Page 129 of Sloane

“You’re here now. Let’s just focus on that.”

“Thank you. I know you didn’t have to let me meet her.”

“She deserves to have her dad in her life. It would be selfish of me to deny her that because I was mad at you.”

One of his eyebrows shot up. “Was mad? Does that mean you’ve forgiven me, and you’re not moving out?”

“I’m not planning on leaving. You still had the letter, so that means something. At least you didn’t send it back. I can’t pretend to know the hell you’ve been through, so I’m in no position to judge how you’ve coped. You broke my heart, but I survived. What’s important now is our little girl is going to have her dad in her life.”

“I don’t know how good a dad I’ll be.”

“You’ll be great. Once you’re fully ambulatory, we’ll be able to share custody. I have no doubt she’s going to have you wrapped around her finger.”

He looked back down at her with a soft grin.

“I think she already does.”

I wasn’t sure if my heart could handle watching him fall in love with his daughter.

I noticed Sloane made a point to sit to the left of me, so his right profile was what I saw when I looked at him. And what a gorgeous profile it was.

While I understood his reluctance to show his burns—I could only imagine how hard it had to have been for him to go from looking like he stepped out of a magazine one day to being disfigured the next—what I didn’t think he realized was his scars were battle wounds from protecting our country, and by default, me and Millie.

And that was sexy as hell.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Sloane

Between Crash, Stu, and Ashley’s phones, the chime alerting the cameras going off filled the room in the early afternoon.

“You’ll have to give me the link and password for that,” I murmured.

“Ryan’s here,” Ashley announced, then she bolted up from her seat. “And he brought Tank!”

Without another word, she was out of the room and dashing toward the front door. I was behind her, although a lot slower.

“Who’s Tank?” Crash asked before I reached the hallway.

“My golden retriever. Are either of you allergic or uncomfortable around dogs?”

“Heck no! I haven’t played with a dog in forever!” Stu exclaimed.

Crash concurred. “Me neither.”

Both men jumped up from their spots on the couch and followed me toward the front door.

Ashley had left the front door open, so I could see Tank sitting patiently with his tail swishing back and forth while she rubbed his neck.

“Tank!” I bellowed, and my dog’s ears lifted up and forward on high alert as he looked around. Finally, he zeroed in on where I stood at the door and his ears dropped. I instantly realized this was a bad idea.

“Oh shit,” I murmured as he bound up the stairs. My best defense was to sit down on my ass before he took my legs out from under me.

The golden retriever kissed my face as he jumped all over me with a high-pitched whine.

I wrapped my arms around his furry neck and hugged him.

“Hi, buddy. I missed you, too.”

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