Page 25 of Worth Every Risk

“I want to sleep in the big bed with Daddy,” she says before she peels her head off my shoulder and looks at me with huge eyes that are way too wide awake for this time of night.

Okay. The big bed.That sounds like somewhere she’s familiar with. Maybe this is something that happens a lot. Divorce can be unsettling for a young kid. Maybe she sleeps with her dad sometimes.

But neither Mrs Minter nor Mr Hawkston mentioned it. But then they didn’t mention bed-wetting either. I curse them both under my breath.

“No. Sorry, honey. He’s asleep. It’s too late. You can sleep in my bed.”

I back away from the door and as I do, Lucie lets out the most almighty scream. It’s blood-curdling. She sounds like she’s being murdered.

No.She sounds like I’m murdering her.

The door to Mr Hawkston’s room flies open, and he’s standing there in nothing but his boxers. I don’t know how he got out of bed so fast.

His muscular chest is on full display, and his hair is unruly around his face like someone just had their hands in it. The picture is way too intimate, and I half expect a woman to follow him out of the room.

Guilt spikes as I realise I’m gawking at him while his face is contorted with panic. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

Lucie reaches out to him. “Daddy.”

“She wet the bed,” I explain.

His features smooth over and he audibly exhales. His palms graze my forearms as he takes the tiny girl from my grip, and his touch sends goosebumps spreading over my skin so fast I almost gasp.

Lucie clings tight to him. I can only imagine how safe and comforting it must feel to be held like that.

“Did you change the sheets?” he asks.

“No. I stripped the bed, but I didn’t know where to find fresh sheets. If you tell me, I’ll do it now.”

“I don’t know where they are.”

“You don’t know?”

He bristles, and I realise too late that there’s more judgment in my tone than I intended.

“I don’t do the laundry,” he hisses, looking pissed off that he’s resorted to defending himself. “I don’t know where they are. Mrs Minter ought to have shown you.”

“She didn’t.”

He mutters under his breath. “Fine. Leave it for now and sort it tomorrow.”

“I want to sleep in the big bed,” Lucie says.

Just how big is this big bed? Is it big to a little kid, or would I think it was big?

“Sure thing, sweetheart,” he says. “Just for tonight, okay?”

She nods against his chest and over the top of her head he shoots me a look which is somewhere between a ‘thanks’ and a ‘get out of here before you piss me off any more.’

The door closes, leaving me alone in the hall with a sensation that’s beginning to feel all too familiar:I fucked up.

7

MATT

“Time to get up, Daddy.”

I roll over to find Lucie grinning at me. She looks wide awake, which is impressive, considering she was up in the middle of the night on account of the bed-wetting. I rub my eyes and stretch, as images from last night pour into my head, free-flowing like wine. Aries in those tiny little pyjama shorts, red hair all loose around her shoulders, her eyes wide at the sight of me in only my boxers. I might have been preoccupied with Lucie, but I didn’t miss the way she looked at me. She definitely liked what she saw.

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