Limitless Love (Lotus House #4)(7)

“But it is. It’s very good. And tasty!”

“Oh, I have no doubt it’s tasty. It’s just not a balanced meal. You need a full belly of healthy food before bed. You have school tomorrow. You do have school tomorrow, right?”

She swung my arm and led me through the house to the kitchen. “Yep! I’m in kindergarten.”

“Wow, that’s a big girl. How old are you?” I took a second to mentally pat myself on the back. I could so do this kid thing, and so far, I thought I might even be good at. She hadn’t cried. Seemed to enjoy my company. Yep, I had it in the bag.

“Six,” she deadpanned.

I drew back and focused on her face. Her little lip was trembling and her eyes sparkled with mirth.

“Fibber! You are not. Besides, kindergartners are younger.” At least I thought they were. I needed to Google that shit.

She smacked my thigh and squealed. “I’m five. Just had my birfday a week ago, but I’m kinda six.”

“Birthday?” I repeated for her benefit.

“S’wat I said. Birfday. You don’t listen very good.”

Man, this kid had me cracking up. We made it to the kitchen, and she crawled up onto the barstool and placed her chin into her hands to watch.

“What’cha gonna make me?”

Little did she know, I happened to be a very good cook. Being physically fit, eating healthy, and making a living as a personal trainer to the local celebs living in the Bay meant I needed to know how to give the body the best sustenance. However, this was a kid who apparently would rather have Froot Loops than chicken, which meant I needed to come up with something healthy that could compete with cereal.

I opened the fridge and scanned the items. Monet had a lot of food in her fridge for just two people. Tons of fresh veggies and fruit. The last woman I’d dated had little to no interest in shopping. Probably because I took care of all of that. And everything else under the sun. The unwanted reminders of that time in my life were coming up fast and furious. It had been years. I thought I’d gotten past it, but being in a domestic environment was bringing up all that crap again. All the things I’d pushed behind me. The dreams I let go of long ago rushed back to the surface while I stood in a strange kitchen, watching the daughter of a woman I’d hit on then bailed on a year ago.

Clay, you are reading too much into this situation. Relax, dude. Relax and feed the girl.

“Do you like carrots?” I finally asked.

She nodded, so I pulled a few mini ones out of the bag, washed them in the sink, and set them on a napkin. “Munch on that while I make you some grub.”

Her eyebrows narrowed. “Grub?”

“Another way to say food.”

Lily bit into a carrot and crunched loudly. “Gruba dub dub.”

I snickered and pulled out the thawed chicken. Might as well cook it up so it didn’t go bad. Then I found a few small blocks of cheese and came up with a great idea. Once I had the chicken in strips and sizzling in the pan, I shredded up three of the cheeses and poured a bag of noodles into a pot.

“I wuv pasta!” Lily spoke around a mouthful of carrot.

“You do?” I laughed. Something in me knew I could win over the kid. Atlas had been right when he gave me a pep talk before leaving her in my care. Lily was an easy child and fun to be around. My heart panged, reminding me that I too should have had this. Once upon a time…if my ex hadn’t been a lying bitch.

I shook my head. Never again was I going to allow a woman to play me. No way. No how.

“Is that cheese?” Lily asked excitedly.

“It is. Have you figured out what I’m making?”

She shook her head but licked her lips while I picked a small chunk of the cheddar and held it over her mouth. She opened up and gobbled it, clapping her hands.

“Homemade mac and cheese with chicken thrown in for some protein.”

Her mouth opened and her cheeks turned pink. She clapped again. “I love mac and cheese too! You da best, Clay!”

“Sweetie, it’s Clayton. Clayton,” I sounded out for her.

“’S’wat I said!” She pouted, and it was the cutest thing. Reminded me of when I first saw her mother the day Mila moved into this house over a year ago. At the time, I’d thought she was drop-dead gorgeous. Still did, but I’d been avoiding her like the plague. She represented exactly what I thought I would have had at that point in my life, and I straight up couldn’t hack it once I had found out about her kid. Now, standing in front of Lily, my heart broke a little. I could have hung out with this cool-as-hell kid long ago. Maybe by this time her mom and I would have…

Nope. Not going there. No more what if. I couldn’t live my life that way any longer. If I wanted something, I was going to go for it. Balls to the wall, go all out. Hanging out with Lily was giving me all kinds of ideas for the future.

While I plated a small amount of food for Lily in a bowl and a large portion for myself, I chastised myself for being so afraid to date a woman who had a child. Lily was amazing. Sweet and funny. Made me wonder what the deal was with Monet’s ex. If he was part of her life, Atlas and Mila would have called him to get Lily and not had me cover for them.

“Hey, Lily, where’s your daddy?” I asked, poking a noodle and a chunk of chicken.

She looked at me and shrugged. “Don’t got one anymore.”