Page 92 of Pink

“Hey, baby,” Lev greeted, stepping forward and kneeling down to catch his daughter that darted away from the crowd of kids. Her little backpack jumped with every step she took, and her sneakers lit up with pink and white lights along the soles. The high ponytail she asked for that morning swung back and forth, wild black ringlet curls bouncing every which way. Once she was close enough, his girl jumped and landed right into his waiting arms. He hugged her close, feeling her little arms tighten around his neck as her legs hooked around his chest. “How was your day, huh?”

“Good. I got a picture I made.”

“I have a picture,” he corrected.

Arely rolled her eyes, already sick of the new thing he was trying to do to correct the way she sometimes spoke. “Same thing.”

“But one is saying it right and one is—”

“I made a picture, Daddy.”

Well …

She didn’t say it the first way.

Or his way.

But she wasn’t wrong, either.

“Can’t wait to see it,” he told her, pressing quick kisses across her grinning, pinked cheek. The tighter she hugged him, the better he felt. It wasn’t like he had ever told anyone before, but he missed his kid every second that he wasn’t with her. “Love you, kiddo. Missed you.”

Arely grinned wide. “Love you, too.”

“So, hey …”

Trailing off, Lev dragged in a deep breath as he started to turn on the walkway to face the woman who had been waiting patiently and quietly to meet the little girl he held. Arely wasn’t looking for Gigi to be standing there when they turned around, but he was. Something twisted hard in his chest when he found Gigi shifting from foot to foot and chewing on her lower lip while she fidgeted with her manicure.

Like she was nervous.

She shouldn’t be.

“Somebody wanted to meet you—say hi and stuff,” Lev told Arely who was now trying to pull her backpack off while he balanced her in his arms. God, he sounded like a fucking idiot. “She’s a friend. I thought she could have supper with us tonight, maybe?”

“Huh?” Arely peered up from her bag, and her gaze landed right on Gigi who had pulled off her sunglasses and smiled hesitantly.

“Hi, Arely. I’m Gigi. Your dad told me so much about you. I wanted to say hello.”

From his arms, his daughter quieted. He thought maybe Arely would look to him, like she usually did, for direction but she didn’t. Her stare continued to linger on the woman just two feet away before Arely prattled out, “I like your hat.”

Gigi’s smile bloomed in the best way. “Yeah?”

“Like that show, Daddy. Miss Poppy—you know?”

Lev nodded. “Yeah, same kind of hat.”

He shot Gigi a wink.

She relaxed a bit.

Setting his girl to the walkway, Lev kept a tight hold on Arely’s tiny hand. She stared up at Gigi, her brow knotting like maybe she recognized the face looking back at her. But again, she simply rattled out something random.

As sweet as it was.

“You’re very pretty,” Arely whispered.

Gigi let out a breathless, soft laugh and dropped down to be at eye level with Arely. Reaching out a hand, she brushed one of Arely’s curls back over her shoulder. “And so are you—I wish I had curls like yours.”

“They always tangle.”