The smile tugged at my lips. I was surprised by how much I was too.
It felt like forever since I’d had something to look forward to. Days dragged on. I got slammed at work and came home each night ready to collapse. Isla seemed more irritable than normal and by the time the weekend arrived, we were both ready for some quiet time.
It was another wild night in the Steele household. Isla’s head was in my lap, and she was shoveling handfuls of buttery popcorn in her mouth while we watched The Little Mermaid for the millionth time.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Mmmhmm,” she replied sleepily as I ran my hands through her soft, silky hair.
“What do you think about going to the zoo tomorrow?” I asked nervously. I had no idea why I was so freaked out about asking my six-year-old daughter if she wanted to go to the zoo.
She sat up so quickly the bowl of popcorn went flying. “Really, Dad?”
“Really,” I confirmed.
“And we can go and see the hippopotamus?”
“Of course.”
“Yay!”
I froze. It was my moment. I could’ve told her about Charlotte coming with us, but instead, I kept that to myself for now.
“Now, let’s get this mess cleaned up and get to bed. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
I’d never seen her so eager to help. I didn’t even have to argue with her about brushing her teeth.
I could’ve done without the five am wakeup call by an overly enthusiastic daughter jumping on my bed, squealing excitedly and putting her request in for chocolate chip pancakes though.
From the moment she’d woken me up to the time she was rushing me out the door just after nine dragged. Isla hadn’t sat still for more than five minutes, and she was making me dizzy.
“Have you got your shoes on?” I asked, trying to focus on getting her out the door.
When Isla rolled her eyes at me, I started coughing. I could barely believe it. This kid was killing me. Six years old and rolling her eyes. God help me when she hit her teenage years.
“Yes, Dad.” She huffed, lifting her foot and showing me her favorite pink sparkly sneakers.
I grabbed the backpack I’d packed last night when I’d been too nervous to sleep and slung it over my shoulder. After sending a quick text to Charlotte that I was on my way, I took Isla’s hand and headed down to the car.
Fuck I hope this was the right thing to do.
15
CHARLOTTE
I hadno idea where Luke was taking me and truthfully, I didn’t care.
He could’ve taken me to a funeral, and I would’ve been fine with it. A little underdressed maybe, but I’d make do.
Our night together the other night hadn’t gone as planned and as much as I wanted to be cranky at Hannah and her cock-blocking daughter, I just couldn’t. I’d been dying to get my hands on Luke, but the moment I answered Hannah’s call, I knew where I needed to be. And to my surprise, a very, very happy surprise, Luke had stayed with me.
Maybe it was for the best that we hadn’t had a chance to get down and dirty. We were getting to know each other, becoming friends before we added sex to the mix. I mean, it was no secret we had chemistry. Hell, we’d nearly given that poor cabbie a very interesting show on the way back to my place, so I knew it was only a matter of time before the fuse we’d already lit turned into a wildfire.
After checking my pockets, I grabbed my coat and headed downstairs to meet him. I’d been surprised when he’d asked me out on a Sunday, but I wasn’t about to turn him down. Through the week when we’d been swapping messages, I’d tried to get out of him where we were going, but the stubborn shit wouldn’t budge. All he told me was to dress comfortably and make sure I had good walking shoes.
So here I was.
Standing on the pavement in a pair of jeans, sneakers, a tight white t-shirt that didn’t quite meet the top of my pants and showed off just a sliver of skin, and a black coat. I’d pulled my hair back in a ponytail and kept my makeup light. The last thing I wanted to do was use my very sturdy and comfortable walking shoes to work up a sweat and have my makeup melt from my face.
