7
Holt woke on the cusp of dawn with an armful of warm, sleep-scented woman and the corresponding morning wood urging him to roll her beneath him for the wedding night he’d denied them both.
Not what she needs, jackass.
Willing away the erection, he turned his face into her hair, enjoying the silky feel of it against his cheek. They didn’t have time for a lazy morning. There was work for them both and school for Maddie. But for a few more minutes, he could enjoy this closeness. Sometime in the night, she’d rolled over, and he’d gone with her, wrapping around as big spoon. His palm pressed against the softness of her belly beneath the sleep shirt. Because it itched to slide higher to explore the curve of her breasts and the hard-on wasn’t showing any signs of flagging, he eased away, careful not to wake her.
Slipping on his leg, he made his way carefully into her bathroom, checking out the shower situation. A teak bench took up one corner of the small walk-in shower. He could work with that. Retrieving his duffel bag from the living room, he shut himself into the bathroom to clean up and get ready for the day.
Cayla hadn’t woken by the time he finished. He didn’t know what time she normally got up and wasn’t entirely sure what time school started here, but either way, he figured he could get Maddie up and going so she could grab some extra shut eye.
The kid was spread eagled sideways across the bed. At least half the stuff animal mountain had ended up on the floor.
Grinning to himself, Holt gently jiggled the one little foot sticking out from under the covers. “Wake up, Bumblebee. Time to shine.”
On an incoherent noise, she yanked the foot away, curling her whole body up like a hedgehog.
Remembering all the mornings he’d had to fight Hadley’s profound objections to waking, he tugged the blankets off. “Up and at ’em. C’mon. If you get up now, you can choose your own outfit for school. Otherwise, you’re stuck with whatever I pick.”
Maddie rolled off the bed and into the pile of plushies. Her tousled head popped up a moment later. She blinked owlishly at him. “I’m up.”
“Are you really?” Far too often, his sister had made the same claim and then crawled right back into bed the moment he left the room.
“Can I wear my rainbow tutu to school?”
He didn’t see what it would hurt. “Why not? Do you take your lunch to school?”
She nodded, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Okay, I’m gonna go put one together for you. Get dressed and come on into the kitchen. I’m going to make you some breakfast.”
“’K.”
The Trolls lunchbox was on the counter. After starting a pot of coffee, he scoped out the contents of the fridge and pantry and began putting together what he hoped would pass muster for lunch. Classic PB and J sandwich, string cheese, and a little tub of applesauce. Maddie came wandering in as he popped in a strawberry-kiwi juice box to round the whole thing out.
She had, indeed, worn a rainbow tutu, along with purple leggings and, if he wasn’t mistaken, at least three shirts, layered one on top of the other.
“You cold?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Why so many shirts?”
“I couldn’t decide, so I’m wearing them all.”
Not up to arguing with that logic, he pointed at the table. “Have a seat.”
Instead, she climbed up onto one of the barstools to sit at the counter. “Where’s Mommy?”
“Still sleeping. She was extra tired. What do you usually eat for breakfast?”
“Lucky Charms!” The shameless grin told him this was not the truth. Or at least not a weekday truth. Cayla struck him as the sort of mom who might allow a bowl of those on Saturday morning.
“Try again.”
Those little shoulders twitched in a shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Do you like scrambled eggs? Fruit?”
Maddie wrinkled her nose. “Fruit doesn’t go in scrambled eggs, silly.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t. You wanna try eggs the way I like them?”
“Okay.”
Figuring he could scarf them down if she didn’t like them, he pulled out a tomato, onion, bell pepper, cheese, and the carton of eggs and set to dicing.
“How do you like your present?”
Holt glanced over. “My present?”
“Us. Mommy said you needed a family, and that we were gonna play a big game of pretend to give you one.”
He went very still. So this was how Cayla had explained things to her. Pretend. He got it. She was protective of her daughter and wouldn’t want her getting confused, no matter how genuine the legal ties actually were.
Still, he couldn’t quite deny the pinch around his heart at the idea that this wasn’t, on some level, real. Which was foolish. He’d known what he was signing on for when he made the offer. This was a marriage of protection. There was friendship and affection between them all. He couldn’t expect anything else, no matter how comfortable he’d been in Cayla’s bed last night. But he also knew that the only way this ruse would work was if Maddie didn’t tell people it was pretend.
“I like it very much. You two are a really special present. But you know what?”
“What?”
“If you tell everybody it’s all real, then it’ll feel more real. The very best games of pretend are the ones where you forget you’re playing. Can you do that?”
“Uh-huh. Can you real-pretend you’re my daddy?”
Oh, man, this kid.Holt considered his answer as his heart turned to goo. “Would you like that?”
“I never had a daddy before. And you’re fun. Nobody else’s daddy can do Maui like you.”
“Then yeah, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to real-pretend that, too.”
Maddie beamed. “Okay!” Her smile turned suspicious as he slid a plate of food in front of her. “What’s that?”
“Confetti eggs.” In truth, it was a lazy man’s omelet. Scrambled eggs loaded with veggies and cheese. He knew he was taking a chance putting vegetables in front of a kid her age, when there was a strong possibility she didn’t believe in foods touching, but he figured it was worth a try.
He brought his own plate over and sat beside her. “They’re my favorite.”
She gave the eggs a cautious sniff and shot him a side eye. “Do these have ’gredients?”
“What are ’gredients?”
“Stuff like broccoli.”
“I can assure you there is no broccoli.” He scooped a bite into his mouth. “Mmmm. Cheese. You like cheese, right?”
“Yeah.”
“These have cheese. Try ’em. I mean, if you don’t want them, I can eat your share.” He leaned over, as if to scoop her food onto his plate.
“No! Mine!” She took a hefty, defiant bite. Her little face blanked, and he braced himself for her to spit them back out. “Mmm. I like confetti.”
Holt was mentally patting himself on the back when Cayla came rocketing into the room, her hair standing up at all angles, her sleep shirt baring one shoulder. “Oh my God, I overslept!”
Making a concerted effort not to stare at that shoulder, Holt forked up another bite of eggs. “I’ve got it covered. Have some coffee.”
She stared at him, then at her daughter, who’d already almost cleaned her plate, then to the lunchbox ready and waiting at the end of the island, looking for all the world as if someone had struck her upside the head. “You… got her ready for school?”
“Not my first rodeo, and I figured you deserved to sleep in. Yesterday was a lot.”
Maddie slid off the stool.
“Go brush your teeth, Bumblebee.”
“’K.” She skipped her way down the hall, her tutu bouncing.
“And really brush them. I’m gonna check!” he called after her.
Cayla’s throat worked, unmistakable gratitude shining in her eyes.
It occurred to him that with her ex never having been involved, she’d never had any sort of help other than her mom. She’d never had anyone to pick up the slack or let her sleep in. He vowed he’d do whatever he could to ease some of her burdens while they navigated the threat posed by Raynor. She deserved that.
“I wasn’t sure exactly what time she needed to be dropped off or where. You can tell me, and I can take her while you clean up for work, and I’ll come back to get you. Or you can grab a quick shower now, and we can both take her and go to work together. I figured it made the most sense for us to stick close together for now.”
Crossing the room, she laid a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. Give me fifteen minutes.” Then she leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his cheek that had him wishing for so much more of this real-pretend life.
* * *