Page 16 of Never Let You Go

Skye giggles and takes a heaping forkful of food.

Christopher looks at me sternly. God help me, he’s even sexier when he’s upset.

I hold his gaze for a beat.

He doesn’t flinch.

“It was nothing, really,” I breathe. “A harmless secret.”

He looks back at Skye. “You can use that secret anytime you want. Skye finished her plate.”

Skye scrapes the last of the gravy with her fork, wipes her mouth with her napkin, and stacks her cutlery on her plate. She slides off her chair and takes her plate to the sink.

“I’ll be right up to tuck you in after dishes,” Christopher says.

I stand and start clearing the table. “I’ll take care of dishes. Two stories, right? That’s got to take some time.”

He pauses and looks at me intently. “Are you two ganging up on me?” He flashes a quick smile, and my heartbeat picks up. “I bet you Skye’d forgotten already.”

“So not true!” Skye giggles. “And you love reading me stories!”

“That’s true,” he says, following Skye. Turning to me, he adds, “You can tell me all about your baking experience when I come back.”

That is going to be a brief conversation, mister, unless we’re going to compare different brands of mixes. And I don’t think that’s what he means by baking.

four

Christopher

“Teeth, face, hands and nails.”

“I knooooow.”

“Lemme see?”

Skye grins and opens her mouth, then shows me her hands.

“Both sides.”

“Daddy! You saw me wash up.”

“What are we reading tonight?”

“Sophie’s new bedtime story!” she cries excitedly.

I pull a face, and Skye laughs. “I looooove Sophie’s stories!”

“I know, pumpkin. Her stories are something else.”

“Yes,” she nods frantically.

I take a deep breath and reach for the double-spaced, stapled booklet bearing the library’s stamp and Sophie’s name below the title, The Baker and The Princess.

Fuck me. What did she write this time? “Once upon a time…”

While I sift through the pages about a baker pulled from his village to bake bread for his king, my mind wanders back to dinner. I’m pacified by how Alexandra managed to bond with Skye already, yet worried at the same time.

I’m concerned Skye will get attached.

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