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“One day, I will, though. One day, I’m gonna ask you to marry me.”
Smiling she leaned down to kiss him deeply, his hands sliding over her back as she straddled him. “And I’m gonna say yes.”
His bright smile almost made her dizzy with happiness, and it was only his fear of ruining their blossoming relationship by being too hasty that stopped him from proposing to her right then and there.
“I really don’t want to ruin the mood,” he said, placing a small kiss to her jaw, “but do you happen to know where my pants are?”
“Now, you really know how to talk to a woman in bed,” she laughed, her nails lightly sliding over the back of his neck. “Are you that eager to leave that you won’t even stay for breakfast?”
“Hermosa, I’m not going anywhere, but I need to check my phone to see whether my ex texted me anything concerning Maya.”
“Oh. Oh, yeah, sure.” She quickly scrambled off him and looked at the chaos of clothes scattered all around the room where they had torn them off each other last night. “Your pants are over there.”
Pulling up his boxers, he climbed out of bed, picking up his jeans and checking his phone.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. No message from my ex. Just a lot going on in the group chat with the guys. I bet Benny did something stupid again. I’m going to read that later.”
Smiling softly, she watched as he returned to her, stopping in front of her and reaching for her hands to pull her up. “They mean a lot to you, don’t they?”
“They’re family,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “I cannot wait for you to meet them, so I can show you off.”
She laughed, resting her hands on his bare chest, not in the least bothered by the fact that she was completely naked herself. “I can’t wait. But only if I get to show you off to my friends as – oh shit. Charlotte!” Freeing herself from his embrace, she grabbed her oversized shirt lying on the floor and quickly put it on before hurrying out of the room.
“Hey, what – Who’s Charlotte?” Frankie asked confused, following her to the living room where she was rummaging through her purse in search of her phone.
“She’s my best friend and I promised to text her when I got home last night after my date, so she’d know everything was okay. Fuck, eight missed calls, she’s gotta be worried sick! I –“
At this moment, her phone started vibrating again. “That’s her.” Answering the call, her first words were an apology. “I’m so sorry!!”
“Oh my god, you’re alive!” The relief in Charlotte’s voice almost managed to overlay her anger. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?! I’m halfway over to your place!”
“I’m so, so sorry! I completely forgot to text you. I’ve been … busy.”
“Really?” Charlotte asked, slowly calming down. “On your first date? He must be much better than you expected him to be, then.”
“No,” she said, butterflies rising in her stomach when she looked over to Frankie, meeting his warm brown eyes as he approached her. “It’s … it’s actually Frankie.”
“No way! The sweetest and hottest single dad in the world Frankie?”
She laughed, her hand coming up to card through Frankie’s hair who had come up behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, lips softly brushing along the side of her neck. “Yes, that Frankie.”
“But how?? You said he never showed any interest in you, and then you go out with somebody else and end up in bed with the man of your dreams? How’s that even possible?”
“I still cannot quite believe it myself but it’s real and …“ She trailed off, her knees going weak under the ongoing nips and caresses of Frankie’s lips and fingers. “Listen, can I call you back?”
“Yeah,” Frankie rumbled, leaning forward a little, so he could be heard as well. “She’s still quite busy.”
“Oh, he’s still there!” Charlotte laughed. “Sorry to intrude. Yes, sure, take your time. Now that I know you’re in good hands, there’s no hurry to call me back.”
“Thanks. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
She ended the call and dropped the phone on the couch before turning in Frankie’s arms.
“So you told her about me?” He asked with a cheeky smile. “She didn’t seem surprised when you said my name.”
“Well, I may have mentioned that cute kid I’m babysitting and that her dad is not too shabby-looking and kind of nice. Something along that line.”
“I see. And here I was thinking I heard her say something like ‘sweetest and hottest single dad in the world’.”
Laughing, she playfully pinched his sides. “It’s rude to eavesdrop on people.”
“Sorry but it’s difficult to not listen when one’s so close to the other’s ear,” he growled, dipping his head down to continue kissing her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
“Frankie…,” she sighed, closing her eyes contentedly. “We should probably get hydrated and eat before we start something again.”
“Sexy and smart,” he rasped against her skin, reluctantly raising his head again. “You’re really too good to be true.”
She smiled before taking a step back and reaching for his hand. “And I’m also very eco-conscious, so, as we both need a shower, it would be most environmentally friendly of us if we showered together. You know, for Nature’s sake, to save water.”
A wide grin spread on his face as he gripped her hand a little tighter, following her to the bathroom. “Yes, of course. For Nature’s sake.”
