AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m wokenup the following morning by hot breath fanning my face.
The problem with that is it’s not Cade’s breath.
Bright green eyes stare back at me, framed by a cherubic expression. Brynlee’s strawberry-blonde hair is tangled around her face. Her pink teddy is clasped in her hands. “I had a bad dream,” she whispers.
Oh, shit. I look over my shoulder, but Cade’s side of the bed is empty.
What am I supposed to do now?
I don’t have to worry long because she tugs on the black and grey comforter I’m currently under. “Daddy lets me sleep with him when I have a nightmare.” When she starts climbing into bed, I scooch over to give her some room.
Apparently, she doesn’t want it.
The tiny blonde curls herself up next to me like a cat, pulls the blanket up around us, and starts twirling my hair around her tiny fingers.
Okay, what the hell am I supposed to do?
“Why are you in Daddy’s bed?”
Oh fuck.
Cade, where the hell are you?
“Umm...” Get it together, Scarlet. “Well, I fell asleep here last night, and your Daddy didn’t want me to drive home sleepy, so he let me sleep here.”
Christ. How many times can I emphasize the word sleep to the tiny terrorist who can probably give the best interrogators the marines have a run for their money.
Does this answer satisfy the three-year-old?
No. No, it doesn’t.
“When Grammy and Poppy sleep over, they sleep in the other room.”
Oh. My. God. Where is Cade?
I have no idea what an acceptable answer is right now. But I don’t get to worry about that for long. She yawns wide and long, then places her head in the crook of my shoulder and closes her eyes, leaving me to wonder if what I just felt was my heart cracking wide open for this kid.
Maybe she’s not a terrorist.
Maybe she’s astute for her age. She’s obviously already mastered getting precisely what she wants. Apparently, right now, that’s me. I’m kind of impressed with her skills.
Soft snores tickle my cheek, and I settle in a bit more.
My head turns slightly toward the creak of a door opening. I’m guessing it’s the bathroom door as Cade steps through. Black cotton pajama bottoms hang off his lean hips, and every single ab he has is on full display.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Holy shit, Lenny was right. He’s got eight abs.
A cocky expression gleams across his chiseled face until he comes closer and sees who’s joined me in bed. Then, the overly confident smirk slides right off his gorgeous face and is replaced by something much more tangible, an expression I’m not willing to deal with this early in the morning.
He walks over to this side of the bed and stares down at us with a longing on his face I haven’t seen there before. “I can take her back to her own bed.” He reaches out for her, but I stop him.
“No. Don’t. She just got back to sleep.” I’d hate to wake her, and I don’t really want to. “What time is it?”
“It’s five. I was just going to wake you up.”
I can’t believe I’m going to say this. “I can go in later. What time do you have to get up?”
