Page 228 of A Song for You

Her face lights up, and she wiggles in her seat. “You really want to go to the daddy-daughter dance with me?”

My heart pinches. “Chlo.” I take a risk and pull her chair closer to mine and wrap my arms around her. “There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Not even on a date with Cat?”

I huff out a laugh. She’s got me there.

“Is that something you want? Your mom and me to date?”

She tilts her chin and examines me with a pensive frown. “Is that what you want?”

“Yeah, I’ve wanted your mother since I first met her. There’s never been another woman who held a candle to her…”

Her face falls.

“What? What did I say wrong? You’ve got to communicate with me, or I don’t stand a chance here.”

She shrugs. “Is that why you’re here? Because you’re trying to win her back?”

I sigh. “If you’d let me finish, I was going to say that no one has compared to her until you. The two of you are everything to me. So honestly, I’d take a date with you over her because you and I have never had that chance. So will you do me the honor of being my date for the dance?”

She smiles. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face if I tried. “Now, about that ice cream…”

I’ve just closed Chloe’s door, having indulged her in a story before bed, per her request, when the front door closes quietly. Hidden in the dark hallway, I take the opportunity to examine Cat as she slips off her heels, leans her head back against the front door, and exhales like she’s releasing a month’s worth of stress.

She looks utterly exhausted.

In just a few strides, I’m in front of her and pulling her toward the couch.

Her eyes fly open, and she breathes my name as she stumbles to follow me.

I drop to the cushion and pull her on top of me. It only takes her a few seconds to catch up, and then her lips are tipping up in a smile as she adjusts herself so she’s straddling me.

“Hi,” she whispers.

Squeezing her hips, I press a soft kiss against her mouth. “Hi, Kitten.”

She sighs. It’s soft, and as her breath mixes with mine, I can’t help but close my eyes and revel in her proximity. In the ease with which she settled with me. I may not be getting everything right, and I’ll likely continue to stumble, but possessing the ability to calm this wild one, when only moments earlier, she was carrying the weight of the world, will never get old.

“How was your night?”

“It was really good.”

“Chloe feeling okay?”

I chuckle. “She’s just fine.”

“What’s so funny?” she asks, brushing at a speck on my shirt.

Unsure if Chloe wants me to share our earlier conversation, I just shake my head. “I’ll let her fill you in. So tell me, how was your date with Gavin Langfield?”

I despise this ruse, but Gavin did me a solid by taking her out. This way, I knew she was in good hands with a man who would be respectful and keep his distance.

Cat licks her lips. “I mean, he wasn’t hard on the eyes,” she teases.

My hands tense on her hips, and I pin her with a pointed look. “Yeah?” I ask dangerously.