Ireallyliked the sound of that.I gently rubbed Mia’s back as she came back to life.Finally, she perked her head up, eyes bright.
“I wanna color!”She wriggled out of my arms and scampered to the coloring books we’d left out at the breakfast nook.
“So let’s hear more about these ovaries exploding,” I murmured, sliding behind Clara as she tended the stove.
“Your forearms need a warning label.”
“I told you I’d get rid of them.”I placed small kisses at her temple and up to the top of her head.“I’ve received feedback that they’re far too manly and distracting.”
“Along with the rest of you!”
“Listen, I can’t get rid of the whole package.I needsomethingto tempt you with,” I murmured into her ear with a laugh.She abandoned her post at the pot and turned to me, hooking her arms around my neck.
“Why does this feel so good, Nash?”she blurted, and then seemed to second-guess herself when her eyes went wide.“I didn’t—”
“I ask myself the same thing every day.”My gaze coasted over the pretty contours of her face, settling on the deep swirl of her hazel eyes.“Is it possible that we just…”
I was about to sayare meant for each other, but Clara’s phone started ringing abruptly.A staccato ring I’d never heard before.Her brows furrowed as she reached for the offending phone.
“It’s Preston,” she said, “but he calls so infrequently I forgot I put that ringer with his name.”
“You should pick a different one that sounds more like ‘disappointing dead-beat’,” I suggested helpfully as she swiped the phone to answer.
“Hello?”she said hesitantly.
“Is it Daddy?”Mia asked, craning her neck from the nook.
“Put it on speakerphone,” I said quietly.
Clara nodded, putting it on speaker just as he began talking.
“Clara!Good of you to answer.”His smarmy, smooth-talking, HR voice immediately set me on edge.My fingers curled into fists.“Just wanted to say congratulations on your wedding.”
“Th-thank you.”Clara looked at me.
“Did you consider letting me know beforehand, or even afterward?I mean, you’ve blasted our daughter’s face across the entire internet.Would have been nice to be informed since this involvedmydaughter too.Or did you forget that she’s mine?”
Clara’s mouth parted.My heart was already thumping, and I was ready to reach through the phone and punch this guy in the jaw.Just for starters.
“You were informed the same way everyone else was,” Clara said, her voice thin.“Through social media.”
“So where’s the courtesy of letting Dad know?Huh?”
“Uh…I wasn’t aware you gave a shit,” Clara said with a little laugh.“The last five times I’ve needed you to step up and help with Mia, you’ve been too busy to answer my call.You’ve been the most bare minimum, absentee father since the day she was born.”
Mia was at the edge of the kitchen now, listening intently with her bottom lip stuck out.Fuck.My stomach pitched to the floor and I rushed to distract her.She might not understand exactly what was happening, but she knew that it involved Mommy and Daddy fighting.
“Hey, sweetie.I just had an idea.Can you go grab those blocks we brought?You know the ones in your suitcase?Let’s go find those and play with them.”
Mia nodded and ran down the hallway toward the bedrooms.I kept an eye out for her as I listened in to the conversation in the kitchen.
“You think you’re trading up, huh?”Preston went on.“I know what that new husband of yours does for a living.He’s a grifter.What does he think about the fact you’ve never once allowed me to see Mia on my terms?”
An incredulous squeak escaped Clara.“Allowed you?Preston, I’vebegged youto have a relationship with her—”
“Don’t get any fucking ideas about what this new husband means.He’s not pushing me out.You hear me?I’m her father.”
“Pushing you out?”she sputtered.“Pretty hard to do since you’ve never been there in the first place.There’s nothing to push out you fucking idiot.”
