Written with You (The Regret Duet #2)(59)

I rested my hand on her jaw and grazed my thumb back and forth across her cheek. “Okay, fine. Sometimes she can sleep on your trundle. Will that make it okay for her to be Daddy’s girlfriend?”

“Sure,” she chirped with a white and crooked grin. “Wait, if you get married and Willow has a baby, will it come out of her butt?”

I grinned and swung my gaze to my new girlfriend, who was standing on the other side of the counter, sporting a look that fell somewhere in the middle of adoration, amusement, and horror. I waited for her to answer, but she lifted her hands in surrender and turned back to making pancakes.

Chuckling, I partitioned my mouth off and leaned in close to whisper, “God, I hope not.”

Rosalee mirrored my position and replied, “Me too. That would be so gross.”

“So, so gross.”

She smiled.

I smiled.

Willow continued to shake her head.

But I felt like I was on top of the world.

And just like that, telling my daughter that Willow and I were dating was done. With as much as she loved her, I hadn’t been expecting much push back. Though I probably had Jacob to thank for prepping her for some of that. And for that reason alone, I’d considering mailing him to somewhere in the Caribbean instead of Antarctica.

With my hands under her arms, I lifted her off the stool, stealing a quick hug and kiss before setting her on her feet. “Why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll help Willow finish cooking.”

“Are we going somewhere?”

“Maybe?”

She bounced on her toes. “Can I wear a dress?”

I scoffed. “Uh… Absolutely. I insist.”

She giggled and then she was gone, sprinting up the stairs.

“Hold on to the rail!” Willow called after her.

And I’ll be damned if I didn’t fall in love all over again.

“Hey,” I murmured into the back of her hair as I wrapped my arms around her from behind.

She clicked the burner off before turning in my grasp. “I can’t believe that’s how you told her. I had this entire elaborate story, step-by-step what to expect when you find a woman sleeping in your dad’s bed ready to go.”

“Then why’d you wait on me to tell her?”

“Because she’s your daughter.”

I grinned and pecked her lips. I loved that she’d waited. I loved that she had always been careful about boundaries and keeping Rosalee’s best interest in mind. Mainly, I just loved her. “Well, I appreciate that. And to show my eternal gratitude, why don’t I take my beautiful ladies out to brunch. Alejandra is coming over to keep her while we meet the police at your house, but after that, there’s this amazing place in the city that has mimosas for you and ice sculptures that Rosalee loves.”

“That’s probably a good idea. She’s not going to eat these. I tried to sneak carrots and oats into the pancakes, but I think she caught me.”

I curled my lip. “Dear God, why would you do that?”

She glared up at me. “It’s healthy. Vegetables are good.”

“Yes. But this is pancakes. They aren’t supposed to be healthy. Literally, it has the word cake in the name.”

“But that doesn’t mean—”

The buzz at the gate interrupted her. It was nine a.m. on a Sunday; no one should have been standing at my gate. Even Ian knew better than that. “Go get dressed, I’ll get rid of whoever that is, and we can meet back down here in twenty, yeah?”

“It might be Beth. She probably heard you mention the words brunch and mimosas and teleported herself over here by sheer force of will.”

I chuckled. “She allows me to invest in her discovery of teleportation and she’s more than invited to join us for brunch.”

She giggled and pressed up onto her toes for a kiss, inhaling with the same content reverence I felt at the core of my soul.

The damn buzzer sounded again.

“Go,” I said, giving her ass a gentle smack. “Check on Rosalee too. She’s probably tried on seventy-four dresses by now, leaving them all over her floor. ”

“Only seventy-four?” She laughed.

We walked together, splitting off at the stairs. She went up, and I went to the screen showing the front gate beside my door.

And that was when my smile fell and my stomach soured.

Trent and Jenn were sitting in his SUV at the gate.

I loved my brother, but it was not time for a visit. He lived hours away; it wasn’t like he just happened to be in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. The last time he’d shown up, he’d cornered Willow and scared the piss out of her. Granted, he’d had some pretty valid concerns, but that shit was not going to fly again. Which was why, after punching the button to open the gate, I walked outside rather than inviting him in.

Jenn was out of the car first, jogging up the steps. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

She chewed on her bottom lip and glanced over her shoulder as my brother folded out of the vehicle. “I talked to Ian about getting some things together for your birthday and he mentioned that Willow was staying with you. I thought it was a good thing and I…shit…may have mentioned it to Trent. And he may have gotten pissed. And he also may have insisted we drive up here to talk some sense into you.”