“I should’ve asked for more money,” I muttered.
“I’ll turn the charming smiles down from a ten to an eight.That’s the best I can do.”Archer looked in the direction of the stairs.“Is she okay?It’s quiet.”
“Why don’t you go up there and check on her?”I suggested.“I can finish up down here.”
“Right.”He made no move to leave.Instead, he looked right at me.“I don’t know if I’ve said it yet but thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Our eyes held and he clenched his fingers into a fist and then stalked toward the stairs.
I finished cleaning up dinner and then pulled out a carton of eggs, an onion, and a cast iron skillet.
I was in the middle of cutting the onion when Archer came down.
“Back so soon?”I asked with a teary smile.
“I asked if she wanted me to read her a bedtime story ...”
My lips twitched.“You didn’t.”
“I did.”
“You’re a few years too late for that.”
“Yeah, so she informed me.”He shook his head.
“Do you know anything about kids?”I asked.
“No.That’s why you’re here.Why are you cutting up an onion?”
“There’s no way in hell I’m waking up when you wake up to cook breakfast.Ergo, I’m making something you can pop into the microwave.”
“I don’t expect you to cook me breakfast,” he said.
“Youwantedme to cook.”
“Yeah, like dinner,” he said with a shrug.“I can feed myself for one meal of the day.I think.”
I bit my lip but couldn’t stop the smile.“Trust me on this.”
“I trust you.I trust you with my life.”
“Bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“I trust you with my kid,” he said.“The kid I don’t know how to raise or bond with.”
I turned on the burner, added some oil to the cast iron, and waited for it to heat.“School.”
“What about it?”
“She needs to be enrolled.”
“Oh yeah.That.”He frowned.“It’s the week before Thanksgiving.Is school even in session?”
“Wow, you really forgot what it was like to be a kid,” I said.
“Sue me.It’s been a few years.”
