Page 71 of My Best Bet

Her eyes darted over my face, like she was searching for the lie. “You… You would?”

“I would.”

Her eyes darted to my lips. There were just inches between us and the air practically crackled with hot tension. I was about to close the gap. I was about to claim her mouth with mine. My hand curled around the base of her jaw, and–

“Daaaad!”

Mer jolted back.

I grimaced and my eyes darted to the stairs. “Sorry.”

“No.” A strangled laugh escaped her. “It’s okay. I hope you don’t mind that I showed her skating videos of Ali and Piper.”Her body went tense again, making her look unsure and off-balanced. I wanted to fix that, but Lucy needed me first.

“Wait here for me?”

She nodded and went back to her hot chocolate.

On my way out of the kitchen, I picked up Kappy's hoodie from the floor and threw it in the trash, loving the sound of Mer’s light laughter behind me.

17.Mer - Mine

After sleeping all day, Lucy was completely wired. She scampered down the stairs in her Tangled nightgown, seemingly feeling much better.

When she spotted my hot chocolate, she whirled on Colt. “Is that the special hot chocolate?! Can you make me some, too?”

Knowing that his daughter called my hot chocolate the “special hot chocolate” made my heart somersault in my chest. The smarter part of my brain argued that I shouldn't be using the wordmy, because nothing about him was mine. But the hopeless romantic in me argued that it meant something that he still kept it around.

Colt looked hesitant. “You just got better, honey. I don’t want it to make you sick again.”

Her eyes rounded and her bottom lip pouted out. “Prettyprettyplease?” She reached to hold his hand. “I reallyreallywant some. It might make me feel better.”

He completely broke. “Okay, fine. Go see if Kap or JP need anything, okay?”

“Yay!” She hugged his arm, making a dopey grin slide on his face. “I’ll ask the hooligans!” She skipped over to the living room.

I laughed at their exchange.

He shook his head, a grin warring on his lips. “What’re you laughing at?”

“She’s got you completely wrapped around her finger,” I mused with a laugh.

He blew out a sigh. “She does.” Then he looked at me hesitantly. “Is that bad?”

“No,” I said with a laugh. “She reminds me so much of you,” I said wistfully, leaning my chin on my hand.

His lips quirked and he dipped his head shyly. “You think?” I detected a little bit of hope in his brown eyes.

I nodded my confirmation. “Her little freckles and her eyes, and the way she smiles sometimes.” I shook my head. “It’s crazy, that first time she was on the ice with me, I couldn’t place why she seemed so familiar. Now it’s so obvious.”

And now that I knew why, it was kind of beautiful. I loved that she had the same eyes as the boy I loved with all my heart. I loved that she had the same freckles under her eyes that Colt used to have– his had been fading since before I met him and they were long gone now.

He smiled and leaned against the counter, crossing his feet at the ankle. “I think she’s a bit calmer than I was as a kid.”

“Yeah, she’s a little sweetie.” I smiled.

“Hopefully she stays sweet through her teen years. I’m a little scared,” he admitted.

I laughed. “What if she meets ayou?”

---