***
They must have fallen asleep, Frankie’s soft lips on her forehead kissing her awake and she blinked at him, disorientated. The sun was still shining brightly through her windows and for all she knew she could have slept for ten minutes or four hours.
“What time is it?”
“Almost three,” he said, his arms wrapped around her, fingers lightly brushing along her back. “I’m afraid I’ll have to go back home soon. Maya’s mom’ll drop her off in about an hour.”
"Oh. Yes. Sure." A flicker of panic swept through her as if the spell would be broken the moment he would leave the house and return to the real world. Where he would realize that she didn't fit into his life after all and it would be better to keep things as they were before this wonderful night.
"You know, I've been thinking," he said, sounding slightly uncertain, and she prepared herself for the worst. "You still owe me the acceptance of my dinner invitation. If you don't have any other plans, maybe you would like to come over tonight?"
Relieved, she smiled. "Oh, I don't know. I've got a date tonight and ..."
Laughing, he pinched her side. "Careful, young lady, don't mess with me."
"Or what?" she grinned, her eyes sparking mischievously. "Are you going to spank me?"
He grinned as well. "Yeah, maybe I should."
With an enormous bubble of happiness inside her, she leaned over to kiss him lightly. "I would love to come over for dinner. As long as you think that Maya will be okay with it."
"She will be more than okay with it. She loves you. But maybe we should keep it on a friendly base around her for the time being. I'd like to break the news to her gently."
"Of course," she nodded. "You decide when it's time to tell her."
"Okay." He brushed a strand of hair from her face, his beautiful chocolate eyes searching hers. "And maybe you could ask your mom if you can spend the night after?"
She laughed lightly, the love she felt for him almost overwhelming. "I already did and she said yes."
"Good." He kissed her deeply, her hands wandering into his soft brown curls and a soft sigh escaping her when he reluctantly let go of her and rolled out of bed.
She followed him and they got dressed in silence before she walked him to the door.
"Alright," he said, turning to her, "see you around six."
"Yes," she smiled, the two and a half hours until then already seeming too long. "See you then."
Without another word he cupped her face in his big, warm hands, capturing her lips in a kiss so soft it made her head spin and her knees go weak. "I love you, hermosa."
Her heart racing and her cheeks almost hurting from smiling so much, she let her hands slide along his broad chest. "I love you too, Frankie."
And then he was gone and she began counting the minutes until she would see him again.
***
“Daddy!! Is it six, yet? I’ve been waiting for eeever!!”
Smiling, Frankie kept stirring in the pot standing in front of him on the stove, while simultaneously making sure that Maya didn’t accidentally hurt herself as she flitted from the living room window to the kitchen and back again, too excited to stay anywhere for more than ten seconds.
“Calm down, little bug, there’s still some time.”
“But I want her to come now!”
“Ten more minutes, okay? Why don’t you go get Mr Teddy and wait with him at the window? You’ll see her from there and can open the door.”
“Okay!” Maya hurried out of the kitchen again, her little feet tapping along the floor.
“But slowly!” Frankie called after her. “No running on the stairs!”
“Okay, okay!”
In the moment of silence that followed, he could feel his own nerves flaring up and he caught himself checking the time again, even though he knew it wasn’t six yet. What if Rainfly had changed her mind and would call any minute to tell him that things were moving too fast for her liking and that she’d rather take it slow? That she’d have to get up early tomorrow for university and would rather stay at home tonight, maybe postpone their dinner to another day. Or cancel it entirely, thinking it was a bad idea after all and –
His phone buzzed on the counter and his heart made an anxious leap, half expecting Rainfly to send him the dreaded message, but it was only Pope.
- Hey Fish, you alright? Haven’t heard from you in a few days and you didn’t reply to any messages in the group chat.
Picking up his phone, Frankie felt himself smiling like an infatuated teenager.
- Couldn’t be any better. Got a dinner date with Maya and Rainfly tonight. Gonna tell you about it tomorrow.
- The babysitter? Nice, man! 😜
Frankie didn’t reply to this, Maya’s call from the living room interrupting him. “She’s coming!”
Relieved, he turned back to the risotto, making sure it wouldn’t burn. “Then go open the door and welcome our guest!”
A few seconds later, he could hear Maya’s excited voice and Rainfly’s beautiful laugh, his heart soaring at the sound.
