DOTTY (The Naughty Ones Book 3) (7 page)

Drowning

Dot

              “Hey, sexy lady. What are you thinking about?” I hear just before a set of arms wrap around me from behind and I feel Paul pull me against his broad chest.

He’s so tall his chin doesn’t reach my head, but I kinda like feeling so dwarfed by the man.

“Oh nothing. Just talked to the girls is all.”

“You missing them?” he asks, turning me to look down at me with worry.

For some reason Paul seems to want me to love it here and he’s always trying to make me comfortable. Why it should be so important to him is a mystery, but I think I like him being this attentive.

“No, which is weird seeing as they’ve been my girls for so long I don’t remember a time when we weren’t conjoined.”

“What’s up then? You bored?” he asks with concern.

“Yeah right! This place is freaking awesome. It’s so quiet I could nap in the afternoon if I wanted, and there’s tons to do if I don’t. No, I’m all good, just a little pissed at myself right now is all. Don’t worry, it will pass,” I assure him, bending to grab the basket. “Whatcha doing home this early anyway? I thought you were doing some super manly ranching stuff all day.”

That earns me a chuckle and a swat to the ass as we get inside and he pulls the laundry basket I was holding out of my hand.

“Well I was and then I got to thinking that I have this gorgeous woman waiting at home for me and there’s this little creek down yonder, and the day is perfect for swimming.”

              My face pales as I remember back to the fourth grade.

I did not know how to swim, but I refused to admit that. Instead, I prayed and dumped myself inside the public pool. It wasn’t long before the lifeguard was jumping in after me, pulling me out and blowing air into me.

              I haven’t swam since.

“Er, you go on ahead. I, uh, have stuff to do,” I say brightly, moving away with a stiff-legged walk that’s halted when he spins me into his chest and narrows his eyes at me.

“You won’t go skinny dipping with me?”

Oh God, I would love to see all that fine maleness stroking through the water. But I can’t because he’ll know that I’m a loser who’s afraid of some harmless water.

Calm down, drama queen.

“No you calm down, you stupid ass.”

“I am calm and I’m not trying to be an ass,” Paul growls, pulling me closer.

“Not talking to you, Summers. I’m talking to myself,” I mutter, ignoring his grin.

“Come one, Dotty baby. Just imagine all that cool water on your naked skin as I make love to you in the water. I want to suck the water off your nipples and feel it swirl around us,” he cajoles, making me go fiery hot in a second flat.

              “I can’t swim!” I burst out when the need to just say screw it and go along with him starts trying to override my senses.

That has him freezing and I chance a glance up at him to see him looking down at me with his mouth hanging open.

“I hate your parents so much right now. I would never let my kids go through life without all the skills they need to survive, and hell, neither will you, baby. Come on, we’re going swimming and I’m going to teach you how if it kills me.”

Too Clever For My Own Damn Good

Paul

The sight of round little apple cheeks poking up out of the water has me gritting my teeth against the need to just say screw it and throw Dot down onto the bank and push into her like a madman.

I started off blazing with indignant fury and got all the way here in the truck lecturing the poor woman about loving those leaches when they deserve nothing but scorn, and I even kept it up while shucking my clothes and muttering under my breath.

That died instantaneously when she got naked and all I could focus on was the sight of all that creamy pale skin just waiting for my hands and mouth to explore.

I held it all in while I pulled her into the shallows and I managed to keep my dick in line even when she was on her back while I taught her to float.

Now I am at the end of my rope and all because the little minx is so gloriously happy and excited about the lesson that she keeps wiggling her ass while I hold her up with a hand under her belly.

I keep getting the best peeks at her pink sex whenever she opens her legs to kick while stroking the water and it’s driving me insane.

Stupid dick. Why can’t you just behave?

Uh, maybe because we only just started having sex and it’s gonna take at least another decade to get to the point where I’m not so crazed for her I could walk around following her like a drooling mutt after a steak dinner.

“I think I have it, Paul. Let go!” she trills, pulling me back from the brink with the childish excitement that she can’t hide. I feel like a new dad when I slowly pull my hands away, nervously hovering when she’s all on her own and paddling for all she’s worth. She sinks twice before bobbing back up again, and when she finally gets it right she smiles so wide I feel myself sink into a puddle of adoring mush.

Holy shit in a hand basket, I think-but no. It can’t be. We’ve been here a total of three days so far and it’s just not possible. I know I’m blowing smoke up my own ass when she launches herself at me and starts kissing my face and mouth between cheers and squeals.

