Page 105 of Down & Dirty

I smiled, pulling her into my chest. “We’ll see about that.”

Her fingers curled around handfuls of my shirt and she nuzzled into my chest, letting out a ragged breath, and suddenly my chest was in a vice. Being her comfort undid me, a joy I’d never felt filling me up and making me feel invincible.

“Come on. Couch.”

We scooted Micah to the armchair and I got Sky to lie down while I unpacked the food and heated up some chicken noodle soup. She ate half her bowl before crashing.

“Cory,” Micah’s voice came from behind me as I cleaned up in the kitchen.

“Yeah, bud?”

“It died.” He held up his tablet, the screen dark.

I bent down to his level, and took it from him. “Let’s see here.” I tapped the button a few times, hoping the thing had just fallen asleep. But it was completely dead. I nodded, looking between the now useless babysitter and the wide eyes of a five-year-old.

If I thought having real feelings for a woman was throwing me off, this was about as far out of my element as I’d ever been. But with one glance at Sky, resting peacefully on the couch, I sniffed and said, “Welp, looks like it’s time to build a fort.”

“A fort?” Micah’s eyes went even wider.

“Yep. Let’s go into your room.” I plugged the tablet into the charger I spotted on the counter, and turned to head for the hall when Micah put out his hand. His head was tilted all the way back to look at me, an eager smile on his face.

“I’ll show you,” he said, as if I wasn’t sure of the way.

I took his tiny hand in mine and let him lead, a strange new sensation running through me. I’d been around dozens of kids in my life, but typically not for very long and definitely not like this. But Micah didn’t seem to pick up on any of my hesitation. Instead, he confidently pulled me down the hall and into his room, letting me go to run to his bed.

“This is Lumpy,” he told me proudly, whirling back with a ratty stuffed dog. “Grumpy gave him to me.”

“He’s pretty cool,” I said, taking the dog from him and turning it over in my hand. I remembered holding his bear not that long ago, but that toy was brand new compared to this one. This thing had one eye gone and patches of missing fur. Well-loved was the term, I thought. And judging by the twinkle in Micah’s eye as he watched my appraisal, he didn’t see a single imperfection. “Should he build the fort with us?” I asked, handing him back.

“He does everything with me. We went to Dad’s house last week and he came on the plane with us.”

Well-loved and well-traveled. I grinned, nodding along, Micah’s enthusiasm rubbing off. “I guess he’s in, then.”

We spent the next hour pulling the pillows off his bed and using the two small chairs in his room to create the tiniest fort ever. A blanket thrown over the top blocked out most of the light, and we both laid on our bellies, half inside, half outside, while Micah told me stories about his favorite toys. He wanted to ride bikes someday, and then he wanted to jump out of planes. I laughed at the last one, wondering where the kid had gotten that idea. But considering who his father was, it wasn’t much of a stretch to think Tommy might have mentioned it.

We were enjoying a couple of fruit roll-ups in the fort when I heard soft footsteps approach. I pulled the blanket back at the corner and found Sky looking down at us, her head shaking, but her expression cracked wide open.

“Boys only,” I said, right as Micah pulled the other corner back to look at his mother.

“Yeah, sorry Momma.”

She rolled her lips inward, stifling a laugh. “I see. Well, I think you both know how I feel about that kind of rule.” She slanted her head, giving Micah a look like he knew better. “You go, I go, remember?”

Micah looked at me across the expanse of our little fortress, weighing the scenario in his mind like it was a big decision. “Boys only?” he whispered. Sky cleared her throat.

“I don’t know pal, she seems like she means business.”

“She always means business,” he said, blowing out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, Momma,” he finally said, “You can come in.”

Sky had barely gotten on the floor before Micah bolted from the room, calling back that she needed a fruit roll-up, too.

“You having fun?” she asked. Her tone was playful, but there was doubt in her eyes.

“I am,” I told her, combing her hair from her forehead. She still looked tired, but a little of her color was back. “You need more soup.”

“You didn’t have to do all this.” She dropped her gaze, picking at a strand of the carpet. “Babysitting wasn’t really part of the deal.”

“Hey,” I said, my voice a little firmer that I intended, but I needed her to hear me. “I’m here because I want to be, Sky. This isn’t about any deal. And it’s not too much. You’re in my life, and Micah is a great kid. I’m happy to be here.”

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