Free A Daddy for Her Daughter by Tina Beckett

it purring?”
    â€œI was hoping to get something like that, which is why I put some slits in the plastic that covers the frame.”
    She glanced back to find he was indeed right behind her. Her eyes moistened. “Chloe is going to love this, Kaleb. Thank you so much.”
    â€œIt’s no problem at all.”
    There was a strange gleam in his eye, and when she caught sight of the notebook open on the ground, the page wasn’t filled with a bunch of random scribblings about design formulas, but contained a sketch instead.
    Of her. Flying his kite.
    A warm tingling curled through her body. Maybe she hadn’t been the only one looking. And he wasn’t flipping pages to try to hide the sketch, which meant he didn’t care if she saw it.
    â€œKaleb?”
    One side of his mouth tilted up, and his fingers traced one of her cheekbones, the soft touch causing her to lose her grip on the spool of string. She fumbled for it and it hit the ground, then skittered across it with a bump, bump, bump as it became airborne for seconds at a time. “Oh, no!”
    They both dived for the escaping spindle and ended up colliding with each other instead. Maddy chuckled, still trying to right herself so she could take off after the cord, which was rapidly unwinding, sending the kite higher and higher. She leaped for it one more time before tripping all over again. Down she went onto her hip with a thump, laughing as she rolled onto her back in the lush grass, hand to her chest. She expected Kaleb to keep sprinting after the runaway kite, but he didn’t. Instead, he levered himself onto the ground beside her, leaning over her, his smile as carefree as she felt.
    â€œIt’s getting away!” Her voice sounded breathless to her own ears.
    â€œLet it.”
    Unlike Maddy’s bright laughter, there was a dark undertone to those two words. Her eyes met his, and she understood why, instantly. She’d felt the same thing as she’d watched him earlier: a mixture of lust and longing.
    Those two emotions were mirrored in his steady gaze.
    And suddenly she realized one thing: he was going to kiss her. Right here in the middle of the park.
    And she wanted him to. Desperately.
    Half-afraid she might be daydreaming the whole thing and that she would snap back to attention and find he was still flying the kite while she watched him from her perch on the blanket, she curled her hand around his nape and murmured his name again.
    And then he was bending closer, his warm breath stirring the fine hairs on her temple.
    The first touch of his lips against hers set off a chain reaction she was powerless to ignore. His elbows landed on either side of her shoulders, and he lifted his head to look at her as if trying to gauge her reaction. When he moved in again, the pressure was firmer, more insistent. Nothing like the light exploratory touch a second ago. No, his head shifted a quarter turn to the left, his mouth fitting perfectly over hers.
    Settling in.
    And she was okay with that. The fingers at his nape wandered to one of his shoulders, the muscles bunching deliciously under her skin. All thoughts of kites and laughter were long gone. This was deadly serious—the stuff pillow talk was made of. Only Maddy didn’t feel like talking. And she hoped Kaleb didn’t either.
    They shouldn’t be doing this. She knew it. He probably did too. The last thing she needed was to kiss a colleague. But right now, nothing would be able to pry her away. She made a sound low in her throat.
    She’d wanted Chloe to be here earlier. As a buffer. Right now, though, she was glad her daughter was miles and miles away with her aunt, so she couldn’t see how crazy with need this man was making her.
    Maddy squirmed beneath him, her whole body flaming to life—the heat threatening to consume her. His lips left hers, traveling sideways across her jaw until he reached her ear.
    â€œMaddy...” He nipped her