“We did it, Paul! We did it. Did you see? I only went under twice and I held my breath and didn’t panic. Wait till I tell the girls.”

My grin is brief when I squeeze her closer and feel her sex settle over my dick. The contact has me swelling even more and it takes an inhuman effort not to be a pig and just sink into her without foreplay.

“I’m so proud of you, baby. So fucking proud.”

And I am. This woman is so perfect for me I can hardly draw a breath as I look down into her smiling eyes and see the joy and unguarded emotions.

Dot may be a little high strung, trust me I saw it this morning when she thought she’d burnt the bacon and she started hyperventilating, but she’s also one of the most emotionally honest women I have ever met.

“You okay?”

I blink to see her staring up at me with a worried frown and find a smile in me before I kiss her deeply and pull her into my chest.

“Just glad that you’re here with me and trying to find the right words to tell you is all, little baby doll.”

“You just did and it was said perfectly. I’m glad too, Paul. This has been the best three days of my life and it’s only just begun. You’re really cool, you know that? And nothing like I thought you would be,” she whispers, leaning in to kiss me before pulling away.

The moment is easy and perfect as I tread water with her in my arms and enjoy the coolness in the shade of the tree overhanging the water.

“How did you think I would be?”

“Honestly? Arrogant and bossy. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t understand how you walk around and function with that swelled head on your shoulders.” She laughs.

“Ha-ha-ha. Funny, baby, real funny.”

“But it’s like, I looked at you that first time and despite thinking you’re like the hottest thing on legs, I was seriously intimidated because you were this tycoon with scores of females falling at your feet and you just…shit, I was wrong to think that you were just a cold businessman out for the bottom line.”

I’m not sure I like her thinking about me in those terms, but I stay silent and wait as she struggles with her words before looking up and meeting my gaze.

“This you is a lot better. I like that you want to be a rancher and shovel crap because it makes you feel good.”

“Ahem, I don’t like it, it just needs doing, baby,” I mutter.

“No, I mean you’re so much more than a pampered elitist with a chip on his shoulder and a love of money. I see how much you love the guys even when you’re barking at them, and you seem so much happier all the time than you were back in the city.”

The fact that she isn’t calling it home anymore makes my heart swell and I have the need to just blurt out what I want but check it when I think about her freaking out on me.
Don’t rush it, you still have lots of time.

“I am happier here, and having you here makes it even better.”

“Convenient sex?” she teases, spluttering when I dunk her and drag her back up with a grin.

“You wanna impugn me again, baby doll? I can keep dunking your scrawny ass all day long till you say sorry.”

“Sorry! I was kidding, you big lump.” She giggles, clinging to me like a vine.

The move has her lined up perfectly with my dick and I can’t resist rubbing the head of my beast against her slit, groaning when the slippery heat between her legs tells me that she’s just as aware of me as I am of her.

She sighs when I grab her ass and squeeze, lowering her down onto me till not an inch of space separates us.

“I like having you here because I’m not lonely with you around. You make me laugh and I like knowing that I don’t have to be anyone else but me with you.”

That little confession gets me some of the wildest sex of my life as Dot lets her hair hang down and rides me like a bronco.

When we come together I almost cry like a pussy at the strong sweep of emotion that grips me by the balls.

She has to want this, I know she has to. I just need to make her see that a life here with me is worth the risk of giving her heart to me.

***

Dot

I think I may have done a stupid thing and gone and fallen in love with Paul freaking Summers. It’s so silly I feel like a ball of nerves whenever he looks at me because I am terrified that he’ll see it in my eyes and run screaming from the place.

Or boot me back home.

It’s been a glorious two weeks since I made that life-altering decision to just jump feet-first into a whirlwind affair and enjoy the freedom he offered me.

Now instead of worrying myself grey about what my parents are thinking or will think when I refuse their “kind” offer to sell me off into marriage for whatever freaking reason, I am terrified to show this man how much I feel.

              “Hey, babe? Have you seen my truck keys?”

“Kitchen hook.”

“Come on then,” he says, coming back into the sitting room and grabbing me up to toss over his shoulder.

“Where are we going?”

“Dinner and ice cream in town.”

“Wait! I’m not dressed,” I yell against his shirt, my arms giving out when I try to push myself up and off.

“You’re perfect.”

