The little girl came over to Kat’s side, extended her small arms, and blinked up at her with wide brown eyes. Zander’s heart melted a little. After a stream of losses—his grandfather, father, and a brother too—Zander had formed a barrier of sorts. A protection that kept outsiders at bay. Children, however, gained instant access to a very vulnerable side of him, revealing a tenderness he hadn’t known was there.
He’d taken it to mean that he was, in fact, meant to be a father one day. The thought caused a hot streak of jealousy to sink into his gut; now Duke was closer to reaching that fatherhood status than he was. A guy who probably shivered at the thought.
“Thank you,” Kat said, pulling him back to the present. Beneath the dome stood a folded cue card with the words Getting to Know You printed on the front.
Kat retrieved it, traced her slender fingers over the card before prying it open. He watched her eyes move from one side to the next as she read.
“This is a very serious question,” she warned while closing the flap. “Are you ready?”
A knot of nerves formed in his stomach. “Okay.”
She squared those gorgeous brown eyes of hers back on him, pausing dramatically with the tilt of her head. “How many pillows do you sleep with?”
Zander breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s easy. One,” he said. “And I only like thin pillows. None of these big fluffy things pushing my head off the bed.”
Kat’s eyes grew large. “You’re kidding. One, thin pillow? That’s all you like?”
“That’s it. What about you?”
“I sleep with four,” she said.
“No you don’t.”
“Four extra puffy pillows every single night or I can’t sleep.”
“How could someone so small make use of four pillows?”
Kat pushed her bowl of ice cream away from her and lay her spoon on its side on the table. “This is me,” she said. She snatched the small bowl she’d brought over with her dessert. An array of small cookies, candies and various treats rested inside.
She picked a large marshmallow out of the bowl, pushed past a few gummy bears, and pulled out two more. She snatched a gumdrop from the pile and popped it into her mouth before retrieving one last marshmallow.
“I sleep on my side,” she explained. “So I put one pillow here, kind of between my knees to keep my hips lined up.” She placed a marshmallow in front of the spoon’s curve. Next, she placed one behind it, higher up on the curved portion. “I like the other one to be just behind my upper back. It gives me a little support and makes me feel super comfy.”
He chuckled. “How can you even feel it back there?”
“Next,” she said, stacking the last two marshmallows on top of one another. “I sleep with two puffy pillows under my head.” She attempted to put the head of the spoon on the stack, but it toppled off and clanked against the table.
“See?” he teased. “That’s why I don’t like big pillows.”
“No, it works,” she said, rearranging the display once more. This time she dug the side of the spoon into the squishy treats to keep it in place. “There. That’s how I sleep.”
Zander scrutinized it for a moment more. “So where does your new husband fit into the equation?”
Kat’s brows lifted in surprise. She stared at the silverware surrounded by all its marshmallows on the table, then glanced up at him like a guilty child. She turned to the camera next—something they’d been instructed not to do.
He could barely contain the smile that pulled at his lips. “Here,” he said, setting his spoon next to the display. “Use this.”
“Umm…I guess if we’re spooning…” She swooped a lock of blonde hair from her face, nudged the spoon alongside the other, but she kept the back marshmallow in place between them.”
“My head needs to be on the pillows too?” he teased.
“No, we’ll go like this.” She wedged the head of his spoon between the two top marshmallows. “See?”
He stared at the odd sight of silverware and white, puffy treats. “My head looks stuck. Are you sure I can breathe?”
She laughed. “You can always do this,” she said, moving his spoon decidedly away from hers.
“No, no,” he blurted, moving it back in place. “I’d rather be close to you.”
