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“Good night, sweetheart. I hope you’re having fun tonight. Be good for your auntie.”
Evie prompts her from the background to say I love you. She’s such a good aunt.
“Love you,” Ophelia sing-songs, and my heart soars.
“I love you and miss you so much.”
One of the women in the room mutters something about leaving, drowning out the sound of my daughter’s voice.
“What was that, sweetie?” I try not to scowl as I cover my other ear with my hand to hear better.
“I say night to Daddy too?”
“You want to say good night to Daddy?”
“Yes,” she says too emphatically for a toddler.
“I’ll bring him the phone so you can say good night to Daddy.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, so many things happen at once.
Someone in the room gasps, followed by a shout of “Bailey!” Three people move toward me. The brunette with the curly hair reaches me, and without warning, her palm connects with my face in a stinging slap. Heat rushes to the cheek I’m certain already glows red.
My phone slips from my hand and skitters across the bathroom floor. I lose track of its location when I right my head. Before I can get a word out to tell this psycho to get the hell away from me, the door to the restroom bursts wide open. Dane’s broad shoulders and heaving chest fill the width of the entry. His eyes find mine in a nanosecond, and he stalks directly to me.
His hand cups mine where I hold my sore cheek, and his concerned gaze roams my face. “Did she hit you?”
I nod through the sting of embarrassment. “I need to get my phone. Ophelia might be scared.”
The look in his eyes transforms into one of fury. “Get to her.” The gentle way he runs his fingers over the back of my hand is at odds with his incensed expression.
“You.” He releases me to address the woman who hit me. His hand latches around her bicep, and he tows her to the door without sparing her a glance. “Get the fuck out of my bar, Bailey.”
“Wait.” She pumps her heels into the concrete floor. “Can we please talk?” Her entourage follows without a word of apology to me.
I move down the row of stalls, locating my phone on the floor of the third. The lit screen reveals the lingering connection. I hit the speaker, not wanting to touch the device to my face after it spent time on the bathroom floor, and Ophelia’s singing echoes around the bathroom.
“I’m talking to Daddy-y-y. Talking to Dad-ad-ad-y!” Her words bounce as it sounds like she’s jumping on her bed, and my heart mimics the rhythm.
“Hey, sweetie, Daddy can’t come to the phone right now.”
“How not?”
I could cry at the sudden disappointment in her tone. “He’s—”
“Right here, baby.”
“Daddy! Autie Ebie tells me say good night.”
Dane clears his throat. “Good night, princess.”
“Do you love me?”
I cover my mouth to contain a choked breath. Dane’s eyes shine in the dim bathroom light when his gaze meets mine.
“Yeah, baby. I love you.”
I could almost delude myself into thinking he’s talking about more than just Ophelia.
“Wike Momma loves me?”
“Yes. I love you like Mommy loves you.” His hoarse voice coaxes a lump to my throat.
My heart swells three sizes at this sudden turn of events. “Time for bed. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Noise shuffles across the line, and then a heavy breath. “You guys enjoy your night. I’ll get her to bed.”
“Thanks, Evie,” Dane answers as I fight to remember how to speak. The screen blackens. I mechanically tuck the device back into my jeans. What the hell just happened?
Dane secures my hand in his firm grip. “Come with me.” He leads me from the ladies' room, giving a short wave to the man with gray hair behind the bar, and pulls me through a door at the end of the hall.
“Wait here.” With a gentle nudge to my shoulder, he encourages me to sit in a dark green, winged chair.
I caress the abrasive fabric while I try to wrap my head around what just happened.
He returns before I locate an answer.
“Here.”
Dane drops to his knees at my feet. One hand braces himself on my knee while the other extends to hold an ice pack on my cheek. The point of contact sets off fireworks in my belly.
“It’s not that bad,” I argue with a wince at the frostiness.
