Page 27 of Falling for my Single Dad Boss

"Oh, sweetie." Harper wrinkles her face up in sorrow and holds her arms out for a hug. Sasha looks at me for approval. I nod, and she shuffles slowly across the room to her. Harper leans over and kisses the top of her head, smoothing her hair. "I'm so sorry you don't feel well."

"Yeah, I threw up," Sasha says with a frown. "My tummy is sore."

"Oh no." Harper looks at me with a pinched expression. Her irritation is gone, only worry for my child evident in her eyes. She bites her lip and wraps her arms tighter around Sasha.

I clear my throat and gently nod to the door. "Harper, I need to step out and take care of some things. Sasha was supposed to stay with my father, but evidently he can't keep up, so would you mind keeping an eye on her while I look into this situation."

Harper won't even look up at me. But she relents, no doubt for Sasha's sake. "Sure thing. She can stay here with me and we can draw, right? That's probably a little more fun than doing the boring paperwork with Grandpa."

Sasha nods. "Okay."

"Go ahead and settle in at my desk," Harper says. "I have some blank paper and some markers and things in the drawer."

"Thank you," Sasha says shyly, and meanders to the other side of the office. She reaches high to pull open the drawer, climbs up into the seat, and snuggles Mr. Trunks underneath her chin. When she grabs the things she needs, she lays the paper flat on the surface and starts to carefully doodle.

When Sasha looks relaxed enough, I lean over and press another kiss to the top of her head before I look at Harper. "Thank you, but this conversation isn't over. We need to figure this out."

I try again to meet her eyes, but she glances away without saying anything. I realize for the first time, I don't want to fight with Harper anymore, but I do want to fight for her.

Chapter thirteen

HARPER

I really messed up. My plan to show Deacon I knew what I was doing backfired, big time. I'm actually pretty ashamed of myself.

I tried so hard to show him how strong I was, that I didn't need anyone's help, but it came off so badly. I was awful.

When he confronted me about it, rightfully so, I resorted to my usual tactic with him— I fought tooth and nail to win the argument. But today was different; he didn't really push back the way he normally does. And that's what almost broke me. I was so close to bursting into tears because the worse I was, the more he seemed concerned about me. He didn't care about winning. I should take a lesson from him.

I had no business raising my voice in this office. That's beyond disrespectful to Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds. Plus, Deacon had every right to be upset I didn't consult him.

But the worst part was the look on Sasha's face. I'm sure we probably scared her, and that's the last thing I'd ever want to do.I'm not setting a good example for her on how you treat your friends.

Today was a wake up call for me. I've spent so many years focusing on how Deacon acts and if he's changed. After today, I can confirm he has. Now it's time I do the same.

Sasha finishes up her drawing and spins it around with a pleased little grin on her face, showing me what she's done. It's a picture of me, her, Deacon, and Mr. Trunks hanging out together. That small gesture, putting me in with her favorite people, is just the lift that I need.

"Sweetie, this is beautiful. You're so talented!" I gush and stand up to praise her some more. The sight of her work melts the last of my icy exterior. "I'd love to hang this on my wall, if that's all right."

Her cheeks pinken with embarrassment and she beams with pride. "Thank you. Daddy is always putting my drawings up on the fridge at home."

I smile and pat her head. "Thank you for the picture, Sasha. How is your tummy feeling? Are you still feeling queasy?"

She shakes her head. "No. Don't tell Daddy, but I think I was just nervous about school. We had a spelling bee today, and there's this boy who is always trying to do better than me. Sometimes he teases me, so I'll mess up."

Oh, boy, do I understand that dynamic. I'm not about to tell her that her father did the same thing to me in school. "I remember those kinds of days, sweetie. Maybe you and I could spell together for practice later? Does that sound good?"

Her face breaks out into a huge grin and she nods. "Okay, thank you. Are you finished working now?"

"Hmm, let's see." I walk over to my desk and take another look at the last few tasks that I needed to take care of. "Close enough. Are you hungry now that your tummy feels better? The resorthas an amazing restaurant. I bet you'd love their chicken strips. And they have French fries and peach pie."

"Peach pie?" Sasha brightens up even more.

I nod, offering her a conspiratorial wink. "Every Georgia girl loves some peach pie."

She grins and nods her head. "Can we go now, please?"

"If you're feeling up to it. I don't want you getting sick all over the menu." She giggles and gets out of my chair. I grab her drawing, looking it over once more, sighing happily. "This is such a lovely picture. Thank you for including me with your daddy and Mr. Trunks."

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