Ellis frowned and looked down at her bear. “No.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “Miss Cranson says Penelope is just acting out. I don’t know what that means, but she said to come to her when she does it.”
“And do you?”
Ellis shrugged. “Sometimes. Sometimes I want to push her back.”
“I can teach you how to throw a punch.”
She blinked at me. “Like how Daddy Evan does? He has a room where he punches things with other daddies.”
“Yes,” I said tightly, not liking this guy punching things in front of her.
She nodded. “That might be fun!”
I chuckled at her reaction. She had fire. I liked that.
“I’ll show you. Come on.”
She hopped up in her pink pony pajamas and got off the bed.
“OK. The first thing you need to remember is to protect your face. Make a fist.”
She did so.
“That’s a good-looking fist. OK. Do this.” I showed her how to hold her hands and moved them for her so she was protecting her face.
I grabbed a pillow and held it in front of me.
“Punch this pillow. I want to see how hard you can hit.”
She swung on me. I braced for her tiny attack and was surprised at how hard she could punch.
“Hey, that’s pretty good,” I said.
She danced around, her curls bouncing. I chuckled at that.
“OK. Next lesson. Put your feet like this…”
And that was it. I had a princess, a ballerina, and a boxer.
She really was perfect.
42
ROSALIE
Isat on the edge of Enzo’s bed and looked around. Clean. Everything in order. Not much had changed in that respect.
I watched as he went to his closet, pulled out a suit, and took off his t-shirt.
Jesus.
He’d gotten a tattoo that covered nearly the entire side of his body. I’d noticed his neck tattoo before, and I guess it snaked down his body. He was even more muscular than I remembered him being.
He was a living, breathing god.
