Page 151 of Daddy By Design

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much in one day. Well before the accident, well before...anything.

I rolled up to a seated position and stretched. “I think there should be pancakes in our future.”

She rolled onto her side. “I need a shower first.”

“I left you a little hot water.”

“You’re all heart.”

She started to slide off the bed when I slid an arm around her waist to pull her back and planted a kiss on her shoulder. “I wasn’t too rough, was I? I...” Hell, I didn’t know how to explain these stupid emotions.

“You’re not going to break me, Nolan. Don’t worry.”

“Sometimes I don’t know what to do with all of this.”

“You’re not the only one.” She touched my cheek then slipped away.

This time, I let her.

While she was getting ready, I fed the cat and gave him ten minutes with a slow stream of water from the sink. The little devil loved it for some reason, and he happily drank and played while I made the bed and got dressed, then I hung Dahlia’s dress on the door to the bathroom.

I checked in with Archer and Lucky to make sure everything was good to go for the day. Archer was taking a trip out to a quarry in Rome for some special stone he wanted to use for the new porch and balcony. There was good deal of stonework that needed to go into the house.

I hadn’t checked in with Lyric for a little while. Maybe Dahlia would want to check out Trick or Treat with me. I could show her who I’d been before...everything.

And maybe I could be something new.

The purple and metal idea kept stewing in my head, all thanks to Dahlia.

She’d brought more into my life than I ever imagined. Now I just had to prove to her that I was worth a second chance. I shut off the water from the little hellion, who also gave me the evil eye, and shut off the valve because he had no chill. I’d forgotten one day, and while there’d been no flooding, he’d killed a tank of water, which I’d had to swap out.

I stepped outside and wandered over to the storage pod I’d put beyond the trees of my yard. To anyone else it would look like an extra Dumpster, but I knew it wasn’t.

I pulled down the lever and the locking mechanism screeched open. It had been a damn long time since I’d looked in there. It was an old shipping container that I’d bought off someone during a liquidation sale. It was large enough to hold the tools and supplies I’d collected over the years.

There was a particular scent to metal, especially the kinds I’d worked with. Sheets of high-grade steel, old car parts, and my particular favorite, which required the extra lock—copper.

“Nolan?”

I turned at Dahlia’s voice. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

She walked over, the swish of her hips in her short dress tightening my chest. She was stupidly beautiful in the early sunshine. My kneejerk reaction was to slam the door shut and not let her see this part of me. The part I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to reignite.

My fingers flexed on the door, but then I forced myself to relax.

She deserved to see this part of me too.

“What did you order? You know this is a long game, right? You can’t keep...” She trailed off. “What’s this?”

“This is the old Nolan.”

She slipped her arm through mine as she peered inside. “Is this your workshop?”

“No. But it is my gear. I was thinking about it today for the first time in a damn long time.”

She slid her hand down my forearm to link our fingers. “That’s a good thing.”

“Maybe. I don’t know yet.”

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