My chin dropped, and a loud moan shot to the treetops. This time, he didn’t bother covering my mouth. He wanted to hear me, and he didn’t give a fuck who else could.

Theo released my face, his palms going to the thick trunk of the tree. He took me mercilessly, grunting and growling, his body going stiff as my teeth sank into his bottom lip. Cupping my ass, he walked away from the tree and lowered my back to the grass, stroking harder, faster, drilling so hard a clapping noise echoed through the small forest.

“You feel so fucking good, baby. Still so fucking wet for me.” His brown eyes roamed my body. I started to writhe, gripping the arms that were planted on either side of my head, watching as only his hips moved up and down, side to side. My eyes rolled to the back of my head, and I clenched repeatedly, soaking the length of his massive cock.

He didn’t stop.

In fact, he picked up his pace, his name a forbidden exclamation spilling from my lips. He conjured a yelp so shrill it made birds scatter. He scanned the area, and when he saw our surroundings were clear, he craned his head, bringing his mouth down.

Holding one side of my face with one hand, he used the other to grip my thigh, stroking repeatedly in the same, deep, relentless stroke, until he let out a heavy groan and came, eyes sealing, body jolting.

“Oh fuck, Chloe.” His voice was full of disbelief, as if he didn’t expect to cum so hard and so soon. He stilled in his position above, falling from his high, head dropping, and eyes landing on me.

He panted.

We panted, staring into one another’s eyes. Leaning forward, his lips brushed my cheek before moving over to my mouth. “Your pussy is perfect, you know that?” His upper lip curved, and the top row of his pearly whites was revealed.

“Stop it,” I murmured, fighting a smile. He moved aside, allowing me to sit up. He watched me for a few seconds, and then he leaned forward, lifting a hand to pluck something out of my hair.

“I like this park and all, but we can’t keep making shit happen here.” He laughed, flicking the piece of grass away.

I giggled. “It just… happens, I guess.”

“I guess… but you deserve better. A room. A nice place.” His gaze softened. “With me.”

The longer he looked at me, the more my smile happened to collapse. Every bad thought flashed in my brain like hazard lights, along with one of the very reasons I was upset with him to begin with. “Last night,” I said, voice breathy. “I saw you.”

His head tilted. “Saw me what?”

I dropped my head plucking a piece of grass.

“With Trixie?” he answered for me.

“That’s her name?” I tried not to laugh but couldn’t help the smile.

“Sounds stripper-ish, right?” he chuckled.

“Uh, yeah!”

“She only stopped by to pick up her clothes. Nothing happened. I promise.”

“How do I know you’re not lying? She is your girl toy, after all.”

“We aren’t really going to make things happen anymore…”

My brows narrowed. “Why not?”

“She’s moving to Las Vegas. I already don’t trust her here. I damn sure wouldn’t trust her there.”

“Oh my god,” I laughed, “Is she a stripper?”

“Nah… but she works at Dane’s. It’s pretty much the same thing.”

“That’s where you met her?”

He stood up and tugged his shorts up to his waist, then he went for my shirt and shorts on the ground. After helping me up and handing my clothes to me, he said, “Yep. Kind of just… happened.”

“Hmm. Like we did?”

He scoffed. “Definitely nothing like that.”

“Do you love her?” I avoided his eyes after asking the question, afraid of his response. I focused on adjusting my panties and putting on my shorts, staring at the ground, but he tilted my chin, head shaking as our eyes met.

“I don’t love her, Chloe. She was just someone that… distracted me when you left and helped me forget about certain things.” He paused, dragging his eyes down my five-foot-seven frame and then bringing them back up to mine again. “But now that you’re back, well”—he shrugged—“I guess I realized she isn’t exactly the type of woman I want running around in my life.”

“No? So what kind of woman are you looking for?”

He moved forward, a boyish smile on display. Stroking my cheek, he quietly answered me. “I want a woman with brains, but also one that knows how to have fun. A woman with dreams. Goals. A woman that knows what she wants, even though she knows it may be bad for her. A woman that doesn’t mind taking risks in order to be happy.”

I inhaled a wisp of air, looking away. All those things I could relate to, but there were plenty of other women out there that could also relate—women that had no sort of relationship with his only child.

“Hmm.”

When I was all dressed, he hooked an arm across my shoulders and led the way back to the trail. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. Why?” I looked up, meeting the brown irises that were already on me.

“Come with me to my boat.”

“Your boat?” My eyes expanded, brows rising. “I didn’t even know you had a boat!”

“Bought it a few months ago. It’s not huge or anything, just something to get me from point A to point B. It’s where I was going to take you after Dane’s.” He stopped walking, turning me in his direction, the palms of his hands curling around my upper arms. “Forgive me for not sending you a location the other night,” he begged, eyes full of remorse. “I was just… really fucked in the head. I don’t know what was going on with me. I had this small chat with Marcel, and it sort of fucked with me.”

“Oh.” I paused. “I have one question…”

He pulled away, looking at me oddly, almost like he already knew the question I was going to ask. “What’s that?”

I fiddled with my fingers, focusing on the ground. “Do you really think this will last all summer?”

Relief washed over him, and he drew in a thick amount of breath, nodding. “Let’s make the deal right now. All summer, no thoughts of the past. No thoughts of our lives or who it may be that ties us.” His face changed when he said his last sentence. He hated owning up to the betrayal as well. The thought of his baby girl finding out about us would kill her and possibly damage their bond. Our bond. “Let’s promise to pretend that we’re two strangers. Like we’ve never met before and are only looking for a good time. You could use it. I could use it.”

“But… what if more comes out of this?”

His face changed, his attitude no longer carefree. “We agree now that nothing more comes out of this.” His face was stern, eyes like steel. Gripping my shoulders, he said, “Promise me, Chloe. We can’t take this farther than it is right now… okay?”

I swallowed hard. “Okay.” My voice was defeated. He noticed.

“Fuck…”

“What?” I asked as he roughly raked his fingers through his hair.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this… I shouldn’t do that to you—make you think this is just me wanting to get my dick wet.” He pulled me into him, watching me with a gentle stare. “I don’t want you thinking I don’t care about you. I care about you a lot. You’re a good girl, and you know me just as well as I know you. It’s just—well, if we still want to be in each other’s lives, as well as Izzy’s, we have to settle on some terms and keep some things out of the way.”

“Like love?” I whispered.

His throat worked hard to swallow the lump that’d been lodged deep inside. “Love… will get in the way. To protect ourselves—to protect Izzy—let’s settle on this. Trust me, we’ll still have a good time. We’ll make this one of the best summers of our lives. And when it’s all over, we’ll still be at an understanding.” He dropped his head to catch my eyes. When he did, he asked, “Is that okay with you? We don’t have to. I understand you not wanting to. The risk involved—I just need to know if this risk is one you will take with me. If I’m worth it to you. I’m sick of pretending I don’t want you.”