Isla was sobbing and I knew she was scared.
Hugging her against me, I tried to calm her. When Luke sauntered in, his hair wet with a white towel draped over his shoulders and wearing a pair of low-slung grey sweatpants and a wide smile, it felt like a kick in the stomach when he realized what was going on and fear took hold of him.
“What happened?” he asked, dropping onto the bed beside us.
“Isla’s got a bleeding nose,” I explained as fat tears started to run over her cheeks.
“How?”
Gently, I moved the blood-soaked shirt away from her face, hoping the bleeding had stopped or at least slowed. Blood was everywhere. Matted in her hair. Soaking the top of her pajamas. Streaking down her neck and all over her hands.
“I ... I ... I woke up like it …” Isla cried.
“Hey now. You’re not in trouble, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Luke asked, his eyes laser-focused on his daughter.
“My head hurts.”
“Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and see if we can find something to help your head,” Luke suggested, holding his arms out. Without hesitating, Isla forgot about her bloody nose and climbed into her dad’s arms, hugging him tightly.
Luke was completely unaffected by the blood on his shoulder or the tears splattering on his chest.
Realization hit me like a freight train. I was in love with them both. It was undeniable and completely unexpected. Seeing the compassion and the love Luke had for his daughter was enough to melt my heart. The heart I’d been adamant I was going to lock away for the rest of my life.
Picking her up, Luke stood with Isla in his arms before adjusting his hold on her. Just when I thought he was going to walk out to take care of her, completely forgetting about me, he turned to look at where I was sitting cross-legged with blood on my hands and shirt probably looking like a mess.
“Charlotte? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I promised. The last thing I wanted was Luke worrying about me when he had much more important things to focus on. “Nothing a shower won’t fix.”
“I’m just going to go get Isla cleaned up and then I’ll come take care of this. Do you mind waiting until I get her showered before you use the bathroom? Or did you want to go first?” I could see the strain on Luke’s face. He was trying desperately to do the right thing, he just wasn’t sure what that was. He mightn’t be, but I certainly was.
“Take care of Isla. I can wait.”
“I’ll hurry.”
Carrying her out of the room, I groaned. This hadn’t been the way I’d envisaged waking up when they’d invited me to stay the night. In my dreams, I’d woken up wrapped in Luke’s arms while he peppered me with soft kisses that led to an enthusiastic early morning workout that left us both sweaty and breathless before we shared a shower. It mightn’t have been the sexy morning wake-up call, but in a way it was better. This was real.
Carefully, I climbed out of bed before stripping the sheets off and balling them up, tossing them in a pile in the corner. We’d managed to get blood on everything. It was a good thing Luke liked laundry. Once everything was sorted, I padded out to the kitchen and started the coffee. If I knew Luke like I think I did, he was going to need one as much as I did.
By the time Luke emerged from the bathroom he already looked stressed, and his day had barely begun.
“Here. You look like you could use that,” I said, handing him the steaming mug.
Taking a small sip, Luke’s eyes fell closed and he sighed heavily. “Thanks.”
“How’s she feeling?”
“All right, I guess. Just tired.”
“Well, she didn’t sleep well. Damn kid thinks she’s a ninja.”
“I tried to tell you.” Luke smirked over the rim of his mug as he cradled it tightly.
“Yeah. Yeah. I know.” I couldn’t help it. I poked my tongue out at him like I was Isla’s age. When he chuckled, I knew my work here was done.
“I’m going to keep her home from school today.”
“Probably a good idea,” I agreed.