The next moment, they entered the kitchen, and he wondered briefly whether Rainfly had become even more beautiful since he had seen her a few hours ago. She was wearing the summer dress from last week when she had babysat Maya while he had been on his horrible date, her hair put up in a lose bun, her smile warming his insides like the remedy to every evil in the world.
“Hi,” she said, her eyes shining with happiness. “Sorry, I’m a bit early. But I brought wine.”
“That’s perfectly fine,” he smiled back, his fingers brushing hers lightly as he took the bottle from her to examine it. “Wow, a really good year. I didn’t know you’re such a wine connoisseur.”
“I’m a connoisseur of wine connoisseurs. I asked the man in the store which one he would recommend.”
Laughing, Frankie set the bottle down and turned off the stove. “I see.” He reached for the basket with bread and held it out to Maya. “Here, little bug. Can you put this on the dinner table?”
“Sure.” Maya hurried off and Frankie used the short moment she was gone to pull Rainfly into his arms and kiss her. Her lips tasted of the fruity lip gloss she was wearing and something entirely herself that he would never get enough of.
“Hi. Long time no see.”
“I waited as long as I could baer it to not show up here too early and seem too eager.”
“If it had been up to Maya, you could have been here an hour ago. And I would have liked that too.”
She smiled, brushing her fingers through his hair and making butterflies rise in his stomach. “Next time, I know that.”
“Yeah.” He kissed her again before quickly stepping back when he heard Maya return.
They lay the rest of the table together, Frankie’s heart almost bursting with love as he watched the woman he loved and his sweet little daughter talking and laughing, the possibility of this actually becoming a regular sight making him dizzy with happiness.
Then Maya climbed onto her chair and Frankie and Rainfly sat down as well, their legs entangling under the table, a quick smile saying more than a thousand words.
While they were eating, Maya told them about her weekend with her mom. They had originally intended to go to the zoo but yesterday’s rain had thwarted that plan.
“So we went to Plucky’s Playhouse.”
“That’s an indoor playground,” Frankie explained.
“Oh, I see. That sounds like fun. I bet you’re happy to spend time with your mom.”
“Yes, she lets me watch TV and I can eat all the sweets that daddy won't allow me to eat.”
Rainfly looked over to Frankie, the twitch of his jaw telling her that he didn’t appreciate the way his ex spoiled their daughter.
“But I still like daddy better,” Maya continued matter-of-factly. “He reads to me and makes the best sandwiches in the world and when I’m sick, he will stroke my stomach and hold my hand and sing to me until I feel better.”
Surprised, Rainfly looked at Frankie. “You can sing?”
The blush that had risen in his cheeks at Maya’s praise intensified. “No, but … for some reason, Maya still likes it.”
“I bet you’re better than you allow yourself to take credit for,” she smiled, resisting the urge to touch his hand but letting her foot slide along his leg.
“No, really, trust me.”
She still smiled but didn’t pursue the subject any further.
When they were eventually finished, Maya hopped off her chair and climbed into Rainfly’s lap. “Can you read Uni the Unicorn to me and then bring me to bed?”
“Maya,” her dad said, putting together the empty plates, “Rainfly is our guest. She’s not here to babysit you and might want to go home soon.” They had decided that it would be better for Rainfly to pretend to go home and then sneak back in once Maya was asleep.
“But I want her to stay,” Maya sulked, turning back to Rainfly. “Do you really want to go home? If you stay here, you can have breakfast with us tomorrow. And daddy makes really good scrambled eggs.”
“Now, that sounds very tempting but where would I sleep? You don’t have a guest room.”
“You can sleep in daddy’s bed,” Maya suggested, happy that this seemed to be the only obstacle. “It’s huge and he doesn’t need all that space.”
Suppressing a smile, Rainfly looked up to Frankie. “Well, you’ll have to ask your dad whether that’s okay with him.”
“Pleeeease, daddy, can Rainfly sleep in your bed? Please, please, please, please, please!”
Pretending to think about it, Frankie replied with a little frown. “Alright, fine. But that means you’ll go to your own bed without any discussions and attempts to postpone your bedtime, okay?”
“Okay,” Maya beamed, putting her arms around Rainfly’s neck. “You can stay, Rainfly.”
Laughing, she returned Maya’s embrace before saying: “That’s great. Then I suggest, you help your dad clean this up while I go over to my house and get my stuff. And when I’m back, I will read Uni to you and bring you to bed. Deal?”
“Deal.”
***
An hour later, Maya was asleep and Rainfly came back down the stairs to join Frankie in the living room. He was sitting on the couch with his legs slightly spread, the arm resting on the back of the sofa immediately coming around her shoulder when she sat down next to him.
