With that in mind, I cross the room to stand in front of my wife, though I keep a respectful two feet of distance between us. Sloane hates to be crowded, especially when she’s working. “We need to talk.”
Something flickers across her face, in her dark eyes before her expression closes off again. “About?”
“I just got a call from Johnny. The Ellery job is fucked all to hell and he needs me on site. Immediately.”
“Oh.” A frown tugs at her full lips. “Are you taking Mia with you?”
“What?” Even as hope beats at my chest, I smother it. “No. Of course not. That would be…”
Perfect. Amazing.
Disastrous.
“Inappropriate,” I settle on. “Which is why I wanted to talk to you. Do you have a problem with her staying here while I’m gone? You can tell me if it’s too much and I’ll put her up in a hotel for a few days instead.”
Sloane rolls her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous, Ethan. There’s no point in you spending all that extra money when we have plenty of space here. It’s a big house, it’s not like she and I will be up each other's asses the whole time.”
Surprised, I stare down at her. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so…”
“Amenable?” she offers up with a cheeky grin.
That’s exactly what she’s being. Amenable.
Tooamenable.
“Sloane.” I put a hint of steel in my tone, but she doesn’t so much as flinch.
“Ethan,” she shoots back breezily.
“Are you going to behave while I’m gone?”
Another cheeky grin. “Define ‘behave’.”
Leaning down now, I close the distance between us, crowding her in the way I know she hates. But to my continued shock, she doesn’t snarl or pull away. She simply meets my gaze head-on, mischief and excitement dancing in her dark eyes.
“Are you going to be nice to Mia and treat her with the same respect you would any other guest in our home? Or do I need to bring her with me after all?”
“Ethan.” Her expression turns somber as she places her palms on either side of my face. “You have my word I will be perfectly lovely to Mia. She has nothing to worry about where I’m concerned. I promise.”
Sloane may be a complete and utter brat at times, but I’ve never known her to be a liar. If she gives me her word, I trust her to keep it.
“All right.” Straightening again, I give her a single, sharp nod. “I’m going to let Mia know what’s going on, and then I need to go pack.”
“Sounds good. Come kiss me goodbye before you go.”
Yet another surprise, in a day full of them. And as I turn to leave my wife’s office, I can’t help but wonder what kind of surprises I might be returning home to.
Sloane
It'sall I can do not to cheer as my husband kisses me goodbye and heads for our front door. As soon as he told me he needed to go, my brain went into overdrive.
Really, it’s the perfect solution. All I have to do is get Mia to agree to be my babygirl, and then whenDaddyreturns, he’ll see this is the perfect solution. Possibly the only solution to saving our marriage.
Stopping at the front door, Ethan turns, pinning us both with a stern look. “I’ll be home as soon as I can. Mia, I expect you to be on your best behavior for Sloane. I may not be your Daddy, but you are living under my roof and you will behave or you will have me to answer to when I return. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” Mia responds, her sweet voice taking on an adorably sulky tone.
“Good girl. Sloane… I’m trusting you to keep your word.”
