Page 78 of Finding You

Her eyes went wider. “Mr. Reed. This is your baby?”

“Yep.”

Flora bit her lip, then stretched out a finger before pulling it back. Kylen had to quickly force his eyes back on the road, watching Dallas out of his periphery instead. “I could take good care of her.”

“I know you will,” Dallas told her.

They pulled into the driveway, and Kylen parked the car, hopping out while Flora undid her own straps, and he began to pull Audra’s things out of the trunk. When Dallas attempted to help, Kylen shooed him off.

“Take her inside and get settled. Feel free to set up wherever you want.”

“She could…she could have a sleepover in my room,” Flora was babbling as she dragged Dallas toward the front door. Kylen didn’t bother stopping her. Yet. He figured Dallas was probably old hat at managing the expectations of five- and six-year-olds.

Instead, he hefted everything inside and tried not to let himself think about what life would be like if this was theirs. If Dallas lived with him. If there was space for Audra of her own, and it wasn’t all temporary. He wanted this badly—it was a new, fragile thing he never expected to feel, and he was terrified with one wrong move, it would all shatter.

“You okay?”

Kylen looked up and realized he’d been standing in the living room with the sleeper cot hanging over his shoulder for far too long. He cleared his throat and let it slide down to the floor. “I’m good.”

Dallas walked up to him and put his hands on Kylen’s shoulders. “You’re not.”

“I actually am. This is just…”

“Too much?”

Not enough. But that was one more thing he couldn’t say yet. He shook his head and leaned in to steal a kiss from Dallas’s waiting lips. “I like you in my space.”

Dallas closed his eyes and took in a long, slow breath. “I like it too.”

Well. That was something, wasn’t it? A small step. Kylen cleared his throat and shifted backward a little to give Dallas space to gather his things. “The guest room is all yours. Or you can set her up in my room with us. Wherever you want to be.”

“She sleeps in her own room at my place. Maybe we can try that?”

“With you in my bed?” Kylen chanced.

Dallas bit his lip and nodded. “Too much?”

“Just enough. Are you hungry?”

Dallas snorted as he grabbed the sleeper cot and the bag Kylen had dropped. “No. Adele kept feeding me like he was an Italian grandmother. I think I just want to relax for a bit. Audra’s going to be up a little while longer, then she should be down for the night.”

Kylen swallowed back just a hint of bitterness in the back of his throat because it was only now that he was getting most of a night’s sleep. “Don’t be surprised if Flora doesn’t go down so easily. She was never the best sleeper, and she’s probably going to crawl in bed with us at some point. She’s really excited you’re here.”

Dallas laughed and shook his head. “Trust me, I won’t mind. I don’t have plans for us right now. I’m too high-strung.”

So was Kylen. He took another quick kiss, then went to check on Flora, who was hovering over Audra in her chair. The baby was wide-awake, staring with wide, dark eyes. She had a small, fuzzy patch of hair and peach-pink-tinged cheeks. She was all round and quiet and looked so much like Dallas.

“Pick her up if you want,” Dallas called from the guest room.

Kylen was terrified to touch her. What if she hated him? What if she wailed every time he so much as looked at her? Would that change things?

“Daddy,” Flora whined.

Kylen undid Audra’s straps, then eased her out of the chair. She stretched, then laid her head on his shoulder for a long moment. God, it had been too long since he’d had this. He hadn’t realized how much he missed it.

“Can I hold her?” Flora asked, yanking hard on his arm.

“No, pumpkin. But we can sit on the floor with her. Go get her bag, okay?”

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