Page 88 of Stolen Kiss

The only two people who knew this were Jace and me.

Jace placed Ensley down and the little girl quickly made her way to Elodie, who got antsy, wanting me to put her down.

I did just that, and I watched as Ensley and Elodie smiled at each other, each trying to talk over the other and laughing over their own incoherent babbling.

Jace walked over to me and clasped my shoulder. “Hey, man,” he greeted.

I grinned. “Thanks for taking the girls to daycare this morning.”

“Of course.” He looked over the stairs. “She’s still sleeping?”

I nodded. Emilia must have been even more tired than I realized, because she hadn’t stirred all morning. I was going to let her sleep in for as long as possible, but I also didn’t want to leave her here alone. I didn’t want to give her the chance to run out of here. After all that happened last night, she was probably still feeling vulnerable. I wouldn’t blame her if she left before we had the chance to talk.

“Yeah.”

“Is she doing okay?”

I didn’t say anything to that. Instead, I shot him a look. How Emilia was doing was none of his business. He backed away and held out two hands.

“Hmm, you’re touchy. Jesus, I didn’t mean anything by it, and you know it. I meant with everything going on with her, she must be tired. Though she looked happy when I saw her yesterday.”

I remained silent.

“Okay. I’m taking the girls before you decide to murder me over some imaginary slight,” he said with a laugh, looking way too pleased with himself. “Are you going into work today?”

“Nope,” I replied.

The fucker laughed some more.

I ignored that and turned to Elodie. Noticing my eyes on her, she turned and grinned up at me. My heart melted at the sight. Though as much as I loved my daughter, admittedly, I was looking forward to being in the house alone with Emilia this morning.

After hugging Elodie and Ensley goodbye, I watched them leave, Jace closing the door behind them, encasing the house in silence.

I waited a beat before I made a cup of coffee and took the stairs up to my room.

Emilia was still asleep, though she shifted a little when I took a seat on the edge of the bed, putting the coffee down on the bedside table.

I touched her cheek, and she wrinkled her nose a bit, looking so much like Elodie then, my heart pinched at the sight.

“Wake up, baby,” I said to her. I had the urge to kiss her.

We hadn’t kissed since she’d freaked out in the kitchen because I had accidentally touched her prosthesis, and a part of me wasn’t sure if she wanted to kiss me or not.

It wasn’t like me to be so unsure in my thoughts or actions, but I was with her. A part of it was my own fear. I didn’t want to scare her away.

But she was here in my bed.

She was with me, and after last night, I wondered if we were beyond that.

I leaned down and kissed her lips. She scrunched up her face a little before turning away from me slightly. I smiled at the cute sight.

She was cute.

Even if she didn’t want to be called cute, I thought she was.

“Baby, wake up.”

“Ugh. Go away,” she mumbled.

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