Page 75 of Under Daddy's Spell

Chapter Twenty-Two

“TESSA...”

Utterly relaxed and surrounded by warmth, she ignored the intrusive voice and snuggled more deeply into her plush, cloud-like bed. As it floated among the millions of twinkling stars, and one shot across the heavens, she wished for the bliss never to end.

“Time to get up, Tessa...”

It wouldn’t have to end if whoever kept calling her name would go away.

“It’s 5:45,” the voice persisted. Hearing the time gave her more reason to roll over and return to her dreams.

When it came again for the third time, it was with a shake of her shoulder. “Baby. If you don’t get up now, you’ll miss it.”

“What?” she said drowsily. Cracking one eye open, she slammed it shut, seeing it was still dark in the room. “The sun isn’t up yet, Daddy.”

“Which is why we need to get a move on.”

Sleep was already reclaiming her when he lifted her from the bed, comforter and all.

Her arms would be around his neck, hanging on, if not for the tangle of covers trapping them. But that was instinctive. His powerful, more than capable arms held her close as he carried her, and she trusted him not to let her fall.

When they exited onto the patio, Rufus rushed past them. His goal was the lake, which had quickly surpassed her as the love of his life.

Jordan looked after him. “Will he run off?”

“He never strays far from me,” she replied.

“So I noticed,” he replied as he sat her on the wicker couch.

What Tessa noticed was that he had been busy.

There were two champagne flutes on the table in front of her, a half-inch of foam on top and a plump strawberry at the bottom of each glass—the mimosas he’d promised. Beside them was the bakery box of treats she’d brought and a bowl with more strawberries, capped and ready to eat.

Once he settled her on the couch with a glass, he joined her. He also hauled her close, wrapped an arm around her, and curled her into his side.

“All set,” he murmured, clinking his glass with hers. “Just in time for the show.”

As she looked around, something seemed off. They sat on the same comfy wicker couch as last night, but the table with the umbrella was missing. Wait. Was it the same? Or did the green flowers on the cushions look bigger? And how could they watch the sunset and rise from the same side of the house?

“Is this a different patio?” she asked inanely, still fuzzy-headed from sleep.

“I have two. The house sits on a point with water on three sides. This is my favorite sunrise spot, other than being so far away from the coffeepot. There’s also a second-story deck. Without a roof, the furniture is wet with dew in the mornings. I’ll show it to you next time.”

She liked the sound of a next time. After last night, she felt confident there would be more shared sunrises, but it was nice to hear him say it.

As she looked into the distance, she couldn’t tell where the dark purplish sky met the nearly black water. But, as she watched, a ribbon of pink appeared along the water then fingers of orange reached skyward. An orange orb peeked above the horizon a few minutes later as night slowly gave way to day.

“Magnificent,” she breathed. “Rewind and do it again.”

Jordan’s laughter rumbled low in the quiet of the morning, and his arm flexed, squeezing her shoulders. His lips grazed her temple. “There is an encore performance here every morning, and my baby is welcome to join me anytime.”

She liked the permanence of how that sounded. Smiling, she nuzzled her face into his chest.

The sun rose quickly above the water. She would have cast off her covers with the heat it put out if she wasn’t naked underneath.

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