It felt like a date. It wasn't necessary to keep up appearances for Frank or anyone else because no one would know about it except for us.
Maddox must have carried me to bed. He could have woken me and asked me to go home. That's what I would have expected. And I wouldn't have been upset about it, because he was a single dad. It wasn't appropriate for me to stay overnight at his house yet. So what was he thinking?
A soft knock sounded on the door. "Miss Eve?"
I ran a hand through my hair, my nerves kicking up. "Come in."
The door flew open, and Sofia bounded inside. She still wore pajamas, so I shouldn't feel weird that I was wearing yesterday's sweats. What would she think was going on? What did Maddox tell her?
She jumped onto the bed so that she was perched on her knees. "Daddy said that you should get up because breakfast is ready."
"Let me go to the bathroom first." I looked around, finding a door which had to be an en suite.
She slid off the bed onto her feet. "You better hurry. Daddy says I eat all the pancakes."
She took off like a shot down the hallway before I could get out of bed.
I laughed at her comment and took my time in the bathroom. I rooted around until I found a spare toothbrush in one of the drawers. I didn't think it was there in case he had a woman over. That didn't seem like something Maddox had done before me.
He'd said this was a new house, so it wasn't the one he'd lived in with Marla. This place didn't hold unpleasant memories.
I finger brushed my hair, threw water on my face, and headed outside to the hallway. The guest room was on the first floor. I followed the voices until I reached the kitchen.
Maddox smiled at me. "Morning, sleepyhead."
I smiled. "I heard there were pancakes."
He inclined his head toward the empty plates. "Werebeing the operative word. Sofia ate the first batch, but I'm making more."
Sofia sat on the stool at the island, eating her pancake which was dripping with syrup. "I told you to hurry."
I smiled at her. "You could have saved me one."
Her lower lip protruded. "I was starving, and Dad said I have to eat because I'm a growing girl."
I laughed. "Your dad sounds really smart."
Maddox watched our interaction with amusement. Then he asked, "Would you like coffee?"
"I'd love some." Both of them seemed okay with me being here.
Maddox poured coffee into a blue mug and slid it across the counter toward me. "Milk or sugar?"
"Cream if you have it."
"I don't have any cream. Will milk work?" he asked, moving toward the fridge.
"Yes, thank you."
Sofia licked her finger. "Daddy said you were watching a movie last night and fell asleep."
I met Maddox's gaze, then looked at Sofia. "I must have been more tired than I thought." Then to Maddox, I said, "You could have woken me."
Maddox shook his head. "I didn't want you to drive home so late when you were tired."
That was nice of him to think of my safety. "Thanks for letting me crash in your guest room. It was really comfortable."
He gestured down the hall. "Everything in there is brand-new. I thought it would be nice to have a room for my mom to stay if she babysits late in the evening."
