two of you can have my room and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“I don’t want to put you out. And I…” The wind kicked up, delivering a blast of cool spring air.
He shivered, hugging Willow tighter to his chest.
“Let’s get her inside,” I suggested, stepping aside to let them pass. “We don’t have to figure
everything out right now, Corey. One step at a time.”
“I know.”
“You trust me, right?”
“Of course.”
I smiled at his quick response. I wished I could kiss him and tell him how proud I was of him for
rolling with the punches today. “Then trust me when I say everything’s going to be fine.”
While Corey helped Willow in the bath, I went through the gifts I’d purchased, hoping to push
Corey’s limits a bit tonight. I didn’t want to completely scrap our plans; I was going to make the most
of the interruption to show him how to have it all. Willow would never be an inconvenience to me,
even if he was still convinced I would grow tired of the curveballs and find a boy who was available
to me at all times. I didn’t want a boy at my beck and call, I wanted Corey—complicated life and all.
It didn’t escape me that I was picking up tips to use on him from him. I dug around in the bottom of
my closet, pulling out a pack I kept for hiking, stuffing it with the items I might need once Willow fell
asleep. Not wanting to answer questions from either of my curious little monkeys, I stashed the bag in
the bottom of the pantry. Not ideal by any means, but space was one thing I didn’t have an excess of.
They were still finishing up, leaving me nothing better to do than eavesdrop. I kicked back in the
recliner and turned on the TV, keeping the volume low enough I could relax to the sounds of Corey
and his little girl singing and giggling together. No matter what had happened earlier in the day, it
seemed both of them were putting aside their worries for the time being.
“Daddy, I really like William.”
Damn if hearing her stamp of approval didn’t melt my heart.
“I do, too, sweetheart,” Corey admitted. “He’s a very special friend.”
“Like a boyfriend?” Willow inquired, giggling the end of her question. Bless her heart, I doubted
she even understood how problematic it could be for a man to have a boyfriend.
“Would that be okay with you?” My eyes shot open and I twisted to look toward the bathroom
door, certain I must have misheard him. He hadn’t wanted to come out to her yet. He’d been adamant
