Page 43 of Falling for the Single Daddy

The three of us go into the kitchen. Gray walks close to me, near enough so I can feel his heat and smell his cologne, but there’s also that feeling of distance. I want to pinch myself and jolt myself out of these overactive thoughts.

I help Emery get everything set up, and then she turns to me with a very grownup look and says, “Callie, you can’trusha chef.”

It’s so adorable. Gray and I start laughing. He grins at me, and some of the awkwardness melts away. The two of us sit at the kitchen bar, keeping a close watch on Emery as she begins to make her burgers from minced meat. She’s a very conscientious chef, washing her hands often.

“She’s too cute, isn’t she?” Gray says, looking at me with that conflicted expression.

“The cutest.”

I want to lean over, lower my voice, and ask him if he’s spoken to Sloane or if something else happened today to bother him. I want to ask,Good day at work, hon?And then bring him a hot cocoa or a coffee, maybe a newspaper. He’s making me feel maternal and wifely. It’s strange and not something I signed up for.

“Keep talking, you two,” Emery says, glancing over at us.

“You seem like you’re up to something, little lady,” I say.

“Uh-uh.” She shakes her head, but she’s not kidding anyone.

“Callie’s right,” Gray says. “Why are you so keen on this meal, huh?”

She shakes her head again and then mimes zipping her mouth shut. That gets Gray and me laughing even more. She’s giving us cuteness overload.

“Let me help you with that part,” I say when she’s ready to put the burgers in the oven.

“Ican do it,” she says.

I wag my finger at her. “I’ve got no doubt that you can, E-M-E-R-Y.” She giggles, loving it when I spell her name for a change. “But I wouldn’t be a very good nanny if I let you burn yourself, would I?”

“I’m sevenyearsold, not sevenmonths.”

She’s on fire tonight. Gray and I can’t stop laughing. We’re building heartwarming memories, and no matter how much I try to fight it, I can’t. In fact, the cuter she is, the more I realize I don’twantto fight it.

After putting the burgers in the oven, Emery takes my hand and leads me toward the door. She stops at the hallway and turns to Gray with a demanding look on her face. “Well, are youcoming?”

Gray grins at me, then winks at his daughter. “Right on your tail, Miss Bossy.”

Emery leads us through the house into the library. My breath catches when I see what she’s done. It’s all the confirmation I need that she’s trying to set me up with her dad in her own cute, adorable way. She’s gathered as many flower petals from the garden as she can find and scattered them all over the library. Gray leans against the doorframe, one hand on his forehead. He gives me a look—half longing, half regret. I get it. This is so, so sweet, but also terrible. The last thing we need is Emery rooting for us.

What if she says something to Sloane? What if, as most relationships do, we end, and it hurts her?

“What do you think?” Emery says, bubbling up with pride, actually hopping up and down on the spot.

Gray approaches her slowly, kneels, and takes her hand. I stand nearby, my hands clasped together, mixed emotions pulsing through me. I want to tell her she’s done a great job. That I’m proud of her. I want to tell her I want this as badly as she does—to be with her dad, to make a life with him and her.

“What are you thinking, Emery?” Gray asks softly. “Why did you do this?”

“The flowers are pretty, Daddy. Pretty like Callie.”

Gray sighs. “Oh, Em. But why? You can talk to me.”

Emery’s voice gets sad. She sounds like she could break into tears at any moment. “I—you know, Daddy—it would be nice to have a mommy who loves me. And Callie loves me. Right, Callie?”

She turns to me with wide-eyed hope. She’s breaking my heart. It was never supposed to get this far. But kids are perceptive. Gray and I might’ve thought we were hiding our feelings from her, but she must’ve picked up on something.

I look at Gray, wondering what I should say. He bites down and shakes his head softly.

“Callie is your nanny, Emery,” Gray says after a pause as if it’s causing him physical pain. “She’s an…” He clears his throat. “Employee, Emery.”

Emery looks and sounds angry.“What?”

---