Page 59 of Wild Nights

Carolina held the whipped cream bottle above his head. "You want it here?"

Joey looked up and then giggled. "No!"

"Here?" she asked, tipping it toward his nose.

He giggled even more. "No!"

She placed a hand on her hip. "Open your mouth then."

"What?" When he realized she wanted to pour the whipped cream in his mouth, he was quick to open his mouth, and then she pulled back, meeting my gaze and laughing. "I suppose I should put it on your hot chocolate."She waggled her eyebrows at me. "We don't want Daddy to get upset."

The fact that she'd called me Daddy sent all kinds of warm feelings skyrocketing through my body. I had visions of raising Joey with a woman, but it was never Tina who I'd envisioned. That face was becoming clearer the more I got to know Carolina.

Marcus was grinning as he watched Joey and Carolina. When she poured the syrup on top of the whipped cream, he winked at me.

I knew what he was saying. Carolina was nothing like Tina. She was warm and caring. She treated Joey like the person he was, not a nuisance.

Carolina sprinkled a few candy cane shavings on top, oblivious to everything else going on in the room. Her voice lowered. "There. It's perfect."

"Thanks, Miss Caro." Joey tipped his hot chocolate back, the whipped cream touching his nose.

It was probably harder for him to say her full name, but I loved that he used my nickname for her.

"Yeah, thanks, Miss Caro."

Carolina glanced up at me, her cheeks pink.

"You want to play a board game with me in the great room?" Marcus asked Joey as he took of his apron.

"Yes!" Joey said as he scrambled off the stool.

Marcus grabbed Joey’s mug and carried it out of the room for him.

Carolina sipped her hot chocolate. "Thank you for today. It was truly magical."

I grinned, my heart close to bursting. "It's not even close to being over yet."

She wrapped her hands around the mug and sat on the stool Joey vacated. "What else do you have planned?"

I sighed. "What would you like to do?"

"Have you decorated for the holidays? I know the inn isdone. But what about your room? Even if we're only here for a day or two, it would be nice to have a tree. For Joey."

"Ah. That's a good idea. We haven't decorated the condo since we have a home in town. But we could move one of the hall trees into our place."

"You think Joey would want to do that?"

I let out a laugh. "He's going to love it."

"Good. I want him to have a good day too."

"He's off school, and Christmas is in a couple of days. I probably won't be able to get him to sleep tonight."

"Oh, we should build a fort tonight and watch a holiday movie. If he falls asleep in the tent, it won't matter. It will be like camping." Then her gaze flickered to me, uncertainty filtering through the excitement. "If that's okay with you. I know you probably have a specific bedtime for him."

"I think we can make an exception for one night." Tonight, I was going to pretend that we were a family. It was a slippery slope, but like the snow, this was an unprecedented situation.

"This is the most fun I've had in forever. Thank you for including me."

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