Page 28 of Risky Game

“Like what?” She’d effectively dismissed me, didn’t even look at me while I walked around the kitchen island.

Logan was swiping butter on bread and there were stacks of cheese nearby. On the stove, a pot simmered with something. I went for a subject change instead. Maybe getting her off the idea of not seeing her dad during the day would help.

“Are you having grilled cheese and soup for super?” I asked Amelia. “My nephew Luke loves grilled cheese.”

“I like pizza better,” she replied and twisted so instead of sitting on her knees, she was sitting on her bottom, legs hanging off the counter. The turn put her back to me completely.

So… this wasn’t starting off great. I flashed Logan wide eyes.

He cringed and smiled down at her. “We had pizza last night, and we can have it later again this week and next time, we can make it here so you can do the dough, okay?”

“Can I watch TV?”

Logan’s brows rose, but he set down the bread and knife and helped her to the floor. “Sure, Amelia. I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready.”

“Not hungry,” she murmured and ran off to the living room.

I waited until she’d grabbed the remote, working the television clearly not a struggle for her, before turning back to Logan.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, peering at his daughter. “She’s been great all day and we’ve talked about you coming. I don’t know what happened, but she’s usually so much more friendly.”

I knew what happened. His daughter just had her mom go to Italy with another man and then when she finally got her dad back, another woman walked in. She was only four. How was she supposed to understand everything that had happened in the last year?

Hoping that was the case, I gave Logan a look I hoped was full of assurance.

“It’ll be fine. Give us a few days to get to know each other and I’m sure she’ll come around.”

Chapter 10

Logan

Well, that was not at all how I wanted the night to go, nor did it go in any way I’d expected.

I finally tore myself away from Amelia at ten, hours after I usually put her to bed. She needed more books. She needed more snuggles with Dad. She needed another glass of water, and then she needed me to fix her sheets because they were itchy and angry. Eventually, she begged me to sleep with her, and since I hadn’t seen her or hugged her or climbed into her bed in months, of course I said yes.

I had no issue with any of her procrastinating sleep. She was still in a new house, in a new bedroom, and was clearly dealing with changes she couldn’t express. The problem was the way she’d treated Ruby all night.

If she wasn’t scowling at her, she was outright ignoring her, and no steps Ruby took helped.

It could have solved my own Ruby problem. Clearly, Amelia wasn’t responding to her new nanny. It gave me the perfect excuse to go back to the nanny service, find someone else, and get rid of Ruby, but I didn’t think it was a Ruby issue.

I sensed it was more a woman-in-dad’s-life issue, even if Amelia was reading that all wrong. Vanessa and I had never been the kind of parents who wanted to give in to every whim, every tantrum, everything she wanted. We wanted her raised being grounded, even if she already had more than anything Vanessa and I had growing up. We’d always been aware of it and therefore took extra effort not to spoil her outside birthday and Christmas. Fortunately, she was four, and she didn’t know any different, but that day would come and I hoped when it did, she’d understand her privilege.

That being said, if I gave into this tantrum now, I’d teach her nothing about adversity, unfairness, and even the anger and sadness she was feeling but not expressing correctly.

The problem was, I was going to have to leave her tomorrow with a stranger she clearly didn’t want, and I didn’t have the time to sit and talk with her more about any of this.

I wanted to do nothing more than go downstairs, grab a drink, and forget the night. Work wasn’t even on my mind.

Unfortunately, Ruby was.

Through the night, her smiles had dimmed, her shoulders slumped. I knew she wasn’t taking it personally, but Amelia had been so cold, Ruby had felt it. I at least needed to make sure she wasn’t ready to pack her bags and hightail it out of here quite yet.

I knocked on her door. Light shone beneath, so I knew she was awake. She’d skipped off to her room before I told Amelia it was time to get ready for bed, and I knew it was to give my daughter and me time together. Thankful for it then, it hadn’t been necessary.

There was shuffling, a quiet knock of something from the other side of the door, and then it opened.

Ruby stood in the doorway, hair pulled up and piled on top of her head, and to my utter surprise, pale pink glass frames were perched on that slim, perfect nose. She also wore an oversized T-shirt, and I didn’t dare glance farther south to see if she had shorts on, or any that were at least visible. Her legs had been tempting enough in the dress she wore earlier.

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