“Don’t remind me,” I frown, but it’s all in good fun. I know what he means. “I’m planning on getting a shotgun and following her around when she starts going out and dating.”
“Good luck with that,” Alex laughs, and I join in.
We exchange a few more pleasantries and go our separate ways at the parking lot. The drive home is uneventful and unusually quick. The moment I open the door, Marley rushes towards me, and everything else fades into oblivion.
Everything but the smile of the young woman behind her.
Chapter Nine
Lilly
I just finished getting Marley ready for bed, when the door opens, and Dominic arrives. Marley is a cheerful little girl, who always has a smile on her face, but when she sees her dad, her facial expression changes completely. It becomes one of devotion, of utter adoration and pure happiness. And she has the power to spread that feeling to all those around her.
“Daddy!” Her sweet voice explodes all around us, as she throws herself into his arms.
The relationship they have is something special. He becomes someone else around her, the kind of man I could see myself falling for, but it is dangerous to think that way. Especially after everything that’s happened.
I give them some privacy and return to the kitchen. There is leftover dinner for him as well, just in case he is hungry, although Marley and I already had our dinner. A minute later, the two of them follow me inside, hand in hand. I smile.
“There is some food left from dinner, if you are hungry,” I tell him.
“We made noodles with vegetables,” Marley tells him importantly.
He looks at her, all surprised. “You? You girls made noodles?” He pulls away, only to tilt his head at her incredulously. “I’m not buying it. You ordered it. Admit it.”
“No,” Marley replies, with a whiny, nasally sound, trying to make herself sound more convincing. “We did make it ourselves.”
“Well, in that case, I have to try it, don’t I?” he concludes, lifting his gaze to meet mine.
“Everything is there,” I point at the kitchen island to my right. “If that’s all…”
I start, but Marley interrupts me.
“Don’t go!” she exclaims, taking both me and Dominic by surprise.
“Well, I have to go home, sweetie,” I tell her softly. “Your dad is here now, and you don’t need me anymore.”
“But I do,” she corrects me, and her words fill my heart with warmth. “You can just stay in the guestroom like you did before.” She turns to Dominic, her voice becoming even softer, more pleading and more angelic, although I never thought such a thing was even possible. “Can’t she?”
He seems a bit confused, but he quickly regains his senses.
“Of course, she can,” he nods. He turns his attention to me again, those dark eyes piercing right through me, revealing nothing, and yet, I feel like I am an open book to him. It’s not fair.
“Oh, I don’t want to be a burden,” I say, knowing my words make little sense, but I’m fighting this inner urge to agree immediately, which is exactly what I want to do right now.
“A burden?” Marley echoes, frowning. “You can never be a burden, right, daddy?”
The way she asks for his confirmation almost makes me chuckle, because I’m sure that’s the last thing he wants to do right now, agree with her, and yet, that is the only thing he can do.
“Right,” he nods.
There is a smirk in the corner of his lips. He’s trying hard not to let it show, and it doesn’t but I know what he usually looks like. His frown is impenetrable. His mood is grumpy. He is completely closed off from the rest of the world, with those who do not belong to his very small circle of friends and family. I don’t belong to either of those, but I can see now that he is amused. That’s something new.
“See?” Marley walks up to me and takes me by the hand. “Stay, Lilly. Please?”
It’s the please that does me in, said in such a sweet voice dripping with honey.