms, he got an instant hard-on. If they had been alone, he would have ripped off her tiny shorts and rammed into her from behind. And that thought pissed him off all over again.
Slamming his fist against the wall, he sucked in an overwhelmed breath and blew out his frustration. All he could smell were vanilla cupcakes, sprinkled with a dozen candy-coated flavors. Maggie’s passion fruit center and her addictive spices clung to his taste buds and permeated every cell in his body. In an attempt to scrub her scent off, he rubbed a hand over his mouth and clasped them on top of his head, beating a path up and down the hall, cursing to high heaven and himself.
A clearing throat halted him mid-step at the twins’ bedroom. When he glanced over his shoulder, he cringed at another head-on collision waiting to happen. Matt leaned against the railing, his arms crossed. “What’d you do?”
“Fuck off.” He dropped his arms and bolted to the stairs. “I was gonna give the girls a kiss good night, but you can do that for me. I’m outta here.” Before he made it to the second step, Matt grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.
“Why you fightin’ it so hard? Just give in. Maggie would be perfect for you.”
He clamped onto Matt’s wrist and backed up a step, squaring off and putting them on even footing. “You must have one hell of a boring life if you can’t stay out of mine. Maybe you’re not gettin’ enough. Is that it? Tryin’ to live through me, Matt?”
An instant shot came at Rick’s jaw and got blocked by his forearm before he shoved Matt off. Never one to miss out on a good fight, Matt dove in again, taking a potshot at his cheek when Sophia jumped in between them, slapping their chests.
“Knock it off.”
Had Rick not been pissed, he would’ve gotten a good laugh out of Sophia trying to manhandle two hundred plus pounds, and the six foot two males, dwarfing her.
“You hotheads, cool it. Whatever the problem is, it isn’t worth ruining your friendship.” Sophia grabbed her husband’s cheeks, insisting he look at her. “We all had such a good time, let’s not finish it this way.” Pussy whipped, Matt forgot all about him as he yanked Sophia by the hips and crashed his mouth onto hers. Then Matt lifted his gaze and shot him the middle finger.
Aiming one right back, he darted down the stairs, slamming the door on his way out.
After another jam-packed schedule, one off-site meeting after another, Rick entered the lobby at four thirty hoping Mrs. Collins didn’t have a pile of messages waiting for him.
“Hi ya, Mr. Stone, how’s it goin’ today?” Sam, the security guard, called out.
As often as possible, Rick would stop and shoot the breeze. Grateful for the diversion, he set his briefcase on the counter, relaxing for a change. “Did you catch the fights last
That was beyond stupid.
Forget he exists.
You have enough to deal with.
You need to focus on your daughter.
No matter what Emma said, he’s not a family man.
He’ll break your heart and your daughter’s.
Whatever it takes do not let him in.
No way.
No how.
Never.
Ever.
H OW DID HE FUCK THAT up—again? All he wanted to do was apologize for mouthing off and embarrassing her in front of his employees. He hadn’t been sorry for what he said, just how it came out. She really needed to be more careful where the little bugger kept running off to. Twenty-five floors high, their building provided a lot of nooks and crannies for Cece to hide in, let alone the worst possibility, someone could take her. He might not want kids of his own, but he never wanted harm to come to anyone else’s children.
Given multiple chances to set things straight, he’d blown it. Not only with that, he screwed up big time by kissing her. Damn, that had been stupid. His tongue was still on fire, and the second he had Maggie in his arms, he got an instant hard-on. If they had been alone, he would have ripped off her tiny shorts and rammed into her from behind. And that thought pissed him off all over again.
Slamming his fist against the wall, he sucked in an overwhelmed breath and blew out his frustration. All he could smell were vanilla cupcakes, sprinkled with a dozen candy-coated flavors. Maggie’s passion fruit center and her addictive spices clung to his taste buds and permeated every cell in his body. In an attempt to scrub her scent off, he rubbed a hand over his mouth and clasped them on top of his head, beating a path up and down the hall, cursing to high heaven and himself.
A clearing throat halted him mid-step at the twins’ bedroom. When he glanced over his shoulder, he cringed at another head-on collision waiting to happen. Matt leaned against the railing, his arms crossed. “What’d you do?”
“Fuck off.” He dropped his arms and bolted to the stairs. “I was gonna give the girls a kiss good night, but you can do that for me. I’m outta here.” Before he made it to the second step, Matt grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.
“Why you fightin’ it so hard? Just give in. Maggie would be perfect for you.”
He clamped onto Matt’s wrist and backed up a step, squaring off and putting them on even footing. “You must have one hell of a boring life if you can’t stay out of mine. Maybe you’re not gettin’ enough. Is that it? Tryin’ to live through me, Matt?”
An instant shot came at Rick’s jaw and got blocked by his forearm before he shoved Matt off. Never one to miss out on a good fight, Matt dove in again, taking a potshot at his cheek when Sophia jumped in between them, slapping their chests.
“Knock it off.”
Had Rick not been pissed, he would’ve gotten a good laugh out of Sophia trying to manhandle two hundred plus pounds, and the six foot two males, dwarfing her.
“You hotheads, cool it. Whatever the problem is, it isn’t worth ruining your friendship.” Sophia grabbed her husband’s cheeks, insisting he look at her. “We all had such a good time, let’s not finish it this way.” Pussy whipped, Matt forgot all about him as he yanked Sophia by the hips and crashed his mouth onto hers. Then Matt lifted his gaze and shot him the middle finger.
Aiming one right back, he darted down the stairs, slamming the door on his way out.
After another jam-packed schedule, one off-site meeting after another, Rick entered the lobby at four thirty hoping Mrs. Collins didn’t have a pile of messages waiting for him.
“Hi ya, Mr. Stone, how’s it goin’ today?” Sam, the security guard, called out.
As often as possible, Rick would stop and shoot the breeze. Grateful for the diversion, he set his briefcase on the counter, relaxing for a change. “Did you catch the fights last
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