Chapter 1

Kylie

“What if he doesn’t like me?” I murmur, nervously nibbling on my lip.

Xavier reaches over and smiles at me softly. I wonder, not for the first time, why it does nothing for me. It just feels…safe and comfortable. Which isn’t such a bad thing for me. I need to stop dating the wrong men, and Xavier is kind and nice and…boring, but shit, that’s not bad, right?

Boring is good. Boring won’t hurt me.

He grips my hand in my lap and squeezes before tugging my dress down, making me shift uncomfortably. Should I have worn something else?

I’ve never met a boyfriend’s parents before. I’m not exactly the type you take home to the folks, plus the idiots I usually date don’t last that long. I mean, we have only been dating a couple of months, but he wanted me to tag along to his dad’s birthday party, and I felt awkward saying no.

So here we are, and when we pull into a long driveway leading to a very normal-looking, huge house, I swallow. Fuck, what am I doing? But I don’t have time to think. Xavier is out of the car and waiting for me. Sucking in a steadying breath, I scold myself as I get out of the truck. You’ve got this, Kylie. Fake it till you make it, it’s just like being on the stage.

I take his arm, and he tugs me to the front door. He doesn’t even knock, just yanks the black door open and slips inside. With a grin, he greets the first person he sees and wanders away, leaving me there.

Awkwardly shifting, I slip from my jacket and fold it over my arm as I hold the present in front of my stomach.

I meander forward in the hallway, ignoring the stairs to the right, and follow the music from the party to the left. It’s bustling with people, and I tug nervously at my lip. Normally I wouldn’t be so bothered, I would go in and introduce myself and have fun, but this is different.

This is my boyfriend’s dad’s house, the guy I like, so I stand there until a man breaks from the crowd and heads my way.

The air whooshes from my lungs as I stare at him helplessly. Holy fucking vaginas. He’s perfection. A silver fox for sure. He has a trimmed, well-kept, dark brown beard, and his short, styled brown hair is peppered at the sides. There are a few laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, but they only add to his beauty, not subtract.

His eyes are dark and consuming as they lock on mine, freezing me to the spot with no escape from them or him. Others would glance away, but not him. He’s intense and heading straight for me.

His huge, built body is encased in grey slacks and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms to showcase thick, veiny forearms and big hands.

He’s probably in his mid-forties, but Christ, it’s obvious he takes care of his body more than most guys my age. And dancing around those dangerous lips is an arrogant smile like he knows it.

From one look, my panties melt and my pussy turns slick. I’m wetter than I’ve been for months with Xavier. I’m no doubt blushing hard and breathing a little too heavily, but this man…he seems to take up the whole room. His personality fills it so completely, his power, his dominance…and it’s all aimed at me right now.

And then he’s before me.

“Hello,” he greets with a slightly confused smile, his eyes running down me in an undeniably sexy way.

The burn of it makes me tremble before him.

Suddenly, Xavier is there at my elbow.

He wraps an arm around me almost possessively, acting more covetous with me than he ever has before. “Hey, Dad, this is Kylie, the girl I’m dating.”

Dad?

This is his fucking dad?

My jaw almost drops. Xavier is blond with green eyes, and this guy is all dark and brooding, built where Xavier is lean. Please tell me he’s a stepdad, because fuck.

The man jerks back slightly, his eyes narrowing as they run across me in anything but a fatherly sexless way, and it has me almost panting again. No, stop, shit.

“Nice to meet you,” I force out, my voice tight. “Happy birthday, Mr. O'Neal.”

He frowns at that as I thrust out my hand. “Call me Jesse. It’s nice to meet you, Kylie.”

I freeze, my heart flapping wildly like a caged bird caught in my chest. My stomach clenches and my breath catches as I awkwardly hold out my hand.

He captures it gently, like I’m precious, his callused fingers stroking alongside my hand as he leans down and, dark eyes on me, presses his soft lips to the back of my hand. The whiskers of his short beard catch and make me swallow hard. He straightens and gently lets go as I gawk at him.

Fuck.

Am I attracted to my boyfriend’s dad?

No, no fucking way. This can’t be happening, but as those dark eyes stay locked on me, I know the truth. I’m screwed, and not in the good way, because after just one second around my boyfriend’s father, I’m more turned on than I have ever been.

And he’s off limits.