Page 76 of Undone

“Noah James would be a good name though, huh, G?” my dad said.

Groaning, I muttered, “Dad,” scolding him.

Noah walked over to where we all stood near the entryway.

“Hi, Gracie,” she said, trying to figure out how to manage this delicately. “Your dad and I were just hanging out last night, watching a movie, and I fell asleep.”

“You had a sleepover without me! No fair. Daddy, I need a sleepover.” She stomped her foot and crossed her arms.

David chuckled, quickly disguised it with a cough after my stare.

“You have a sleepover with your aunt coming up, remember?”

Her arms fell back to her sides. “I forgot! Miss Noah Reid James, can you come?”

And then it was my turn to laugh.

“I think we can arrange that,” Noah said.

“You don’t have to,” I said.

“I know. I want to.”

“On that note, I’m heading to the ranch. Give me a hug, G.” Gracie leaned over to hug my dad’s knee before he picked her up with a groan. “Girl, I’m not sure I can do that for much longer,” he said, before giving her a kiss on her forehead.

She chuckled in response. “Love you, Papa.”

“Love you too, sweet girl.”

“I’ll catch you two later,” he said, giving me a wink on his way out the door.

“Hey, Daddy, do you think Noah can stay for breakfast with us? It’s pancake day.”

“I’m sure she has things to do, Gracie girl.” I couldn’t tell if she wanted to say no, but I wanted to give her an easy way out. My eyes narrowed gently at her.

“You know, I’m actually free and would love to have pancakes with you,” Noah replied.

“Gracie, go put your things away, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a minute.”

Gracie darted away, smiling.

I led Noah through the house, away from Gracie’s room. I stopped at the end of the hallway, resting my back on the wall.

“You don’t have to stay just because she asked,” I said.

“Dorian, I want to be here. If I didn’t, I would have left already.”

“Okay…” I replied.

“Okay.”

I expected Noah to back out, to make some excuse and leave. Instead, she smiled like she belonged here—like this was normal, like this was home. And for a second, I let myself pretend it was. I stepped closer, invading her space, grabbing her chin and lifting it.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

My response was my mouth meeting hers. The kiss was unfortunately quick, and she stole all the air from my lungs as she pulled away.

“You look pretty all the time, but something about you first thing in the morning, waking up in my house, made it hard to resist you for another second. Especially if I have to go out there and dance around you in my kitchen for the next hour with my daughter playing chaperone.”

---