Page 29 of Accidental Mile High Daddy
Comfortable. That was the word pinging around in my brain. She lookedcomfortable, here, with me and a five-year-old she hadn’t even met yet.
“Morning,” I said in return, my voice far steadier than I felt.
She moved toward the kitchen counter, eyeing the eggs on the plate. “Christ. Who are you,Gaston? That’s a ton of eggs.”
My lips quirked upward. “They’re not all for me.”
Her brows knit. “Are you trying to bulk up your kid?”
“Zach’s got bananas and cartoons,” I smirked, dropping the skillet into the sink and pulling another plate down from the cabinet. “These are for us.”
She bit her lip, clearly trying to hide the slow grin creeping across her cheeks. “Do you cook for all of your fake girlfriends?”
I stabbed the edge of a couple of eggs and shifted them onto the other plate, popped a slice of buttered toast beside it, and held it out for her. “Only the ones who lie convincingly under pressure.”
She stared at it for a second, blinking, before taking it with a half-hearted chuckle.God, her laugh was pretty. “Thank you,” she said, setting it down at the breakfast bar.
“Coffee?”
“Please.”
I poured her a mug and slid it across the counter to her. “You want creamer? Milk? Margot had some groceries delivered last night,” I said, opening the fridge. “I don’t really take either, but Margot might collapse if she doesn’t have her Coffee Mate.”
“Black is perfect, actually,” she grinned, wrapping her fingers around the mug and pulling it toward herself. “Didn’t realize you were a man of taste, too.”
I flashed her a grin as I leaned back onto the counter, cutting an egg with the side of my fork. “What was it you said last night?Life’s full of surprises?”
She huffed a laugh into her mug of coffee as she lifted it to her lips. “Definitely hadn’t been rehearsing it in my head the whole car ride down,” she said, her cheeks heating just a tad. “So, what’s the plan today? More awkward small talk? The wedding isn’t until tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, it’s tomorrow.” I shoved a bite of egg between my teeth and leaned around the edge of the wall, checking on Zach. Still engrossed, still a quarter of a banana left. I turned back to her. “I was supposed to go on some kind of golf outing with the groom and the rest of his entourage. Apparently, he thought I’denjoythat.”
“Ah. Bonding time with Ryan. That soundsdelightful.”
I snorted. “Yeah, well, Margot’s not feeling great, so I’m not entirely sure what the plan is anymore. She’s lying low. Might take him with me.”
She picked up a piece of toast and popped part of her egg on top. “I can stay with him.”
I blinked at her.What?“You don’t have to do that.”
Sienna shrugged as she took a bite. “I know. But he sounded sweet on the phone. And you’ll probably only last, what, ten minutes with Ryan before fantasizing about golf cart homicide? So, I’m an out.”
I should have laughed, should have joked back with her, but I was justconfused. “You’re offering to babysit my son?”
“Mhm,” she said around a mouthful of toast before swallowing it down. “I teach twenty feral preteens every weekday. One kindergartener with a good vocabulary who hasn’t made a peep this morning is practically a vacation.”
I studied for a second, egg stuck in my mouth like sand. Not because I didn’t believe her, but I just hadn’t expected that from her — it didn’t fit into the sharp-edged version of Sienna I’d built in my head. But she meant it. And the idea of watching her spend a whole afternoon with Zach, relaxed, soft,real…
I didn’t want to pass that up.
“I’ll stay,” I said, swallowing down the egg that tasted like ash now. “We can hang out by the pool. Unless you have other plans.”
“You’re going to skip golf?” she asked, her brows raising.
“I hate golf anyways.” I shrugged. “Consider it self-preservation. Besides, a masseuse is coming in…” I checked the time on the stove, “…twenty minutes, so you’ll be preoccupied for the next hour.”
She blinked at me. “What?”
Play it off. “Comes standard with this villa. You might as well use it,” I lied.
