“Okay, Mama.”
Dane sets Lenni down on her feet, and she grabs hold of his hand and drags him into the kitchen amid nonstop chatter.Our gazes tangle in an exchange that sends tingly shivers down my spine.It’s endearing and heartwarming, and I’m not at all sure I’ll survive this if things with Dane change.
It’s the reason I’ve delayed telling Lenni that Dane is her dad.She’d lose all of this if he disappeared and didn’t make time to see her again.But maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much if he’s just her friend Ax.
Taking notice of her stool, Dane pretends to step up.“Oh, is this stool for me?”
Lenni scoffs, giving him a tiny shove on his leg.“Noooo, Ax!This is for me.I’m little.You’re big.”
He scuttles back, his arms flailing wildly in all directions.
Then she demonstrates by climbing up to stand on the step and lifting her arms out wide.“See?NowI’mbig.”
Dane tickles her ribs, and she squirms, expelling belly laughs that ring cheerfully around us.When I see the joy in both of their expressions, I look away, my heart squeezing tightly.I focus my gaze down to the dough and avoid the complexity of emotion that this scene conjures up for me.
“Okay you two.Enough goofing around,” I say sternly, eyeing them both.“We have cookies to bake.”
Dane sidles up between Lenni and me, his shoulder brushing against mine, and surveys the countertop covered in bowls and cookie sheets.
Standing beside me, he tilts sideways and puts his lips to my ear.“It smells so sweet in here.Is that you or the sugar?”
Goose bumps skitter down my arms, and my body vibrates so hard it’s like he’s shaking me like a ragdoll.
Dane’s palms smack the countertop.“Okay, boss ladies.Put me to work.What should I do?”
I lean forward to peer around Dane at my daughter.“Lenni, why don’t you have Dane roll out the dough and you pick out the cookie cutters to use?”
“Okay, Mama,” she agrees obediently.She grabs the Tupperware box filled with a variety of cutters that had belonged to my mom before she passed away.
A pang of grief stabs me squarely in my chest.I remember doing this very same thing with my mom when I was a kid.My brothers were never interested in baking holiday cookies, so the activity belonged solely to me and Mom.Those are the moments I’ve cherished since she died and the same kind I want to pass on to Lennon.
While Lenni searches through the assortment, Dane’s hand moves ever so discreetly behind my back.My spine tingles as his fingertips begin a maddening descent over my ass, landing squarely over my butt.Then he squeezes in what can only be defined as a precursor to what comes later after Lenni is in bed.
I chew my bottom lip and try to keep my heart from racing too wildly.
Checking the clock on the oven, I do the math and calculate the time for the cookies and when Lenni might go down for a nap.And when she does, I consider what might happen to fill that time.
I may end up eating something more than cookies.
The dirty thought gives me a secret thrill, and I covertly drop my own hand, slipping it between Dane and the cabinet, and cup his crotch.
A bear-like growl escapes his mouth, and I grin, drawing my hand back to the counter to accept a unicorn cookie cutter from Lenni, who dutifully doles one to each of us.
“Let’s get baking,” Dane says, tossing his up in the air and catching it in his palm.“I love to eat sweet things.”
Tongue in cheek, he glances at me with a naughty quirk of his brow.
I draw a generous circle around my lips with my tongue.“Me too.”
Dane gives me a saucy look and mouths,It’s on.
35
Dane
Who knew baking cookies with a little girl would turn me into such a mush?Or that both she and her mom would steal my heart so completely?
Making cookies with Halle and Lennon today has made it the best day of my life.Possibly even surpassing the day I got drafted.
