The Broken One (Corisi Billionaires, #1)(63)

He mouthed, “Thanks,” but he smiled as Ava led him to the living room.

I was glad he hadn’t kissed me. I wasn’t ready for that in front of Ava. It would happen, but I wanted Ava to be comfortable having Sebastian around first.

“Sebastian,” Ava said firmly, “you have to sit on the floor. Here, do you want to be the mommy or the daddy?”

Sebastian tossed his suit jacket on the arm of a chair and rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up before lowering himself to the floor beside the tree house Ava had set up. His expression was serious. “I’ve never played dolls before.”

Ava brought a hand to her heart. “Never? Don’t you have a sister?”

“Only brothers,” he said in a solemn tone.

I heard the oven beep, but I lingered a moment longer.

Ava looked down at her dolls, then to the man I was falling more in love with by the second. “It’s really easy. Here, you be the mommy. You have to say things like ‘Don’t touch that. No running around. Be nice to everyone.’” She picked up the male doll. “I’ll be the daddy.”

“What does a daddy say?”

Ava stage-whispered, “Charlotte’s dad says bad words sometimes. Like stupid. One time when he was driving he called someone a stupid dumbass.” She giggled behind her hand.

“Ava, I’m going to check the chicken. Be good,” I said as I stepped farther away. Our open-concept home meant I could see them from the kitchen area, but I was less worried about how it was going when I heard Sebastian laugh.

Sebastian and Ava looked more like they were having a conversation than actually playing dolls, but they both looked so happy I hated to announce dinner was ready. Once I did, though, they both came and helped me carry the food to the table.

Chicken breast. Raw broccoli. Raw cauliflower. Ava was excited about it, but I shot Sebastian an apologetic smile.

He gave me a curious look I couldn’t decipher.

As soon as we sat, Ava started talking nonstop to him about how her whole class had spent the morning in another classroom because a little boy peed on the rug during circle time, then how she was learning to ride her bike but still had to use training wheels, and finally about how sad she was that she didn’t have a pet when everyone else in the world had one. Everyone. Else.

Sebastian met my gaze across the table. Rather than looking bothered by Ava, he seemed to be genuinely entertained. “When I was her age, we had a dog.”

I almost kicked him under that table.

“Really?” Ava exclaimed. “See, Mom. What was his name?”

“Digger,” Sebastian said. “He was an Irish setter who loved to dig up our backyard. When I was little I used to think his name was Get Out of the Garden.”

Ava laughed. “He was a bad boy.”

“Sometimes,” Sebastian said, then lowered his voice as if whispering to her, “we used to sneak him into the house so he could sleep with us, and my mother would get angry because he was so dirty.”

“Mom would be mad too. She said we don’t have room for one, but, see, he could use my bed.”

I shot Sebastian a look. “Easy there on the sharing. We don’t have enough yard here for a dog.”

Ava slumped a little and started eating.

Sebastian made a pained face and mouthed, “Sorry.”

I shrugged it off. There was no way for him to know that I felt guilty I wasn’t superhero single mom. I could handle running my business and raising Ava, but I was afraid of adding another responsibility. The only thing worse than not getting Ava the dog she wanted would be to get her a dog and have to rehome it when we realized we didn’t have the time to take care of it properly.

Ava’s mood rebounded as soon as Sebastian asked her what color her bike helmet was. He didn’t seem to mind that she answered that simple question by telling him all about her helmet, her bike, her kneepads, and her broken old scooter. She said she didn’t just like toys when they worked, but she also liked fixing them. “When I grow up, I want to be a car veterinarian.”

“The world needs more of those,” Sebastian answered in a serious tone. Ava looked completely taken by him. No wonder. Although he could appear stern when he didn’t smile, my daughter wasn’t intimidated by that at all. She saw through his hard exterior to the man I’d sensed when I’d first met him.

After both Sebastian and Ava had cleaned their plates, I said, “Ava, Sebastian brought a present for you. Would you like to open it?”

“I did?” he asked.

“You sent it earlier, remember? I thought today would be the perfect time to give it to her.”

“It’s not even my birthday,” Ava said with wonder.

“I’ll be right back.” A moment later I returned with the present I had covered with purple wrapping paper, Ava’s favorite color.

Sebastian’s smile was as wide as Ava’s. “It’s really a present for Wolfie.”

Ava’s eyes rounded, and she tore off the paper, uncovering a large basket with the small stuffed wolves. “Puppies!” She held each one up to her face and hugged them in turn. Then she bolted over to Sebastian and hugged him.

She ran out of the room, but I knew where she was going. A second later she was back with Wolfie and Wolfina. “Wolfie, you have a family now. You’re a daddy.” She stopped, turned to Sebastian, and asked, “Are you somebody’s daddy, Sebastian?”