AllFreeNovel
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Ah, hell. “I hate that I did that to you.”
“Forget it. It lasted all of three hours. My point is that I know this is hard for you. You didn’t want Kinny to know. And now she does.”
When she heard her name, his baby reached up and tugged on his jersey. “Come on, Daddy. I’ve been waiting so long.”
“I know you have. You’ve been very patient. And now, we can finally go home and nap.”
Kinsley giggled. “Daddy. I’m too big for naps. You promised to take me shopping.”
“Did I? I thought we had a date to clean out the chicken coop? And weren’t we going to wash my car after?”
“No. Stop joking around. I have to get my dress.”
She’d been so patient. “All right, angel. We’ll go.”
Kinsley looked up to Gracie. “Will you come, too? Please?”
In his arms, he could feel Gracie’s body stiffen.
I did that.
I made her feel unwelcome. He’d drawn a line, a boundary around him and his daughter, keeping Gracie out.
She wriggled out of his hold and took a step back. “I think this is your special time with your daddy. Where are you going?”
“I’m getting a dress for the dance,” Kinsley said. “And I need you to come ‘cause you know what pretty is.”
“I do?” Grace seemed confused. “I’m not sure I have the best sense of fashion. I live in chef’s clothes.”
“You make pretty things, so you can find me a pretty dress.”
With a worried expression, she looked to Jaime as though he might find a way out of the situation. But he didn’t want to do that. He wanted Gracie with them.
Hang on. Was that selfish of him? He’d done a good job keeping his two worlds separate, but now that he’d kissed her in public… He had to think ahead to the consequences. After Grace left, after his daughter got attached—
“It’s okay.” Gracie pressed her hand on his arm. “I have work to do.” She looked down at Kinny. “Sorry, sweetie.”
No. He wasn’t going to shut her out anymore. “I want you to come with us.”
“You do?” she asked.
“Absolutely. She likes your style.”That’s not why you want her to come, asshole.“And we want you with us.”
“Okay, well, I’d love to come.”
“Really? You can?” Kinny clapped and bounced with excitement.
“Sure. What kind of dress are you looking for?”
“A princess one.” She reached for Gracie’s hand. “And after we find one, Daddy will get us ice cream cones.”
“I love ice cream. It’s one of the few desserts I can eat without analyzing it.”
“Let’s go, let’s go.” Kinny grabbed his hand, too.
“Give me two minutes to take off my skates and get dressed.”
“Oh, Daddy. You’re killing me here.”
