Yvonne Lindsay - Seduced By The Single Dad

They filed out to the parking lot. There were hugs and cheek kisses. Chloe thanked them all profusely.

Nell tapped her shoulder. “You still look a little high. Ride with me. You can get your car later.”

So just to be on the safe side, she let Nell take her back to the showroom. When Nell pulled in at the curb, Chloe leaned across the seats and hugged her good and hard. “I’m so glad you’re going to be my sister. I never had a sister before.”

Nell hugged her back. “Well, now you’ve got four—five, including Tracy, who always gets insulted if we don’t include her.”

* * *

That evening, Manny went to Boulder to visit his girlfriend. Quinn and Annabelle picked Chloe up at the showroom and took her back to the restaurant to get her car.

Then she joined them at the log house. They had pizza. And after Annabelle was all ready for bed, they watched Frozen , which Annabelle seemed to know by heart.

She kept popping in with “Look out!” or “Watch this!” just before something surprising would happen.

Quinn finally had to pause the movie and remind her that it was no fun to watch a movie when little girls were shouting.

Annabelle was sweetly contrite. She turned to Chloe. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I’m not s’posed to do that. But I get so ’cited!”

Chloe said, “Well, maybe if you don’t do it again, your dad will let us watch the rest.”

Annabelle turned those big brown eyes on Quinn. “Daddy, I promise I will be quiet.”

She managed to get through the rest of the movie without a single exclamation. And by the end, she had edged up close to Chloe on the sofa and rested her head against Chloe’s arm. Chloe treasured that small, perfect moment: the first time Annabelle had leaned on her.

It took a while to get the little girl to bed for the night. Quinn spent twenty minutes or so tucking her in. Then, half an hour later, she came out carrying a ratty blanket and an ancient-looking one-eyed teddy bear and demanded that he chase the monsters away. Quinn scooped her up in his arms, blanket, bear and all. He sent Chloe a sheepish look before heading upstairs to Annabelle’s bedroom.

“I think she’ll stay in bed now,” he said when he returned a few minutes later. He confessed that he enjoyed chasing monsters. “It’s more of a game with us than anything.”

“Don’t even think you need to explain,” Chloe reassured him. “It looked like you were both having fun and she didn’t seem scared in the least.”

“Manny says I’m a sucker for Annabelle’s monster act.”

Chloe chuckled. “Sometimes being a sucker is a good thing.”

“I’m going to tell Manny you said that.”

They sat on the sofa in the living room in front of the unlit fireplace, with the lights on low. He reached over and ran a finger along the curve of her cheek.

She shivered a little in pleasure, remembering that first night, when he’d come up the hill to her. His daughter had been on his mind that night. “Did she ever have more questions for you about her mom?”

He idly smoothed a curl of her hair back over her shoulder. “Not yet. Just about every night, I think she’s going to bring it up. But then she doesn’t.”

“Give her time.”

“I just hope when she does that I don’t blow it.”

“No way can you blow it, Quinn. You love her and she loves you. She feels safe and protected. And you give her space, you really do. She’s allowed to be a little girl, to let her imagination run a little wild...” Chloe felt kind of wistful suddenly.

And Quinn picked up on that. “Hey...” He touched her mouth, traced the bow of her upper lip. “Why the sad face?”

“I don’t know. I had a great time with your sisters today at lunch. And it kind of got me thinking that I never had much fun growing up.”

“Too busy trying to please your mom?”

“That’s right.” She made the edges of her mouth turn up. “But I think I’ll look on the bright side. Your sisters will be my sisters. Did I tell you they’re throwing us an engagement party? Probably at McKellan’s, in the party room upstairs.” The popular pub was owned by Ryan McKellan, lifetime best friend of Clara Bravo. Ryan’s brother, Walker, was engaged to the family princess, Rory.

“And when is this big event?”

“Tentatively, Saturday night two weeks from tomorrow. Clara said she’d get with Ryan and call me this weekend to firm up the date, location and time.”

He hooked an arm around her and drew her close against his side. His warm lips brushed her hair. “Did you know that Clara and Dalton are getting married in three weeks?”

“I did, yes.” Clara had a baby daughter, Kiera Anne, with Dalton Ames, president of Ames Bank and Trust. From what Chloe had heard, Clara had taken her time saying yes to her baby’s father. But anyone who saw them together could see how much in love they were.

Quinn added, “It’ll be a small wedding, Clara said. Food and drinks at her house afterward.”

“I heard. Nell said she thought Clara had too much on her plate. So, as soon as Clara sets up our engagement party with Ryan, Nell’s taking over to pull the party together.”

“You should know we’re going to Clara’s wedding.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You, me, Manny and Annabelle.”

“I would love to.” She snuggled in, rubbing her cheek against the soft knit fabric of his shirt.

He traced the line of her jaw with his thumb, and then tipped up her chin so she looked in his eyes. “Hey.”

“What?”

“The other night, when you said yes?”

“Um?” Oh, those beautiful eyes of his. She could just fall down inside them and never come out.

“You said you wanted it small—and soon. So...” He lowered his wonderful bad-boy lips and brushed a hint of a kiss across her upturned mouth. “What do you say we set the date?”

Set the date . Her heart contracted. Worse, she was suddenly thinking of her mother, and of Ted. Problems. Unresolved problems. Her problems that she’d yet to deal with effectively...

But then again, how resolved were things ever going to get with those two? She might never speak to her mother again. And Ted? The best that could happen with him would be nothing. Ever. For the rest of her life.

So it wasn’t about resolving anything; it wasn’t about closure...

“Chloe?” Quinn looked at her so tenderly, reminding her suddenly of the little boy who never fit in at school and used to sneak inside before class to leave chocolate candy Kisses for the teacher who’d been kind to him. “So when you said soon, you didn’t mean that soon?” He asked the question gently.

She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I’m thinking if we could at least wait until after the engagement party to start planning the wedding?”

His chuckled, the sound low and lovely. “I just don’t get it. Why are you dragging your feet? We’ve been engaged for two whole days now.”

She echoed his teasing tone. “People will start thinking we have trouble making commitments.”

But then his expression turned serious. “Is it all going too fast for you?”

“I didn’t say that.” She hated the edge of defensiveness in her tone.

“Hey. I mean it. We can have a long engagement if you want it that way. It’s okay with me.”

“But I don’t want a long engagement.” It came out as a whine. Dear God, what was the matter with her? Her emotions were bouncing all over the place. She made it worse by grumbling, “And I meant it about a small, simple wedding, too. I really did.”

“Easy.” He bent close, nipped a kiss against her throat.

“Sorry,” she murmured, honestly contrite, not really understanding herself at that moment.