“You know where it is?”
“Um…”
“Come on.”
Cracking open my eyes, I watched as Jake led Cassie down the hall as she babbled away about Colonel and how much she loved him.
When Jake returned to the room, I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to still be asleep. I felt him hovering over me, barely a second before his lips pressed against my forehead.
“I know you’re awake,” he told me softly, calling me out.
Flicking my eyes open, I looked up to find him bracing himself on the couch and leaning over me. “Why aren’t you in our bed?”
“I didn’t want to… I wasn’t sure…”
“Fuck, Marshmallow,” he grumbled, dragging his hand through his hair.
Damn, he was hot. Even with the smudge of dirt smeared across his cheek, everything about Jake made my heart hurt. From the way he was with our daughter to the way his T-shirt pulled across his chest, I had no doubt I was head over heels in love with the man. In some way, I think I always had been, but I wasn’t ready to give my feelings a voice.
“Dad? Can you come check my bum?” Cassie called out, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Welcome to real dad life, Jake.
“Check her bum?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.
“It’s easier than cleaning the skids from her underwear.” I shrugged, sitting up. As amusing as it was to see the awkwardness on Jake’s face, I wasn’t mean. “I can…” I started.
“It’s fine. I got this,” he declared, straightening his shoulders and marching toward the bathroom, leaving me grinning like a fool.
A moment later, they both returned, hand in hand with matching smiles. Damn, she looked like her daddy. Seeing them together like this, there was no question whose daughter she was.
Standing up, I went into the kitchen and reached for the loaf of bread on the counter. “Who’s hungry?” I asked.
“Dad’s going to take me to see the bull,” Cassie told me.
“Why don’t we have some lunch first then we can go see him?” Jake countered.
“Promise?” Cassie asked, holding out her pinky.
Without hesitating, Jake linked his finger with hers and made his promise. Turning away, I swiped the tear from my cheek before sticking my head in the refrigerator and pretending to look for something.
Sitting around the kitchen counter, eating cheese sandwiches seemed so simple and so domestic I was surprised. Even though I’d known this was coming, I wasn’t prepared for how simple and easy it all was. I had no doubt there would be hard conversations ahead of me, the first tonight when little ears were tucked up in bed sleeping. I needed to know what Jake was thinking about Cassie’s little Dad bombshell. I’d seen the look pass across his face when she’d said it, and I was dying to know what he thought, but I couldn’t ask him while Cassie was around.
“Finished!” Cassie declared, pushing her plate away, the crusts of her sandwich left.
“Do you want anything else?” I asked.
“No.”
“No, what?”
“No, thank you, Mom,” she said dramatically, and Jake shot me a look like the smug shit wanted to say something but bit his tongue.
“You’re welcome. You need to remember your manners, Cassie.”
“Can we please go see Gladiator now?”
“In a minute. Jake’s still eating his lunch. Why don’t you go and play, and when he’s finished, we’ll come get you?” I suggested as Jake helped her down from the stool.
Jake and I finished our lunch and cleaned up the mess. “We better take her down to see that damn beast,” Jake chuckled.
