Page 5 of Irresistible

MARLOW

I feel eyes on me and try not to smile, pretending to be asleep for a few minutes longer.

The exhaustion is bone-deep from the past few days.

It’s been a hard week, to put it mildly.

And to top it off, Dr. Wyatt Landmark.

What are the chances that the guy I had that weird and awful interaction over the fender-bender with would be Theo’s brother, Wyatt? And then it just got worse when we saw him in the ER. Before I met Wyatt, I was expecting him to be as charming as his brother.

Theo has been incredibly kind and generous since we invaded his home a couple nights ago. The fact that Sofie has loved Theo and his family all her life made me believe I was in safe hands when I heard Dr. Wyatt would be seeing us at Pine Community.

And hewasincredible with Dakota.

That’s all that matters, I guess.

It was just strange. He diagnosed her with a double ear infection, which made me sick to my stomach because Dr. Johnson, her pediatrician back home, missed it, and my girl’s been suffering. But with me, Dr. Wyatt has been nothing but cold and rude, and he acted like he couldn’t get out of the room fast enough. He even went so far as to make it clear that I should go to someone else in the future, which is fine by me. I don’t want to run into him again.

After the humiliating week I’ve had, I don’t know why his assholery even registered on my hurt scale, but it’s been on a continuous loop with the rest of the grievances piled on me right now.

“Mama, are you asleep?” Dakota whispers, her fingers prying one of my eyelids open.

I snort out a laugh and she jumps back, startled but smiling when I open my eyes.

“Youareawake!” she says happily.

“You must be feeling lots better,” I say, laughing.

I pull her close to me and she cuddles in, her arm draping over my stomach.

“I’m all better,” she says, her voice still nasally from congestion.

“You’re a trooper is what you are. Are you sure we’re awake enough to get up yet? We could sleep a little longer…” I run my fingers through her hair the way she likes me to when she’s falling asleep.

“Auntie Sof is probably worried about me. I should tell her I’m better.”

“You’re right. We should get another dose of antibiotics in you too, so you’ll feel evenbetter.”

“Hey, Mama, why did Miss Maggie have her nibbles out?” she asks, her head popping up to look at me.

And I guess we’re doing this.

At first I’d hoped that Dakota’s fever was too high and she wouldn’t remember seeing her dad in bed with another woman, but unfortunately, when Cash jumped up mid-coitus interruptus and Maggie’s bare chest and “nibbles” were on display, it made a lasting impression on Dakota. This isn’t the first time she’s brought up Maggie’s nipples, and I doubt it will be the last. Before, I brushed it away because she was sick and told her we would discuss it when she was feeling better.

“And why did he yell at us to get out?” Her voice is tentative and I close my eyes, counting to ten until my rage at her father dims just enough to speak.

It’s actually a good thing Cash yelled at us. It jarred me enough to bolt out of that room. I’m not sure how long I was stuck staring at the two of them.

Too long, since Dakota saw them.

I’d been so intent on getting back in bed after a sleepless night with Dakota that I hadn’t even registered the clothes in the hallway leading the way into the bedroom. Cash, being the clueless bastard he is, probably had no idea Dakota was even sick since he slept soundly all night long. On a normal day, Dakota would’ve been at preschool and I would’ve been at my temp receptionist job already.

“They were doing something they shouldn’t be doing…with each other, and Daddy didn’t want us to see that,” I eventually get out.

What is the right thing to say to your little girl when something like this happens? I’m at a total loss.

Maggie hadn’t bothered to cover anything up. She just sat there brazenly, as if daring me…to what, I don’t know. But I guess she finally got what she wanted. My husband.

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