Page 17 of The Hottest Daddy
During the next few weeks, Sunday and River managed to both take care of Berry and make time to get to know each other. They fell into an easy rhythm—during the day, Berry was the priority for River, while Sunday worked. Then, at suppertime, they would all gather to eat and talk, sometimes joined by Luke, and even Daisy on occasion. After Berry was in bed, River and Sunday would sit and chat, getting to know each other.
The only downside was that Sunday couldn’t tell him the absolute truth about herself. The potted history she and the FBI had come up with didn’t cover barely any questions he asked her and Sunday found herself slipping occasionally.
The night River asked her about the pain he had seen in her eyes was the night Sunday almost broke and told him the truth. Instead, she told him about an ex-lover who had died in a road accident. River was sympathetic, stroking her hair as she buried her face in his chest, pink-cheeked from lying. She hated lying to him,hatedit.
The one thing Sunday was adamant on was that she would not stay over. They would make love, then Sunday would slip from River’s bed, kiss him goodbye, and go home. They weren’t hiding their relationship, as such, but Sunday told him that it was too soon for Berry to see them together.
She also had to figure out how she felt about the whole thing. Her body craved his touch constantly, but he still remained an enigma to her. If she was forced to hide her past, then River was choosing to keep things from her. Sunday couldn’t blame him—she didn’t have the right to demand he tell her anything, but she felt he was keeping something big from her, something he would only talk to Luke about. It left her feeling as if there were a chasm between them that might never be breached—and at the moment, she was okay with that.
She spent a lot of time with Berry, amazing herself at how easily she found being in the young girl’s company. She had never aspired to be a mother, and she would never try to replace Lindsay, but she discovered a bond with Berry that surprised her. Berry, wiser than her years, loved reading and often asked Sunday to come play with her in the little book den they had built for her.
River told Sunday to tell him if Berry was a distraction, but Sunday loved spending time with her. Sometimes, when Berry was feeling the loss of her mother keenly, Sunday would hold the little girl as she cried, and rocked her to sleep.
River came to Sunday’s office one afternoon as she was working. She was so absorbed in the diaries that she jumped slightly when she felt his arms slide around her. “Good afternoon, beautiful.”
She turned in her chair to smile at him. “Hey there. This is a nice surprise.”
River usually worked in his studio all day and they never interrupted him while he was working. River kissed her cheek and sat down on the couch. “I’ve been thinking … I should take you out on an official date.”
Sunday put her pen down. “You don’t have to. I’m not the wine and dine sort of girl.”
“I’d like to.” He smiled at her but she could see the turmoil in his face. She took his hands.
“River … there’s not a rulebook we have to follow. We can make up our own rules. Neither of us likes games, and forgive me for saying so, I don’t think either of us is ready for … a big commitment.”
She slightly regretted her words when she saw a flash of pain in his eyes. “That’s not to say I don’t want you. Of course, I do. I’m just not ready for more than what we have now. And to be honest, we still don’t know everything about each other. Or actually, much at all.” She tapped one of his father’s journals. “I feel I know more about your father than I do you.”
River was chewing his bottom lip, listening to her and he nodded. “I don’t share easily,” he began slowly, “but I’m trying. Some things, I’m just not ready for. But I know that I want you, that you are the person I would like to try and form a relationship with. I suck at these things,” he sat with a sudden laugh. “I really do. But, still, let me take you out. Even if it’s just for a coffee down at Daisy’s place.”
“We might run into Aria.”
“Aria’s a big girl and our fling was just that—a fling.”
Sunday considered and then nodded. “Okay, you’re on. We’ll have to get a sitter for Berry.”
This time, his grin was triumphant. “I already asked Carmen.”
“Sneaky.”
“You bet. So … later?”
Sunday’s eyebrows shot up. “Today?”
River grinned and leaned over to kiss her. “I’m impetuous. And impatient.”
She laughed, cupping his face in her hands. “Fine. Just let me do a couple more hours work.”
“Nerd.”
“Shut up.” She grinned at him—when he was like this, fun-loving, teasing—she could hardly believe it was the same man who had avoided her for so many weeks.
When he’d gone, his good mood had affected her, and Sunday did the one thing she’d sworn she would never do … she googled her old self. Marley Locke. The New York news sites were full of discussions on where she was, why she had left—a couple of wildly insulting rumors abounded, but Sunday had known that would happen—even down to the theories that she’d committed suicide.
To her dismay, she saw that Cory’s family had been hounded by the press, eager for answers. The photograph of his mother, looking drained and distressed, made her stomach hurt.I’m so sorry.
She watched the video of her co-anchors discussing what had happened—they told the truth—they had no idea when, where, and why Marley had gone. Sunday stared at the picture they showed of her, neat and professional in a tailored suit, blonde hair perfectly coiffed. Who was that person? She had thought she had made her life exactly what she wanted it to be, but looking back, she knew she had been groomed into becoming that person.
She sat back and saw her reflection in the huge glass window—dark hair messy, eyes wide and full of optimism, and knew that she would never be able to go back, even if the threats to her life weren’t there. “No more Marley. Not ever again.” She spoke the words softly but knew they meant everything.
