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“I always got something on my mind. Just the nature of being such a genius.”
Olivia rolls her eyes, giving me a light smack on the chest. “You don’t fool me, Reese Dalton. I’ve known you long enough to know when that little brow of yours is furrowed in thought and when it’s furrowed in worry. And right now, it’s giving worry.”
Damn woman. She can see right through me. I love it and hate it.
“I just wanna know who the fuck this was, so I can wring their little necks,” I admit with a sigh.
“Mmm. About that…” She trails off, her lips pursed in thought. “I think it’s Holly.”
Immediately, I stiffen. “Why would you think that?”
“Who else would want to freak me out like this? She shows up so suddenly, saying that she’s Violet’s mother, that you and her are married. Now, I have people following me and sending me weird pictures. It can’t be a coincidence, can it?”
On one hand, I’m glad that she’s come to this conclusion on her own, rather than Holly having said something to her. On the other, it just opens up a whole new door for Olivia to realize I’ve been keeping things from her.
I need to nip this Holly shit in the bud, quick. And now that I know that Olivia is pregnant, there is all the more reason for me to follow through with Elliot’s plan. It’ll piss Olivia off, but in the long run, I know it’s what’s best for her—and for us.
Us. Not just me and Olivia, but also the little one that’s inside her now.
I pull Olivia close to me. A fierce protectiveness blasts through me immediately. This is my woman and I want to protect her. I want to keep all the bad things away from her. If I could, I’d get my hands on Holly and put her somewhere no one could find her.
But I have to think like a dad—now more than ever.
I have to think like someone with a lot to lose if I end up doing something stupid.
“Hey… how about we close up for the night?” I suggest. “I can get you in a bath, order something greasy?—”
“We’re gonna turn into something greasy if we keep ordering junk food every time something goes wrong,” she says with a weak laugh.
“I see nothing wrong with that. Come on, what do you want? Pizza? Wings? Pasta? I’d say pad thai, but that’s currently smeared all over the front steps where I dropped it.”
Olivia ponders the question, getting a cute look on her face. She smiles shyly. “All of the above?”
“All of the above?”
“Well, I am eating for two now…” She gets this innocent little look on her face, like she’s totally not aware of what she’s doing.
Dammit. How can I tell her no?
“Alright. All of the above for my girl and our little one.”
I damn sure love the sound of that.
30
REESE
I wake up with Olivia in my arms. It feels right. Her soft body pressed to mine, her silken hair wafting the scent of her shampoo in my nose. I soak it up for as long as I can. I want to memorize this. Her warmth. Her heartbeat.
Then I slip out of bed.
I have work to do.
Before going to bed last night, I called Grams. I asked her at the last minute if she could pick up Violet and take her for a week or so. I haven’t told her exactly what’s going on, just that I needed her to look after Violet, and Olivia and I would be occupied for a while with “things.”
She said yes, of course, and didn’t ask any follow-up questions, because she’s both a Dalton and a badass. She’ll be arriving soon, so I get together a bag with everything she’ll need for Violet. Bottles, binkies, her onesies, her favorite stuffed animals. Vi watches me from her crib as I move quietly through her room.
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” I whisper. “Daddy’s gotta do what Daddy’s gotta do.”
