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“Hey, sweetheart,” he said. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m the one who needs to ask that question,” Ciara said, sounding tense. “I have been calling Blake’s phone for the last hour at least and she isn’t answering. That is not like her, Daddy. What if she is in trouble somewhere? Do you know where she went this weekend?”
He looked over at the beauty in his bed who was now blinking her big doe eyes open. No, it was not Blake who was in trouble—it was him. Some very sweet trouble. And he just hoped it would not lead to a catastrophe.
“Was it only this morning that you called her?” he asked. Best to check out the details before making anything up.
“Yes, but she is not answering.”
“Don’t worry, Ciara. Turns out Blake did not go away this weekend, but she did say she was going for a long run on the beach this morning, and I’ll bet she forgot to take her phone with her.”
“But she always takes her phone everywhere. You better get her one of those location devices like you have for me.”
“I’m not sure she would want one,” Morgan said, both touched and concerned by his daughter’s reaction to Blake’s absence. “Let me go check on this.”
He walked into the hall, waited about a minute, and then said, “Okay, her phone is on the kitchen counter. She must have run out the door without thinking and forgot it. I’ll tell her to call you. Is it anything I can help you with?”
“Nope. Please just ask her to call me.”
Hmm. He’d never had his daughter prefer to talk with someone other than him, but he knew as she got older he would have to loosen the reins, especially later on when she would need a woman to talk to…about boyfriends. Urgh. His baby girl. Would he be able to handle it without going ballistic? “Are you having a good time with your cousins?”
“Yep.”
He was about to sneak in a question about what they were doing, but Ciara cut him off, saying, “Got to run, Dad. Bye.”
Nothing like being dismissed. There was a time when she wanted to report every detail of everything she did to her daddy blow by blow.
He shook his head and went back to the bedroom.
“Was that Ciara?” Blake asked. She looked delectable, sitting up in bed, the sheets down around her waist, her naked torso and long slender arms making him remember how much he enjoyed the silky smooth feel of her skin.
“She was calling you this morning and you did not answer, so she got all worried.”
Blake grimaced. “Oh no. What did you tell her?”
“That you went out for a run and forgot your phone.”
“Clever.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll go call her now. Do you know what it was about?”
“She avoided telling me. You are rendering me obsolete with my own daughter.”
“Never.” Blake stepped close to him and slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders as he bent his head to kiss her.
“Good morning,” he murmured against her lips. “Coffee and eggs?”
“Sounds good, but I need a shower first.”
“Have you seen my master bath?” Morgan took her hand and led her to his bathroom and opened a glass door to a roomy tiled walk-in shower. “It will fit two nicely.” He pointed to the four showerheads on opposite tiled walls.
“Sold. I’ll run across the hall and call Ciara and get some fresh clothes. But I should feed Gracie and Misty. They need their breakfast first.”
“I’ll go downstairs and feed them while you call Ciara.”
“Deal,” she said and headed toward her room.
Morgan had to stop himself from standing outside her closed door and listening to the phone conversation. He’d been trusting Blake to handle Ciara every day for two months now, so whatever this new problem of his daughter’s was, he did not need to go overboard on his protective tendencies. He jogged downstairs and the two cats followed him into the kitchen demanding to be served. And, yeah, he found himself talking to them the way Blake and Ciara did. He’d never had a cat for a pet before, but Blake was bringing so many changes to his life.
And the thought of the two of them naked together in his shower had him racing back upstairs. Of course, even though he’d told himself not to, he immediately asked her, “What was Ciara calling you about?”
