“What do you mean?”
“About following directions.”
“I thought?—”
“I told you to sit and let me take care of everything. So sit and let me take care of you for a change.”
A shiver rolls through me, my core clenching from the timbre of his voice. It makes me wonder what he’d be like in the bedroom.
Would he chastise me for not following instructions there, too?
Would he punish me?
Would he call me a bad girl?
Better yet, would he call me a good girl?
This is the absolute last thing I should be thinking of right now, but I can’t help myself.
Thankfully, Jemmy’s excited squeals force Hayden’sattention away from me. I take a deep breath to calm my growing nerves.
“I know, bud. You want your pizza. Just give me a second to cut it up for you.”
“I can do?—”
I stop short, more than aware how Hayden will respond to my offer. Instead, I take another large swallow of wine, needing the burn to distract me from everything else.
“You’re learning,” he muses, throwing a wink my way.
Then he focuses his attention on cutting up a slice of cheese pizza for Jemmy.
“Would you like pepperoni or cheese, Rowan?”
“One of each.”
“You got it.”
After placing the pre-cut slices of pizza and strawberries onto Jemmy’s tray, he sets a dish in front of me with my pizza, along with a bowl of salad. Once Presley has her own plate, he sits opposite me.
“Cheers.” He lifts his wine glass.
Jemmy and Presley both raise their cups, and I join them, the four of us clinking our drinks together.
As I glance around the table, an unexpected warmth fills me.
This was once the life I wanted. The family. The noise. The chaotic dinners.
Since learning how dangerous pregnancy could be for me, I’ve made peace with letting that dream go.
But maybe I didn’t have to.
After all, the universe sometimes has a funny way of giving us what we need, even if it doesn’t look how we imagined.
And maybe being a part of this family, albeit temporarily, is enough for me.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
HAYDEN
