Page 41 of Worth the Fall

“I don’t know. I don’t know him very well.”

“Oh.” She looked so confused by my answer. “How come?”

“Because I just started working here.”

“So, you and Daddy aren’t friends yet?”

Definitely not.

“Not really. Not yet,” I replied.

Thomas and I’d had a couple of meetings with Sierra before she left, but he had focused all his attention on her, rarely even gracing me with eye contact. He was infuriating. And rude.

“You can be my friend.” She hopped out of the chair and made her way to where I was sitting. The little girl extended her hand and waited for me to take it. “I’m Clarabel, but my friends call me Clara.”

“I’m Brooklyn. It’s nice to meet you,” I said, and she shook my hand pretty hard for a little kid.

“Clara? Clarabel!” Thomas’s voice rang in the hallway, and I heard the sound of his feet shuffling in our direction.

Clara suddenly dived toward my legs and hid under my desk right as her dad stopped in my doorway.

“Brooklyn.” He sounded out of breath, and his typically perfect hair looked a little messed up. It was sexy as hell. “Have you seen my daughter?”

I glanced toward my feet, where Clara was covering her mouth with her tiny hand and trying not to laugh. “Noooo.” I dragged out the word while pointing downward inconspicuously so Clara couldn’t see me.

“You haven’t, huh?” He grinned, and as much as I wanted to love that smile, I knew it wasn’t for me.

“Sorry. What does she look like so I can keep an eye out?” I asked, and Clara’s little laugh bubbled out over her fist.

Thomas took a step inside my office toward where I sat. And then he took two more. “She looks like trouble. Long brown hair. Probably has on two different shoes.”

I quickly glanced down and bit back a laugh of my own. Clara was most assuredly wearing two different shoes.

“A smile that slays dragons. And the voice of a little angel, but she’s really a little demon.” He continued to describe his daughter, and I felt like I was in some sort of alternate universe.

I’d never seen Thomas like this. I’d seen him in his role at the resort, which I thought was pretty damn sexy, but this... this was another level altogether. He was so relaxed. So in his element.

Thomas the dad was the hottest damn thing I’d ever seen in my life.

Clara laughed out loud and burst out from under my desk. “I am not a little demon, Daddy!” She beamed before jumping into his open arms.

I thought I’d just gotten pregnant watching that exchange.

“I see you’ve met Brooklyn.” He held her tight and turned her little body in my direction.

Clara nodded. “Mmhmm. But, Daddy”—she pressed her palms against his cheeks and squeezed—“she said you aren’t her friend.”

“She said that, huh?” He tried to say around his smooshed face, but it came out garbled.

“How come you don’t like Brooklyn the Bear Slayer?” Clara asked, and I tossed my head back and laughed.

“Sorry. She gives nicknames to everyone without their permission.” He sounded disappointed, but then he started tickling his daughter, and she squirmed out of his arms.

Thomas pinned me with a stare, and a woman could get lost in eyes that blue if she wasn’t careful.

“I don’t mind the nickname,” I said, and Clara looked pleased with herself.

“Miss Brooklyn,” she said, and I focused my attention on her, “I think your hair is really pretty. Don’t you think so, Daddy? It’s like one of my dolls at home.”

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