Page 32 of Accidental Mile High Daddy
Zach was sprawled across the living room’s rug, deep in a make-believe dinosaur battle with Margot, who was shockingly making some of the most convincing T-rex snarls I’d ever heard despite being in the tail end of nausea from what she’d eaten yesterday.
She sat cross-legged in linens, a warm blanket draped over her shoulders and a mug of peppermint tea in her hand. She looked up and gave me the faintest smile as I stood in the doorway, dressed in tailored charcoal slacks and a white button-down rolled to my elbows.
“You look handsome, Matt,” Margot deadpanned, “but the T-rex says you’re going to get eaten.”
Zach let out a vicious roar and body-slammed a plush stegosaurus into the carpet.
I shook my head, a grin tugging at the corner of my mouth. “You know you don’thaveto do this,” I said to Margot. “I already ditched on golf. I don’t have to go to the rehearsal dinner, Sienna and I can stay back and let you get a bit more rest.”
Margot rolled her eyes. “I’m okay enough to watch him. I’d say if I wasn’t.”
The sound of a door clicking open down the hall drew my attention away from the living room. Heels sounded on tile, clicking one step, then two, three?—
Sienna rounded the corner, stepping into the space like it was just another Friday, and for a second, I nearly forgot how gravity worked.
This was worse than the blood red dress last night. This was worse than her in her oversized, thin shirt this morning, worse than seeing every part of her I’d wanted to drag my hands over in that black swimsuit.
This was downrighttorture.
She stood there under my gaze, her black dress hugging every curve, every line of her body like it had been designed with her in mind. The faintest bit of shimmer, almost woven into the fabric, caught the light — andGod, I nearly dropped to my fucking knees. Thin straps, a neckline that tested every bit of composure I had in me, and when she turned to grab her purse from the counter, the low-cut back was almost enough to send me spiraling. Her hair was pulled back again, a thick braid that wrapped around her head like a crown, little pieces framing her cheeks.
I swallowed my own saliva wrong. Ichoked.
“Jesus,” I muttered, coughing into my elbow.
Zach looked up at me. “Daddy? You okay?”
“Fine,” I rasped, my eyes still glued to her like I had no choice.
She tried to hide the smirk that was so clearly dying to break free.
“You look pretty,” Zach announced, telling her for the second time today, his teeth showing in a wide grin as he lifted his dinosaur high like it could somehow measure that on a scale.
“Thanks, tiger,” she said, andfuck, my heart stopped. She couldn’t call him that.Icalled him that. But I wanted to hear her say it again. “You’ve got great taste.”
I finally found my voice. “He’s right.”
Sienna glanced at me again, her brows raised. “You gonna survive over there?”
“Barely.”
The faintest shade of pink crept up her neck and into her cheeks.
“I’m Margot,” Margot cut in, extending a hand toward Sienna without rising from the floor. Sienna took it. “Since the walking hormone over there forgot his manners.”
I huffed a breath. “Margot?—”
“Sienna,” Sienna grinned. “Nice to meet you. You’re Zach’s nanny, right?”
“Only when he’s good.” Margot pinched Zach’s cheek, and he squealed, laughing as he squirmed back up onto the couch. “When he’s not, I’m apparently the devil.”
Sienna snorted. “Yeah, I’m a teacher, I know how that goes.”
I leaned down over the couch, grabbing Zach by either side of his head and pressing a kiss square in the center of his forehead despite his protests. “See you in the morning, yeah?”
He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why can’t I come?”
“Because tomorrow is the big wedding that we have to endure, and you’re gonna need alotof energy for all that boredom before you can hit the dancefloor.” I ruffled his hair as I stood back up to my full height.
