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Chloe nodded. “I named her Mia Nicole.”
An overwhelming wave of emotion threatened to knock him over. His entire life had changed in a matter of minutes. He was a father with a small daughter, and he didn’t know anything about being a parent. “I won’t try to push myself into her life, but I hope you will give me a chance to get to know her.”
“Of course. I want that too.”
“Will you introduce me to our daughter?”
She nodded while blinking back the tears. “Mia asks about you all the time. She sees her friends with their daddies, and it makes her wonder why she doesn’t have one. I went through the same thing when I was a kid, so it killed me every time I had to tell her you couldn’t be here because you were busy working.”
“You told my child I was too busy for her?”
Now he was mad. Chloe had no right to tell his daughter that he didn’t have time for her. She knew what it was like not to have a father, but he knew what it was like to have one that was too busy to give his son even five precious minutes of his time.
Raised primarily by nannies, he had grown up feeling unimportant when it came to his parents. That was the last thing he wanted for his baby girl.
Chloe looked startled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t want to lie and say you were dead.”
He swallowed. “Agreed. That would have been worse.”
“I would love for you to have a relationship with Mia, but I don’t want to introduce you and let her love you if you’re going to disappear. You’re either all in or not in at all. I won’t let you hurt her.”
“I would never...” He took a deep breath and pushed the anger down. “I want to be in her life.”
Chloe nodded but didn’t look convinced. “Aren’t you the same guy that told me he never wanted children?”
“I told you I wanted them back when we were engaged. I loved you and wanted to have kids with you.” He groaned. “My biggest regret in all this is not being there for you when you were pregnant. I should have been there.”
She sniffed, and he could tell she was fighting back the tears. “At least you know about her now. She’s just five. That means when she grows up, she probably won’t remember a time when you weren’t in her life.”
That made him feel better. He could make up for the years he’d lost with her and with Chloe. Somehow, he would fix it. He didn’t just want Mia to forget the years he hadn’t been around; he wanted Chloe to forget as well.
“How do we do this?” he asked. “Should I bring her a present? I don’t even know what she likes, and what if she doesn’t like me?”
“Relax, Nik. Mia is a sweet and friendly child. She’s a little shy at first, but she warms up to people pretty fast. Before you know it, she will be clinging to your leg and begging you to stay.”
“Where do we do this? Should we go to your home, or would it be better if we meet in neutral territory? We can meet at the park, if she likes the park, or we can meet at—”
“Stop,” Chloe said with a hand on his chest. “Stop over-thinking it. I will take care of everything. Trust me.”
He nodded. “I do.”
“And I need to be able to trust you, Nik. Mia means more to me than anything else in this world. I had no idea I could love someone so much.”
He envied her that feeling. “I promise I won’t do anything to hurt her. You call the shots. Do you need it in writing?”
“I don’t trust in contracts the way you do.”
“Then what can I do to ease your mind? What can I do to convince you that I already love her and would protect her with my life?”
Chloe wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest. She hugged him in the way he remembered her hugging him when they were engaged.
He returned the embrace, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her. She was so tiny compared to him that he worried sometimes about accidentally causing her injury.
And now he had a little girl to love and protect.
Chapter Fifteen
Instead of going to lunch, Chloe had a meal delivered to the bakery from the pizza place down the block. They sat in her office, eating at her desk. She worked on her pasta salad in silence. Her body continued to tremble from the unexpected meeting between Mia and Nik. She chewed thoughtfully and waited for him to start asking questions. He’d warned her that he wanted to know everything about their little girl. Everything.
