Page 124 of Buckin' Around

I break away reluctantly and am firing up the engine before Riles can object. We’re back at the motel five minutes later, and I’m carrying Ivy from the car to the room.

Riley unlocks the door and I slip inside, laying Ivy down before I tuck her in. “Snug as a bug in a rug, baby girl,” I whisper.

The door closes softly and Riley leans against it, watching as I sit on the end of the single bed Ivy’s in and pull off my boots.

Her gaze wanders the floor, and I know she is overthinking everything that happened tonight.

“Come here.” I beckon her with a jerk of my head.

Riley’s brows lower, but she pushes off the door and drops her bag to the floor. Once she’s close enough, I reach for her.

She stops shy of my open legs.

I haul her closer until she’s standing between my thighs, and I’m looking up into her dark eyes. “Thank you for loving Ivy as much as I do.”

Her stare turns a little vacant.

Yep, she’s up in her head over this.

“Riles, I’m not sorry you didn’t show me the note. To be honest, I don’t think you should have, either. I was a mess back then. It was very possible I would have handed Ivy back over to her...” I don’t want to say mom. The word doesn’t fit what that woman is to Ivy. “You made the right call.”

“I shouldn’t have made the call at all. It wasn’t my place.”

“And yet, Ivy is better off for it.”

“Maybe . . .”

“No. She absolutely is.”

A small, soft smile breaks on her face. “I think you’re an amazing daddy, Spence.”

Fuck, when she calls me daddy.

I think I have a damn complex. I’m going to need to be called daddy from now on.

Daddy kink—unlocked.

“What on earth just went through your head, Spencer Lockwood? That look on your face...” Her head turns sideways, eyes straining, like she’s assessing me like the freak I am.

I chuckle.

“Baby, you call me daddy one more time, and I am definitely putting you over my knee and spanking you.”

A laugh bursts from her lips. Which she immediately tamps back to a horrified but playful expression as her shoulders shake.

That’s better. There’s my girl.

I slide my hands around her waist and tug her closer. Dipping my face into her belly, I breathe her in.

God above, she smells incredible.

I lift her shirt and slip my head underneath it.

I’m trapped.

I’m ridiculous.

I plant open-mouthed kisses below her bra, over her ribs, and around her belly button. Hands sink into my hair as I feel her body shift, her back arching just the slightest.