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“You sound like my papaw. He talks all funny like that.”
I bop her on the nose. “Your papaw is a very wise man.”
“He’s old.” She laughs.
“Blake!” I whisper-shout. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”
She falls back on the counter. Luckily, the island is large enough that she’s now lying back, her little body shaking with laughter.
“You’re silly,” I tell her, smiling.
Blakely cackles even harder, and I move to stand next to her to make sure she doesn’t laugh herself off the island onto the kitchen floor.
“This is something to come home to.”
I freeze and look up to find Declan standing, arms crossed, shoulder leaning against the wall.
“This one—” I point at Blakely— “has a case of the giggles.”
“Daddy, Kenny worked me so hard.”
“Did she?”
“Her cookies are harder to make than yours.”
“These are from scratch,” I remind her.
“Daddy, did you know you can scratch cookies?”
Declan chuckles. Stepping away from the wall, he makes his way toward us. He scoops Blakely up into his arms and rains kisses all over her face, making her laugh even harder.
“Daddy, I gots to pee,” she cries. “S-S-Stop.” She laughs. He places her on her feet, and she takes off, racing for the bathroom down the hall.
He steps around the counter and pulls me into his arms, kissing me softly. “I like coming home to both of you.”
No matter how many times I’ve told myself not to, I'm falling for him. I’m setting myself up for heartbreak when I go back to Florida, but I can’t seem to stop myself from letting it happen.
“How was your day?”
“Good, this beautiful woman came to visit me, and then I thought about her and her goodbye kiss all afternoon. So much so that I busted my ass to get out of there on time for once.”
“She thought about you too. And there are more kisses available whenever you want them.” I wink. “Dinner will be ready in about five more minutes.”
“I’ll grab a quick shower.” He kisses me again. I look over his shoulder for Blakely, not wanting her to catch us. “Hey.” He guides my chin until he has my full attention. “I’m not hiding this from her. She’s smart. I want this with you, and she’s already invested.”
“I know you don’t let women meet her.”
“What women, Kennedy? I’ve been on a handful of dates that consisted of dinner. A few we had drinks after, and then I dropped them off. You’re not just any woman to me. You understand that, right?”
“It’s so soon.”
He shrugs. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking and getting to know each other. I don’t want to stop that, and I’m not hiding you. My brother did that with Palmer and almost lost her. I won’t make that mistake.”
“I’m going back to Florida.”
“We’ll work it out.” He kisses me and strides off down the hall.
I don’t know what he means by that, but I don’t have time to dwell on it. Blakely comes racing back into the room, and the timer on the oven dings, letting me know that dinner is ready. I pull out the chicken pot pie and slide in the first tray of cookies.
Ten minutes later, we’re sitting around the table having dinner while the first batch of cookies is cooling.
“This is family dinner,” Blakely tells us. “And chicken pie is good, Kenny.”
“Of course it is. You made it,” I tell her. I take a drink of my water, and it goes down wrong, making me cough.
“Daddy, do we have any cock drops?” she asks, only making me cough harder.
Declan bites his cheek to keep from laughing. “Cough drops,” he corrects her.
“That’s what I said. Cock drops.”
“I’m okay,” I tell her. “I just swallowed wrong.” I find Declan’s eyes across the table, and instead of the laughter from a few seconds ago, it’s now heat in his eyes. My body flushes when I think about his cock. How can I not? I’m going to hell using the innocence of a child to fuel my dirty thoughts about her dad. At least he seems to be doing the same.
After dinner, I make the rest of the cookies while Declan cleans the kitchen and Blakely plays with her dolls in the living room. Declan finds every excuse to touch me and kiss me while we share the space in the kitchen. Once we’re finished, the three of us cuddle together on the couch and watch a movie. It’s the perfect night. It's very domestic and one of the greatest nights of my life.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Declan
Kennedy and I made plans to go to dinner tonight. Jade and Orrin were going to keep Blakely, but she woke up not feeling well, and I can’t leave her. I won’t leave her. Not when she needs and wants me. She’s running a low-grade fever and just wants to cuddle. We’re sitting on the couch, watching one of her princess movies. She’s sipping on a cup of Pedialyte.
