“You know, if Anna had even a little bit to redeem herself, you might’ve become my step-father.” We’d been driving quietly, but Risha’s words hit me like a brick just as the sushi restaurant came into view. Glancing over at her, I watched with narrowed eyes while she giggled, red bleeding into her face. “I’m just saying…”

“Is that your way of saying you want to call me ‘Daddy’?” My lips twitched in a smirk, and I let out a laugh when Risha went still. Just that tiny pause was enough to affirm my suggestion, and I reached over to grab her face. Her eyes were wide when they met mine, sparkling with excitement and desire that heated my blood and thickened my tongue. “I’d gladly take you up on that, baby girl.”

“You’re different…” Risha’s soft breath swirled around my wrist, and I released her to put my hand back on the wheel. Easing off the gas to turn into a large, somewhat crowded parking lot, I only shook my head at her observation.

“I’m not different, Risha. You just haven’t seen this part of me before… I haven’t seen this part of me in a long time. I forgot how good it feels.” Sliding my car into an empty space, I pulled the emergency brake to lean back in my seat. My mind ran through the events of the day, starting with my decision to break up with Anna. She was the physical embodiment of a wall inside me, and now that I’d broken it down I felt light. “Does it scare you?”

Staring out the windshield at the dark side of the building, I hid my surprise at the realization that I didn’t actually care if I scared Risha. Pulling my brows together, I pursed my lips into a thin line; she could be uncertain, but she’d get over it. That line of thinking had laid dormant for so long it was alien as it floated through my mind, but her voice popped my inner thought bubble.

“No. Honestly… I think if you weren’t, you’d be a little boring. At least for me. I haven’t been in a relationship since high school, and I’m 25 now. I don’t want safe. I want wild and hot and passionate." Thoughtfulness permeated Risha’s voice, and I let my head loll to stare at her. She radiated a maturity that was rare for her age, but after everything it was expected. Terrified of turning into her mother, she tried to put herself through college only to drop out when her best friend had cancer.

All innocence was lost.

“What did you do to pay for college? Did you get a scholarship?” The embarrassment on Risha’s face vanished, and the crease between my brows deepened. Changing the subject was easy; I didn’t want to talk about all of the hot, wild, passionate deeds I would do to her. Especially not when it was so far off.

“I was a stripper. I took pole dancing lessons to help me stay in shape, and I worked places where I could keep my clothes on. But it paid really well, and I did it until two years ago right before Anthony hired me. Cynthia had a lot of medical bills she couldn’t pay, and she couldn’t work. It was tax-free money- thousands of dollars a night. For an unsupported woman going for business management, that was the best way to go. Cynthia got a scholarship for biology, but she lost it when she had to drop out.”

“You’re serious? Why didn’t someone help you?” The question flew from my lips before I could stop it, and Risha let out a bark of laughter that gyrated my eardrums. A rueful smile twisted her expression, and she sighed harshly before answering me.

“Who’d help me? My mother was never around, and if she was she didn’t have time for me. She was too busy with her boyfriends. Cynthia’s parents didn’t have anything they could spare. My teachers didn’t care about my education because I only went to college because Cynthia went. I told you- I don’t like working. I’ve never wanted to work. No one wanted to help someone that was basically riding a scholarship student.”

“… What do you want to do, then?” It took me a long, heavy moment to find my voice, and I watched a careful, calculated longing spread on Risha’s face. She went through so many emotions, and all of them showed. The transformation was fascinating, and I reached out absently to stroke her jaw and neck.

“I want kids…” Her quiet admission resonated inside me like a song finally finding harmony, and she met my gaze with a firmness that told me this wasn’t a hasty decision. “I want so many kids I can’t keep track of them all. And I want to give them what I never had. I want my children to hate me because I show them how much I love them. I want them to go do great things, but not because they’re afraid.”

The underlying message blared from Risha’s deep, soulful gaze, and my heart stuttered in my chest. She’s my parallel. Blinking hard at the thought, time seemed to slow down as I wrapped my hand around her neck. The click of her seatbelt echoed through my car, and I pulled her to straddle my lap. Her dress didn’t tear, and I cupped her bare ass with my free hand as she smashed her lips on mine.

AND that’s it! That was a long sneak peek, actually half the book!

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