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here for the duration.
A glass of wine and we ll all call it a night. Anne lifted her
glass. Now& tell us all about you.
Kill me now.
* * *
That wasn t as awkward and painful as I imagined.
Frank disagreed. He shut and locked the door behind them.
Speak for yourself. My dad pulled me aside and told me we
needed to find safer bindings if we re going to play like that. Then
he gave me a list of websites and recommendations. It was worse
than when he was twelve and his dad caught him jerking off to a
Penthouse Frank had found under his parents bed.
Your parents saw me naked. Zoe grabbed a nightie from the
drawer and went to the bathroom to change. And my dress caught
up in my ass.
And whose fault is that? Frank found his pajama bottoms.
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Next time, I ll let the bad guy get you. He heard the water
run, the sound of her brushing her teeth, and decided she was going
to share the sink.
There was no bad guy. He nudged her to one side as he
grabbed his toothbrush.
There could have been, she said around a mouth of paste.
Someone had to protect us.
He squeezed the tube too hard, spurting paste over the sink.
Are you implying I can t?
Zoe rinsed and spit. I m not implying anything. It was my
fault I tied you too tight. I couldn t do nothing.
Three times there d been danger. Three times Frank had been
helpless to do anything about it. He felt emasculated and damn
well pissed that Zoe took the risk tonight. Even Emma and Kate
knew enough to hide if there was the hint of an intruder.
There was a multi-tool in my jeans pocket.
I didn t know that. She stabbed her toothbrush in the holder.
Not to be outdone, Frank followed suit. You would have, if
you hadn t stuffed your panties in my mouth.
So spank me and we ll call it even all around.
She glared up at him, arms crossed, hair tumbled around her
shoulders. Frank s mind whirled, trying to process what she d said.
There seemed only one response.
What? Had she lost her mind?
Never mind. She waved her palms and pushed by him. I
was being a smart ass. Let s just get some sleep.
Frank wouldn t let it go. He waited until they crawled under the
covers and the lights were out, then spooned against her.
If that challenge was a pattern of defense, I don t like it, he
said softly. I m not Xavier. If we have issues, we talk them out. I
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will never resort to violence, no matter how angry I might be.
Her sigh was long and heavy. It made him sad.
You aren t the only one who has fantasies, Frank. There
were& are& were things that turned me on, too. Xavier stole that
from me by crossing a line. You trusted me tonight. I guess I was
hoping that trust went both ways. It came out wrong, not the way I
intended to mention it to you.
A mix of emotions churned his stomach. You can trust me,
honey, but maybe I m afraid I won t be able to trust myself. I ve
never done anything like that before. What if I cross a line and
don t realize it? I m going to have to think about this.
Me, too. She draped her arm over his and squeezed. It s
scary. Scarier than children, isn t it?
Yeah& way scarier.
He felt odd admitting that after the knockout fantasy sex she d
given him tonight. What the hell kind of man was he? He couldn t
protect his woman, he wouldn t commit to children, and he balked
at helping her sexual healing. God, he really was a coward& in
more ways than one.
Go to sleep, Frank. She patted his arm. Don t worry about
it.
But he would worry about, and sleep was a long time coming.
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CHAPTER 10
This was peace sitting on the patio with her morning coffee,
prune danish, and the sunshine playing peek-a-boo in the palm
trees. The air was fresh, no hint of smog. Clean and pure as the
cloudless blue sky overhead.
So far, Zoe had the flagstone patio to herself. Birds chattered
through the trees and she d made good friends with a little Anna s
hummingbird intrigued by the red carnation on the side of Zoe s
coffee mug.
The privacy wasn t going to last much longer. She heard
movement and voices inside Frank and his parents from the
sounds of it. Zoe wasn t ready to face any of them. Inadvertently
flashing Walt and Anne she could gloss over; after all, she d
thought they were intruders. But to have talked to Frank about that.
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She should have known better.
The door behind her slid open. A peek over her shoulder gave
her Frank s smile. He d shaved. The man really hated whiskers. He
looked hot in jeans, loose green and white tropical shirt, and
sneakers. Zoe wondered if she came close to matching him.
She offered a smile of her own and wished she could feel it
inside. All she wanted was to erase her bedside confession.
Good morning. Frank nuzzled her neck, working his way to
her lips. It set off tremors inside her, blocking out her misgivings.
He toyed with her top button, then traced her cleavage below the V
of her cotton shirt.
God, Dad, you are such a horndog, Emma grumbled.
Frank rose slowly, body tense. He dragged out a chair and set
the coffee mug he d been holding in his left hand on the table.
Emma plopped in the chair across from them. You re like that
guy you always warned us about, always wanting to
Enough. Knuckles braced on the edge of the table, he leaned
toward her. The stance warned Emma against uttering another
word, and, from her wide eyes, she knew it. I ve had all of your
mouth I m going to take. Not another word. And I would highly
advise against you leaving this table in a huff. Understood?
Yes, sir. She helped herself to a danish, then looked up with
tear-filled eyes. Billy broke up with me. He texted me yesterday.
That s no reason to take it out on your family. We love each
other. We support each other. We can t help you unless we know
what s wrong. Besides& Billy is a jerk and an ass. He grabbed a
danish from the box and tore off a piece. And if I so much as
catch that little punk spitting in the street, I m gonna lock his ass
up til he learns what being a man s really like. No one breaks my
little girl s heart and gets away with it. A text? Clearly, he has no
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balls to man-up.
Emma laughed and flicked away tears. I love you, Daddy.
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