“Sorry you had to work,” he said, an apologetic smile spreading on his face. “I guess we’ll put that on the babysitting bill.”
“Oh, don’t you dare,” she said, slapping his thigh lightly before letting her hand rest there. “I never did it for the money. I love Maya so much and I got to see you, even though it was always just for a few minutes. That would have been payment enough.”
He smiled, his warm eyes so full of love she felt like screaming with happiness. “We’re so lucky to have you. And Maya loves you so much, too. Looks like it’s going to be a lot easier to tell her that you’re going to be around more often than we thought it would be. That is, if you really want to. Please don’t ever feel obliged to be here when you’d rather stay at your place.”
“Frankie…,” she said, letting her hand slide along his stubbly jaw. “You and Maya are everything I ever dreamed of. So as long as you honestly promise me to tell me if you two ever want to be alone, I will spend as much time here as possible. Especially now that you’re kind enough to share your bed with me.”
He laughed quietly, his big, warm hand sliding along her upper thigh and pushing up the hem of her dress as he leaned over to kiss her deeply. “I’m a big fan of sharing,” he growled, his plush lips wandering from her mouth to her throat, sucking gently at the sensitive skin and making heat pulse up in her core. “Especially with a woman as appreciative as you.” He had reached her panties, his thick fingers immediately finding the damp spot that had already formed there.
A needy whimper fell from her lips as she bucked her hips into his touch, pulling him up again into a heated kiss, her hands raking through his soft curls, the weight of his broad body above her welcome and still not enough.
“Maybe we should take that upstairs,” Frankie panted after a while of heavy making out.
“Good idea,” she breathed, feeling flushed and high-strung and desperate to shed the clothes that were still separating them. “Your bedroom is the only room in this house I haven’t seen yet.”
“High time to change that.”
They scrambled to their feet, not bothering to fix the messy state they were already in, as Frankie took her hand and led her up the stairs.
“We’ll have to be careful, though,” Frankie said in a low voice after he’d closed the bedroom door behind them and turned on the bedside lamp. “Maya is a heavy sleeper but I don’t want to run any risks.” Coming back to her and pulling her into his arms, he studied her face intently. “D’you think you can be quiet for me, hermosa?”
The low rumble of his voice alone made her clench around nothing but she nodded eagerly, sinking down on the bed and pulling him with her. “Wow, this bed is really comfortable.”
“Yeah, I bought it when Maya and I moved in here. So this is kind of the bed’s first time.”
Surprised, she blinked at him. “Are you telling me, you haven’t had a woman over in two years?”
An adorable blush tinged the tips of his ears as he leaned back a little to sit back on his heels. “Well, after my divorce, I found it hard to open up to someone new. And then, you came into our lives, and even though I didn’t even want to admit it to myself, I knew that it had to be you or nobody, and you seemed so completely out of reach, so …”
Smiling, she sat up as well and kissed him softly. “I feel very honoured to take your bed’s virginity. Even though I’m sure there was at least some solo-action here, right?”
The blush crept up to his cheeks, a bashful smile tugging at his lips. “Well, I was single as fuck but not a monk.”
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she slid closer. “Did you ever think of me in here?”
He was literally scarlet by now and no longer able to look her in the eyes. “I did,” he confessed, “and I felt terribly guilty.”
Laughing, she cupped his face and made him look at her again. “Oh, Frankie, you’re such a sweet little daisy. Why would you feel guilty about it?”
“Because you were the babysitter and not supposed to be the object of my sexual fantasies. It just felt creepy and disrespectful.”
The honesty of his words made her love him even more and she kissed him again. “Well, I think it’s extremely hot that you thought of me in those situations. And I hope it makes you feel better when I tell you that I thought of you all the time, too.”
“You did?” The blush slowly vanished from his face, his voice raw with desire.
“Yes.” She reached for his hand, slowly letting his fingers slide through hers. “I thought about what your fingers would feel like. And your lips.” Her own lips ghosting across his without really touching them. “And your –“ A deep grunt escaped him when she lightly squeezed the noticeable bulge in his jeans.
“Fuck,” he growled, pulling her into a searing kiss. “If this is a dream and I’ll wake up in a moment, I’ll be fucking mad at the universe.”
“It’s not a dream,” she smiled seductively, gently nibbling at the shell of his ear and enjoying the shudder that ran through him at her touch. “But how about you tell me what you thought of when you were here alone, so we can make your fantasies come true?”
“Oooh, fuck…”