Page 31 of Off Limits Daddy

“That’s the plan.”

Still, she also needed to help me keep Aiden by acting the part of a loving partner and mother. “I suppose as an FBI agent, you know how to play different roles. You go undercover, right?”

I hated how her expression darked, turned suspicious. “Yes.”

“While we’re in this house and it's just us, I’ll leave you alone and you can do whatever it is you need to do to put Wally Creighton away and keep Aiden safe. But when we’re anywhere where his social worker could hear about our situation, I’m hopeful you will be able to pretend that you don’t see me as a big, dumb oaf."

"I don't see you as a big, dumb oaf, Duncan. And even if I did, I can do my job.”

I held out my hand. “We’ve got a deal.”

She looked at my hand dubiously but then shook it. I didn’t know about her, but the feel of her soft hand in mine sent shockwaves through me. It was like my body remembered her touch and went from zero to a thousand on the arousal scale.

She tugged her hand free. "I need to get to work. I imagine I'll be back around six."

"You bring home the bacon, and I’ll fry it up in the pan." I grinned.

She cocked her head to the side and studied me. "You really like domesticity, don't you?"

"I do." I was fucking good at it too.

She headed off to work and I finished making eggs. Just as I was sliding them onto the plates, Aiden appeared in the kitchen. We sat together, eating breakfast and talking about our day. There were only a couple of days left before he had to be in school, and I wanted to make the most of our time together before that happened.

“We should get you some school supplies. Maybe a backpack. Would you like that?”

He nodded.Patience, I reminded myself. In time, he’d not be so docile.

“First, we have some chores.” Once we finished breakfast, Aiden went to his room to clean it up. I stripped the bed of the sheets to wash them while Aiden worked on putting his toys away. As I tossed his sheets near the door of his room, I passed the desk and noticed new drawings. I stopped to look at them, noting they seemed to be similar pictures to the one that Veronica had shown us on Christmas. It told me that whatever he'd seen was haunting him. I wanted to ask him about it, but I worried that talking about it would only cause him to withdraw even more. Besides, Veronica would need to hear it too. I couldn’t ask him to tell me what he saw and then make himrepeat it to her. The poor kid. Perhaps it was time to get him in counseling.

I had just thrown his sheets into the laundry when my phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, I noted that it was his social worker. I considered ignoring it so I didn't have to hear she was still planning to take Aiden away. But I also knew that ignoring the social worker might only cause them more concern. So I answered the call.

"Mr. Ashworth, in light of your engagement, especially since you're planning to get married so soon, we need to ask that your fiancée come in and fill out paperwork so she can be approved as a foster and adoptive parent as well."

"We were planning on getting married on New Year's, but now we’re thinking of putting it off a little bit so that we can focus on getting Aiden settled." I hoped to hell that she bought that. It was one thing to pretend an engagement, but it was another to fill out legal paperwork. I imagined that was a step too far for Veronica.

"Well, if she is part of the family before Aiden is adopted, she'll need to fill out the paperwork."

"So if she’s moved in with me, she needs to do the paperwork?"

"Absolutely. And we need to get it going right away."

I ran my hand across my bald head, wondering if Veronica would be willing to fill out paperwork to be a foster parent. I determined she wouldn't do it to help me, but she might do it to keep her cover in her investigation.

"Will you be able to come down and get started on the paperwork today? The sooner, the better."

"I'll need to call her to find out what's good for her.”

"Please let me know when you and Ms. Marsden will be able to come down. I'll have the papers ready for you."

Once I hung up the phone, it took me a minute to get the courage to call Veronica knowing she wasn't going to like what I had to ask. Sure enough, she pushed back when I told her what we needed to do.

"I'm an FBI agent. I have plenty of clearances."

"I'm not the one who needs to be convinced."

There was a pause at the end of the line. "I suppose if I didn't live there, I wouldn't have to do this, would I?"

"Probably not." My chest tightened at the thought of her leaving. I held my breath as I waited for her to back out of our deal.

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