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He cupped her face between his hands and forced her to look him in the eye. “Listen to me, my love. When I saw you in my casino drunk and gambling, I knew deep down I could never let you walk out of my life again.”
“Are you saying you would be here in Brookhaven turning my life upside down even if we didn’t have a daughter?”
He nodded. “That is exactly what I’m saying.”
Happiness shone in her eyes.
“Let’s go talk to Mia,” he added.
He held his hand out, and Chloe took it. Her fingers slid between his, feeling natural. They interlocked perfectly. The two of them were meant to be, and he wished she would figure that out sooner rather than later. They had enough external problems to deal with without him having to convince her not to give up on them.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Two weeks after returning from Vegas, Chloe was playing in Nik’s kitchen. She experimented with different flavor combinations for her special cream puffs, while Nik sat with Mia at the table. He was trying to get their child to finish eating her lunch; Mia had other ideas.
Her sandwich was cut in triangles with the crust removed, but she still wasn’t interested. Nik picked up a triangle. He flew it through the air like an airplane. When it neared her mouth, Mia turned her head.
“Take a bite,” he said. “Come on. Do it for Daddy.”
“Meow,” Mia replied.
“Don’t you feel like eating, sweetie?” he asked.
“Meow.”
He looked at Chloe with an exasperated “what do I do” expression.
Chloe laughed. “I told you she pretends to be a cat sometimes, and she is extremely dedicated to staying in character.”
As if to prove her point, Mia pretended to scratch her face with her ‘paw.’
Nik gave her a sympathetic smile. “What’s wrong, baby? Do you have fleas?”
She nodded and scratched with more enthusiasm. “Meow.”
“Here,” he said. “Let me put a flea collar on you.”
He reached across the table and pretended to put something around her neck. “There you go. All better?”
She smiled sweetly for a moment.
Then she began to scratch again.
“Not working?” he asked, holding back laughter. “Let’s try some flea spray.”
He pretended to spray her in the face while making a funny sound.
Mia broke into a fit of giggles and began to eat her food.
“Wow.” Chloe said. You’ve got the magic touch.”
She continued to bake while her two favorite people played at the table. Her cell phone rang, and she groaned. Her hands were covered with flour. She grabbed it without glancing at the number. An unfamiliar voice asked if it was her. “That’s right,” she said. “You’ve reached Chloe Ranier.”
“Andropolis,” Nik corrected her in the background. “You’re Chloe Andropolis now.”
She waved a hand at him, shooing away his protest like an invisible fly.
The voice on the other end asked, “When should we be expecting our first shipment?”
