Page 44 of Treasure and Tarot

But Colton was still a traveling man, right? He’d be off on another job soon.

The thought made him a little queasy, but what was he going to do?

People worked.

So did he. In fact, he needed to get back to readings. He had clients that started again next week, and Abby had a routine. They had lives.

He would just have to figure it out, he guessed, as it went.

“Daddy, pay attention. Look at me.” Abby glared at him, her Maxwell eyes focused and sure.

“I am looking at you, demanding girl.” He reached up and tickled one of her feet. “See?”

She squealed and laughed, and Colton eased her onto the bed between them.

“Was that so much fun?” He’d bet Colton was exhausted.

“So much fun,” she agreed, snuggling in and taking up way more room than her little bitty body ought to. “Eggs?”

“They’re coming, I promise.”

It was hard to be three years old and hungry.

“Okay. I go play with my babies now?”

He didn’t want to get up, and of course they’d to have done all this in Colton’s rooms and not his. “In a minute. We have to go to our room to do that. This is Papa Colton’s room. This isn’t where the babies live.”

“Oh.” She gave him a curious glance, a tilt of the head. “The babies live with the ghosties.”

“This is true. The babies are on an adventure.”

She frowned at Colton. “You like vee-ventures?”

Colton turned to face her, expression so serious. “I do. I’ve been on a lot of adventures, but I’d like to be at home too. Because, you know, home is the best. Home is where your bed is.”

“And your babies!”

Colton winked at her. “Exactly. And my baby.”

She smiled wide. She was not a little girl who was worried about her place in the world.

He wished he wasn’t worried about his.

“Daddy? I’m a good girl?”

“You are my best girl.”

The knock came, and it was Iago, dropping off coffee, and then the food came, and that distracted his girl. She sat at the little table, a pillow as her booster, and while he kept an eye on her, it gave him and Colton a chance to wake up together.

“I didn’t mean to say I didn’t want her if you went to get coffee, baby. I just don’t want you to feel pressured into leaving her alone with me if you aren’t ready.”

“I know, I know, but it made me feel like a bad father. I mean, I don’t have any reason to trust you, and that makes me feel shitty like… Like I’m thinking with my dick and not my head. I guess my heart and my dick believe you’re all right. Except, my head does too. It’s just—I have to be cautious. I need to be careful with me, and I need to be careful with you. I need to be that way with her most especially, and I kinda failed that here. To be honest, I’m a little embarrassed about it, you know.”

He shouldn’t have done it. He shouldn’t have even suggested it. They didn’t even know each other anymore. Not only that, but he’d let his little girl stay with strangers last night because he wanted to get laid.

Not that he’d known he was going to get laid, right?

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention at all. I just didn’t want you to feel pressured.” Colton shrugged at him, totally interrupting his train of thought. “This is all new.”

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