“Daddy, it’s six o’clock. Can we call Mommy?” Paisley asked, eyes wide.
I sobered up instantly, feeling as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice over me. Monday evening was when we called Nora.
“Yes. Call her from your phone.”
“I’ll be downstairs,” Lexi said, looking between the two of us. “I’ll start dinner.”
“You don’t have to do that, Lexi. I’ll take care of it after the phone call. It won’t last long.” It never did. Nora rarely seemed interested in details of Paisley’s life.
“Okay, then. I’ll wait downstairs and leave you two alone.”
After Lexi left, I FaceTimed Nora’s number. The call was for Paisley, not me, so I wasn’t in the picture, but I did hover around while they spoke. It was a force of habit. I wanted to keep my daughter safe from everyone, including her mother.
“Hey, Mommy,” Paisley said when the camera turned on.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Nora said. “What’s that behind you?”
“It’s a twinkle light, Mommy. Lexi and I put it up today. She’s helping me turn my room into a princess room, and Daddy said I could have pink walls.”
“Sounds like you get along well with Lexi,” Nora commented. Since Lexi had been in our lives, Paisley had mentioned her to her mother a few times.
“Yes. She’s very friendly, and she’s so pretty, Mommy. She has long dark hair, and she’s teaching me how to braid it.”
“Good for you,” Nora said. Her eyes were already glazing over on the screen.
For fuck’s sake. She had ten minutes with our daughter every few weeks. Couldn’t she at least focus on her now?
“Nora, Paisley wants to tell you about her weekend,” I said in a tone laced with warning.
She immediately trained her gaze on the camera. “How was your weekend, honey?” she asked.
My insides twisted. She always asked open questions so Paisley could talk by herself, and Nora would only have to answer with a yes or no or smile in the right places. It fucking gutted me, because my daughter deserved more. Every child deserved attentive parents who doted on them, who wanted them. Paisley was so young when Nora left, so I didn’t think she knew how a relationship with her mother could be, but soon she would be a teenager, and she was observant.
She’d already asked me if I didn’t want to date, for God’s sake.
The phone call ended a few short minutes later, less than ten minutes total. I forced a smile on my face when I looked at Paisley. “Want to go down for dinner, pumpkin?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Annoyance coursed through me as I led Paisley downstairs, and also guilt.
The second I stepped into the kitchen, the negative emotions vanished into thin air. Lexi was dancing around the island. Her braid had come undone, and she was swinging her hips and mouthing along to the lyrics of the song she’d put on her phone.
Paisley shrieked with laughter, going straight to her. “You can dance. Please teach me, Lexi. Dad can’t do it.”
Her eyes widened, and then she blushed instantly, looking from Paisley to me. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, scrambling to pause the music. “I thought you’d be upstairs for a while.”
“No, we’re here. It’s done,” I said, rounding the corner and walking up to her. I wasn’t going to be able to forget the image of her hips swinging any time soon. Everything about her was branded in my mind. The way she danced, the way she smiled, the delicious way she blushed when I even looked at her.
“You two do your thing while I make dinner,” I said.
Paisley grinned, clapping her hands. Lexi turned the volume up, moving her body to the rhythm. Fucking hell, I had to look away from Lexi or I was liable to walk up to her and kiss her senseless right in front of my daughter.
Dinner wasn’t complex enough to keep my attention from wandering to Lexi. I made mac and cheese with chunks of ham. It was ready in fifteen minutes. The girls weren’t showing signs of slowing down even when I set the table.
Wait a second. They were looking at each other with meaningful glances. I immediately recognized Paisley’s expression. It was the same one she had when she and Tyler threw firecrackers.
When they both looked back at me, I cocked a brow.
“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” I warned.
Paisley jutted out her lower lip. Lexi’s eyes widened. Her mouth was puckered in the shape of an O.
My daughter dropped her shoulders, motioning with her head toward me.
“No, we can’t do it now. It doesn’t work if he can tell we’re planning something,” Paisley explained to Lexi.
“I see. We have to surprise him,” Lexi replied in a serious voice as if she was taking mental notes.
That impulse to kiss her grew stronger.
Behave, Tate. Your daughter is here.
We all sat down, eating the mac and cheese in no time. After dinner, Paisley went to the living room. Her favorite TV show was on.
“What were you and Paisley planning?” I asked Lexi as she helped me clear the table.
She looked over her shoulder, chuckling. “Right. Like I’d tell you. We’re still planning it. We have to time our attack better.”
“Fuck, you’re adorable, Lexi.”
“I thought I was dangerous for you.”
“That too. But I like living dangerously. I like you, Lexi.”
Ever since the divorce, it had been just Paisley and me. The casual dates didn’t count. I hadn’t wanted to allow anyone near us. It happened almost on instinct, and now it was the opposite. I wanted Lexi here with us. But she’d almost quit because of this crazy attraction between us, and I needed to know why.
“Why did you want to quit?”
“My rambling explanation didn’t make sense, huh?”
“I understood your concerns on the professional side, even though I can’t really say I agree. Paisley doesn’t go to your school.”
She flashed me a small smile. “Mom said something similar.”
“But that’s not the only thing holding you back, is it?”
Her eyes widened. “Well, you seem like you don’t really believe in relationships, and it’s totally understandable after your divorce.”
I stepped closer, watching her suck in a breath. “Lexi, I have scars, I won’t deny that. But know this. These past few weeks, all I could think about was getting home to Paisley and you, and seeing you in the morning.”
“Tate, God... the things you say.”
I brought my mouth closer to hers, skimming my hands down her waist. She clasped my wrist.
“You can’t kiss me here. Not now. Paisley is in the other room,” she whispered urgently.
I groaned, gripping the counter instead.
“You’re right. Not here, not now. You make me lose my head.”
“Funny. You do the same to me.”
I touched her cheek with the backs of my fingers, barely restraining myself. “Lexi, let’s do something, just the two of us. Outside of the house.”
She bit her lower lip. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I have no fucking clue.”
“I like the sound of it.” Her expression morphed into a grin.