Page 46 of Hell of a Mess
Her eyes locked on me, and the growing panic that I’d seen on her face vanished…and then she smiled. Dammit.
I should not have come back here. She was a grown woman and could take care of herself. This was becoming a habit, and I had to stop it. But I was here now, and I couldn’t very well turn and leave. I just wouldn’t do it again.
“Luther! We have fudge and brownies!” Stevie exclaimed as she did a little dance.
“Just what you need. More sugar to jack you up,” I drawled.
She scrunched her nose at me before giggling.
“Pick one,” Branwen told her. “Luther is right. You’ll be bouncing off the walls with this much sugar.”
I really didn’t care if she did bounce off the walls. The kid was entertaining. She’d livened this place up with her entrance into our lives. There were times—not often, but more than I was comfortable with—that I envied Linc. He was happy. The kind of happy that I didn’t understand. I was curious about it, but not curious enough to lock myself to one cunt for the rest of my life.
Walking over, I sat down beside Lace on the sofa, figuring I’d need to be close to get her to eat something off that tray. I’d planned on talking her into eating something more substantial, but it seemed to be the sweets she struggled with most. Might as well go for the gold.
Reaching over, I picked up a brownie and broke it into two pieces, then turned to look at her as I held a half out for her to take. “Taste it. They’re good. Even without dairy.”
Her eyes dropped to the brownie in my hand and then shot back up to meet mine. “I-I’m not hungry,” she replied.
I leaned closer to her, holding her gaze. “You barely ateanything for lunch. Please eat this for me.”
She stared at the brownie half, then took a deep breath and blew it out before reaching for it.
“Do you not like brownies?” Stevie asked her.
“Shh,” Branwen hushed her daughter.
I kept my focus on Lace as she licked her bottom lip, then lifted her eyes back to mine.
“It’s real good, sugar,” I promised, urging her on.
She nodded slightly, then took a bite. It was small, but it was more than a nibble. I grinned as she chewed, and her eyes stayed on me as if I were a goddamn lifeline she needed in order to eat.
“Told ya,” I said, finding an odd sense of pleasure in watching her chew.
The corners of her mouth quirked up, and her eyes lit up.
“Now, eat some more for me.”
And she did.
It wasn’t until she had almost finished it that I realized how quiet everyone else was. Had they muffled the kid?
I glanced over at them to see Jayda and Branwen gawking at me like I was a sideshow attraction. Stevie was the only one not staring at me, but stuffing her face with fudge while her mother wasn’t paying attention.
Branwen cleared her throat and shuffled in her seat while biting back a smile. Jayda jerked her nosy gaze off me, too, and reached for a brownie.
“How many of those have you eaten?” Branwen asked Stevie, finally noticing what her kid had been up to.
I turned back to Lace, who was staring at me with a relieved expression.
“I did it,” she said softly.
The trace of pride in her voice made my chest all tight and shit.
“You did,” I agreed. “Very good.”
The beaming grin came then, just like it had this morning whenI told her she’d done good. Was that because I was praising her efforts? Fuck, I thought it was. Why did that make her so damn happy?
