Page 51 of Totally Off Limits

“Sure, but I thought maybe she could start learning music a little early. It’s one of those things that I think is easier if you start younger.”

“Maybe.”

“Check this out. Mia, show meG.”

The little girl smiled and then touched the top string which Mickey plucked, making Mia giggle once again. Sierra couldn’t help but smile as she asked, “Is that right?”

“Of course. Mia, which one isE?” When she touched the top string again, Mickey said, “Nope. Not that one.E.” When she touched the bottom string, Mickey plucked it. “That’s it.” Mia laughed again and again.

“She’s getting tired.”

“You sure?”

“Trust me.” Sierra knew she should put her child to bed right now, but she and Mickey were having so much fun together, she hated to separate them. “But she’s rallying.”

“Maybe I’ll put this away and bring it back some other time. Can I put this away, Mia?”

The little girl pouted, jutting out her chin. “No.”

“Well, at least she—”

“Mia, the bass belongs to Mickey, so if he wants to put it away, we need to let him.”

“I wanna pway.” Mia wasn’t being stubborn and demanding as Sierra had feared; instead, she was acting like her heart had been broken as big tears welled up in her eyes, ready to drop like a waterfall.

Mickey’s conscience didn’t go unscathed. “How about I bring it back some time? Would you like that?” The toddler nodded her head, but the tears began to drop. Turning to Sierra, he asked, “Five more minutes?”

“She’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”

“Is that so bad?” Leaning over, he said to Mia, “A few more minutes to play?”

Her sweet cheeks grew round again as she smiled through the tears, nodding, her tiny index finger tentatively poking toward the strings again.

“When she’s a spoiled rotten teenager demanding the world, I hope you know I will call you.”

“It’ll be my pleasure.” Looking back to Mia, he said, “Isn’t that right, apple?”

“Apple?”

“Yeah. Her little cheeks remind me of apples.”

“I can see that.”

Mia plucked for a little bit until Mickey said, “Would you care if I laid it on the coffee table? That way she can pluck away but I can lean back?”

“I thought you were teaching her.”

“Lesson’s over ‘cause her mom’s here.”

“Oh, because I ruin everything?”

“No. Because I want to give you a little attention.”

The way his eyes seemed to grow more mysterious made her breath catch in her throat. Still, she managed to say, “Yeah, go ahead.” It was a bare surface anyway. She’d learned early on that anything she put within hand’s reach was fair game for her daughter—so anything she didn’t want her child messing with wound up out of reach and often out of sight as well.

“Mimi,” he said to her daughter, and the child’s eyes lit up as she recognized the sounds of her name, even though she’d never been called that before, “give me a sec. You get to play with it by yourself over here.”

At first, Mia acted like she was about to burst into tears, but after Mickey laid it across the coffee table, encouraging her to pluck the strings at will, she grinned and began touching the instrument. Sierra kept an eye on her for a few moments just to make sure she wasn’t going to hurt herself—because it looked like there were all kinds of ways she could. But the child only touched the strings like she had when it had been on Mickey’s lap, quickly growing frustrated that it wasn’t making the same sounds it had when Mickey had been helping.

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