Page 67 of Twisted Secrets
The cheese-covered toddler grinned and waved a spoon, sending more cheese sauce flying. Olivia sighed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to cleanher up first?”
“Nah. We got this.”
With one last lingering look, she stood and walked out of the room. He waited until he heard the board at the top of the steps creak to turn to Hadley. There was some advice he’d read once that showing fear to either young children or wild animals was a recipe for disaster, so he just charged right in. “How about we get you wiped down and then you can help me rinse?”
She stared up at him with those inky eyes like she wasn’t quite sure what to think of him. Hell, he didn’t blame her. Cillian wet a washrag and walked back to the table. He carefully extracted the spoon from her chubby hand and moved the plate out of reach. “This was my least favorite part as a kid, but we can’t have you cleaning dishes with messy hands, now can we?” He didn’t hesitate. He wiped down her hands, making silly noises that seemed to amuse her, and then went for her face. She sputtered a little, but she didn’t start crying, so he called it a win. Cillian lifted her and brought a chair over to the sink. She could barely get her hands into the water, so maybe that would minimize the mess.
Hadley squealed and splashed both hands into the sink, sending a wave of water onto both her and Cillian. She froze, her eyes getting shiny and her face screwing up into what promised to be an epic meltdown.
“No, no, no.” He moved fast, grabbing a cup and handing it to her. “A little water never hurt anyone. Now we’re ready to really get to work.” He took her hand and guided it into the water, rinsing off the plastic cup. “See—easy. Isn’t this fun?”
Frankly, he didn’t know what the fuck a fourteen-month-old found fun other than princess movies,but she gave him a tentative grin and dunked the cup again. He stayed close in case she somehow managed to getintothe sink and went to work on the pot. Hadley seemed completely content to splash around with her cup, making little noises that might be words in a few months.
He set the pot to the side and picked up the first plate. “I really like your mama, Hadley. And you’re pretty cute, too.” She was adorable enough to get away with murder, which was something he’d have to keep in mind, because she turned those liquid eyes on him and he handed over a plate without thinking.Damn. But he’d do what it took to keep her happy and distracted from what was going on. He doubted she was aware enough to realize the full extent of it, but in case she was, he needed her to know that there was nothing to be afraid of. “I’m going to keep you and your mama safe. No matter what.”
***
It took Olivia longer than usual to get Hadley down for bed, but that was as much due to her distraction as her daughter being riled up from “helping” Cillian with the dishes. She kept going back to dinner, to his insistence that she take a little time for herself. As much as she hadn’t wanted to admit it, he was right—that bath had helped relax her and fend off the panic attack that she’d had brewing all day. Then she’d come downstairs to find both Cillian and Hadley soaked and doing more playing in the sink than actually washing dishes. He turned a smile her way that had actually made her skip a step.
She finished the story she’d been absentlyreading and looked down to find Hadley sleeping soundly.This is how it could be. This is how it’ssupposedto be.
Olivia sat on the edge of the bed, staring into the darkness. A truth stared back at her that she’d been doing her damnedest to ignore.
She was in love with Cillian O’Malley.
It had snuck up on her somewhere around the time he offered his help without expecting anything in return, and how he’d been interacting with Hadley only solidified it. Though he obviously didn’t spend much time around kids, he didn’t patronize her daughter or dismiss her, and he didn’t so much as blink at the kind of help a toddler offered. He’d been so incredibly respectful of Olivia’s boundaries and careful when interacting with her in front of Hadley.
Not to mention the sex was out of this world.
She traced the floral pattern of the bedspread. Her heart might be all tangled up in him, but that didn’t mean she had to do anything about it. She snorted.Right. Because going through life alone and playing the martyr was so much more attractive than finding a man who’d actually be a partner—one who’d love both her and Hadley.
Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you? You don’t even know howhefeels.
No, she didn’t. But a few times today she caught him looking at her with some indefinable expression on his face, and she couldn’t help feeling that he was as caught off guard by the thing growing between them as she’d been. Yeah, he’d wanted to take her out, but a date and riding in to whisk her off to his out-of-town fortress to keep her safe were two different things.
He hadn’t hesitated.
She double-checked on Hadley—still sound asleep—and carefully moved her to the Pack ’N Play. Just because she realized she loved him didn’t mean she had to tell him right away. They had time. Hopefully. If she said anything right now, it would look like she was responding to the fact that he’d brought her here or, worse, that last night had gone to her head.
She wandered back downstairs, and stopped in the doorway when she caught sight of him. He’d changed out of his wet clothes at some point since she went upstairs, and was now frowning at his computer just like he had been most of the day. “Trouble?”
“Troublesome, for sure. My father is going to blow a blood vessel when he finds out.” He sighed and closed the laptop. “But I’m not going to get any more done tonight, and the conversation can wait until morning.” He set it aside and held out his hand, just like he had last night, in a silent command for her to come to him.
Since she was only too happy to obey, she walked over and slid her hand into his, letting him pull her into his lap. “Have I said ‘thank you’ recently?”
“It might have come up.” He stroked a hand down her back. “Hadley’s asleep?”
“She fought it hard, but she’s out like a light now. I suspect her bath in the form of helping with dishes had something to do with it.”
He chuckled. “It’s tiring work.”
She waited, but he didn’t seem like he was going to do anything other than rub her back. As good as it felt, she had her epiphany rattling around in her head, preventing her from totally relaxing against him. She straightened. Though she wasn’t willing to start throwing around four-letter words, she couldshowhim how shefelt. “Come on.”
He let her pull him to his feet and lead him down the hall to the powder room. It had a fancy pedestal sink and little else, but it was more than big enough for what she had planned. More importantly, it had a door that locked and a massive mirror that went almost floor to ceiling. She locked the door and pushed Cillian until his back hit the wall across from the mirror. His gaze jumped from her to the wall behind her. “I like where this is going.”
“Good.” She unbuttoned his slacks. “Don’t move.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You can have your way—for now. But in approximately five seconds, I’m going to strip you naked, spread you out, and fuck you in front of that mirror so you can see me sliding in and out of you until you come.”
