I lean on the kitchen island, watching Aubrey and my mother sitting by the pool. My mother has her toes in the water and Aubrey is sitting on the diving board, casually kicking her long legs. Sophie snaps her fingers at me.

“Daddy, you’re staring.”

“Hm?” I ask, looking down at the glaring face of my daughter.

Sophie sighs and gives me a look like she’s about to explain something very simple to someone very stupid. “I see what’s going on here, daddy. I’m not a child anymore.”

I raise my eyebrows, considering she’s still in elementary school, but I figure it’s wiser not to interrupt right now.

“And,” she continues, “I think you should leave her alone. I love you, but I like Miss Aubrey. And when you like a girl, she’s always gone in a week.”

I take my time digesting her words. They sting, especially coming from my own daughter. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let an elementary schooler talk me out of what I’ve already set my mind on. “Honey, this is an adult thing. Miss Aubrey and I are going to be spending some time together over the next month, but you don’t have to worry about it. I’m not going to send her away.”

Sophie crosses her arms and sighs. “How do I know that’s true?”

I glare. “Soph, just because I was gone for a few weeks, it doesn’t mean you get to start disrespecting me.”

She says nothing, but the look in her eyes says she just might murder me in my sleep unless I find a way to make this right.

“Look,” I say, softening my tone and kneeling to take her by the shoulders. “I like Miss Aubrey, too, okay? I like her more than those women you are talking about from the past. But if you tell her a word of what I just said, in the words of your grandmother, ‘I will end you’.”

Sophie gives me the faintest smirk for my efforts and nods her head before walking outside to join Aubrey and my mother.

I shake my head after her, wondering how I ended up with such a unique daughter. I can’t help feeling like the stakes just got higher. Not only do I risk losing custody of my daughter if this crap Julianne has been trying to pull plays out, but now I risk pissing off my daughter if I don’t find a way to make things stay clean between Aubrey and I. I may lose everything if I try, and I could lose everything if I don’t. At least it makes my choice simple.

I step outside and Aubrey looks at me before looking away guiltily.

“Aubrey, can I have a word?” I say, motioning for her to follow me inside.

My mother and Sophie watch suspiciously as Aubrey gets up to follow me into the house. She’s wearing a bikini top and I’m struggling not to stare at her perfectly full tits. She looks up at me with a hint of mischief in her eyes when she catches me looking. The little minx… Fuck.

I have to be careful though. Sophie’s words still linger with me and the threat of losing my daughter looms over everything. For this to work, I have to make sure we plant some evidence of our courtship.

“We have work to do,” I say quietly.

The mischievous glint in her eye immediately turns to horror. Her gaze shifts to my obviously hard cock and her eyebrows shoot up. “Mr. King. You said this was just--”

I laugh, holding my hands up in defense. “Not that kind of work.” Not yet, at least. “No, I mean we need to be seen together in public. If this is going to look even remotely real, we can’t just show up and suddenly be married.”

“So you’re saying I need to be your fake girlfriend before I can be your fake wife?”

I shrug, tilting my head. “Yeah, and you’ll need to be my fake fiancée somewhere in between there too.”

She rubs her palms against her eyes. “What did I get myself into?”

“It’ll be fun. I want to take you to one of my favorite places. You’ll love it. I already arranged to have a sitter come by and watch Sophie. I’ve got two caretakers who will be keeping an eye on mom. Everything is handled. All you need to do is wear the dress I left in your room and be ready by seven. Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier, but you can wear that same style of panties you wore last night. You looked sexy as hell in them.”

I give her a firm slap on the ass to emphasize my point, leaving her standing open mouthed at the patio doors. Goddamn. Just the brief contact with her round ass has my cock stiff and throbbing for release. This fucking woman… She’s doing dangerous things to me, and I know it’s only a matter of time before I do something stupid.