Tempting Her Best Friend's Father (4 page)

“Well,” Mona could hear the excitement in Kara’s
voice. “He is taking me to Joshlyn’s Bistro.”

“Wow, big spender.” Mona didn’t want to point
out that the “rumors” had said Marcus liked to really wine and dine his dates
before he tried to slip them the sausage. “Kara, are you really sure this is a
good idea?”

Kara gave an exasperated noise. “Quit acting
like a mom. Marcus is gorgeous, built like a tank, wealthy, and a gentleman.
Like I said, it is only dinner and a movie. If things don’t work out then I’ll
kick his ass to the curb.”

They both laughed, but Mona’s was forced.
Somehow she felt that wouldn’t be the case in the end.

****

“I told you to stop and get more before you came
home.”

Mona shut her bedroom door quietly. The arguing
about who should have bought the alcohol before coming home was an every night
kind of thing. It was only six at night and already her parents were drunk. If
Kara had been home she would have just stayed over there, but she had her date
with Marcus so that option was out. Mona needed to get her own place, but she
needed a job that paid enough for her to be on her own.

“Where is Mona?” Her father’s slurred words came
through her door and Mona’s heart sped up. It wasn’t that her dad was abusive,
but when he was as drunk as he sounded, any little thing set him off.

Her door flung open and her dad stepped through.
“Go get your mom and I some booze.”

She didn’t want to start a fight, but she was
sick of living this way. “I don’t want to.”

Her father’s face became a bright shade of red.
“What do you mean you don’t want to?” He took another step in her room.

“I don’t think you need any more to drink.” It
was clear that was the wrong thing to say. He barreled the rest of the way into
her room and gripped her upper arm. Her dad was a big man and his hand wrapped
fully around her upper arm with bruising strength.

“Go out there and get us the fucking liquor. You
don’t do shit around here anyway.”

She pulled her arm back but it was no use. His
grip was too strong. “Let go. You’re hurting me.” He laughed and the stench of
whiskey filtered around her. “Let go.” She tried to pull her arm back again but
it only made him more upset. Before she could anticipate his move, the back of
his hand slammed into the side of her face. The taste of blood filled her mouth
and she knew her lip was split. She stared at him with what she knew were wide
eyes. He blinked several times and then let go of her arm before stumbling
back.

“Look what you made me do.” He had pushed her
around on more than one occasion, not that she had ever told anyone that, but
never had he hit her. Anger built inside of her stronger and stronger with each
passing moment.

“Get out!” she screamed at him as she felt tears
fall down her cheeks. The side of her face pounded with pain.

“Girl, you would do best to keep your tone
down.” The look of almost guilt was washed away as anger started to replace it.
Her mother had yet to come in and see what the problem was, most likely already
passed out on the couch.

“Get out of my room, you drunk.” She cried
hysterical, not from sadness, but from anger and finality. She was sick of this
life. She was sick of having to pretend she didn’t live like this. Sure, people
knew how her family was, but her parents held down jobs and were fantastic actors.

Her father came after her again, his arms
outstretched and rage burning behind his glossy expression. His movements were
clumsy and she easily moved out of the way, but just when she thought she had
escaped him, he gripped a chunk of her hair and pulled her back. Mona cried out
in pain and clawed at the hand that held her hair.

“I think you need some good old fashioned
discipline. You need beat until you show your parents some respect.”

Oh hell
no.
She threw herself back at him and when his grip
loosened she flung herself forward. She heard his big body fall to the ground
but didn’t turn around to verify. Mona ran as fast as she could, passed her
unconscious mother on the couch, and ran out the front door and toward the only
place she had ever felt safe.

Chapter Six

Out of breath and with tears making her vision
blurry, Mona leaned against the door she had just knocked on. It took a moment,
but finally it opened. She was so tired that she could hardly hold her head up
as she looked into Isaac’s shocked face. That was the last thing she remembered
before she passed out.

“Mona. Mona, honey, wake up.”

She could hear his voice, and although it seemed
distant and muffled, she felt herself being pulled back from the darkness that
surrounded her.

“Come on, honey. Wake up.”

Mona opened her eyes and blinked several times.
The left side of her face was so sore that the simple movement of blinking made
her head pound and her vision blur. It took her a moment to get her bearings
and realize where she was. Isaac hovered over her, his face a mask of worry as
he stared down at her. He held a washcloth and brought it to her lip. When the
material touched her sensitive flesh she winced and turned away.

She started to sit up, but even that small
movement made her head spin and nausea slam into her. Just as soon as she
wondered what was going on, the night’s happenings washed through her. Her
heart pounded something fierce and sweat coated her brow.

“Shhh. You’re safe, honey. Just tell me what
happened.” Isaac moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

It felt good to be close to him, to feel
cherished and protected after a lifetime of emptiness. How could she ever go
back home? How could she ever face her father again? She should have known
things would escalate, but who would have ever imagined a father would strike
his child with so much force it not only hurt them physically but scarred them
emotionally as well?

Mona couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. She
was embarrassed to have Isaac see her this way, to see the dysfunctional aspect
of her life. She felt like trash, like a burden in everyone’s life.

“Mona, please don’t cry.” He turned her around
and wrapped both his arms around her shoulders. She cried harder. “Tell me who
hurt you and I promise I’ll make them pay.” He murmured the words against her
hair, but they didn’t comfort her.

She didn’t want anyone getting hurt, least of
all her father. He may be a drunken bastard, but he was still her dad. She did
know she couldn’t go back there, though.

