Page 88 of For Your Consideration

“My head hurts and work is going to suck but I had a fun night.” Her soft smile made my chest hurt.

I loved that she was letting people in, that she had gone out and had fun.

Even if I was pissed it was without me.

“You didn’t have to get up with Sophie.” She smiled down at her daughter, which made Sophie scream in excitement. This girl loved her mum.

“I changed her but I didn’t know how to feed her. Can you show me?” I asked, ignoring her comment. Because my waking up with Sophie meant she got an extra hour of sleep and it was easy enough for me.

“You want to know how to feed her?” she asked, scrunching her nose. I hated that she always sounded shocked and confused that someone wanted to help her.

“Coffee is ready. Want some?” I asked as I moved out of the room, resisting the urge to lean down and kiss her.

I got to the kitchen and grabbed the coffee pot as Sutton came out of her room with Sophie on her hip and it felt like my heart stopped.

Her messy hair was in a knot on the top of her head, the big T-shirt she was wearing hit her mid-thigh, and her cheek was red from where she’d slept against me all night.

“Where is the shirt from?” I asked gruffly as I started pouring our coffees. She moved into the kitchen and went into the freezer, grabbing a bag of milk for Sophie. There was a lot in there.

“I’d normally breastfeed in the morning but since I drank last night I’m going to pump and dump it, so you can see how I do it with the frozen stuff.”

“And the shirt?” I grumbled at her again.

“Why?” She passed Sophie over to me with a little smile on her face.

“Is it an ex’s?”

“Yes,” she answered, not looking at me. I grunted and made a mental note to bring her a shirt of mine to sleep in the next time I saw her. “Once the bag is warm, you can pour it into the bottle.” I watched her as she prepared the bottle and committed the steps to memory. I asked a few questions to make sure I could repeat the process.

She settled down on a stool and fed Sophie while I passed her the coffee. I was constantly impressed when I got glimpses into her life. I had no idea how she had managed all on her own and yet she just did it like it was second nature. I guess at this point it was.

I looked down at my phone and groaned a little because I had to leave if I was going to get home and change before work.

“You have to go.”

I scowled. “I don’t want to but I need to go shower.” I had a meeting at nine.

“Thank you for staying last night.”

“Hang out with me tonight,” I demanded.

“Okay.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then I registered what she’d said. “Okay?”

She laughed at me, which had Sophie letting out a delighted shriek. “Were you expecting another answer?”

“I was expecting to have to ask a few more times.” I came around the kitchen to her.

“Was that your version of asking?”

“Dinner at my place work for you and Sophie?” I ignored her sass but I loved the light dancing in her eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll grab her after work and then we can come over.”

“You’re much more agreeable hungover,” I muttered as she looked up at me. For a moment I thought she was bothered by my comment but then she let out a laugh.

“Look at you making jokes,” she said, shoving my arm.