Page 24 of The Maxwell Brothers
Tearing herself from my arms, she looked at Tate. "We like her, don't we, Daddy?"
He looked at me, a corner of his mouth lifting. "Yes. We like her very much."
I licked my lower lip, pointing to the waffle, hoping to distract him from my blush. "Okay. Show me what you can do."
Amusement danced in his eyes.
“What’s your favorite place in Chicago?” he asked.
“The Millennium Ferris Wheel. And believe it or not, I’ve never been on it. You want to draw that?”
“Nah. My skills aren’t that good.”
He took the plate in front of him, along with the banana, the bowl of grapes, Nutella, and whipped cream. Seriously, this man was every woman’s dream.
Well… my dream at least.
He moved his hands quickly, and I couldn't exactly tell what he was doing, but when he shoved the plate back to Paisley, I realized he'd made a smiley face. It was quite good. He'd smeared the Nutella on the waffle and used the grapes as eyes and slices of banana as a mouth. He'd made a halo of hair around them with whipped cream. I couldn't help but laugh, looking up at him.
He pointed at me. "Don't laugh."
"It's an appreciative laugh," I said. I was melting because this serious, take-charge guy could be a total goof around his daughter.
And he’s an excellent kisser, a voice said at the back of my head. I had a hunch that the more I tried to forget that, the more clearly I’d remember it.
"Do I get to have a special waffle?" I asked, batting my eyelashes.
"Yeah, Daddy. Make one for Lexi," Paisley said, clapping her hands, looking between us.
Tate sobered up, and my heart leaped in my throat, wondering if I'd overstepped in some way. Paisley also went a bit still, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. "That's Daddy's serious face," she said in a whisper.
"I know," I whispered back.
"But he doesn't mean it."
The next second, Tate's expression morphed, and a huge grin spread on his face. "All right. I'll do a waffle for you, but you do mine," he said.
"But you're not allowed to make one that looks the same as mine," Paisley said.
I raised a brow. "Oh, okay. We have rules. Anything else I should know?"
Tate looked at me as if he was laughing at the private joke but didn't say anything aloud.
I glanced at the waffle, thinking what I could do. Looking at the chopped banana, I got an idea. I arranged grapes on one side of the waffle, left the middle empty, then put three banana slices on one edge before I proudly presented it to him. He was still working on mine, but he stopped, glancing at his plate and frowning.
"What's that supposed to be?"
"That's the lake, beach, and the grapes are skyscrapers," I said cheerfully.
Paisley pushed herself up on her chair and looked closer at my waffle. Then she glanced up at her dad. For a few seconds, no one said anything. Then both of them burst out laughing with so much joy that I couldn't help but join in, even though I knew they were laughing at me. The ease between the two of them and their closeness was melting my heart.
"All right," he said. "I guess you'll get better with practice."
"Okay. Let's see how you do," I said in a challenging voice.
A few minutes later, he pushed my plate to me, and I had to admit it was much better. He'd made yet another smiley face, but this one I recognized. This was the emoji that made sexy eyes. To Paisley, it probably meant nothing, but I felt my cheeks heat up.
"You're cheating, Dad. That's another smiley face," Paisley said.
