Page 90 of Forbidden Flame

Instead of yelling down for him, I decided to ask him privately in case he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea. When I returned to the kitchen, he was looking at the pictures I’d hung on the fridge.

Cole turned. “Is everything okay?”

I took a deep breath, wondering if he’d be on board with this. “She asked if you would read a book to her.”

He looked at me warily. “Do I need to do voices?”

I laughed. “Her expectations aren’t that high.”

“I can handle that.” He set his drink down and joined me on the stairs.

I had a feeling he could handle anything when it came to Izzy. In her room, Izzy patted the space next to her on the bed.

Cole raised a brow. “You want me to sit next to you?”

She smiled up at him. “Yes, silly.”

Cole sat next to her; his legs stretched out on the comforter with one foot crossed over the other. He looked so big next to her, like he’d fall out of the bed at any second. Izzy cuddled into his side, her head on his shoulder.

My heart clenched at the sight. I sat in the chair next to the bed and watched while Cole slowly opened the book.

Cole glanced at the cover and read the title, “Too Many Brussels Sprouts.”

Izzy’s eyes widened as she looked at the cover which was covered in a pile of carrots. “That’s not right.”

Cole made a big show of looking at the cover. “Yup, those are brussels sprouts.”

Izzy shook her head, her forehead wrinkling. “They’re carrots.”

Cole’s brow furrowed. “Hmm. Are you sure about that?”

Izzy’s eyes widened. “Yes, because carrots are orange.”

“If you say so.” He flipped through the opening pages to get to the story. This time he read the words, not ad libbing or replacing anything. Izzy giggled each time the rabbit moved into another friend’s house, bringing too many carrots inside and breaking it.

I wanted to take a picture to commemorate the sweet moment, but I hadn’t brought my phone upstairs, and I didn’t want to interrupt the moment to run and grab it.

On the last page, the animals all shared the carrots in rabbit’s burrow, and Izzy pointed out all the carrot things they were eating. “Carrot cake, carrot smoothie, carrot juice.”

“Can you read it again?” Izzy asked Cole, who looked over at me.

I glanced at the clock. “It’s late, and you had a big day.”

Izzy frowned, but she put the book on her nightstand.

I kissed her forehead. “I love you.”

Then it was Cole’s turn, and he touched her shoulder. “You were amazing today. I was impressed with your tenacity.”

“What’s that?”

“It means you worked really hard and didn’t give up.”

Izzy smiled up at him like he was her hero. “Are you sleeping over?”

Cole looked at me with a panicked expression on his face.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” I said to her.

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