“Yeah.”
“That’s good because I’m not even that tall, and I gotta take care of my girls, so maybe you can help.”
“I no like bears!” Eva hopped on her hands and knees like a frog across the big rug that sat between the oversized leather couch and the fireplace. Cash’s dog followed along beside her, leaning down low on his front legs as he barked and wagged his tail.
“But what about a panda bear? Or a koala bear? I think they would make good pets.” Addy was pure sass as she said it, sitting on the couch with her legs drawn to her chest, fully making herself at home.
Her damp hair was twined in a long braid, and she wore little leggings and a tank top to sleep in.
“No bears make good pets,” Cash grumbled as he stood, exasperated and so clearly in over his head.
“Jeez,” Addy said with a little roll of her eyes.
Of my children, she was the most skeptical. The one who’d worried most about coming here and what Cash might be like.
Cash must have felt me staring because he swiveled his attention in my direction.
Hazel eyes penetrated.
Hard and cynical.
Wounds clouded by rage.
But I could see the softness in them, too. A softness that he was terrified to expose.
No question, this man had armored his heart. Erected fortified barricades to keep from feeling because he’d been forced into feeling too much.
The loss so great he couldn’t suffer anything else.
I knew that kind of loss. What had hurt the most was he’d refused to share it with me.
His stare pierced me where I stood just outside his door. As consuming as the flames that had decimated the paper.
I’d always felt like I was being burned alive every time he looked at me, but right then…
I tried to breathe through the electricity that zapped through the room.
“Hey,” I murmured, timidness working its way into my voice.
“You showered.” It was gruff and short.
I glanced down and gave him an awkward curtsy. “I did. Thank you. The hot water was magic. I feel like a new woman.”
Cash’s gaze slid down like he was inspecting if it were the truth.
A shiver rushed over my flesh. That old feeling coming alive and thrumming in the space.
I wondered if he could feel it because his thick throat bobbed as he swallowed.
Shaking myself out of it, I forced myself into lightness and stepped into the living area. “Are my ruffians causing mayhem in here?”
“No way, Mom!” Colin shouted. He shifted on the rug and pushed himself into a side plank. “We are never mayhem. We follow all the rules, and we’re gonna be really good and respectful like you told us we gotta.”
“That’s my sweet boy,” I told him before I glanced at Cash. “I hope we’re not in your way or messing up your routine?”
Right. Like that was possible. I knew from the disbelieving look he shot me that we definitely were.
And I was about to drop a bomb on it.
