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I’m about to stand, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to slip away, when Skye shakes her head. “If she’s fallen asleep then let her be. If she misses dinner, we’ll send you back with a plate for her.”
I force a smile. “Perfect.”
“So, Connor.” Skye smiles sweetly. “Tell me what’s new in your world?”
“Honestly, not much since I saw you last,” I say. I run my fingers through my hair, wondering what to share. I could mention the various contracts my team has secured and the new clients we’ve signed, amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds. But what I find interesting, others might find rather tedious. Besides, it’s not polite to talk business at the table. “I recently received a promotion,” I offer, deciding to stick with the basics. “I’m a senior account manager now. And—” I laugh. My voice cuts off as I wonder if this next part is a bit too TMI.
“Yes?” Skye asks. “What else?”
“Well, I got a tattoo.” There. That should liven up the dinner conversation.
Skye raises an eyebrow. “A tattoo? Seriously? Show us. I can’t wait to see it.”
I glance around the table. “Perhaps not in mixed company.”
Skye’s eyes widen. “Meaning?”
Will guffaws. “He got his arse inked.”
As Skye laughs, Penny wags her finger at her father. “Daddy said a bad word!”
I groan. “Now I wish I hadn’t said anything.”
Skye leans forward in rapt attention. “Whatever possessed you to get a tattoo where the sun doesn’t shine?”
“What does that mean?” Penny asks.
“It means he got a tattoo on his bum, sweetheart,” Will answers.
Penny’s eyes widen. “Oh.”
Skye is trying not to laugh, but she’s failing miserably. “Connor, whatever possessed you to do such a thing?”
I quirk a brow. “Do I need a reason?” The truth is, it’s private, and not something I’m comfortable sharing.
Skye’s laughter wakes the baby, who starts crying. I watch in amusement as she tries to comfort him. Will offers to help, while Penny resumes playing with her doll, completely unfazed. They are the perfect little family, and I am merely an onlooker, an outsider observing the life I want for myself play out in front of me.
I see this as the perfect opportunity to go check on Kennedy. I’m about to slip away when she materializes in the open doorway, looking like a vision in an emerald-green sleeveless dress that hugs her slender curves and ends just above her knees.
I stand, my heart thudding at the sight of her. “Kennedy. You look lovely.”
She gives me the briefest of smiles before she takes the empty seat beside Skye and holds out her hands. “May I?”
“Sure,” Skye says as she passes Nicholas over.
Kennedy rocks the baby in her arms. As she smiles down at him, her black hair spills over her shoulder, and I feel a tug on my heart. I’m utterly captivated by the image of Kennedy with a baby in her arms. It suits her. She seems like a natural.
Eventually Nicholas’s flushed cheeks return to their normal color, and he settles back to sleep.
Kennedy looks up. “I’m sorry I’m late. I was… unpacking. What did I miss?”
Penny readily answers. “Uncle Connor got a tattoo where the sun doesn’t shine.”
Skye sucks in her lips to control her laughter, while Will rolls his eyes, and as for Kennedy, she can’t bring herself to look at me. Physically, we are closer than we’ve been in years, and yet emotionally, it feels like we’re oceans apart.
Maggie enters the dining room pushing a serving cart holding our starters, prawns and cocktail sauce.
Skye rises from her chair. “Here, I’ll take him.” She takes the baby from Kennedy and places him in a Moses basket on a stand beside the table. “There, now you have your hands free to eat.”
