Hurried footsteps rushed down the stairs. Seconds later, Decoy appeared in the kitchen doorway, eyes still heavy with sleep, gaze dazed until it landed on his daughter at the kitchen table, chugging a drink that left her with purple lips and a smile on her face.
“What the fuck—fudgeis that?”
Ivy arched a regal brow. “Mermaid juice, Daddy. Don’t swear.”
I turned away to hide my grin. This kid, man. As if she hadn’t been as bemused as him six minutes ago.
Decoy’s kettle was lilac. I filled it and flicked it on to boil. The mugs were in the cupboard by my head. I reached for it, but a big hand got there first, Decoy’s muscled arm stretching over my shoulder.
His chest brushing my bare back.
He opened the cupboard and grabbed two mugs.
Then he brought his other hand to cup the nape of my neck and kissed my cheek. “Mornin’.”
“Morning.”
“You okay?”
Okay with his casual affection and the riot it started in my heart? Maybe not. But I didn’t resent it either. “I’m good.”
Decoy held my stare a moment, still half asleep, his lips turned up in a soft, bewildered smile. “I thought I’d dreamt you when I woke up to an empty bed.”
“Did you think I’d kidnapped her?”
“Nah, you’d soon bring her back.” He glanced at Ivy. She was shaking the last drops of her drink onto her tongue. “I am pretty convinced you’re part wizard, though. She told me she’d ratherdiethan eat blueberries.”
“Kids change their minds about things.”
“Mate, it was...” He checked the time. “Fifteen hours ago. And she’s held that opinion her entire fucking life.”
If I had the wisdom to explain it, it was lost in the vortex of being this close to him. “How did you sleep?”
Decoy snorted softly. “Like I’ve been in a coma for a year. I can’t believe you’ve had the blender on down here and I didn’t wake up.”
“You must’ve needed it.”
He gave me a shrewd glance as he tossed teabags into mugs and dug a teaspoon from a drawer. “What about you? Did Ivy jump on you at the crack of dawn?”
“No.”
“What about in the night?”
“No one jumped on me. I’m very disappointed.”
Decoy chuckled and made tea. We’d been around each other at work enough that he knew I took it the same as him.
He slid me a mug. “You want to eat?”
“Where’s your phone?”
“Upstairs. Why?”
“No reason. Go sit with your daughter while I make the breakfast, okay?”
Confusion coloured Decoy’s handsome face, but he did as he was told and retreated to the table.
Ivy climbed into his lap. I nudged the kitchen door shut and turned on the radio, shutting everything and everyone out.
