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“You are wet and soapy, kiddo. We don’t want these to fall in, do we?”
She scrunched up her nose and lips. “No. I guess not.” She shrugged and took the wand. She blew too hard and only got three bubbles. “Hey.”
I took it back and dunked. “Easy. Soft. Yes, just like that.”
When the stream of bubbles floated up, she clapped. Five minutes later, there were many squeaky clean fish guarding her tub and a pruny almost four-year-old standing with a purple towel on her head and fluffy pink Care Bears towel wrapped around her.
Before she could find another reason to extend her bath time, I swooped her out and deposited her on the bath mat. I wrapped another towel around her and started a rubdown. By the time she was mostly dry, she was still giggling and I was laughing with her.
I hadn’t even known this was exactly what I needed to even me out.
“Okay, Daddy, we’re ready.”
He opened the door so fast, I knew he’d stood out there the entire time. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Didn’t he trust me?
Then I looked down at the crazy monkey in my arms and her adoring eyes only for him. There was no way I could get upset about that. Laurie reached for him and suddenly I was forty pounds lighter.
He looked down at me, his eyes flashing for a moment as he dropped his gaze over my wet shirt. I pulled it away from my traitorous nipples and turned away from him to pick up the bubbles and empty bottle of soap.
He cleared his throat before burying his face in Laurie’s neck. She giggled and squirmed, causing the towel on her hair to fall to the floor. “I’m just going to get her dressed.”
“Yeah, good idea. I’ll just clean up.”
“Don’t worry about that. You’ve done more than enough.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, really. The nanny will take care of it.”
“Right.” Of course he had a nanny for her. I’d talked to her a million times. I didn’t know her duties included cleaning a bathroom, but he was right this wasn’t my house or my life.
He just wanted me to create a human, not take care of one. Even if he did call on me to help.
Would he do the same with my—our—his… God. How would I even classify him or her? Mine?
Ours.
I fisted my hands into my hair and tugged out my messy bun. “Fuck.”
In the hallway, I could hear giggling and Seth’s baritone voice. The love obvious between them. His heart was so huge for that little girl. It might be a little more reserved for others. He used charm to deflect emotions for other people in his life.
I’d seen it firsthand. The way my customers reacted to him. That half-grin and easy way with conversation left everyone at ease. And half the town’s female population would jump at the chance to do what he’d asked me to do.
But they would want more.
Every woman wanted more in his eyes. Mostly because of the lenses that Marjorie had left behind when she’d walked away from Laurie. He just assumed most women wanted something from him. And part of me understood that.
He could grant me opportunities that I’d have to work my ass to achieve. But then
again, they would be my achievements. No one else’s.
Part of me wanted to just up and leave this town and start over. Even if that meant I would be in debt up to my eyeballs for the next thirty years. It would be my debt, and my life, and a fresh start.
I lifted the towel that had fallen off of Laurie’s head and hung it on the pink unicorn hook on the wall. And because I couldn’t stand to leave the mess in the bathroom, I listened to Seth tell his daughter a bedtime story as I tidied up.
When the rumble of his voice faded and I heard his footfalls, I shut off the light and met him in the hall.
He frowned at me. “I told you—”
