“Let’s go inside and talk. I’ll tell you all about it,” Roman suggested.
Picking up Muffin, she allowed him to guide her into the house. She took a seat on the couch, turning sidewise so she could see him when he joined her. Roman sat close. He leaned in to cup her face and kiss her gently.
“Hi, Little girl. I missed you today.”
“I missed you, too. Tell me what happened.”
“Straight to the juicy news, huh?” he asked and cuddled Muffin who stumbled across Coco’s lap to say hello to Roman.
“Please?” she wheedled.
“Of course. It wasn’t fun. I’m glad you weren’t there. The defense tried to twist my words at all turns. Thankfully, I’d practiced staying on message.”
“They bullied you! That’s not right.” Coco sent mean thoughts to the unpleasant lawyer.
“She did her job. I sent her originally to visit him in jail. Even though we know each other, if she could make me into the villain that would help her client,” Roman explained.
“She could have been nice about it.”
“She could have. Actually, that might have worked better to distract me,” Roman said with a laugh. “Anyway, it went fine. I testified to all the bad things Frank had done and the challenges that preceded the incident. None of it really matters.”
“Why’s that Daddy?”
“He’s missing the love of his life and his livelihood. He didn’t look like he had anything to look forward to. It made me think about how lucky I am to come home to you,” Roman told her.
A thought popped into her mind. Coco narrowed her gaze and asked, “You’re going to make me go back to see Dr. Richards again, aren’t you? To make sure I’m healthy.”
“I was going to do that already, sweetheart. You’ll have regular visits to make sure you feel well.”
Coco rolled her eyes. A little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that she did feel better. She also liked Dr. Richards. Not just because he was such a good Daddy to Zoey, but because he was the first doctor she’d met in a long time that actually seemed to care about her.
“Now. There’s something I need to make up for my long day,” he told her.
“What’s that? S’mores for dinner? That would cheer me up.”
“Something even better.”
“Daddy? There’s something better than s’mores?” Coco had a hard time believing that.
“Go tuck Muffin in her safe house.”
Puzzled, Coco let him boost her up to her feet. She corralled Muffin who definitely didn’t want to go nap now that Roman was home to play with her. When the puppy protested with whimpers, she shared, “I don’t know, Muffin. Daddy usually has good ideas. I’ll come rescue you as fast as I can. Take a nap.”
A whisper of movement sounded behind Coco, capturing her attention. She looked over her shoulder to see Roman toss his shirt away. Her gaze traced his chiseled body. She’d never tire of that view.
When he unfastened his belt and pulled the leather strip through the loops of his dress pants, Coco shivered without knowing why she’d reacted that way. That whoosh sound registered on her as he put his hands on his hips.
“Little girl, would you like to explain why your car traveled to the opposite side of town today, but supposedly you were at work?”
“I know you said no more pet outfits, but someone advertised a bunch of dog clothes they were just giving away—including a quilted coat.”
“So instead of telling me, which would get you in trouble for adding to the already three boxes you’ve ordered, you decided to drive by yourself to the rough part of town and sneak them in?”
“I didn’t sneak them in,” she protested.
His forehead wrinkled with concern. “Why?”
“When I got there, a police officer had the guy handcuffed in the squad car,” she said, without thinking what she revealed.