The man told me I looked hot yesterday while I sported an avocado mask and mayonnaise hair. I wouldn’t trust him if my life depended on it.

But what the hell? It’s not like I’m going out to get male attention. He’s all I need looking at me, and if he thinks funky washed-out shorts and my large T-shirt are hot…

Power to him and bless his simple heart.

He does the whole buckling thing and kisses me soundly before running around the hood and hopping in beside me.

“Soooo.”

“So?” he asks as we bump up to the main road and he takes a right turn.

“Why dinner and ice cream?”

Paul shrugs once and seems kind of nervous, fiddling with the radio as we speed towards town, passing acres of his land on the way.

“No reason, baby doll, just wanted to take you out and get you out of the house for the night. The boys have the dinner you cooked and froze and last night’s leftovers, so I’d say it’s time I treated you and you took a load off. It’s not your job to cook for all of us, and I feel guilty. You work more here than you did in the city.”

              “Oh my tycoon cowboy, you are too adorable. I like cooking and keeping house. I like doing it here more than in the city because you all seem so appreciative as opposed to the assholes I usually cater to.”

That seems to relax him and I grin and snuggle closer when he finally smiles and takes a deep breath.

“You don’t miss it? You don’t miss your friends?”

“Well them, yeah, but I talk to them all the time and Indie even video calls me so it’s not like I’m hidden away in the freaking boonies, you know. Plus, I haven’t had one spell since I got here. I think this place is good for me.”

It’s the best actually, and I think one of the reasons that I haven’t had a meltdown is sitting right next to me. Paul just seems to know when I’m getting tense and fixes my problem before I go nuts.

              We make it into the small town of Beauford and I sigh my relief when he comes around to get me and leads me into a little diner that is casual and has no dress code.

“Whatcha getting, babe?”

“The meatloaf and gravy with a side of potatoes and green beans, please.”

The waitress takes our orders and I smile when he takes my hand and kissed my palm reverently.

“You know these have been the best two weeks of my life, right?”

Straight to the freaking heart. I’d look around for Cupid just in case but I feel the same in this short space of time, so I just smile and reciprocate, my heart so full I want to break out in song.

“Mine too. It’s been everything I could ever have wished for and so much more.”

My words make his eyes shine and I feel his hands tremble beneath mine before he lets me go and reaches into his pocket to withdraw a small box.

Oh. Hello.

“I promised myself that I’d give you the full three weeks and take it easy on the pressure since you’re here to unwind and not eat shit from anyone, but I just, I can’t seem to help myself anymore. I got this in the city.”

His throat clears and he sort of chuckles nervously before opening the box to reveal a perfect white gold band adorned with tiny stones all around the surface. It’s elegant and not at all ostentatious and I feel my heart stop when I manage to lift my eyes to his and see his brown eyes dull with fear.

“You bought this before…?”

“Yeah. I was going to propose to you that night in your apartment and tell you that it would save you from making a horrible mistake, but you sort of shot me down before I could even ask.”

“Why? Why were you…?”

Here he seems to pause and take longer to consider his words and I feel myself shrink a little in anticipation of something bad.

“I wanted you and I also wanted to save you. I told myself it would just be you and me in a farce of a marriage that we could annul quickly once your parents took the hint. But I wanted you and then you said you’d come here and it gave me a chance to get to know you and for you to get to know me, and it just, it’s been the best weeks ever for me, Dotty. You’re so sexy and smart and so perfect for this life I want to make for us that…that I just can’t help but love you.”

His words hit me right in the kisser and I’m battling the terrible urge to run before I say yes like I’m dying to. Paul is a good person and while we’re not exactly the usual couple, I can’t deny that he’s so right for me it’s scary.

I could marry him and be a housewife and mother while he goes off and does his manly job and comes home to me at night, needing care and comfort.

              I want the housewife image and little dark-haired rug rats biting at my ankles.

Dammit.

“You’d better not be shitting me, Summers,” I manage to choke out after long minutes where he seemed ready to have a meltdown, Dot style.

He seems to re-inflate when I smile softly and stroke his cheek, and I squeal when he lunges and drags me across the table and onto his lap, his lips all over mine as he laughs and kisses me breathless.

“That a yes, baby doll?”

“Definitely a yes, Summers. Like I would say no. I totally love you.”

“I love you too, Dorothea Harper. Thank you.”

The diner seems to get the gist of what’s just happened and I laugh into his mouth when they start clapping and hooting like we just invented Post-its or something.