“Daddy, daddy, Sylvie’s over there, can I go play?”

Sloane was jumping up and down and pointing to the slide. I looked over to see a woman and her daughter playing in the distance.

“Okay,” I said, getting up from the bench. When she took off like a shot I called out, “Be careful, I’m right behind you.”

She gave me a thumbs up without turning around and kept barreling toward her friend.

I chuckled, cause really, she cracked me up.

I’m guessing the thumbs up thing came from Gray, because it sure as hell didn’t come from me, and she’d been doing it constantly.

By the time I made it to the slides, the girls were climbing the steps while the woman I assumed was Sylvie’s mother watched with a smile.

“Hi, I’m Bane, Sloane’s dad,” I said as I approached. I’d gotten pretty used to introducing myself over the years. As a single dad, I was often the only man at the park, Chuck E Cheese’s, or the mall with my kid.

“Hi, Meg,” she replied. “Sylvie’s stepmom.”

The girls came down the slide giggling furiously and came running over to us.

“Daddy, can I go to Sylive’s house and play? Please?” Sloane asked.

“Sloane, honey, you can’t invite yourself over to someone else’s house,” I said, crouching down and speaking softly, so as not to hurt her feelings, but knowing a lesson needed to be taught. “It’s rude.”

“I didn’t i-vite myself, Sylvie i-vited me,” Sloane argued, not understanding my point.

“It’s okay, really,” Meg said kindly. “We’d love it if Sloane could come over and keep Sylvie company. She’s been really bored this vacation.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, not wanting her to feel pressured by the kids.

When she nodded enthusiastically, I figured she was probably eager to have someone else around to entertain Sylvie for a while, which I totally understood.

“Yes, absolutely, in fact, we could make it a sleepover, if that works for you.”

I looked down at Sloane, who’s eyes were wide and pleading as she struggled not contain her enthusiasm.

“Well, we’d have to get her things…”

“I’ll follow you home, then we can grab her stuff and head out.”

“Where do you live?” I asked, not wanting to come across like I didn’t trust her with my daughter, but also not about to agree to let my daughter go somewhere and not know where she was.

“Old Mill Road,” she replied. “Across from the church.”

“We’re right around the corner,” I said, feeling better about the situation. “I can pick her up in the morning.”

“Great.”

“Yay,” the girls cheered.

Meg and I loaded up our girls in our respective vehicles and we went to my house to get Sloane’s overnight bag.

Sloane chattered happily in the back.

“I gotta tell Kat-ya I get to have my first slumber party with Sylvie. I need to take my dollies and my blankie…”

I smiled, but allowed my mind to wander as I drove.

Katja had stayed back to make dinner. She’d said she had a recipe she wanted to try out and we’d gone out and bought the ingredients earlier.

And now, we’d be alone all night.

Not that we hadn’t spent every night alone last week, while Sloane was away, but for some reason, things felt different. As if we couldn’t be trusted to be by ourselves all night anymore.

The temptation was there. Always.

To kiss her, to touch her, to see how far these sparks would lead us.

We’d been hands off since I’d picked up Sloane, which had been my intention, but for some reason, that only magnified my desire for her.

Every night I dreamed of sinking inside of her. I imagined her clawing at my back and crying out as I claimed her. I woke up every morning unfulfilled, my cock throbbing with need until I took matters into my own hand and found some relief.

Maybe I should have said no to the sleepover. I need Sloane in the house…

“And we’ll watch movies and play games. I bet Sylvie will want to brush my dollies hair, what do you think, Daddy?”

I realized she was still talking excitedly, and I also realized I couldn’t ruin her night just because I was afraid I couldn’t act like an adult and control my urges.

I pulled up to the house, got Sloane out and ran inside to grab her things.

I didn’t see Katja in the kitchen, or in the house as I ran through it, not wanting to make Sloane wait, or Meg lose her mind with two exuberant children. Once I had her overnight bag, blanket, and duffel with dolls and doll bed, I hurried back out.

“If she needs anything else, or something happens and she wants to come home, call and I’ll come over,” I told Meg as I loaded up Sloane’s car seat.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” she said, but inputted my number into the phone and sent me a text with hers anyway, so we could get in touch if needed.

I kissed my daughter goodbye, then waved them off as they drove off toward Sylvie’s.

I went back into the house, but when I didn’t see Katja, I went out the back door.

I walked to the edge of my deck, then bit back a groan when I saw her. She was a few feet away, lying on a blanket in the sun, her long, toned body barely covered in a bright pink bikini.

My body tightened as walked toward her, bronzed skin coming in to focus the closer I got.

Shit, I was fucked… and Katja was about to be.