Page 90 of That One Touch

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, telling himself that he could sleep tonight. And tomorrow.

And maybe the rest of the year.

“Why do boys have hair on their chests and girls don’t?” Delilah asked. And he’d have laughed at the change of subject if he wasn’t so damn exhausted.

“Go get dressed,” he told her. “It’s cake and milk time.”

Happy Birthday! Your official gift will be given to you at the party this afternoon. And your unofficial gift… is me. However you want me. Cassie xx

She pressed send and slicked gloss on her lips, stepping back to check her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had no idea what to wear for a family cookout. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been to one. But it was warm outside so a pair of shorts would work. She’d teamed a gray herringbone pair with a white t-shirt and a statement necklace that she could easily take off if it was too dressy.

But the fact was, she kind of wanted to look dressy. For him.

Because Presley Hartson was constantly on her mind nowadays.

Thank you. I’m very much looking forward to both gifts. Especially the second. And just so you know, I was woken up at five o’clock by my kid. Who wanted to know about us… Presley. x

Oh. She blinked at the message, her mind racing. Had he spoken to Delilah like he’d talked with her about? She knew he wanted to do it just the two of them, but she had no idea he was planning to do it on his birthday.

She zipped her makeup bag up and slid it into the bathroom cabinet, trying to ignore the thoughts running through her brain.

But it was no good. They were as persistent as Delilah was with Presley. She grabbed her phone and unlocked the screen.

EEK! How did that go? C xx

She watched as the ‘Presley Hartson is typing’ text came across the screen then disappeared again. And yeah, she was getting impatient. She knew this didn’t mean that she and Presley were about to walk down the aisle or any other such nonsense. He was just telling his kid that they were a couple.

Dating. Friends. Whatever it took so that if the kids at school – or their parents – mentioned it, Delilah wouldn’t feel like he’d lied to her.

She knew that was important to Presley. That he was truthful with his daughter about all the things that mattered. It was another thing that made her heart race whenever she thought about this moody, complicated, glorious man.

He loved his daughter more than anything. And he’d do whatever it took to protect her from getting hurt.

He still hadn’t responded, and yeah, she felt a little disappointed, but he was probably busy. It wasn’t just his birthday, it was Marley’s too. And from what she’d heard from Maddie, the family always celebrated big when it came to birthdays and anniversaries.

She was about to go grab a coffee when her phone started to ring. She smiled when she saw his name flash on the screen.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly, accepting the call.

“Hi.” His voice was low. “Delilah’s changing her clothes for the fourth time. I thought I’d take the opportunity to hear your voice.”

“How’s your birthday going?” she asked him.

“Apart from the early start? Pretty good.” He cleared his throat. “The talk with Delilah was fine.”

“It was?” She let out a long breath. She hadn’t realized how tight her chest had been. “She’s okay with it?”

“Yeah. I put it in kid words. That we’re very good friends. That we like each other. All that shit.”

She laughed softly. “That shit?”

“The G rated stuff.”

“She wasn’t worried about me being around?”

“Not at all. She asked if you could still be her friend as well as my special friend, and I said yes. Then she asked if she could have another slice of cake and that was it.”

“So I’m your special friend?” she asked, her voice low.

---