Page 24 of Tell Me Lies

“You go right ahead,” he says, pushing them toward her. “I don’t know if my teeth can take eating all three.”

She looks hurt, her rosy lips poking out. “You have to eat them, Daddy. I’m going to decorate them for you.”

“Oh.” He bobs his head up and down. “I mean, I guess I’ve got room for a few more.” He winks at his daughter, making her face light up. Then, he looks at me, dropping his voice to hardly a mutter. “Just might need dentures after this—that’s all.”

“Hey, doesn’t that come with the whole hockey-player lifestyle?” I say, pushing the rest of my cookie away from me. “Missing teeth and all that?”

“Uh, I hope not, as far as I’m concerned.” His face contorts. “Some of the guys on the team have lost a tooth, sure. But I bought the most protective mouthguard I could find.”

Once Amelia finishes decorating the cookies, she proudly slides them to her dad. Even though I know he has no interest in eating them, he does it for her—and he does it with a smile.

“Yum,” he says, stuffing the last half in his mouth. “So good. Compliments to the decorator.” He gives her a cheesy thumbs-up. “Whoever it was, theyreallyknew how to work that icing bottle.”

“Daddy!” She giggles. “It was me. I did it.”

“What?” His expression grows serious, and his eyes widen. “You’re kidding me. The entire time you’ve been on earth, you’ve been an expert cookie decorator?” He tosses his head back. “Geesh, love. You were really holding out on me.”

Everything about Logan Sterns and his daughter is adorable. It’s also novel-worthy, in my opinion. He’s like the single dads you dream about; they sound so good on paper, but you don’t actually think they are out there.

Oh, but they are.Something I’ve learned from being around these two.

“Whatcha want to do next, Amy?” I ask, gathering the now-empty paper plates and napkins with my hands and tossing them into the trash can next to our table. “I hear there’s a fun game where you get to zap these things called humbugs with a laser. What do you say? Want to go show your dad how it’s done?”

She’s up and grabbing both of our hands before I even have time to realize it. “Yes! Let’s go!” she squeals in excitement.

The three of us walk toward the next attraction, and then he scoops her up and puts her on his shoulders.

I look over at him, narrowing my eyes. “Don’t worry, Sterns. I’ll take it easy on you. Being a loser two times in one day might be bad for your ego.”

“Laser games are my specialty,” he coos, his tone coming off much more flirtatious than I’m sure he meant it to. “It’s on.”

As I look at him with Amelia on his shoulders, I notice something. The pain I feel on a daily basis—the one that is always in my chest and in the back of my brain, reminding me of my grief—well, I haven’t felt it today. And I realize I don’t feel it nearly as much when I’m around Amelia and Logan Sterns.

“She is out,” I say, flopping back next to Maci, who’s sitting on the small couch in the living area of our suite. “Christmas Country tuckered her right out.”

She side-eyes me. “I’m not even going to correct you and say Santa’s Village anymore. But next time, I won’t invite you. I’ll just steal your kid for the day and leave you and your shitty dad jokes at home.” The corner of her plump lips turns up. “Do you think she had a good day?”

“Um, you aren’t allowed to ever come back here without my ass and my adorable kid. And my dad jokes? They’ll also be joining. And, yeah, I think she had a damn good time today,” I say before patting the top of her head lightly. “You did good, Boston. This was probably one of the best days of her life, no joke. My career obviously allows us to do fun things. But today?” I pause, unable to stop the cheesy-ass grin from spreading across my face. “Today, she smiled bigger than I think I’ve ever seen her.” The happiness fades a bit, and I sigh. “I guess, next week, I should start looking for your replacement. Six weeks will be up before we know it. Amelia really loves having you around. It’s going to suck.”

She chews her lip before she grins and shrugs her shoulders. “What if … you don’t have to look for my replacement?” She pauses, swallowing. “What if I stayed? I mean, I can continue writing when I’m not watching Amy. I really think I can do both—you know, caring for her and doing my job as an author.”

“You serious?” I stare at her because it seems too good to be true.

This girl has slipped seamlessly into our lives, and to be honest, Amelia isn’t the only one who enjoys having her around. I like it too.

“I am. I’ve put some thought into it, and it doesn’t feel right to leave her. Not when I love being around her as much as I do.” She smiles, curling her legs underneath her on the couch. “You know, at dinner, when I asked her what her favorite thing about today was, I think she listed the whole park. Even the shitty cookies.”

“And what about you? What was your favorite part, Miss Maci?” I drawl.

I probably sound a little flirtier than I should, but what can I say? She’s an attractive woman, and I’m a dude.

Ahornydude right now.

“I liked riding the carousel with her. I remember riding it with my parents when I was a kid.” She averts her eyes to the television. “It brought back memories. Good ones.”

There’s a hint of sadness in her voice, that I understand. There are memories from my childhood that I cherish, yet they are hard to think about because my mom’s not alive anymore, and I miss that woman more than anything.

“I get that,” I say as I nervously run my hand up the back of my neck.

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