“Tell me, Mona.” He leaned back and looked down
at her. She stared into the deep green depths of his eyes. Oh how she wanted to
have him hold her again, to wash away the pain that had been slowly building
inside of her until she thought she would suffocate.

As she stared into his eyes she told him the
whole thing. He already knew about the alcoholism in her family, but she had
kept a lot of the verbal and mental abuse to herself. He didn’t say anything,
just let her tell every sordid detail until she couldn’t tell any more and her tears
had dried up. As the last word fell from her lips she could see an unexplained
emotion cross his features. Anger, sadness, pity? All of those were possible,
but the fact he might feel pity for her situation hit her the hardest.

He cupped the side of her uninjured face. “I
promise he will never hurt you again.”

She believed him with everything inside of her.
“He’s my father. Don’t hurt him.”

He dropped his hand from her and turned to the
side. Although his face was partially obscured, she could see how clenched his
jaw was and feel the clear anger that resonated from him.

There was a long stretch of silence before he
finally spoke again. “He hurt you, Mona. I can’t let that go.”

She was touched by his caring determination to
set things right. Her entire life had been one of disappoint, embarrassment,
and a loveless family. Here she sat, beside her best friend’s father, feeling a
kind of love she had never felt before. It wasn’t one a daughter felt for her
father, and it wasn’t the kind of love she felt for Kara. This love, which had
started off so slow and childlike, grew swiftly and without thought. Maybe it
was just the fact that he seemed to be the only person, aside from Kara, that
loved her, that acted like he actually cared about what happened to her.

When she didn’t respond he turned to look at
her. She could see how his gaze kept going toward the side of her face that
pounded in pain. Did she look like a monster? If it looked as bad as it felt
she probably looked horrible. On instinct, she lifted her hand and touched her
cheek. It was sore.

Isaac moved toward her again and placed his hand
on hers. “Look at me.”

When she did her heart stopped. He was inches
away, so close that the cologne he wore seeped into her body and warmed her.
She shouldn’t feel aroused at a time like this, but her emotions were running
rampant and she couldn’t help herself. Without thinking, she moved in those
last few inches until her lips pressed against his. For several long seconds
neither of them moved. Their lips stayed connected and she could tell his
breathing had increased, but he didn’t deepen the kiss as she would have liked.

She let her arousal and emotions lead her and
pressed her lips more firmly against his. She then ran her tongue along his
bottom lip. The soft groan that came from him gave her the confidence she
needed. She opened her mouth and he followed suit. Their tongues touched and
her pussy moistened instantly. She was wet, so incredibly wet that her panties
stuck to her lips. She wanted his hands on her, pressing her jeans against her
sensitive cunt, bringing her arousal even higher.

Mona placed her hands on his shoulders and
pressed her chest against his. Her breasts rubbed seductively against the hard
muscle of his pecs. They tilted their heads at the same time and deepened the
kiss. Tongues slipping together erotically, Mona couldn’t help the small
mewling sounds that came from her. As if the noises she made snapped him out of
the sexual haze they were in, Isaac pulled away. His breathing was erratic and
his lips were red from their kiss. They stared at each other for several long
moments. What would he do? What would he say? He still appeared to want her if
the way he kept glancing at her lips was anything to go by.

Mona wanted more than another kiss. She wanted
his naked body pressed against hers. She wanted to feel him thrusting his cock
into her hard and fierce. Her clit tingled and her pussy pulsed. She reached
for him again but he shook his head and moved away. Hurt and embarrassment
slammed into her. She felt her face become red as she stared at him.

“I can’t, Mona. It isn’t right.”

“It feels right.” Had she said that out loud?
Obviously by the look of sympathy he now displayed toward her.

“After what just happened to you and the fact I
have known you since you were a little girl, this whole situation is wrong on
so many levels.” He ran his hand over his jaw. “I’m taking advantage of you.”

Taking
advantage of me?
She was the one that had initiated
everything. She was the one that had been pining over him since she could
remember. “I want this, Isaac. I have wanted this for a very long time.” He
turned to look at her then. They were still so close, but she was afraid to
touch him, to emphasize her point.

He looked as if he would kiss her again but then
he shook his head and stood. She watched as he paced the living room. She was
so embarrassed. How could she face him after this? Despite her humiliation she
still couldn’t stop staring at him. He wore a pair of dark loose fitting sweats
and a white tee. The material was formed against the wide expanse of his chest,
showing the muscular definition and doing nothing to lower her arousal. He
disappeared into the kitchen, but before she could get up he was back with a
drink and a plate full of food for her. He set them down on the coffee table
and sat beside her on the couch.

He kept his head down for a moment and then
shifted to look at her. “It isn’t that I…” He ran his hand over his jaw again
before continuing. “It isn’t that I don’t want this.” Their eyes met. “I want
you, Mona, and that scares the shit out of me. I know I shouldn’t and I know
it’s wrong, but I can’t stop the way I feel.”

Elation filled her at his admission.
He wanted her?

“I may not be able to stop the way I feel, but I
can stop my actions.” At that her elation deflated like a popped balloon.

Before she could respond the sound of the front
door opening and closing drew her attention.

“I’m home.” Kara’s singsong voice filtered into
the living room. When she entered the living room and saw her father and then
got a look at Mona, that happiness she had just had vanished. “Oh my God, what
happened?” Kara rushed to her side, her gaze roaming all over her face. Tears
started to well in Kara’s eyes.

Mona explained the situation and watched as
Kara’s eyes widened with each passing word. When she was finished Kara stood
and a look of anger covered her face.