Behaving Badly in Vegas (Vegas Love #3)

27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Charli

By the end of the week, we’d settled into a routine that was somewhere in the flirty friend zone. He stopped sneaking out of the apartment at an obscenely absurd hour and we began having our coffee together before Carina woke up.

In the evenings, the three of us ate dinner together, and Hunter had completely taken over feeding Carina. Sometimes I stared at him as he zoomed the spoon around and made airplane noises before popping it into her waiting mouth. It was ridiculously adorable. Watching him with Carina sent my ovaries into overdrive.

Neither of us ever mentioned the box full of expensive panties that arrived after Hunter ripped mine to shreds. He bought me a dozen pairs in every color of the rainbow. They came from a high-end retailer I could only dream of shopping at. I hoped it meant we would have more sexy rendezvous, and he planned on ripping apart more of my panties.

My cheeks blushed as I sat across from him at the kitchen island. Taking a sip of my coffee, I broached the topic I knew he was going to fuss about. “Don’t forget Rose is watching Carina today while I’m at the training center.”

In typical fashion, Hunter’s brows knitted together. “Remind me again why you need to go there instead of the fitness center downstairs.”

I sighed. “The fitness center is great for weights and cardio, but it doesn’t have the specific equipment I need for practice.”

“Like what?” He gulped down the rest of his coffee and set his mug down harder than necessary.

“Like the silks hanging from the ceiling or a hoop. It’s hard to practice without the actual pieces of equipment I’ll be performing on.” The issue wasn’t me going to the training center. It was about Rose coming to watch Carina. “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this. Rose is very capable of watching Carina. She wants to bond with her granddaughter. Is that such an awful thing?”

“It’s not an awful thing. You’re making me sound like a grouchy asshole who wants to keep Carina all to myself.”

I lifted a brow at him.

“Fine. I’m a grouchy asshole, but in my defense, I’m still getting adjusted myself. I don’t know if I’m doing any of this right. What if I’m a terrible father? I don’t need Rose coming here and pointing it out.”

I reached for his hand and gently rubbed my thumb over his knuckles, trying to ease his fears. The man was confident in everything, except where Carina was concerned. “You’re not a terrible father and no one would say you were. You’re doing the best you can. You’re going to make mistakes, but I’m pretty sure every parent has, even Rose. Maybe helping with Carina is her way of righting those wrongs.”

“She’s going to snoop,” he huffed.

“Lock the rooms you don’t want her in. Are you afraid she’s going to find your box of whips and chains?” It was a joke but also a little snooping on my part. Hunter completely dominated me the other night and I was curious how far he would take it.

Hunter chuckled. “I’m not into whips and chains. There’s no red room here. ”

“Good to know.” I could handle a little kink but had no intention of being submissive. And there went my head again, imagining things that would never happen. “Anyway, Rose is coming at ten. I’ll be home before you, so you won’t even have to see her.”

“Fine.” He grabbed his keys and tucked his wallet into his pocket.

I poured the last of the coffee into a travel mug and handed it to him. “Have a good day, Mr. Dorsey.”

“You too, dollface.”

Although I initially hated the name and found it demeaning, it grew on me. No man had ever given me a special nickname. It wasn’t generic like sweetheart or honey or darling that could be used for anyone, including a first date or a one-night stand.

Dollface was just for me and that made my insides flutter.